Analysis of thriller posters

This poster is from a much earlier classic thriller 'Vertigo' directed by Alfred Hitchcock (1958) starring James Stewart and Kim Nova.

Film posters often give an indication of what the film is about or it's themes for example the striking red background connotes danger of some sort and is also related to blood and anger, this is shown in the film when two of the characters (first a cop and second Judy) fall off the top of buildings plummeting to their death.

The font on the poster is solid black to grab the attention of the audience because it stands out wildly amidst the red. Also it is in Hitchcock font which looks quite nervous and unstable due to the slanting on the m, the unsymmetrical letters and the short final stroke on the 'R' in Vertigo suggesting panic or confusion. The writing is all placed on the left side of the page, as if they are trying to get out of the way the people are leaning towards, also it unbalances the poster which will unsettle the audience just as the the film will catch them on the edge of their seats.

The white spiral signifies the twists and turns in the plot that lead the audience round and round in circles (like all Hitchcock's work this can become a little confusing and you have to watch the film from the beginning paying full attention). Due to the white spiral on the red background the spiral becomes an optical illusion implying movement and action. The white of the spiral conflicts with the black of the people and the black of the font showing the opposites and the contrast in character perhaps between 'Midge' and 'Madeleine' or hinting at the difference between 'Madeleine' and 'Judy'.

The two profiles spiralling into the eye of the vortex obviously represent 'Scottie' and 'Madeleine/Judy' as they get dragged along in the current of the plot and so the audience as with the poster are drawn into the spiral/plot to bear witness to the plot actions. The womans profile is outlined as if she is a murdered body been drawn around by the police which reflects how 'Judy' is sort of murdered to cover up for the fake murder of 'Madeleine'. She is also see through suggesting that her persona is fake, however it does also suggest that the character is very easily read, this is contrary to what i thought, i believed that she was quite difficult to understand and i did not see the double cross coming so this may be a perposeful mislead by Saul Bass (the creator of the poster) and Hitchcock, to throw the audience off guard. As a result of this, the effect is that she is shown by her deception in the poster to be the femme fatale of the film (thrille signifier).

The male figure in the middle of the poster is solid black and opaque, being bold shows that he is the main protagonist and the story is told from his point of view. This effect works well with the fact that he is on top of the female figure to show he is trying to protect/shield her whilst following her into the abyss of the spiral.

This poster is great as it hints at the plot/story of ths film but still keeps most things back and decieves the audience as the film itself does.