Teaser Poster Analysis: Red State

Blogged by Naomi

We have decided to create two versions of our poster - one being a teaser poster to be distributed before the release date and the other containing more information to be published after the release date. A teaser poster is simply what it says: a poster which teases its audience with a lack of information which leaves them curious and anticipating more.

Many horror films that have been released have had a teaser poster, such as Scream, The Final Destination and Saw VI. I think teaser posters work particularly well with horror films as it builds a sense of tension much like the tension conveyed in the film itself.

A successful teaser poster we came across was for 'Red State':



The first thing I was drawn to was the image - what appears to be a figure draped in white material standing in front of a cross. In the background is a number of windows and the image itself is fairly blurred and almost misty, giving an uneasy tone to the poster. There is also a number of visible scratches and marks across the image which further adds to the atmosphere.

However the main attraction is the text. Consisting of just six words, the poster leaves the audience with a number of questions:

-Why should I fear God?
-When in 2011 is the film being released?
-What/Where is Red State?

The text is written in red, making it stand out against the dull coloured image and so the audience is drawn to this. Again red is a colour which connotes death/blood and danger and also creates a sense of urgency within the poster - all regular features in a typical horror film.

Also the concept of the poster is intriguing. Without researching the film and just merely looking at the poster, I feel that the concept itself can definitely create and build upon the feelings the audience generally feel when watching a horror movie. The topic of religion is a fairly serious idea in everyday life, with Christians believing in God being a somewhat hero, a person to look up to and who will protect them. So with the tag line being simply 'Fear God' it will provoke a reaction from the audience and have them wanting to find out why the person who is seen as a 'saint' may not, according to the film, be who we think.

However producer Kevin Smith was unique in publicising his film as he released not one teaser poster, but seven. With the first being distributed on Halloween 2010, each poster that followed had the same lack of text and the scratches and marks are uniform throughout. Each poster cleverly boasts just a small detail about the character shown on each poster.