Poster analysis of

“THE
CONJURING”

SUBMITTED TO: MAM SNOBRA REHMAN

SUBMITTED BY: RABIA RIAZ
ROLL NO: 07
M.PHILL ENGLISH
BATCH 2021-2023
DATE: 02-11-2-21
 1. DISCOURSE SHAPES THE WORLD AND THE WORLD IS SHAPED BY
THE DISCOURSE:
Fear has always been a major part of the human psyche. The myths and
superstitious beliefs strengthen it. Even many religions around the world support
the existence of super natural entities, the entities that indicate the presence of
evil, the presence of devil and angels and many other supernatural things. These
create a vague but strong effect on the people’s minds.

Conjuring means the use of magic or some unusual thing. The name itself
indicates the presence of some abnormal thing that is inhuman that can only
come into existence using some magical trick, i.e. “black magic”

2. Discourse shapes the language and the language is shaped by

the discourse:
The language used in the poster is eerie. This creates suspicion and gives
mysterious effect. Along with the title, there are a few important things to be
noted.

 The name of “the warrens” shows that the movie is about ghosts as
they were very famous ghost hunters of their times. This intrigues
the audience Moreover the incident taking place in the movie has
been taken from their life experience.
 The director of the movie isn’t introduced by his name but by his
important works, that include, Saw and Insidious.
 The poster gives both visual as well as verbal messages indicating to
the horror genre in the movie.
3. Discourse shapes participants and the participants shape the
discourse:
There is no presence of any human figure in the poster. The only presence that is
shown in the poster is the shadow .The shadow seems to be hanging from the
tree but there is no appearance of any dead body. This shows the presence of a
ghost or some evil natural entity.it also indicates that there is something that
cannot be seen through a human eye. It indicates towards the death of someone
who is nonexistent physically but his soul is present there.

The poster is made in such a way that it will attract the audience who are more
into the horror genre who are interested in ghosts and other supernatural entities
and for those who believe in their presence or who like scary movies.

4. Discourse is shaped by prior discourse/ intertextuality:

The introduction of the director of the movie in such a way that his previous
famous works are shown is a way to convey the audience, the message that there
is something related to those movies and this movie being advertised. The names
of the previous movies indicate that they were related to the horror genre. This
means that this movie has the same genre and contains horror elements, the
elements that can introduce fear in the audience.

5. Discourse is Shaped by its Medium, and Discourse Shapes the

Possibilities of its Medium:-
The message of the horror genre of the movie has been delivered perfectly using
different symbols and color scheme. For instance,

 Black color indicates the presence of some dark and evil entity whereas the
white color indicates the presence of innocence. The presence of grey color
usually indicates the presence of stability and equilibrium, this means that
there is presence of both evil and goodness in the movie.
 The house usually is a safe place and provides shelter and comfort. Its
presence in a horror movie poster shows its involvement and that it is
invaded as the houses have the potential of becoming haunted.
 The presence of fog shows tension and mystery as to who or what is the
villain of the movie. It is more dense around the house which means that
there is something unusual going on around it that is still unseen and
vague.
 Tree with the hose makes the poster more disturbing as hose indicates
death. It clearly points out towards the horror genre.
  The shadow on the ground shows the presence of an entity that has no
physical existence and can’t be seen with human eye. Its presence shows
that it plays a significant role in the movie
 The dry leaves on the ground indicate death, destruction and end. As
autumn is the season of dryness and coldness and death.
6. Discourse is Shaped by Purpose, and Purpose Shapes Discourse:-
The purpose of the movie is to convey the message of presence of horror
elements and to arise suspense, and fear in the audience. It gives the audience
the pleasure of enjoying the horror genre completely by introducing the
necessary elements to provoke fear.

“Nothing is as it seems”