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Dionicio A. Jimenez

Dr. Sharity Nelson

ENGL 1301

October 10, 2022

“YOU”

The promotional poster of figure one is from the series “YOU” on Netflix. The poster

gives a sense of mystery and horror to the audience by using visual elements like the audience

and actors' perspective and the color psychology around the poster.

The most impactful visual element for the poster is the use of the actor’s perspective.

Without the use of this element, the poster would not have the sense of mystery and horror as it

does. This element also helps the audience figure out what is happening or what is going to

happen later on. For instance, In the poster it appears that the audience is being buried, since the

view from the audience is facing up to seeing the actors. It’s a fact that the audience is getting

buried, since there is evidence used like the dirt scatter all around, and beneath the actors the title

“YOU” appears. Outside of the hole, there is three actors, one man, one woman, and a baby. We

can see the male actor who appears he is burying the audience, since he appears to be wearing

dirty clothes caused by the dirt he scatters out. He also has dirt marks all over his face, wearing

black gloves to leave no evidence behind, and he is holding a bloody pickaxe in his left hand.

Behind the male actor, the female actor appears to be staring the audience down too. In her arms

she is holding a baby which the gender is not shown. Behind her, however, there is a house and

trees, which gives a vibe that this is happening in the actor’s backyard. All this information given

by the actors gives a sense of horror and mystery to the audience who is looking at this poster.

To give the poster more sense of mystery, the expressions of the actor’s face matter. The males’

actor eyes are dark like coal and has a smirk on his face which is horrifying and gives a vibe that
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he is used to this kind of stuff. As for the female actor, the woman seems to be calm and used to

this kind of stuff. She is not smiling nor scared, which helps prove that she might have done this

before. She appears to be a person who is even-tempered. As for the baby, it does not show any

expressions, since we do not see the face. However, there is something interesting about the

baby. It is wearing red clothes

Red is a very important color since it is used to attract attention or is a sign of showing

something important. This is an element of color psychology. Color psychology is used in many

ways in this poster, mostly on the characters clothes and the areas around the poster. But in order

to explain this well, it is better to understand what color psychology is. “Color psychology is the

study of hues as a determinant of human behavior. Color influences perceptions that are not

obvious.” Color psychology is used among the actors clothing in the poster. This gives a better

understanding of what the character might be and gives the poster a sense of mystery. For

instance, since the color of the Babys' jacket is red, it appears that the baby might be an

important factor in this series. Red is known to attract the most attention and is associated with

strong emotions such as love, anger, etc. This helps the audience to know who's or what is

important in this series. Another example is the male actor, he is wearing a dirty grey shirt. In

color psychology, “Grey represents neutrality and balance. Its color meaning likely comes from

being the shade between shite and black. However, grey does carry some negative connotations,

particularly when it comes to depression and loss. Its absence of color makes it dull.” This gives

a future image of what this actor might be in the series. Behind him, the female actor is wearing

a bright beige jacket. “Beige is dependable, conservative, and flexible. The color beige is neutral,

calm, and relaxing.” This helps the audience know that this character will be dependable, neutral,

calm, and relaxing. This is a great help for the audience to understand how the actors might be

and simplifies the sense of mystery in the poster. Color psychology is something to closely look
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at, to understand. Most of the audience who see is poster might think this is just mere

coincidence, but this is not the case. The creator of this poster Marco Vito Oddo did this on

purpose. He used color psychology by giving color clothes to each specific actor. This helps the

audience to solve a little bit of the sense of mystery of the poster.

In conclusion, the Netflix series “YOU” has had great success using the audience and

actors' perspective and the color psychology around the poster. These elements provided an

understanding for the audience of the series and great realistically atmosphere when looking at

the poster. It gives horror and a sense of mystery to the audience who look at the poster.
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Work Cited

“Beige is dependable, conservative, and flexible. The color beige is neutral, calm, and

relaxing.” - Colors.dopely.top by Xahra Published in May 20,2021

“Color psychology is the study of hues as a determinant of human behavior. Color

influences perceptions that are not obvious.” by Alter A Published in March 21,2013 in “I see

red”.

“grey represents neutrality and balance. Its color meaning likely comes from being the shade

between white and black. However, grey does carry some negative connotations, particularly

when it comes to depression and loss. Its absence of color makes it dull.” by Nicole Martins

Ferraire in the article “COLOR PSYCHOLOGY: HOW COLOR MEANINGS AFFECT YOUR

BRAND” published in May 31,2019

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Appendix

Figure one/Poster by Marco Vito Oddo.....................