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Carlos E. Montemayor Tristan

Dr. Sharity Nelson

English 1301-124

13 October 2022

Nope Poster Analysis

Before the movie Nope was released in theaters on 22 July 2022, the first promotional

poster was unveiled on director Jordan Peele’s Twitter page (Fig. 1). This poster gave no

information other than a huge, singular cloud looming over a small bright town by the dull

mountains. This paper demonstrates that the Nope poster uses unique placement, large scale, and

contrasting color to appeal to fans of mystery, horror and supernatural films by showing how the

cloud might bring sinister consequences on the unsuspecting town below.

The placement of the cloud, town, and the sky in the background is used very effectively in

this poster. Despite the bright lights in town below, the attention seems to be directed towards the

abnormal cloud. Its placement in the upper center of the poster causes the eyes of the audience to

naturally draw towards it. The cloud is also placed right above a town and seems to be a separate

entity, split from all the other clouds behind it. There seems to be something special about this

cloud because of the way it stands out above everything else. Another aspect is the general

atmosphere. The nature of the poster seems very barren, the bright town below being the only

source of light. The mountain in the background only adds to this. It provokes the idea of

complete isolation from the outer world. These separate elements each play into the sinister

mystery behind the unusual cloud, which brings into question the possibility of something deeper

happening.
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One visual element that is prominent in this poster is scale, which is used with different

objects to illustrate how gargantuan the ominous cloud is and how it poses a threat to the town

below. An example which shows this is the tree in the lower right corner of the poster. It is

supposed to be a tall tree, but when compared with the rest of the scene, the cloud makes it look

small and insignificant. The enormity of the cloud is also emphasized when set side by side with

the town below. When looking at the image, the cloud is the exact same size as the town. It

makes it look like the cloud is able to cover the town completely. Another example is the

mountain behind it which towers over the village below but when compared to the cloud, it looks

like an anthill. The entire landscape shown in the frame of the poster really emphasizes the pure

size of it. The emphasis on the scale of the cloud implies that perhaps it is more than it reveals

itself to be and hints at a possible danger which it may be capable of producing.

The poster also makes good use of several colors, such as the different tones used in the sky

in the background. Starting from the left, the sky progressively gets darker until it is above the

town, which implies that something more sinister is imminent. Sticking out from the rest of the

sky is a singular eerie cloud, which looks out of place and is as dark as the other clouds above it.

Since this cloud is more in-focus, this signifies that there is something deeper and more sinister

approaching. Due to these dark colors, the poster has a desolate nature to it. However, the grass

surrounding the town is more vibrant in contrast with the sky. While the color is not as saturated

as those of the town, the green in the grass still stands out. This means that the grass is

illuminated by the town because it is more directly connected to it. The town appears to be the

only civilization in the frame, containing bright lights with multiple colors, which symbolize that

there is a sense of liveliness and cheer. This, combined with the grass, clashes with the dark,

gloomy atmosphere, provoking the feeling of helplessness, as there is nowhere to escape. One
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specific object sticking out from the cloud is the rope of flags hanging from it. These flags are

each a different color, which match the multicolored town below. This enhances the sense of

inevitable connection between the town and the cloud. These examples reveal that through the

use of color and contrast, the cloud has menacing intent.

The poster for the movie Nope has effective use of placement, scale, and color to reveal that

something more sinister is taking place within the town, specifically something involving the

ominous cloud looming over it. The use of placement emphasizes the fact that the cloud is

directly over the town, symbolizing imminent doom. Despite the combination of vibrant colors

displayed by both the town and the grass, the attention is directed towards the cloud by using a

variety of dark colors to depict it as an ominous, abnormal entity. The scale of the cloud is also

emphasized by the tree and the town below, proving that the cloud is of enormous size and is

fully capable of destruction. Overall, this poster’s combined use of visual elements creates a

foreboding atmosphere, which effectively appeals to the horror and supernatural audience that it

is targeting.
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Appendix
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Work Cited

Poster for the film Nope. Twitter, July 22, 2021,

https://twitter.com/jordanpeele/status/1418224340764614656