Lovefield poster analysis

This is the poster for the short film 'Lovefield' by Mathieu Ratthe. This short film is well known for its twist narrative, and how well the director uses semantic codes to lure the audience into a false sense of insecurity. The poster works well in showing this, as there are lots of horror semantic codes throughout, whilst hinting at some more light-hearted visuals associated with different genres.

The background is of a field, which both explains the films title and shows the setting of the short film. There is a dark overtone to the image, with the field and clouds being desaturated and dark. This is a semantic code that establishes the genre as horror, as horror films are often associated with dark tones and often vast uninhabited fields. However, the sky is not just simply dark and cloudy, there is also sunshine creeping through, trying to reach the fields. This suggests that there is more to the narrative than first thought, and without knowing the twist, viewers may notice and criticise this. Rather ironically, the small light foreshadows the light-hearted twist in the narrative.

The character in the poster is shown from the torso up in the field. More importantly, his hand is obscured by the field, and the choice to only show his torso and arm suggests that this character is hiding something. This adds to the theme of horror shown throughout the poster. The viewer can only theorize what he is holding/doing, but it does not appear to be pleasant. The characters himself is looking down at something in the field. This, again, adds a sense of unknowingness which helps suggest that this character is up to something sinister, making the viewer assume that he is an antagonist. The character wears overalls and a trucker hat, both clothes associated with the stereotype of rednecks. This stereotype is often used in horror movies as antagonists, so also helps builds this character's image as an antagonist.

The title is written in bold font, and is slightly obscured by the cornfield. There is a silhouette of a crow on the last letter; another semantic horror code to establish this films genre. The bold font makes it impactful, and it looks like the sort of impactful font used similarly by other horror film posters. This further brings the viewer into the sense that this will be a horror short film, as all the semantic codes seem to point that way. The poster is very effective in its use of semantic codes, and that it mirrors the films buildup to a horror genre.