Poster Analysis: The Silence of The Lambs

Here is a poster for the film Silence of the Lambs that I have analysed to see what thriller signifiers are used and what other techniques are used to advertise the film successfully.

The poster shows contrast between light and dark; the woman’s face is pale white, and the area around her is black. This suggests the presence of good and evil in the film (her being good, and what’s happening around her being evil). The light and dark (chiaroscuro lighting, and symbolism of good and evil are classic thriller signifiers.

The title of the film, parts of the butterfly and the girl’s eyes are in red. This suggests there are danger, blood, death and violence in the film. This is a common thriller signifier as the colour red is very commonly used in thriller genre films. This helps give the audience an idea of what is in the film, and also helps create a mysterious, sinister atmosphere (which are also thriller signifiers).

The title “silence of the lambs” is interpreted into visual form in the poster as there is a pale white female face (representing a lamb), with a butterfly over her mouth (the butterfly is silencing her/preventing her from talking). The butterfly being in dark colours and also red, suggests it represents the evil in the film, which is silencing the ‘lambs’. Also, there seems to be a skull on the back of the butterfly which adds to the connotation of it being evil; skulls can represent death and helps contribute to the mysterious and sinister atmosphere of the poster.

Unlike many thriller films, the character in the poster is female; if you have not watched the film you may believe that the film has a female protagonist rather than male. This shows how the film has challenged the classic thriller conventions by not having a male protagonist shown in the poster. This may appeal to females more than a poster with a male in it, as it can suggest females in the cast as well as a female protagonist (thrillers tend to have mostly-male casts and protagonists).

The character’s face looks almost emotionless and gives a ‘cold’ feel to the poster. This is a thriller signifier as it is used in many thriller genre posters to advertise films.

Overall, I think the poster does well in attracting attention and showing the audience the style of the film and what it may be about.