This task requires us to be grouped into groups of three to discuss and analyse "Insidious: The Last Key" movie poster using semiotics perspectives. We need to identify the signs and codes within the 'text' to interpret its meanings. Along with identifying the distinctive concept and relationship between the various referents. Discussing the ideological functions of the signs in the text and of the text as a whole. 

The group members are:

- Thiqah Ali

- Melanie Chua

- Kadir Zaini

Synopsis of the movie:

Brilliant parapsychologist Elise Rainier (main character and is the little girl in the poster) receives a disturbing phone call from a man who claims that his house is haunted. Even more disturbing is the address 413 Apple Tree Lane in Five Keys, N.M. the home where Elise grew up as a child. Accompanied by her two investigative partners, Rainier travels to Five Keys to confront and destroy her greatest fear the demon that she accidentally set free years earlier.

Signs & Codes

The spider web at the top somewhat symbolizes the fact that Elise (the main character) is stuck in her past as shown in the movie, the guilt and fear of what she had done. This is emphasized by the character on poster being her child self instead of her present self. The spider web also relates to the story where the whistle was found covered in spider webs. Here, instead of using the whistle, which is the most important object that helped them survive, it uses the web to give a relation between the two. Also, the whistle in the movie is given by the mom of the little girl to her younger brother if he is in need of help.

The teddy bear symbolizes her sanity, where it shows how much force she is using, holding onto the teddy bear greatly to not get engulfed by the creature. Along with her terrified expression which adds on the reasoning behind the teddy bear.

The keys attached to the anonymous fingers which looks thin and vintage represents the antagonist of the story, it hints that whatever the little girl is afraid of is something that is not human. The creepy hands with keys are positioned near the girl because it shows that it is trying to manipulate and use the girl to do something it wants. This acts as a foreshadow of what happened in the movie itself.

The lighting on the poster focuses on the hand with the keys and the face of the little girl, along with a back light that outlines the girl. This shows the strong connection between the two as portrayed in the movie. It also highlights the characters which gave the overall poster a very eerie and strong plot without even watching the movie. The overall lighting of the poster is on the dark side, this is most likely to emphasize on the genre of the movie which is horror. It also gives a sense of fear and empathy towards the little girl. However, to tone down the darkness, lights are apparent at the background and foreground. This gave us a feeling of hope and positiveness towards the movie.

The composition of the character being at the bottom of the poster gives off the impression of fear and overpowered as compared to the blank space that takes up 70% of the poster. The position of the girl, where only three-quarter of the side of her face is shown, shows that she is hiding below what seems to be a bed represents the different position between the girl and the creature. The girl is overshadowed by the creature, it is shown later in the movie that the little girl has no control of herself getting possessed by the creature and committed an act of murder. The background of the poster is blurred out to make viewers attention focus on the foreground which is the main characters of the story. It also invokes a feeling of confusion and curiosity towards viewers because they do are not aware of the space and overall look of the room in the image.

The text IN CINEMA FEBRUARY 8 is to inform viewers the specific date the movie is released in the cinemas. The quote at the very top ‘Childhood fears never end’ relates to the movie where Elise (the little girl in the poster) which is all grown up in the movie itself is still in fear and not letting go of her guilt and actions that she had done back when she was still a child. The text ANNABELLE: CREATION, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY and GET OUT is all highlighted in red. This is to indicate that the producer has worked on some of the most well-known horror films. The title INSIDIOUS: THE LAST KEY, the SI is colored red which could be a relation to the murders that happened in the movie itself as the movie is classified as thriller, horror and mystery.

For the color scheme, the overall color used is a blueish-grey tone which reflects the mood of the movie being serious, psychological phenomenon and melancholic. It could also represent the fact that throughout the whole movie several flashbacks and backstories were used, flashbacks are often portrayed in monochromatic colors which could be a reason behind the limited palette of colors used in the poster.  The blueish tone is also often use to portray feeling of sadness, in this case, it could represent the feeling of Elise, where as a child she was often abused by her father and later lost her mother (the one that have been protecting her) which triggered the feeling of depression and eventually running away from home.