Visual Narrative in a Single Frame: A Semiotic Analysis of the Makmum (2019) Film Poster as a Communication of Horror Aesthetics
Abstract
The Indonesian horror film Makmum (2019) gained critical and popular attention for its distinctive approach to horror, emphasizing psychological tension and spiritual unease over conventional jump scares. As part of its visual communication strategy, the film’s official poster plays a crucial role in conveying its aesthetic and thematic essence. This study applies Roland Barthes’ semiotic theory of denotation, connotation, and myth to analyze how the poster functions as a visual narrative within a single frame, encapsulating the film’s horror aesthetics. Using a qualitative semiotic method, the poster is examined through its core visual elements: composition, lighting, typography, and symbolism. The findings reveal that the poster’s minimalist design and stark contrast lighting effectively evoke the film’s oppressive atmosphere. The central composition, featuring a veiled woman in prayer and a shadowy figure behind her, mirrors the mise-en-scène of spiritual vulnerability and unseen terror. Religious symbols such as the mukena are recontextualized, shifting their connotative meaning from sanctity to threat, thereby constructing a myth of spiritual disturbance rooted in local cultural beliefs. This visual strategy not only reflects the film’s narrative but also prepares the audience psychologically for its thematic depth. The poster becomes more than promotional material; it acts as a semiotic gateway into the film’s emotional and cultural landscape. Thus, the graphic design serves as an extension of the cinematic experience, reinforcing the psychological and spiritual horror embedded in the story.
References
Barthes, R. (1991). Mythologies. Noonday Press.
Beardsley, M. C. (1982). The aesthetic point of view. Cornell University Press.
Bordwell, D., & Thompson, K. (2019). Film art: An introduction (12th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
Chandler, D. (2017). Semiotics: The basics (3rd ed.). Routledge.
Danesi, M. (2010). Semiotics and the media: An introduction. Palgrave Macmillan.
Dondis, D. A. (1973). A primer of visual literacy. MIT Press.
Film Indonesia. (2019). Makmum. https://www.filmindonesia.or.id
Hall, S. (Ed.). (1997). Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices. SAGE Publications.
Hidayat, T. P. (2022). Peran palet warna dan semiotika dalam interpretasi poster film. Tuturrupa, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.24167/tuturrupa.v5i1.10739
Hoed, B. H. (2011). Semiotik dan dinamika sosial budaya. Komunitas Bambu.
Kernan, L. (2004). Coming attractions: Reading American movie trailers. University of Texas Press.
Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading images: The grammar of visual design (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Ly, T. H., & Jung, C. K. (2015). Multimodal discourse: A visual design analysis of two advertising images. International Journal of Contents, 11(2), 50–61.
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldaña, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications.
Pratista, H. (2008). Memahami film. Homerian Pustaka.
Rahmalina, R., Gunawan, W., Saifullah, A. R., & Haristiani, N. (2025). The construction of fear in contemporary Indonesian horror films: A multimodal analysis. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics. https://doi.org/10.17509/pg2df578
Sobur, A. (2016). Semiotika komunikasi. PT Remaja Rosdakarya.
Sunarto, A. (2019). Representasi horor dalam film Indonesia kontemporer. Jurnal Komunikasi Indonesia, 8(2), 115–128.
Tosun, M., & Çetintaş Yıldırım, F. (2023). A visual grammar analysis of a Time magazine cover photo. RumeliDE Journal of Language and Literature Studies.
Turner, G. (1999). Film as social practice (3rd ed.). Routledge.
Wibowo, I. (2020). Narasi visual dan simbolisme dalam poster film horor. Jurnal Seni dan Media, 12(1), 45–58.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with Jurnal Ilmiah Lingua Idea agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-SA 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
.png)
_.png)
