1. Film poster conventions
Film posters are a type of promotion in a physical form,
which can promote the film in variety of places. Some
common places are: billboards, buses, bus stop, the
underground and in the cinema showing upcoming
releases. Aim to catch peoples attention to make them
go and watch the film.
2. Icons are significant within a film poster for the
audience to easily distinguish the genre. The genre
and themes of the poster need to be appropriate
and clear to attract the targeted audience.
From an initial sighting you can tell that this poster is
advertising a comedy film. It shows three main
characters who have quite shocked facial
expressions, with a bold bright red title. The review
is very large and says ‘funny’ which will Instantly
capture someone's attention, along with the
producer of two previous well known comedies. This
would make the viewer more likely to watch this film
if they had enjoyed the previous ones.
This poster immediately
portrays the horror genre. It
appears that there is an isolated
house in a woods setting that is
misty which presents an
ominous atmosphere. There is a
rope hanging on the tree with a
shadow below on the leaves,
having connotations of death
and the soul etc. Additionally,
like the Superbad poster ,there
are also well known horror films
at the top, which would attract
the viewers who have seen and
liked these films.
3. Title The majority of posters contain the
title to spread awareness of the
film and for the audience to
research further information.
However there are some
exceptions for example a teaser
poster or a very famous and well
known film.
“Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows: Part 2”
was an example of a
poster where the title was
absent. The film
distribution company
could afford to do this as
Harry Potter is an
extremely notorious
heptology, with a vast fan
base.
The evil villain – Lord Voldemort
The two main
characters are the
central focus of
the poster.
Harry Potter
The posters tagline creates
emphasis on the ongoing dual over
the seven films between the two
protagonists.
Release date of the film – important
information! – a very final message has a
great impact and therefore a title is tot
necessary.
4. Titles continued…
Dull colours
present some kind
of enigma and
create a more
sinister effect.
The collapsing buildings are
the focal point of the
poster and capture
attention of the audience
as they are intrigued to
find the cause and the
impacts of this.
The title is bold
and red, where
this colour has
many
connotations
some being of
danger, anger
and fire.
The characters fairly spaced out and do not
have a close proximity perhaps reflecting the
relationships between the characters. They
stand out as they are all watching he collapsing
buildings.
Bright colours create a happy
and vibrant atmosphere, with
the white perhaps reflecting
the innocent and purity of the
love and story.
The close
proximity of
the characters
also portray
the
love/drama
genre.
The rain adds
romantic
element.
This tagline depicts the
love and the romantic
genre
Adaptation of a
novel – people
who enjoyed
the book will be
more inclined
to watch the
film –
advantage as
already have a
fan base.
Billing block
Famous actors and
actresses may
draw in fans to
watch the film.
This title is fairly elegant and the flick creates an authentic
feel and looks like handwriting connoting to love letters
perhaps. It is in black, stand out and could also hint that there
are obstacles in the way as black is a negative colour that
usually is associated with dark things such as death.
5. Directors, producers and actors
A special point is made to include the director and
producers name if they are well known and one of
the main selling points of the film. When being an
infamous director or producer the name will be
larger and more visible whereas one who doesn’t
have a big name usually has a smaller print.
Actors names are usually listed at the top or
bottom of the poster. With a small cast the names
that are included are the normally the main
actors. To sell the film the big actors names will
appear amongst a well known film.
There are many versions of the avatar
poster. The directors name James
Cameron is clearly at the top. He is
renowned for his previous successful films
such as Titanic and fans of his work would
have been intrigued to watch Avatar.
This film poster presents an extremely famous actor
and actress with their pictures ad names in bold at the
top. People who are fans of their acting and previous
films would want to watch this. The genre is very clear
of an action film where funs are visible an the colour
red in the title presents danger, love, passion etc.
6. Quotes
Ratings On this particular film
Recommendations
poster they have included
multiple reviews and
quotes from well
recognised companies for
example ‘BBC Radio Live’
and the magazine ‘Little
White Lies’. Therefore this
will more likely be a
persuasive factor for
people to watch the film
from these reliable
comments.
The promotion team are
able to re-create and edit
posters and trailers to
incorporate the positive
the positive review. This
helps for the film to have
more awareness and more
likely to grab peoples
attention to come and
watch it. Just like reviews
awards can also be a
selling point.
‘The Woman in Black’
is easily recognised as
a thriller and the
quote ‘Don’t watch it
alone’ instantly
captures the
audience and would
make them excited
and scared to watch
the film.
7. The release date is important so
the viewers know when they can
see the film in the cinemas.
Different types are used:
‘Coming soon’
Season
Exact date
Month
Purpose of the information
bring small is to not detract
from the main picture and
title. In this example the
main focus is on the title,
the images of the two
mean and the main stars’
names.
A website is usually at the
bottom also for the audience
to gain more information.
The small print is located at the bottom and
contains: name of the director, producers, actors,
soundtrack, production company and screenplay.
Billing Block
8. Taglines
‘They stole his identity
now he wants it back.’
Part of the trilogy of
Bourne films, this is a
strong tagline following
the first film where it
creates enigma fro the
audience and they want
to discover more of the
story and how he plans
to retrieve his identity.
Taglines are used
to engross the
audience into the
film and hint at the
narrative. They
trigger excitement
and confusion.
