Exploration of the Codes and Conventions of Film Posters

1. Codes and
Conventions of Film
Posters

2. What’s the purpose?
• It must be eye catching & captivating to the audience
• There must be a focal picture that will draw in the
audience’s eye
• The title of the film must be obvious
• It clearly defines the film’s genre
• Designed to attract the largest possible audience
• Usually an indication of when the film is being released –
Date or ‘Coming Soon’ or less specific ’In Cinemas This
Summer’
• Credit Block – Director & Producer info

3. Written Codes (Language)
‘A comedy about
growing up … and
the bumps along
the way.’
This dialogue is
ironic, because from
the iconography we
can see that this girl
is a pregnant
teenager. As the
quote from a critic
situated in the right
hand corner of the
poster tells us, this
is a comedy, so the
snappy tagline
anchors this and
may encourage
people to watch the
film.
Some of the actors
names are running
along the top of the
page, which is a way
of trying to entice
people to watch the
film as if they like
one of these actors
they may want to see
them perform.

4. Typography
The text at the top of the poster tells us that this
film is ‘from the directors of…’ However, the text
is smaller than the rest as this information may
entice people who have enjoyed the other films
to watch it, but is not the most important part of
this particular film.
A colour-change here is used to make the phrase
‘but her life is,’ stand out from the rest of the
sentence. This tells the audience that the film is
about Georgia’s ‘mental’ life, the word mental is
funny as it is unusual, so it may make people
interested in the film.
The words ‘angus’ ‘thongs’ and ‘snogging’ are all
in larger font than ‘and perfect.’ These narrative
cues signifies the themes of the film, making them
clear to the audience. The fact that the word
snogging is larger than all of the others connotes
a possible a theme of love; anchored by teenage
representation, this theme of love will be more
‘coming of age’ or dramatic…
Also, consider the use of lower case letters in the
Film Title...

5. Photographs and Illustrations
This film poster has used
a visual representation of
a doughnut ring shape in
exchange for the letter ‘O’,
which creates comedy.
This is effective as Homer
Simpson, one of the main
characters, is known for
his love of doughnuts.
We assume that it is
Homer’s hand reaching for
the doughnut (audience
expectation)
The fact that
Homer’s hand is
reaching up and
taking the doughnut
is also funny
because from one
simple image we
can see everything
that is loved about
the Simpsons; the
iconic yellow skin,
Homer’s body size
and his greediness.

6. Lighting
The lighting in this picture seems very
peaceful, as a bright yellow sunset is low
in the sky, covered by blue/pink clouds
overhead. The blue gives a calm sense,
whereas the yellow sun signifies peace.
However, the dark clouds rising
overhead give a sense of something
looming over the main character which
suggests that something may not be as
it seems. This is anchored by the bottles
of alcohol underneath the man’s sunbed,
as this is not normally associated with
peace, more so chaos and trouble.
The lighting here is artificial, used to
enhance it’s effect. The use of high-key
& low-key lighting anchors this binary
opposition within the narrative.

7. Camera Angle and Shot
The straight-on, extreme close up shot
enhances the baby’s foot, which is an
important way of symbolising ‘the tree
of life.’ This camera angle allows it to
be the main aspect of the poster
design, while the extreme close-up
enhances each line on the baby’s foot,
paying attention to the detail and
relating to the themes in the film.

8. Colour Schemes
The colour black
can symbolise
death, loss of
hope,
spookiness, fear.
The colour
scheme in this
poster is red,
black and white.
The colour red
can signify
danger, blood,
death and
murder.
The colour white
connotes ghosts,
mystery and the
unknown,
anchored by the
smoky effect in
which it is used.
The colours in this
poster all relate to the
thriller/horror genre,
due to their
connotations.

9. Title of the film –
typography is
different from the rest
of the written codes.
A catch
phrase/tagline
for the film to
entice someone to
watch it. Has to
be a very brief
idea of what the
film would
entail.
Image of the main
character or just an
image which is very
relevant to the film.
If the image is
brightly coloured
and excitable you
can guess it is a
comedy, however the
image represents the
genre so it’s
important it is clear
what genre the film
is.
All the distributors,
copy right
information and the
crew of the film is to
be listed at the
bottom (Credit
Block)
Main cast members is to
be shown clearly, which
denotes Star Appeal.

10. They often have
an example of the
film creators
previous work to
give an idea of
what to expect
from the new film.
This image clearly
shows it is a comedy
genre as it’s a funny
images and denotes a
man laughing.
Suggesting
laughing is what you
will do whilst
watching the film.
(Audience
Gratification)
Main characters as
often the cast of a
film depends on
whether people will
watch it or not. If
it’s got unknown
people starring
people are less
likely to watch it.
Often shows
the date of
release so
viewers can get
excited and
plan to see it.

11. All three film posters have similar generic conventions. They all show the title
of the film, and the genre of all three films is clearlyrepresented by the images
used on them. At the bottom of both ‘Step Brothers’ and ‘The Last Exorcism’ it
shows the date of which the film will be released. On all three film posters
there’s a small print of the producers/distributorsof the film which is a
convention which seems to be on most posters. Also, as the actors in ‘Step
Brothers’ and ‘Love Happens’ are well known it says their names at the top of
the poster because people enjoy going to see a film with a successful starring
role in it. All three posters have catchy slogans which also present the genre.

12. Generic conventions of
horror film posters.

13. An extreme close up image of an eye
is often a generic convention used in
a horror movie poster. A
manipulation of the eye is often used
to cause it to “creep out” anyone who
see’s it due to it’s eerie and unusual
look. The cropped image of the eye
also signifies the fear they are feeling
as the eyes are often widened with
fear. This creates enigma codes as
nothing can be seen other than this
terror-filledeye. In the poster for ‘The
Candy Man’ we see a silhouette of a
person within the eye. Using an eye
as a horror film posters image is
effective as it can be manipulated in
many ways to cause it to look scary.
This also creates a teaser for the
audience as it gives away very little
(enigmatic).

14. Many horror films are set in an eerie house which is often
(especially in more supernatural films) where the evil and
the horror originates. Blood and gore films sometimes also
take place in a house. Usually the house is surrounded by
lots of darkness to create that eerie feel to it. The appearance
of the house is often very old fashioned looking and not very
looked after which is unsettling for an audience as most
people associate home with safety and comfort.

15. - The main character will usually be shown in a dark light
to add uncertainty and fear of the unknown.
- In horror film posters, it has become common for font to
be almost child-like.This type of font may not be in a
straight line and it would be very informal in
comparison to the Serif or Script font just like how a
young childwould write.
- Dull colours – symbolic of fear and loneliness. This is to
reflectthe genre of the film and also the emotions of the
characters.
- The charactersshown on a horror film poster are
genericallythe main antagonist or the protagonist.
They will never be very detailed as the producers would
want to keep this a mystery.
- The posters background is also typically very dark (low
key lighting) to keep the audience unaware of what the
setting is of the film.
- Iconic films such as the Scream franchise depict an
iconic mask worn by the antagonist, which is now a well
known merchandise product on a global scale.
- A dark background makes the foreground image stand
out indicating that it has a significant role in the film.