Research into film posters

1. Research Into Film Posters
By Ellisha Summer Clapham

2. What is the purpose of a film poster?
• The purpose of a film poster is to advertise a
particular film by portraying it in a positive way.
• Producers of a film will never show any negative
feedback it has received as this will not attract a
wide audience.
• Film posters will do anything they can to
positively promote their film, often exaggerating
certain aspects such as a good review received
into a great one.

3. What does a film poster include?
• It will include the title of the film presented in a way that stands out
amongst the entirety of the image and other text; such as a larger font or
a brighter coloring.
• It will feature either one large image relating to the film as the
background, or several smaller images relating to the film: or in some
cases, a mixture of both.
• The BBFC rating is featured to inform the audience of what this film may
contain and what age group it would be appropriate for.
• Any good reviews from magazines and/or other publications, star-ratings
and any positive comments made about the film in newspapers are also
featured.
• If there is any famous actors/actresses or a famous director in the film
then this will be made a feature considering it helps to ‘sell’ the films
likeability.
• It will also inform the audience of the release date of the film or at least
state that it is ‘coming soon’.

4. But…
• More importantly, film posters should be able to
inforce the genre of their film in the short time it
takes for a person to glance past the poster.
• This is connoted by the semiotics and mise-en-
scene and any typical conventions of that genre.
• For example: a children’s cartoon film poster
should feature bright, primary colours; a horror
should feature black and red; a romance should
feature pink, white and red.

5. Examples of this:
Childs: Horror: Romance:

6. Children’s Film Poster:
‘Wreck-It Ralf’We can observe the primary
colours used to appeal to an
audience of young children such
as red, blue, orange and purple.
Since cartoon characters are a
typical convention of children's
films, there is a large cartoon
image of the main character,
Ralf, showing he is the
protagonist. The rest of the
characters are smaller in size
and positioned behind him to
show their sub ordinance to this
character.
The text is displayed in capital
letters to easily draw the eye of
the audience: the children and
their parents.
The production company’s
logo is positioned in a fairly
large font in order to be easily
noticed by the audience and
reflects the genre of this film
without even needing to state
it in the poster. This is because
Disney are a conglomerate
production company that aim
their products to a primary
audience of children. The fact
that the renowned company is
mentioned gives the film a
positive appearance; making
people want to see the film
based on Disney’s successful
reputation.

7. Horror Film Poster:
‘Mirrors’The overall black colour scheme
instantly creates the sense that
this film is a horror as black is a
typical convention of this genre.
Alike to the previous poster, this
film also shares a large image of
the protagonist. However, this
image connotes fear and injects a
sinister tone to the poster due to
the characters terrified expression.
The text at the top of the poster
advertises that the film is a
product of the same director as a
successful horror film- ‘The Hills
Have Eyes”- so that any fans of
the said film will be inclined to
watch this one.
The capitalisation of the
text reflects the dramatic
storyline, as well as
capturing the attention of
the audience considering it
makes the message of the
poster stand out amongst
the other competition in
the market. The decision of
the font of the title to be in
red instantly draws the eye
to the main focal point of
the entire poster whilst the
reflected ‘R’ relates to the
context considering the film
is about mirrors.

8. Romance Film Poster:
‘Gone With The Wind’
The exclamitive text “The
most magnificent picture
ever!” is a prime example of
how some film producers can
exaggerate their products.
Despite this, the heading
would have persuaded a
1930’s audience to watch the
film as well as drawing the eye
of the audience considering
the individual font is different
to the other font on the page.
The colours on the page
enforce the romance
genre of the film.
Red being a colour that
connotes passion and
love, and white
connoting innocence
and purity.

9. Colours in film posters
• The colours featured in a film poster can have
dual meanings. This is why it is important for
producers to select the right colours when
attempting to advertise the genre of their film.
• For example, red is a colour which carries a dual
meaning. In romance, the colour is represented
to signify love and passion; in horror, the colour is
represented to signify blood and gore.

10. For example:
Romance: Horror:
We can clearly observe this is a romance
genre due to the image of the two
characters embracing, both sporting happy
expressions. The female’s flowery dress
also shows this as flowers are a typical
convention of the romance genre. The
soft, white font of the text connotes
innocence and purity.
Despite sharing similar colours, this poster
is obviously of the horror genre due to the
terrifying ‘horror’ image used to evoke fear
and the smoky effect surrounding it which
suggests something sinister. Also, the
elements of black at the bottom of the
poster could foreshadow a horrific ending
to the film. The capitalisation of the text
creates a dramatic tone.