Conventions of posters for films

1. CONVENTIONS OF FILM
POSTERS

5. FILM POSTERS
Film posters are essentially a piece of advertising or promotion
for a film; Their purpose is to sell the film to you so you will want
to go and see it. Film posters are designed to be eye catching,
informative, attractive and generally visually stimulating.
Film posters are also designed to be almost a representation of
the entire film condensed into one image, so by seeing the poster,
you essentially are being given a representation of the genre and
general feel/themes of the film.

6. INFORMATION
Posters themselves are generally informative..

7. INFORMATION
..so film posters are no different. As well as forming the
prospective audience of the genre and possible main themes of
the film, usually other information will be included too, such as a
period for release or maybe a website associated with the film.

8. NAMES
Other important information that will usually be on a film poster is a director
or producers name. This is especially true if the person is well known. If the
director or producers name is not especially featured on the poster, the name
of the actor playing the main character/big actor in the film will be.

9. FILM POSTERS
Featuring the name of a big name actor/director/producer will be effective in
attracting audiences who are already fans of that actor/director/producer. For
example:
The name ‘Jessica Alba’ is
featured in clear lettering
above the film title, so it is
very easy to see. As well as
her name being featured, the
poster itself is also a picture
of her, so an audience may
have seen a Jessica Alba film
before, recognised either her
name or her picture, and
gone to see ‘The Eye.’

10. QUOTE/REVIEW
Some posters may also feature a quote or a line from a review from someone
who has seen the film. The quote is usually from a respected institution in the
media industry, and has been put on the poster to be impressive. When
audiences see that this film being advertised received 5 stars from prestigious
film magazine ‘Empire,’ they are going to be more likely to invest in going to
see it.

11. TAGLINE
A tagline will probably also feature. A tagline is almost like a slogan for the
film, which is a final effort in trying to grab the audience by giving away the
tone of the film.