Film posters use conventions to effectively promote and advertise films. Common conventions include displaying the film title largest on the poster, including the main character and hints of the narrative in the main image, adding taglines to intrigue audiences, and placing institutional details and the release date smaller at the bottom. Following these conventions helps draw attention and excite target audiences.

2. Film posters are a way of promotion, and usually go alongside a trailer. Because film posters are a
physical form of art work, they can be put in many different places in order to promote the film.
Common places we see film posters include billboards, bus stops, underground stations, and cinemas.
By using film posters as a form of promotion, audience’s will see the advert and be likely to look out
for more information on the film. The main aim of a poster is to catch people’s attention in order for
them to read the information, such as the film’s name and possibly the release date.
Including conventions on film posters is important in attracting the target audience’s attention; if the
audience sees something they’re familiar with, they’ll immediately know what genre it belongs to,
and whether they’ll like the film or not.

3. • In order to attract audiences, sometimes teaser posters
are released early on in the promotional process; this
reveals the name of the film to the audience, but
doesn’t hit too much at the narrative. Usually, teaser
posters are simple, containing one image and little/no
writing. Teaser posters are effective because they excite
audiences, making them want to find out more about
the film. An example of a teaser poster is on the right,
advertising ‘toy story 3’. Although just a simple ‘3’ on
the page, fans of ‘Toy Story’ will be aware that this is
advertising a third film due to the use of colours and
font. A release date is included to excite the audiences,
and ensure they don’t miss the film. Including a small
hint to the narrative at the top of the poster makes
audience’s wonder why toy’s would be left behind in the
first place, making them even more curious and excited
to watch the film.

4. • Some films will also release a series of
different posters all advertising the same
film. This is done in order to keep
excitement in fans, almost as a way of
revealing more about the film on each
poster. It also ensures that audiences
don’t forget about a film, if there’s a gap
between the release date of the poster
and the actual film. An example of this is
for ‘Scream’. All of the posters on the
right advertise scream, with each of them
revealing a bit more about the film. For
example, in some of the scream posters,
we’re presented with just the mask of the
killer, some with the weapons, and some
with the sacrificial lamb, final girl and
other characters. By doing this,
audience’s become aware of the sub-
genre, and become more excited with
each poster.

5. • One convention of film posters is the inclusion of iconography in order to immediately tell the audience what genre
the film belongs to. For example, in the horror film posters below, we see a masked killer holding a machete, and a
masked killer with blades on his gloves; this immediately tells the audience that the film belongs to the slasher
sub-genre of horror. This would attract slasher fans and make them interested in watching the film. Iconography
also reveals to the audience more about the narrative, for example, as seen in the posters below for ‘Expendables’
and ‘The Dark Night’, both are action films, and both feature fire/explosions. This would tell the audience that the
film is going to include a lot of drama and fighting, attracting fans of this genre to watch these films.

6. • Another convention of film posters is that the main
image should take up the majority of the poster; this is
done in order to ensure that audience’s aren’t presented
with too much writing and information, as this would put
them off. The main image usually consists of the main
character and a hint to the narrative; this is done to
reveal to the audience who the main character is,
allowing them to focus on that character more, as well as
hinting the narrative, exciting audiences. An example of
this is the poster for ‘The Hunger Games’ as seen to the
right. From this poster, audiences become aware that
Katniss is the main character of the film, along with the
fact that she will be fighting against something.
• Direct address is another convention of film posters, and
is used as a way of drawing the audience in. By having
the character on the main image to be making eye
contact with the audience, they feel as if they’re
personally being told to go and watch the film. In both
posters to the right of ’Hall Pass’ and ‘Poltergeist’, direct
address is being made. When looking at horror films, eye
contact is made in order to make the audience fear the
antagonist on the front, making them feel like they could
be a victim. When the protagonist is on the front,
audience's feel like it is their responsibility to help them,
therefore they are persuaded to watch the film.

7. • Release date’s are also placed on film posters in order to ensure that audience’s don’t
forget when the film is coming out. By doing this, fans will definitely go and watch the
film as their excitement will be building up until that date. The release date is usually
placed at the bottom of the poster in a bigger font than the institutional information;
this is done to make audience’s remember the date and look at the whole poster. This
can be seen in the posters for ‘Oculus’ and ‘Monsters Inc’.
• Another common film poster convention is that the title of the film is always the largest
text on the poster. This is to ensure that it stands out so the audience instantly know
what film is being advertised, as well as ensuring that audience’s wont miss it on big
billboards and posters etc. This convention can be seen across film posters from all
genres, as seen in the images below. Most of the time, the name of the poster is placed
towards the bottom third of the image. However this isn’t always the case as seen
below with ‘Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs’; in this poster, the title has been
placed at the top in order to create a falling effect, fitting in with the narrative and the
image around it.

8. • Commonly, poster’s feature a tagline in order to reveal a bit about
the narrative to the audience. Taglines are used to excite audiences,
making them want to find out more about what they’ve been told.
Although taglines differ in position depending on each poster/genre,
when looking at horror films, taglines are usually placed at the top
of the poster. This attracts the audience immediately, making them
want to find out more about the antagonist or protagonist, and why
they’re in that situation. For example, in the poster on the right for
‘The Return’, we see the tagline ‘the past never dies. It kills’. This
intrigues the audience, making them wonder what’s happened in
the main character’s past, and why its going to kill. When taglines
aren’t positioned at the top, we see ‘from the director/producer
of…’. This is another common way of attracting audiences as if
they’re fans of that director or film, they would immediately be
interested in watching the film being promoted. This can be seen in
the poster on the right for ‘Sinister’. At the top of this poster we see
‘from the producer of ‘paranormal activity’ and ‘insidious’’; two
films that are very similar to sinister, therefore attracting audiences.
Taglines are usually seen as the second largest piece of text on the
page; this attracts them to the poster, reading it first and then
looking down to the name. However, it ensures that no attention is
taken away from the image or the name of the film, which are the
t w o m o s t i m p o r t a n t a s p e c t s o f t h e p o s t e r.

9. • Reviews and recommendations are also regularly seen on film
posters. This is done in order to increase the audience’s enthusiasm
towards the film as they’re personally being told to watch it. By
finding out that a film has a good rating, audience’s are persuaded
into believing it, and therefore going out and watching the film,
especially if the rating is from a trustable source. This can be seen
on the film poster for ‘The King’s speech’. At the top of this film
poster, we see two reviews, both giving the film a five start rating
and their opinions on the film. This would attract audiences to go
out and watch this film as they’re told it is ‘an absolute must see’.
• In the case of certain films, especially horror films, another
convention of film posters is text reading ‘based on a true story’.
This creates horror for the audiences, as they’d believe that this
could also happen to them, along with adding a sense of realism to
the film. This can be seen in the horror film poster to the right for
‘The Haunting in Connecticut’, where we’re presented with ‘based
on true events’. Although the film is over-exaggerated on these
events, audiences are still aware of the background of the narrative,
increasing fear that th is could ha ppen to th em .

10. • Institutional information is also frequently seen
on film posters, and is placed at the bottom of
the poster in order to avoid catching to much
attention. The purpose of institutional
information is so the audience can find out
more about the film stars and directors.
Although fans may be interested in this, it is
written in small writing because it’s not the
most important aspect of the film poster. This
can be see in the film poster to the right for
‘definitely, maybe’ where the institutional
information is coloured only slightly darker
than the white background in order to make it
blend in, and put focus on the image and name
of the film. Another example of this is the
poster for ‘Drag Me To Hell’ where the
institutional information is written in orange;
this is done in an attempt for it to blend in with
the flames, again ensuring no attention is taken
a w a y f r o m t h e m a i n i m a g e .

11. • By looking at poster conventions both generally and within the horror genre, I have learnt
more about what should be included on our poster when it comes to the production stage. In
order to make our poster effective, I have learnt that I need to include my main character as
the largest image on the page, as well as including the release date and tagline in the correct
positions. By following these conventions when making our poster, it will be more effective in
luring in our target audience, and attracting horror fans to our promotional package.