Elements of a Successful Movie Poster

Grabbing the audience’s attention

• The four-step technique known as “AIDA” is used in this order -attention, interest, desire, and action. It is used in a wide range of advertising campaigns to refer back to when considering the audience of the text.

• “Grabbing the attention” of people passing the poster is important because as a marketer you want as many people to notice the film as possible. The more people that notice the film, the more will go to see it.

• Using the film’s characters or a major plot point is a common feature as it means that the story is still being told while attracting attention of potential audience.

Grabbing the audience’s attention• This website used “The Hangover”

posters as examples. These are good examples as none of the pictures reveal too much about the film but the bright lighting and simple layout makes them attractive and “grabs attention”.

• I will use the AIDA technique in the production of my poster when I design my mock up. I will consider using editing techniques such as making the image look mysterious through colour.

Iconography

• Identifying main themes in the film without actually telling the story makes a good movie poster.

• Using imagery can establish the film’s plot while looking iconic. Linking back to my first point, iconography can be a good way of catching the audiences attention without revealing too much about the film.

Iconography• This poster advertising the hit show

“True Blood” uses tactics that have been used by many advertisers for a long time - sex appeal, contrast, and spacing. These all grab the audiences attention. The use of blood and fangs gives a glimpse of what the film is about yet markets to “casual observers” and horror fans at once.

• Iconography will also be considered when I design the mock up of my poster. I have considered making a wooden sign displaying “Welcome to Woodwich”. This will be an iconic prop that would be used in the film. It could work as it is attractive and tells the story without revealing a storyline.

Interests and Incentives

• If a film is very original and it just cannot be explained with iconography, using an image that gives the audience an idea of the story is a technique that designers resolve to.

• Creating tension and an incentive to know what will happen next occurs when designers use an image that comes from a scene from the film.

Interests and Incentives• The poster from “Inception” uses the

incentive technique and creates curiosity which in turn could create an audience.

• “This type of design strategy tends to work best with films that cover unrealistic, fantasy-type events, particularly those that deal with the supernatural or psychological.”

• I will use this technique in my poster. I have considered my central image to be the car of Sam Baker driving into the Woodwich village. This reveals the beginning of the film and opens up curiosity of what may happen next.

Creating “fans”

• Any successful media product has a group of niche “fans” that it appeals to. However, the aim of marketing is to create as wide as an audience as possible.

• “Old fans” can be relied on no matter the review coverage or promotional materials. Films that are not a sequel to something that has been successful can use this technique by using techniques that are similar of something that has been successful.

Creating “fans”• Because the poster that I am

creating belongs to an independent film production line, and none of the actors are well known, the poster depends on other techniques. However, I am going to conform to techniques that have been successful in other posters to make my poster attractive.

• This seems to have been done with the posters on the left.

Style

• Some of the biggest selling films with the most memorable posters have used their own house style throughout all of their advertising techniques.

• This technique is good for capturing an audience as it means that each text is in instantly recognisable to each other. The audience will have an idea of what the film is about through the style used in all of its promotion.

Style• A good example of house style is

the technique used by the designers of “Jaws”. They knew what would sell is the grotesque teeth of the shark. This is a good example as whenever we think of this film, this is the image that we associate it with.

• In my ancillary texts, the house style that I will create will involve the use of the wooden sign, “Welcome to Woodwich”. I hope to use a rustic, wooden background for my website homepage and want to use the sign as part of my poster.

A Lasting Appeal

• It must be considered that being too creative with your advertising texts could in the future be a downfall. This is because to create a style, they must be used in future marketing techniques. After release, the poster may become a fraction of its original size for the DVD release.

• While most blockbusters use the same design for their DVD release and their poster, it is becoming more common to create a different design. Yet, this may not conform to the specific “house style”.

A Lasting Appeal• Consider the promotion for the

“Jurassic Park” film. It looks simple and is easily recognisable by its audience. This gives it advantages during DVD release as the audience will know which film they are looking for.

• Although I am not creating a DVD release or any form of post production marketing, I will consider keeping a specific house style. Simplicity will make my poster more professional and so match up to my website homepage.

Picture and Information References

http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/02/7-elements-of-a-great-movie-poster-design/

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/eb/JAWS_Movie_poster.jpg