Film posters are a type of promotion in a physical form,

which can promote the film in variety of places. Some

common places are: billboards, buses, bus stop, the

underground and in the cinema showing upcoming

releases. Aim to catch peoples attention to make them

go and watch the film.

Film poster conventions

Icons are significant within a film poster for the

audience to easily distinguish the genre. The genre and themes of the poster need to be appropriate and clear to attract the targeted audience.

From an initial sighting you can tell that this poster is advertising a comedy film. It shows three main characters who have quite shocked facial expressions, with a bold bright red title. The review is very large and says ‘funny’ which will Instantly capture someone's attention, along with the producer of two previous well known comedies. This would make the viewer more likely to watch this film if they had enjoyed the previous ones.

This poster immediately portrays the horror genre. It appears that there is an isolated house in a woods setting that is misty which presents an ominous atmosphere. There is a rope hanging on the tree with a shadow below on the leaves, having connotations of death and the soul etc. Additionally, like the Superbad poster ,there are also well known horror films at the top, which would attract the viewers who have seen and liked these films.

TitleThe majority of posters contain the title to spread awareness of the film and for the audience to research further information.

However there are some exceptions for example a teaser poster or a very famous and well known film.

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” was an example of a poster where the title was absent. The film distribution company could afford to do this as Harry Potter is an extremely notorious heptology, with a vast fan base.

The evil villain – Lord Voldemort

The two main characters are the central focus of the poster.

Harry Potter

The posters tagline creates emphasis on the ongoing dual over the seven films between the two protagonists.

Release date of the film – important information! – a very final message has a great impact and therefore a title is tot necessary.

Titles continued…Dull colours present some kind of enigma and create a more sinister effect.

The characters fairly spaced out and do not have a close proximity perhaps reflecting the relationships between the characters. They stand out as they are all watching he collapsing buildings.

The collapsing buildings are the focal point of the poster and capture attention of the audience as they are intrigued to find the cause and the impacts of this.

The title is bold and red, where this colour has many connotations some being of danger, anger and fire.

This title is fairly elegant and the flick creates an authentic feel and looks like handwriting connoting to love letters perhaps. It is in black, stand out and could also hint that there are obstacles in the way as black is a negative colour that usually is associated with dark things such as death.

Bright colours create a happy and vibrant atmosphere, with the white perhaps reflecting the innocent and purity of the love and story.

The close proximity of the characters also portray the love/drama genre.

The rain adds romantic element.

This tagline depicts the love and the romantic genre

Adaptation of a novel – people who enjoyed the book will be more inclined to watch the film –advantage as already have a fan base.

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Famous actors and actresses may draw in fans to watch the film.

Directors, producers and actorsA special point is made to include the director and producers name if they are well known and one of the main selling points of the film. When being an infamous director or producer the name will be larger and more visible whereas one who doesn’t have a big name usually has a smaller print.

Actors names are usually listed at the top or bottom of the poster. With a small cast the names that are included are the normally the main actors. To sell the film the big actors names will appear amongst a well known film.

There are many versions of the avatar poster. The directors name James Cameron is clearly at the top. He is renowned for his previous successful films such as Titanic and fans of his work would have been intrigued to watch Avatar.

This film poster presents an extremely famous actor and actress with their pictures ad names in bold at the top. People who are fans of their acting and previous films would want to watch this. The genre is very clear of an action film where funs are visible an the colour red in the title presents danger, love, passion etc.

Quotes

Recommendations

RatingsOn this particular film poster they have included multiple reviews and quotes from well recognised companies for example ‘BBC Radio Live’ and the magazine ‘Little White Lies’. Therefore this will more likely be a persuasive factor for people to watch the film from these reliable comments.

The promotion team are able to re-create and edit posters and trailers to incorporate the positive the positive review. This helps for the film to have more awareness and more likely to grab peoples attention to come and watch it. Just like reviews awards can also be a selling point.

‘The Woman in Black’ is easily recognised as a thriller and the quote ‘Don’t watch it alone’ instantly captures the audience and would make them excited and scared to watch the film.

The release date is important so the viewers know when they can see the film in the cinemas.

Different types are used: ‘Coming soon’ SeasonExact date Month

The small print is located at the bottom and contains: name of the director, producers, actors, soundtrack, production company and screenplay.

Purpose of the information bring small is to not detract from the main picture and title. In this example the main focus is on the title, the images of the two mean and the main stars’ names.

A website is usually at the bottom also for the audience to gain more information.

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Taglines

‘They stole his identity now he wants it back.’ Part of the trilogy of Bourne films, this is a strong tagline following the first film where it creates enigma fro the audience and they want to discover more of the story and how he plans to retrieve his identity.

Taglines are used to engross the audience into the film and hint at the narrative. They trigger excitement and confusion.