What makes a successful film poster/magazine?

Film Poster 1Looking at Film posters such as

Avatar, one of the most successful films of all time, I have drawn numerous conclusions about what makes a successful film poster. First off, the genre of the film is easily recognized. The humanoid alien and the floating mountains tell us that the film is a Science-Fiction film. Next, the title and the director’s credentials stand out in order to draw the audience’s attention to these pieces of information, telling them that this film is from an incredibly respected director and that it is named Avatar.

Film Poster 2 Another film poster that backs

up my previous points, is the poster for the 1st Harry Potter film. This is an effective poster due to the fact that it immediately tells the viewer that it is a fantasy film due to the Fantasy castle of Hogwarts being in the background and the witch’s hat being worn by one of the characters at the bottom. This film poster is also a very good film poster due to the fact that it catches the viewer’s attention with its bright gold writing, its blue misty background and its focus on the large head of the main character.

Magazine cover 1The main focus of the magazine

cover is Robert Downey JR’s Sherlock Holmes due to the fact that he is shown in an imposing way and he is therefore more likely to capture the audience’s attention than any other aspect on the cover. This signifies that he is the main character of the film. The shadows in the background emphasise the sense of mystery and the adventure that this character will take us on.

Magazine cover 2 This magazine cover is successful due

many different factors. One of these factors is the fact that the magazine has a central focus on the film ‘Inception’, which can be seen very easily due to the giant, central red writing and the star of Inception, Leonardo DiCaprio taking the focus of the poster. This subtley hints at people to go and see the film. The quotation marks and informal language of ‘The Matrix meet 007 “On Steroids”’ creates a buzz for the film as these two action franchises are highly rated and really successful. Finally, the gun in DiCaprio’s hand hints at what the film’s genre is, an action thriller.