Film posters summary

The most important job for a poster is to whet the appetite and look aesthetically pleasing to the viewer - it is afterall a wall decoration. From what has been seen of the posters I have analysed, I have drawn up a list of different conventions and common themes in terms of what posters will do to sell the film (the pictures illustrate an example from my studies in which that item was the case):



1. Showcase the film's characters - the audience needs to see who they are rooting for/against.

2. Showcase the actors - who will these characters be played by/which big names will star, and thus can be used to sell interest.

3. Colour and colour connotations are important both to make the poster stand out and to express secondary meanings.

4. The film title will stand out so the audience knows what they are looking at.
5. The poster is likely to have a tagline. This may hint at the plot, the characters or the themes. Meaning can be obvious or obscure, depending on the genre and the audience.

6. A poster will be likely to have something going on to make it look more exciting, the more exciting and appealing the poster looks, the more interested the audience is going to be in wanting to go and see the film.

7. If the film is based on a book or has others in the series then the poster may make reference to those things so that the audience feels as though its going to be 'loyal' to the original/the series.

8. The release date and extra information will have a place on the screen too so that the audience can find the latest information.