Film Poster Conventions

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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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 two most important aspects of the poster.

• 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 this could happen to them.

• 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 away from the main image.

• 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.