Film Poster Research: Conventions

Film poster research: Conventions

Most film posters share these common conventions (numbered accordingly):

1- Film Title: This has to stand out as it is the name of the film that the poster is promoting.

2- Name of the main star(s): Well-known actors easily attract interest as the audience may have seen them before in a similar genre film and big stars names on the poster promote the film as some people will watch a film just because a certain actor/acrtress is staring . EG: Bruce Willis is associated with action films (hostage, die hard) while Richard Gere is associated with love films ( pretty women, save the last dance)

3- Picture of the main star: By putting the most well-known star on the film poster, the movie shows-off the fame of the star as people will recognise them aswell as hinting to possible themes in the film.

4- Tagline: Film poster taglines are catchy and enticing short phrases. They are used to advertise and promote the movie and they also sum up the plot or key themese in the movie.

5- Billing Block: The billing block covers all information related to the making of the film aswell as all promoters and advertisers. In the billing block you will find all key-staff names however the text is very cramped to fit it all in such a small amount of space.

Film posters try to create an element of attraction to the audience, they draw people in and make the audience interested, the tagline usually creates some thought in the viewers mind and could persuade them to go and watch the film.

Some films which might not boast the biggest stars tend to opt for a single iconic image which also draws the audiences attention to the tagline. This leaves the audience thinking about the image and how its related to the film. The film ‘saw’ has become very well known for its original posters which convey the movie number as a image. EG 2 fingers connoting the film title ‘Saw 2’

A new convention in film posters are taking their film posters to the next level by using effective imagery which have a hidden meaning, these posters are very eye catching and move away from the typical conventions of putting the main star on the cover. 'The Descent' film poster shows a circle of bodies grouped up in a way to reveal a skull. The viewer however would be drawn into the poster by the skull before realising that infact it is just a group of girls. This also reveals the genre to the film as the skull signafies horror.

Filip Hazel