FILM POSTERS

What are they?■ Film posters are a form of promotion for upcoming films. ■ Because a poster is a physical piece, it can be displayed in various

different places, giving the film maximum promotion.■ Places film posters are often seen are; billboards, bus stops, on buses,

underground stations, and in cinemas.

Genre■ It is important that film posters allow the audience to

understand what the genre of the film is.■ This will then determine whether they think they want

to see the film or not.■ For example, the poster for Harry Potter and the

Chamber of Secrets (2002) shows Harry holding a sword, which suggests the film involves elements of the action genre. You can also see Dobby, who is a house elf (a mythical creature), in the corner. This implies the fantasy genre.

Image■ Film posters always contain a focal image which is the first thing

audiences will see, therefore it is an important aspect of the poster.■ These can either be stills from the film or character shots, but they

always contain some type of iconography to suggest the film’s genre.

■ Images portray the narrative of the film, so they have to be directly relevant.

■ There are a variety of different posters for The Perks of Being a Wallflower (I have chosen two).

■ The first one is very bold with the three main characters in the centre. The image takes up the majority of the frame therefore making it prominent.

■ The second one uses an image which fills the whole frame. It isn’t as bright and bold as the other one but it shows more of the characters and a location from the film.

■ In the first poster it is more obvious that the film is a romance because of the way the characters are stood together.

■ The second poster doesn’t reveal as much about the film’s genre but it does introduce more of an idea of the type of locations used.

Title■ A title is an important part of a film poster because it tells the

audience what the film is called.■ It is often quite large so that it stands out.■ However, some film posters don’t include a title. This will only

work for film franchises/companies that are incredibly well known.

■ An example of this some versions of the film posters produced for the final installment of the Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

■ The placement of the title is important because it needs to be obviously visible.

■ The most popular placement seems to be at the bottom of the poster so that the image is the main focal point.

■ However this isn’t always the case; sometimes the title is placed at the top.

Title (cont.) Title above image

Credits■ The names of actors, production/distribution companies,

or directors are often displayed on film posters.■ This will either be because they are well known so are a

way of enticing audiences; or they are lesser known and want to get their names out.

■ If actors’ names are displayed they will either be in quite large font at the top of the poster (this would be for well-known, popular actors); or listed in small font at the bottom of the poster for people to read if they are interested.

Actor’s name

Credits (cont.)Director’s name

Production company name

General credits (actors, producers, etc.)

Ratings

■ Once the film has been screened to critics, the promotion team can re-release film posters to include positive reviews, ratings and comments.

■ This shows the audience that the film is worth watching because critics are recommending it.

■ For example, this poster for Black Swan includes a quote from the prestigious UK film magazine, Empire.

■ As the quote is from a reliable & well-known source, audiences are more likely to believe it.

Awards

■ Film posters sometimes include the awards that actors/directors/films have won/been nominated for.

■ If a film is nominated for/has won an award, it shows it has been well received by audiences. Therefore if a new film involves one of these actors/directors etc, audiences can expect it to be just as good, if not better.

Academy Award Nominee Natalie Portman

Tagline■ Taglines are often used in film promotion to hint as to

what might happen in the film.■ They aim to be memorable so that the audience think

of the upcoming film when they think about the tagline.■ Sometimes there will be multiple taglines for one film

that are used to different types of promotion. For example, the most highly-used line from Forrest Gump is, ‘life is like a box of chocolates…’, but the tagline on the poster is, ‘the world will never be the same again once you’ve seen it through the eyes of Forrest Gump.’

■ The tagline for the poster hints at the narrative of the film whereas the popular line, ‘life is like a box of chocolates’ is more about the idea of a part of the film sticking in the audiences heads.

Release Date

■ It is important for film posters to include the date that the film is being released in cinemas (or DVD).

■ Some posters will show a specific date, whereas others will just show a month, season or simply ‘coming soon’. This is often used if the film is still in production or to create enigma.

Rating■ Ratings are quite rarely shown on the film poster unless it is being

displayed in a cinema.■ However ratings are important because it tells the audience from the

start, who can watch the film.

Extra Information

■ The small print at the bottom of the film poster details the director, producers, actors, soundtrack, production & distribution company.

■ There may also be a web address or social media links so that the audience to follow the find and find out more information.

■ It may also show what types of cinema it will be shown in, e.g. 3D, 4D.■ This information is very small and in a pale colour so that it doesn’t

detract from the image.■ It is usually at the bottom of the poster however some subvert this.

Distribution company logo

Website

Social media links

Small print

Putting it all togetherLarge, bold title

‘Critically acclaimed’- persuasive language

Film tagline-‘We Are Infinite’

Small print

Actors playing the main characters

Images takes up whole poster

Affectionate pose- suggests there will be a romance between these two characters