Film Posters

FILM POSTERS

Posters and trailers have been used to promote films for many years, but the nature of film marketing and promotion has changed a great deal since the 1990s. However, posters are still a vital part of the marketing process, so it is always worthwhile studying their key conventions.

Poster conventions � an eye-catching image or

images — often related to characters (and the stars in the film) or the setting of the film

� the title of the film, carefully

constructed in terms of font

style, colour, size and

placement: a lot of thought

goes into the title - it is

meant to be memorable,

and also to suggest the

genre of the film � a tagline for the film - which is

like the catchy slogans of advertisements - offering another clue to the genre and main themes or content of the film

� the names of well-known or

key people connected to

the film. These are usually

the lead actors but may

also be the director or

producer. � endorsements from other

media productions (for example, Empire magazine) giving their comments such as 'an unmissable film'

� details of any award nominations or awards that the film has already won.

These will be placed clearly on the poster. � The production 'blurb' (credit block) — information, in tiny print, that lists the

production and distribution companies as well as other information.

For your Controlled Assessment you must be able to show that you not only know the convention of a film poster but that you can also analyse a film poster using denotation and connotation.

The poster uses both images and text to give us this information. The most important image is called the key image, because it is the key to what the film is about, but there could be background images too. The most important text is the title graphics and the names of the stars and the director. The tag line helps us to remember the film and the credit block tells us who produced and distributed the film. Every part of the poster is carefully put together to encourage us to want to see the film.

POSTERS – GENERAL QUESTIONS

• What is the title of the film? What can you say about the way in which the title graphics have been written?

• What does the title of the film suggest about the film?

• Does the title link in any way with the images?

• What is the tag line? What does it suggest about the film?

• Describe the key images on your poster. Why have they been chosen? What other pictures can you see?

• What do you think the film will be about? What genres of film will it be? What makes you say this?

• What does the layout of the poster say about the film?

• What does the use of colour suggest about the film or the characters?

• Who is starring in the film? Where are the stars’ names placed on the poster? Why?

• What questions does the poster raise in your mind?

• What do you think are the most important elements on the poster? Complete the task on the board, then using the example opposite and the questions above analyse the Transformers film poster.