Film poster research

Thriller posters

What we can find in thriller poster?

- Often thriller posters shows main character/s, which take up most space in the poster, usually they show they face and their emotion. However there are some poster with long shot, showing setting or some kind of action, which link to the movie.

- Mostly used colours in thrillers are dark colours, for example red or black. However there is also white colour to do contrast and balance.- Font is mostly basic- The title are often placed at the bottom of the poster, also with addition information about movie. The colour of the title are mostly red,

black or white to stand out. - There is data release on it

Comedy posters

What we can find in drama posters?

- Usually drama posters contain bright colours, for example yellow, light blue, white etc. - Posters usually shows main characters, mostly they use long or middle shot. Through these shots audience can notice their facial

expression, which mostly is happy or surprised - There are various style of font which they use to the drama genre, for example one are rounded, one are twisted. - Some posters use special image in titles, for example instead of ‘o’ they put doughnut or in this poster from ‘The hangover’ we can see that

they places ‘the’ in the ‘o’. This can be interpret that drunk people do not know what they are doing - There is data release on it

Horror posters

What we can find in horror poster?

- The most used colours in horror posters are red and black, as they create mystery and fear which links to the genre - Sometimes the font can be scratchy and rough looking, which links to the genre- There is mostly use of low key language, to create tension and mystery - There are mostly some type of tagline, which encourage audience to watch the movie, for example ‘welcome to crystal lake’ or ‘sooner or

later they will fond you’. This types of sentences create enigmas, such as ‘what is means?’ ‘who will find me?’ ‘what is crystal lake?’- On horror posters, as on others genres, audience can find information about movie. For example who produce it, actors and actress, who

are starring etc. - There is release day on it

Drama posters

What we can find in drama poster?

- Colours used in drama posters are mostly bright - There are images with long/middle or close up shot. Mostly they are focus on this type of shots, as they want to show emotion of the

characters. Characters on posters are mostly not looking out of the poster, as it create enigma and mystery. - Some imagines on drama posters are combine together. For example on the poster ‘The Best of Me’ we can see overlap pictures, one when

characters are young and one when they are older but showing the same situation, when they are closely to kissing each other - The titles are basic and mostly in colour which will contrast background. For example in background in white, the title will be in dark colour- The poster contain information about movie and when the movie will be release

What are different types of posters?

Teaser poster - is an early promotional film poster, containing a basic image or design without revealing too much information such as the plot, theme, and characters. The purpose is to incite awareness and generate hype for the film.

Character poster - for a film with an ensemble cast there may be a set of character posters, each featuring an individual character from the film. Usually it contains the name of the actor or the name of the character played. It may also include a tagline that reflects the quality of the character.

Main poster This should normally reflect the genre of the film and have all the necessary information such as: the release date, the name of the film, characters names etc.

Where do film posters get shown and why?

Where? - Billboards - Cinemas- On public transport for example: bus- Bus stops - Tube stations - Street walls - Film magazines - Digital display

Why?

- To gain larger amount of audience, for example, when someone are waiting for train, they see movie poster and they find this interesting and they want to go to see the movie

What is typical size for poster? The standard poster is called ‘one sheet.’ , the size of a ‘one sheet’ is 27 x 41in (portrait format)

Billboards are 246 x 108 in, which is equivalent to 24 sheet

Subway posters or bus stop sizes are 40 x 60in(portrait format)

How are posters appealing/attractive to the audience?

Does the appeal/attraction differ than that on the poster?

Posters attractive audience as they leave enigma, created through the layout or the style how posters was made (MES, linked to differ genres etc), and they want to find out the answers.

Poster is made for wider audience, not only for the those who are in target age. The posters are shown everywhere, so they can attract everyone.

What are conventions?

Main image

The main image on the poster is usually main

character from the movie, so audience have

opportunity to become familiar with them.

In many cases, the main character is played by well

known actor, so this engage biggest number of

audience

On some posters, not on all, we can see one of the setting , for example where

scenes takes place.

However horror posters are slightly different, as audience can see main character (if is on the

poster), but mostly they do not see the face of them, so they are unaware who plays main

character. So the mostly audience are engage to the movie through the use of MES to create

scary effects.

Actor nameOn poster we can also find the names of actors who plays main roles.

This can engage fans to watch the movie with their favourite actor/actress

Title/Credits

On every poster we can notice credits, which usually are written in smaller font than name of the movie or

date of release. Credits contains names of people, companies who

helped in the creation of the movie, for example director

or production company

Release date

Posters purpose is to sale movie and attract audience, so the one of the most important part on poster is release date. This is usually

written in bigger font than credits, as this should be eye-catching.

However on some posters there is no exact they of release, but for example

‘coming soon’ of ‘’this summer’

Tagline

Some posters have taglines, which create enigmas and more attract audience to watch it, as they would like to know what this mean.They are mostly easy to notice and are eye-catching

Websites/social media

On some poster we can find website of the film. This would be so the audience know where to

look for the movie, if they want to find out more about it (including interviews, posters and other

content; including downloads).

What is difference of conventions between different subgenres?

Slasher horror - Main character kills people in drastic way- Lots of violence and scary things

Comedy horror- Main character looks more funny than scary- There is more funny things

What is the similarities of conventions in similar subgenres?

Action thriller - Mysterious man - Guns, weapons- People die

Crime thriller - Mysterious man- Guns, weapons- People die

What are the 3 most prioritised features?

Main actors

Image with main actors

Name of film

The name of the film, which is usually written in big latters is important features because audience need to know what is the name of the movie. Image with main actors is important feature, because it shows who is playing the main role. Through the MES the audience can deduce which genre is it and if they would like the genre, they will go to see the movie.Name of the main actors is important because it shows audience who is playing and also can attract bigger number of audience as well known actor can engage their fans to watch the film.

Summarise how your film poster reinforce conventions

My poster reinforce conventions of the horror movie, as it have dark colours especially black, which creates mysterious atmosphere and fear.

Also the name of horror is written in non basic font and have special effect of blood splash.

The audience can notice straight away what is genre of this movie