Poster Research and analysis

Poster Research and Analysis

The purpose of a movie poster is to advertise a film, attracting a target audience to the cinema screens. It needs to connote the genre of the film through the design and theme such as the use of dark colours in a Horror poster or vibrant colours in a comedy. Posters have to be eye-catching with visual persuasive text in order to make the audience want to see the film. I have analysed various posters and similar film posters I wish to emulate. In order to create a poster, I had to identify the conventions of a poster and apply these conventions in my final poster.

Codes and Conventions of a Poster

Title
A film poster will make a clear indication of the films title in order for the audience to recognise other products in relation to the film, for example, a trailer, radio trailer, radio advert and possible merchandising. A film title is typically the dominant font on a poster in order to gain interest of the audience. The typography of a title varies as each font evokes the different genre and possible plot. For Example the typography of The Orphan has a childlike quality as it is handwritten and scrawled.

Credits

A poster features credits to state who produced, directed and features in the film. Often the audience will recognise an actor/actress whom they like and are thus encouraged to view the film. Credits on posters all have a similar style of font, typically Steel Tongs as it is easy to read in a small size font.








Reviews
A generic convention of film posters is the addition of reviews from eligible media sources such as Empire Magazine. The reviews are helpful in enticing the audience to watch the film if the review boasts good things about the film. Typically the review is short and a series of words such as, Best film of the year or scary,frightening and nail bitting.





















Taglines
 Tag lines are a common feature on posters to give a sense of what the film is about in a cryptic and sometimes humorous way. The tag line is typically situated below the title in a smaller size font to the title.












Orphan Poster Analysis