Film Poster Conventions

FILM POSTER CONVENTIONS

Just as other forms of media such as film, magazines, advertisements etc, film posters, being part of the 'print media' also have their own set of codes and conventions that they tend to follow and create attraction, an informative character and a sense of meaning.

Reference : Myles Roache Daniel's A2 Media Studies coursework

The poster shown above is a simple poster of THE HULK that has been divided into compartments that illustrate the technical convention of film posters. Let us take the first convention to be the name of stars. Film posters tend to 'highlight' the names of the stars that will appear in the film. This is one way of gaining audience involvement into the poster, and eventually, the film. This is because actors themselves act as brands. Fans automatically feel interested in the movie due to their high expectations from their admired actors, and at times when the actors are loved immensely, fans not only feel attracted, but tend to feel obliged to watch the film. This is basically a way of branding the film producers make sure to do this if using very big actors and make money out of the fame created.

Next we can take the Icon Image. The icon image tends to appear in the background or at a spot somewhere behind the main picture, but at the same time, creates and gathers most attention  In the example given above, the huge figure of the HULK is in the background but it still manages to gain attention and gives the audience a sort of idea that the man in front might turn into that creature, or somehow, that creature is the main essence of the film. This particular convention is used in film posters to create the 'charisma'  and curiosity regarding the what the film would be about and what that particular thing, place or character in the background has to do with the story. This builds up the indulgence and desire of the audience into watching the particular film.

Moving forward, our next convention is the Rule of Thirds. This convention can be a little tricky, however, as part of an audience, we always tend to examine a film poster by this particular convention  unconsciously  while not knowing what it really is. This convention suggests that each and every image within the poster should be placed and highlighted in such a way that some what idea of the story and main conflict of the film is delivered. For example, in the poster above, the Hulk i behind the guy, while both are prominent  The idea of placing the guy in front of the Hulk gives an idea to some level, that this guy probably terns into that creature and since the Hulk and the guy seem as if they have their backs towards one another shows that their characteristics do not collide with one another, and that maybe the character is destructive and that guy does not like that side of his personality. The rule of thirds effect also makes use of some hints of the story for example the location, the color scheme, that reflects the genre. In other words, just as for films we require the perfect mise-en-sene, for posters this effect acts as the mise-en-sene of poster conventions.

Furthermore, we have the Production title and the Release date. Both these conventions are basically used solely for information purposes. The production title is mentioned so that the audience would know which institution is financing and distributing the film. At times this is also used as a marketing and promotion strategy since some institutions have a brand image for example WAlt Disney Productions. Disney fans tend to watch films mainly because they have an idea of what type of films Disney would produce that they admire. Release title is simply mentioned so that the audience would know when the film is finally releasing on celluloid and start buying the tickets and generate profit for the film.

Lastly, the Film Title, is the most important part of the poster. The film title basically acts as the identity if the entire set of conventions  story line, and everything in the film. It is the brand name within itself, and the entire media product is recognized and refereed to, by this particular title.