Purpose of Film Posters

Film Posters are a form of advertisement for an upcoming movie. They are generally the first form of advertising used for a film, and are put up in places like train networks and on advertising boards on main roads. A film poster doesn't normally contain much information about the film it is advertising- but  usually introduces the star(s) of the films, and usually gives a hint of what the genre will be through the illustration used. It needs to provide a short burst of information about the film quickly and simply, mostly relying on image.

Conventions of Film Posters: 

• The star(s) of the film is/are usually in the centre of the poster, to highlight their importance and make us notice them 
• A dark image or background is typical of a crime/thriller genre film
• The smallest font contains the names of the producer, director etc
• The largest font is usually the title of the film 
• "Coming soon", or the release date is also usually on a film poster 

Below is a film poster i will analyse in terms of Technical Codes: 

• As with most film posters, the stars name is at the top, and in this case, the star is Will Smith
• Another recurring theme among film posters that appears in this one is a picture of the star, right in the centre of the poster
• The background images of robots in this picture help the audience to understand that the film probably has a sic-fi element to it 
• The films title is instantly noticeable, with I,robot being large and right in the centre of the poster
• Underneath the tile is a tag line. "One man saw it coming" in this case
• The writing below the tag line is called the 'Billing Block'. The billing block usually lists the name of the producer, director etc. 

This film poster displays all the general themes found in most posters, like an inflated image of the star, the title in big lettering and a billing block. Therefore, it is a good poster for us to examine and learn from when we make a poster for our film. However, to really create a top quality poster, we also have to study other film posters, particularly ones that don't display the normal images/information that people expect to see on a poster. 

Example: 

This film poster, used for the film '28 Days Later' is quite a peculiar one for a couple of reasons. Firstly, none of the films main stars appear on the poster, in any way, and their names don't feature either. As seen on the I,robot poster, an image of the main star of a film is useful to feature, as it is an attraction point for the films potential audience. Therefore, the first thing that catches your eye on the 28 Days Later poster is the absence of a star. Secondly, there is no strap line on the poster. Most posters feature a strap line that relates to the plot of the film, and the title, making it unusual for this poster not to feature one. 

The differences between the posters is mainly due to the audience either of them are targeting. I,robot's target audience is clearly sic-fi lovers between the ages of 15 and 25. We can see this because of the actor used on the poster, Will Smith. Smith wouldn't be used in a film targeted at the adult generations because they would probably not have an idea of who he is, therefore just from the poster we can tell that I,robot is targeted towards male sic-fi lovers in their adolescent. However, '28 Days Later' is clearly targeted towards lovers of horror, denoted from the zombies on the film poster and the font used for the title.