What are the main conventions and elements of Film Posters?

CONVENTIONS:

As regards to film posters there are three main types of conventions which help construct a film poster; the technical codes, written codes and the symbolic codes.

>Technical Codes:
Techniques used in the construction of a text for example the film titles, tagline, billing block etc.

>Written Codes:
The range of context in which words are used in the text, for example titles, taglines etc.
The taglines, are often catchy  enticing short phrases used to advertise and sell a movie and to sum up the plot, tone or theme of a film. They reinforce the genre, audience and in particualar, the narrative of the film with is extremely vital as theses aspects can determine the target audience.

>Symbolic Codes:
The system of signs embedded within the text itself, such as connotations of images, colours, font styles. Including Semiotics, which is the study of signs and symbols and the messages we read in them.

ELEMENTS:

Many successful film posters contain certain elements in order to appeal to audiences, provide information, and display the genre’s and themes of the film, etc. 

The elements consist of:>Main actor(s) name
>Background images
>Image of star or an iconic image from the film (point of focus)
>Title of film
>Tag line
>BBFC certificate
>Billing block

All these elements merge together to create an almost perfect film poster in order to attract the audience, each element has a specific intention in terms of appealing to the public and attracting the right audiences. Evidently the inclusion of characters names and or a main image of the main character, works to a great effect, most of the time mainstream films, would introduce images of famous or popular actors who may have had success within previous films, this would attract a wide range of audiences who are very familiar or have heard positive things about the characters to possibly watch the film. The tagline as well as title is also a very important aspect regarding film posters as it gives a sort of summery of the film in the space of a couple of words, once again this could be a great tool in terms if attracting the audiences, also the title can be very symbolic the type of font which is used can suggest what sort of theme or genre the film may take on, judging by the Gladiators title, the film is portrayed as a film possibly set in the past/Roman era etc and the fact that the character is holding a sword and the background image illustrates a Colosseum we get the impression that the film is in fact about gladiators. This film would therefore appeal to audiences who are interested in history and also enjoy action films.