Poster Codes and Convention

Poster Codes and Convention

Film poster are physical promotional method which are placed in different areas to advertise the film. They’re eye-catching making them interested in the film.  The main image is significant because it informs the audience about the genre of the film so they are able to know straightaway as it contain iconography. Images also hints the narrative of them film so the audience have an idea before they watch the film. In The Expendables the audience can already guess that it’s an action film because of the features it includes e.g. strong masculine man, this is a convention in a action genre due to the stereotype.  The explosions, guns implies that the film is action filled. The color scheme of the poster are red and black connoting danger and mystery.There are always titles on poster for it to be well known so their target audience can get more information however there are exceptions because if a film is well know it doesn’t need it; this is normally evident if a film has sequels so it will be known e.g. Harry Potter, this film is very popular as it’s successful.

The Produces, Actors and Directors are placed where it can grab the audiences attention especially if they’re well know so they’re the unique selling point of the film. The actors are normally placed on the top or bottom of the poster if they are well know to sell the film to a larger audience. The posters also features quotes, rating and recommendation that are given from the critics. The taglines/quotes is included to emphasis the main message the film hints at the audience so it’s memorable.

There could also be advertising the awards for their production team or certain actors “Academy Award Nominee” suggesting that it’s had well ratings.

The dates should be on the poster so the viewers can see when the film is going to be released in the cinema or DVD. The dates can be precise or they put a month, season or just “coming soon”. The production company will normally realize the film poster if they believe the film will benefit from releasing it earlier prior to the film. The extra information on the bottom of the poster contains all the cast, soundtrack, director, producer, screenplay and rating. These are small so the audience’s attention is diverted from the main image.