Codes and Conventions

Used as another form of promotion for films, movie posters come in many

different forms such as billboards, the sides of buses as well as on bus stops,

online, in underground subways and of course in cinemas themselves. The

main aim of a film poster is firstly catch the eye of the passer by, but to also

tease and inform the potential audience member, giving them something that

looks appealing and exciting to get them to go see the movie.

The first thing to catch a potential audience member’s eye is the image in a poster,

calling for it to be a striking, impactful image, especially for the mystery and thriller

genre. These images can be either stills from the film, character shots or some form of

iconography that is significant to the film, and it also reveals what genre the movie will

be.

For the thriller/mystery genre specifically, dark colours and dramatic, poignant,

mysterious images are typically used. This is to reflect immediately the style of the

film, and the themes that could possibly be portrayed within it. What is common in all

of the posters above is that none of the characters are looking directly towards the

camera, but away, something to take note of when compiling my own poster!

Image

Title

A crucial aspect of a movie poster is one of the most obvious; the title. There are a

few exceptions however, such as a well known franchise doing a teaser poster a while

before the film’s release (for example, the Harry Potter teaser poster featured on the

next slide). A one off film however could not do this, for obvious reasons such as

being new to the market and audiences would not recognise characters or other

images being shown.

Titles usually show up in a larger font on the poster and in a different colour from the

background or any other surrounding colours to contrast and stand out, catching the

eye of potential audiences.

How the title is written and presented is a very important aspect of a movie’s brand to

say the least. The font and colours used can be and are replicated across all the

different media platforms like their teaser trailer and other forms of promotion such as

a magazine cover/advertisements. In some instances however, the same font and

style is kept and the colour changed, but this isn’t typical of the thriller or mystery

genre and more suited to the comedy genre.

Title: large,

noticeable,

different colour but

of same house

style font.

The exception!

Directors/Producers/Actors

A possible unique selling point (USP) of a film could be it’s star studded cast, featured

celebrity or renowned director, and it pays to put them on the poster! Audiences are

naturally attracted to favourite actors/directors or whose work they have seen before

and enjoyed. Unfortunately not all film makers have budgets to host big names-

myself included!

Actor

Director and

actors

Quotes/Ratings/Awards

A further endorsement to feature on movie posters, and a common convention is a

positive quote/rating from a critic’s review or any awards the film or its actors has

received. It is a bonus not only to receive a good review or award, but even better

when received from a well known establishment such as Empire Film Magazine or the

Golden Globes. Audience members know and trust these groups and their critiques,

which in turn raises the chance of them going to see the film being advertised!

Tagline

Taglines are another technique employed to create a film brand, with the concept

behind them being to create a memorable phrase that sums up the tone of the film as

well as the events within, hinting at what could possibly happen. Taglines can also be

a famous line from the film, like what was done with The Dark Knight and “Why so

serious?” said by the famous character of The Joker throughout the franchise.

Release Date

Conventionally placed in the bottom third of the poster, release dates are crucial to

make audiences aware of when they can go see the film in theatres or purchase on

DVD if it is a DVD poster. They can appear either in the format of the exact date, the

month and year, “coming soon” or just simply the season named. The latter options

are usually used on teaser posters while the film is still in production and a final date

has not been agreed upon.

Billing Block

Usually due to legal reasons, posters typically contain a billing block listing all the

main people such as actors, directors and producers as well as companies that are

involved in the creation of the film at hand. These are usually always found at the

bottom of the poster, with the font restricted to just three different selections across all

movie posters, along with perhaps the logo of the distribution company.

Other Media Platforms

In today’s ever evolving technological society, viral marketing and social media

networks are the way forward to keep your audiences informed about your film’s

progress and releases, making sure the spotlight is always on your production. These

are typically placed beside the billing block and release date at the bottom of the

poster, featuring websites mainly but also Twitter pages, Facebook pages and even

hashtags to place in your tweets when talking about the film to generate hype.

Ratings

Closer to the release date, ratings are put on posters to make audiences aware of the

minimum age you must be to see the film and if a minor has to be accompanied by an

adult. American film ratings (G-N-17) differ from UK, which ranges from U-R18. The

ratings are decided by the British Board of Film Classification based on the film’s

content and appropriateness for different audiences. Since most official movie posters

come from the USA, these ratings are usually on the poster, and the UK ratings put on

the DVDs distributed within the UK.