The main and obvious purpose of a film poster is to advertise a film. However, film posters will always have a positive ‘spin’ on it, of which most of the audience is aware, for example “amazing” or 5 stars, etc. Furthermore, film posters are used to show information about the film to an audience. Mainstream films will generally highlight the ‘stars’ in the film, as the main actors/actresses will be well known. On the other hand, a short film poster will not have the names of actors in huge letters because people have not heard of them. So we intend to not put the stars names in our film poster, as this would be seen as pointless.
Moreover, information about the production crew will generally be on a film poster, especially the Director. Occasionally the directors’ name could be in big letters, only if he/she is very well known to the public audience. A film poster will make the audience aware of the plot/narrative and title of the film they are advertising and this will also give the audience a good idea of what themes/genres it contains. These posters also show the audience suitability, for example, what age classification does it have?
However most of the time, mainstream films will create two or more film posters, made for different audiences, so more people will be interested in the film and go and watch it, which is good for mainstream film makers, as they are profit orientated. Therefore, creating two or more film posters for a short film is out of the question. A classic example that created two film posters was the well known film Romeo and Juliet by Baz Luhrmann.
Both of these film posters where obviously for the same film, but seem to show completely different themes for two different audiences, although this is a well known story of two lovers. The first film poster (left) is meant for people that enjoy watching romantic films. However, the second film poster (right) is meant for the people that like to see action in a film between the gang war of the two families.
Another example of this two film poster method was Elizabeth by Shekkar Kapur. However, with this film they wanted to attract an International audience, so they created a poster for the US and another for the UK.
The US film poster (top) was made for audiences that were interested in the passion of Elizabeth; this was shown by the red, glossy background that also connoted love and lust; which is usually not associated with Britain. On the other hand when you look at the UK film poster (bottom), it was split into four sections with different characters along with captions: “Heretic”, “lover”, “Traitor” and “Assassin”. Therefore, this film poster was meant for the people that enjoyed thriller films, with a bit romance.
Lastly, film posters will show distribution information, for example, it will include when/where it is released-“in Cinemas near you”, if it is local. Also, sometimes they will include a ‘call-to-action’; for example, visit this website for more details, etc...
Film posters may appear wherever you go, this is intended by the film maker to advertise the film to many people, and generally it allows commuters to see film posters because they may not have time to watch TV. Therefore film posters must be eye-catching and use lots of semiotics.
Film posters sometimes appear on billboards, which are normally next to main roads for drivers to glance at while they are driving; this is why they must be eye-catching, so they can remember the name of the film.
Film posters can also be shown at bus stops and train stations for commuters to look at in the mornings and evenings. Again the title needs to be in big letters so as they glance at it, they will instantly look at the title. Lastly, film posters are shown at cinemas to show what is coming out soon, and probably at that cinema, so therefore it needs to be eye-catching for people to want to watch it.
Film posters have developed over time because they only used to be shown at cinemas and some film posters where hand drawn. However, they have been so effective because they have always been very eye-catching with the use of semiotics.
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