Forms and Conventions of Film Posters

Film posters are a vital aspect for the promotion of any film during the marketing process, they attract an audience as they are a major form of visual communication and are of interest to many people of all ages. The main forms and conventions of film posters include:
- A large, bold title to attract the eye and ensure the audience will be aware of the name of the film.
- Contrasting colours so that all the colours of the poster are clearly visible.
- Usually only one predominant image is used to promote the film.
- The names of the main characters also help to promote the film as the appearance of popular, well known actors and actresses encourage fans to go and see the film.
The way in which the poster is constructed and what it consists of are very important for the representation of the film featured. For example if the poster was promoting a horror film but the font used for the title was smooth and elegant, than the film is likely to be percieved incorrectly by an audience. The colours used on the poster can also affect the impression given to an audience about the film, for example it is unlikely that pastel colours such as light pink and purple tones would be used for a horror film poster as pink represents love and beauty whilst purple symbolizes royalty and magic.

When I design my own poster to promote my horror film I will carefully consider what colours and types of font etc that I should use to ensure that my poster reflects the movie. I am going to avoid using any soft pastel colours and any bright and luminous colours.

Analysis of 'Zombieland' poster

From looking at this poster I can clearly see that this is not just a horror movie but also a comedy. The font used for the title portrays an upbeat and lighthearted ambience through the use of the bright colours, the idea of it being lit up and the way that it curves across the poster. A short subheading is also featured underneath the title that enhances the humourous nature of the movie. On the other hand the bottom half of this poster reflects the genre of horror in the film, the use of dull, dark colours and weapons give the impression of danger and create suspense. The facial expressions of the characters featured act as a link between the two genres of the film as they are neither humourous nor horrific but portray elements of both. The information that this poster provides includes the names of the four actors/actresses in the image, the title of the film along with the subheading, the names of organisations and people involved in the production of the film and also the release date.

Analysis of 'Halloween 2' poster

This is a very effective poster as the image is the main focus and covers the whole poster itself. The use of the colour black enhances the sense of horror as the majority of the image is vry dark. The red colour that has been used relates to the genre of the movie as red represents danger, blood and evil; three aspects of a horror film. There is very little text used, the only information provided is the name of the director and a shortened title, this ensures that the focus remains on the disturbing image. The hidden identity of the character featured creates an eery sense of mystery for the target audience.

Storyboards - Teaser Trailer

Types of font for my magazine cover

I have researched a variety of fonts that would be suitable for my magazine cover, taking into consideration that the cover will be promoting my horror teaser trailer. I am going to use a font that enhances the theme of horror and links in well with all of the aspects of the cover. I will also change the colour of the text to achieve a careful balance between all of the colours that I decide to use.

Gatekeeper

http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/astigmatic/gate-keeper-aoe/

Horrorama

http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/tdf/horrorama/

Dead Mans Chest

http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/comicraft/dead-mans/

Barcode

Here is an example of a barcode that I will use on my front cover of a magazine, this will ensure that it looks like an actual magazine cover and follows the conventions of film magazines. On the majority of issues of Empire magazine the barcode is positioned on the right side of the cover, either half way down the page or furthur towards the bottom. Some of the issues have a horizontal barcode but some have the barcode positioned vertically.

http://blogs.asee.org/goengineering/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/barcode.gif

Aspects of my magazine cover

I have created a list of all the features that I will include on the film magazine cover that I am going to produce, this will ensure that I carefully consider every aspect and it will assist me in the production process.

- A masthead with the title
- The date
- Price
- An issue number
- An image or variety of images
- Subheadings
- A main headline
- A barcode
- Information about what is featured in the magazine
- A thematic link between colours, images and text
- Name of the website for the magazine
- Highlight any extras