Movie Posters Codes and Conventions

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Movie Posters Codes and Conventions

• Éimear Hart-Clenaghan
• 14R

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What is a Movie Poster?

• A movie poster can be seen in a number of lights
  some see them as a work of art but their primary
  purpose is as an advertisement
• The challenge for the creators of these posters
  is to maintain the artistic values of these
  pieces while ensuring they are successful
  persuasive texts.
• We the consumers of these texts can often tell
  the genre or have a good guess at what the movie
  is about at just a glance depending on the colour
  scheme and pose used for the main image but there
  are some conventions which are common to all
  genres
• -Masthead Credit Block Main Image Actors
  names
• -Directors names Reviews Taglines.
• There are a number of different types of movie
  posters Teaser Posters, Official Cinema Release
  Posters and DVD Release posters and when
  analysing posters we need to address what the
  purpose of the particular poster is.

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Romantic Film Posters
Main Image of lead male and female characters,
their relationship main focus of the movie.
Tagline based on a romantic theme, Nothing on
earth could keep them apart.
Soft/Pale colours with cloud like effect, gives
impression of heavenly like atmosphere or the
idea of the cliché on cloud nine is suggested
here.
Portrait
Director
Movie Title
Main Actors names featured under their image.
Credit Block
Location plays big part of this movies story.
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Romantic Film Posters
Tagline based on a romantic/fantasy theme, When
you can live forever what do you live for? also
suggestive of horror element of being un-dead.
Black used for background and actors in dark
clothing to show the sub genre of horror within
the movie with the inclusion of vampires in the
story.
Main Image of lead male and female characters,
their relationship main focus of the movie.
Movie Title
Portrait
Website Tagged appealing to the teenage target
audience
Release Date
5
Horror Film Posters
Creation gives impression of a
monster/Frankenstein like character
Mentioning director involved and tagging other
movies he has been involved with and this may
also draw fans of these movies towards this one.
Main Actor
Scars suggest bloody/gory trauma happening to
character and pale make up of actor creating
ghostly/un-dead like image
Black and white colour scheme implies a sense of
light and dark.
Movie Title
Blades suggestive of a weapon character can use
therefore this character may be a danger
Portrait
Credit Block
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Horror Film Posters
Movie Title
Portrait
Image skeleton like fingers with jack-o-lantern
face adds to the title Halloween making movie
seem even more creepy
Knife suggestive of a weapon a character can use
therefore this anonymous character may be a danger
Tagline quite creepy and appropriate for horror
genre of film.
Black background creates a sense of darkness ,
evil and death
Credit Block
7
Sci-Fi Film Posters
Portrait
Stars firmly establishing outer space location
and sci-fi genre
Montage of images including main and iconic
characters of series, montage creates a sense of
excitement and fast paced action
Dark background again establishing outer-space
location but also the sense of overpowering/on
looking evil
Bright lighting effect showing there must be a
battle scene of some kind which generally appeals
to male audience and action fans
Movie Title
Saga Title
Credit Block
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Sci-Fi Film Posters
Metallic-like background colours establishes
movies sci-fi genre
Main Actor
Image Main actor. Pose suggests ready for
action, typical of an action hero so shows to
audience there will be exciting, fast paced
action.
Lines and rows of robots standing together in
army like formation giving sense that they are
cause of trouble rising up against human masters
and creators.
Movie Title
Tagline suggests action one man saw it coming
Credit Block
Portrait
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Main Features of the Genres

• Romance
• -Featuring the lead male and female actors and
  often in a pose where they are close together,
  looking at each other or touching in some way.
• Horror
• -Use of black as main component in colour scheme
  and object/words that would suggest danger or a
  monster like character e.g. a weapon (blade of
  some kind), scars, skeleton like features
• Sci-Fi
• -The inclusion of action elements (a battle scene
  still, action hero figure) and most importantly
  something out of the world like an outer space
  setting or robots as the posters I analysed
  featured