The purpose of a film poster

Purpose of a film poster

Film posters are viewed by audiences in all locations. From a very early date, they have been usually found in all underground stations as it can then gain access to mass audiences. The number of people that travel to and from work and school on a daily bases mean that film posters of all genres are bound to be located to access all audiences of all ages. Moreover, these poster can also be found in newsaper, magazines, billboards and wherever it can gain viewers eyes. Therefore it is vital that the poster meets the purpose in order to attract the traget specific audience into wacthing the film.

Other than the need to meet the target specif audiences, the second main purpose in producing a fillm poster is to promote, as a form of advertising. This too is linked with the the main reason, to reach target specific audience. Using the correct positive information will indicate to the wide audience exactly what the film genre is and give an insight into the narrative of the film. This is essential, as wrong or misleading infomation may put foward the wrong message and gather the incorrect audience.

What film posters provide

From the film poster, audience should be informed about the genre of the film. The genre is evidentally important to portray as this will be a reason for why audiences would see a film. Therefore by indicating this in the poster would help bring this across. They should also be able to recieve infomation on the actors and directors involved in the film, the release date and the suitability of the film. These are all import to include in a film poster. For instance classification would identify to parents whether the film is suitable for their children to watch, whether it is too graphic or advanced. However this should also be evident by the visual elements that the poster emits. Including actors names may also intregue audience into watching their film. If the film inlcudes a well known actor then it is more likely to attract audiences. For example a film including heart-throb Taylor Lautnor will most likely gain the attention of many young teenage girls wherease a film starring the beautiful Megan Fox would not appeal to the same audience but attract a more older male audience.

If we take this example of The Proposal:

We can clearly idicate that this film is a rom-com by the way that it is the femal protagonist kneeling down to propose. Going against the common conventions of the male asking for a ladys hand in marrige indicates that this film involves some kind of comedy element. Moreover, considering that the film is named 'The Proposal' is also a main indicator that it includes romantic issues. Therefore this is how the audience is decoding the narrative. By also taking a close looker into the main characters we can see that there facial expression also produce a some what funny outlook, that again reveals the genre of the film. Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds star in the film, these are well known comedy actors that, not only indicate a funny film, but may also persuade the audience to watch the film. The tagline is also cleverly used here, 'Here comes the bribe' the word 'bribe' is a spin on word for the original saying 'here comes the birde'. By cleverly using this it gives the audience a closer insight into the narrative of the film yet still keeping connecting with the marrigal theme of the film.