Using a film poster to promote a film is one of the most successful ways to draw in a wide target audience. Film posters can be made acessible so that they can be posted on online mediums such as facebook, twitter and other networking websites. The fact that they can be put online means that they can be shared so that the films release will be familiar to all of the people it has been shown too online. Film Posters can also promote the film on large outdoor frames such as billboards and even buses. The wide variety of ways in which the film information can be accessed ensures that there is a wide range of audiences being exposed to to it, in effect, more people will want to come and see the film.
Film Posters often posess information about the film such as the release date and a little hint about the plot through a tagline. The information on the plot of the film is also hinted through the type of image that is used. For example, if a film is about a group of teenagers in highschool it would most likely show a group of teenagers in a highschool setting as the background. This is slightly similar to horror film posters however the image is usually quite secluded and often only focuses on the main thing in the film. The poster appears more scary as an effect of this technique but also leads the audience wanting more due to the lack of hints about what will happen in the film.
I have decided to write a list of the typical conventions of horror film posters:
Title: The title is usally large and one of the main features of focus on the poster. The typography of the title reflects the genre of the horror film, for example, if the film was a slasher, the typography may be sharp and thin like the cuts of a knife. The title is also placed generally in the centre of the poster in order for the audience to be clearly aware that it is the title of the fim.
Tagline: A short and snappy tagline will be usually placed underneath the title in a similar, smaller font. In order for the film to be rememberd by the audience the tagline must be clever and relatable to the theme of the film so that the audience can easily link it all together.
Main Image: The main image takes up the entirety of the poster and acts as a background to the information, titles and tagline on the rest of the poster. It is extremely important in representing the actual plot of the horror film as it gives hints about the genre of it. In Horror film posters the main image is usually very dark and obtains elements of black and red.
Release Date: All film posters show the release date of the film in order to fulfill their primary function – to get people to go and see it. This makes the release date a very important piece of information on the film poster therefore it usually takes its place at the cente bottom of the photo and usually correlates in colours with the main title to draw the audience to it also.
Name of Actor/s: It is important that the actors and actress’ gain recognition for their part in the horror film in order to draw fans of the celebrities in to watch the film.
Names of Directors and Producers: Well know producers may be put onto posters in order for the audiences to recognise how well the film is going to pan out. If the producer/director has created similar films that were successul (such as James Wan) then it is quite likely that this film wil also be good. This draws people in because they know that the production and directing elements were good.
I believe that film posters are one of the most effective ways to promote a film alongside trailers and magazine promotions. With this in mind I will be creating one to enhance the promotion of the horror film and to make the production process more sophisticated and professional. When creating my film poster I will keep in mind the important codes and conventions of typical horror film posters in order for my film to also be sucessful with a mass target audience.
Louise Richardson 