A film poster is an advertisement used to positively portray an upcoming film. Through the use of Film Posters, new films are able to target a large number of audiences and attract them to view the film in question on the poster. Furthermore, the purpose of the film poster is to also intrigue the audience into engaging with the film and also providing the audience with a key bit of information that may make the audience want to find out more information about the film e.g. through an online trailer. One of the primary purposes of film posters for audiences is to gain an indication of the narrative, genre and theme, as well as the release date and its distribution. It has been noted that a film poster is the catalyst of reaching a films specific target audience as a single film poster which is usually deployed in Train Stations, Bus Stops, Billboards and Cinemas can attract more of a target audience than a trailer which can only be situated in a limited number of places and are generally seen online.
Furthermore, a films production studios may print several different film posters to reach a large number of audiences whether in age, class or internationally. This can be seen in various Film Posters throughout film. This can be seen in the 1996 Baz Luhrmann Production of Romeo and Juliet in which various films posters were produced to target a large number of audiences.
Both the posters where aimed at different audiences to see the film as the First Poster with Romeo and Juliet as the main characters on the poster is aimed at young romantic lovers or people who enjoy Romance Themed films. Whilst the second poster is aimed at youth with the promotion of gang wars an attempt to spur the young or an audience that like action to see the film. Although the film is identical, both film posters were designed for promotional purposed that would spur different audiences to see the same film for the different elements of the film that they took away from the original film poster they first viewed, which gave them interest.
Furthermore, another example of this is the 1998 Shekkar Kapur Production of Elizabeth, who attempted to attract international audiences with a poster that differed from that of the original British Poster. The example is below:
US Film Poster:
UK Film Posters:
The various film poster distribution for Elizabeth in the US and UK was for a number of reasons. The first was to tap into the international market and the use of a red background behind Elizabeth connotes passion, lust and desire all aspects that are not usually denoted with British Heritage. The purpose of the US film post was to show the international audience that British Heritage was more that backwards in time but in fact new and a concept of “Cool Britannia” under Tony Blair in 1998. On the other hand, the UK Elizabeth Film post was split into 4 posters of “Heretic” “Lover” “Assassin” and “Traitor” which were spread across the UK. The use of these film posters similarly to that of Romeo and Juliet was to attract a large audience who were keen to view the film for a number of reasons, and, by placing these film posters across the UK the audience would want to see Elizabeth for a number of themes like action, love, thriller etc. This further supports the notion that Film Posters are used for promotional purposes and are also used to attract a large number of audiences.
Another example that can be used in the 2007 and 2009 Michael Mann and Steven Spielberg Production of Transformers and Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen.
Film Posters From Transformers Series:
The Transformers series of Film Posters were aimed at a large number of audiences, but with one underlying purpose. The use of various Film Posters with the main characters allows the audience to decipher what characters are going to be introduced in the Series or where the next location is. This is seen with the representation of characters like Bumblebee and Optimus Prime in the Poster and then also another Poster set in the abyss of Space. In addition, showing the audience that key aspects of Transformers, through the film poster, without giving away too much information to the audience at the same time. The Transformers film poster was used to attract a large audience through character favouritism, but also illustrate to the audience the element of sci-fi with the visual representations of space through the Film Poster. Through the use of the various Film Posters the audience are able to make an assumption on the film and therefore gain more information through other promotional values like the Trailer etc, which may depict the same elements as the poster.
Furthermore, another way film posters are used is to misguide the audience in through the film poster without showing all of the potential themes or genres within the film. This can be seen in the 2007 Tim Burton Production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in which some of the posters are seen below.
Sweeney Todd Film Poster:
From looking at this poster the audience can connote that the film may be sinister or dark with violence with the use of blood splattered across the title of the film and the strong use of the colour red to signify blood on the characters. However this is wrong as Tim Burton’s Production of Sweeney Todd in fact was also a musical, which shocked most of the audience as they were unaware of this fact due to no musical references in the trailer. This shows how some film posters may trick the audience in the element of genre or theme, by only connoting one element of the films theme in its poster as the production team may sometimes be sceptical that by addressing the audience that the film is a genre-hybrid e.g. in this case Thriller-Musical. Its ratings at the box office may sufficiently suffer.
This can be seen in the 2010 John Luessenhop Production of “Takers” which shows the audience the Cast, Possible Genre, Release Date and Narrative.
The Takers Film Trailer:
This gives the audience the information they need to gain a general overview of the film before finding out more information on the film e.g. Trailer, Release Date in their location etc.
Overall, Film Posters are advertisements used to positively portray an upcoming film. Film Posters are able to target a large number of audiences and attract them to view the film in question on the poster. Furthermore, It has been noted that a film poster is the catalyst of reaching a films specific target audience as a single film poster which is usually deployed in Train Stations, Bus Stops, Billboards and Cinemas can attract more of a target audience than a trailer which can only be situated in a limited number of places and are generally seen online. Film posters are critical in a new films success and the deployment of film posters has been essential in raising awareness for films to their audience across media to date.
Moreover, Film Posters are not just for Promotion and finance, but also for the audience to gain information about the film in question. Most Film posters have the following:
ü The name of the Cast
ü The Genre or (Predicted Genre) of the film
ü A Possible Narrative of the film e.g. Themes
ü Release Date and Distribution.
ü BBFC or some other classification to decipher the age appropriateness of the film
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