Film poster research and example.

A film posters purpose is to visually advertise a film. Originally, films posters were more exclusive and were to be returned when the film left the theatre and before the 1990's film posters were mainly centered around illustrations as opposed to photos.. However, now they are displayed everywhere for instance, inside the cinema and billboards in order to gain interest in the release of the film.

However, the main features now of a film poster are;

• the title of the film which is usually the largest text there is on the poster
• a tag line that relates to the narrative of the film
• a large image of the main characters with the actors names and director
• the release date to ensure the public know when to go to the cinema
• ratings of the film

Example

Original film poster



Annotated film poster

I chose to do the Last song as a review for a film poster because it is of similar genre to our own short film idea, Romantic/drama. Furthermore, I annotated the film poster in the image as I noticed it had the conventions expected of a film poster, therefore similar to ones I researched.

This film poster has the main characters situated at the top which is the largest image on the poster. By doing this, it can promote the characters in the film which may be appealing to the target audience. In specifically this film poster, the target audience is mainly teenage girls and with Miley Cyrus being the main character it will attract more people as they may know her from her previous work or look up to her as a role model. Furthermore, the boy character is less in focus but you can tell that he also has a main role within the film which is appealing as teenage girls as they may be attracted to him. Their facial expressions look quite serious, implying that there is some conflict between them in their on screen relationship.

Other image is the bottom half of the poster, focusing mainly on the beach setting which shows two characters walking and hugging. From this it isn't specific about which the other character is therefore is ambiguous done specifically to not give away too much about the narrative. The beach relates to the film as it is one of the significant settings and also they can be an assiociation of the romantic genre.

At the very top of the poster there is the writing saying 'From the author of The notebook and A walk to remember.' This may gain more interest in the film if people are interested in the author and enjoyed his other books subtly persuading them to go and watch it at the cinema as they are of similar genre. In addition, there is writing which states, 'A story about family, first love, second chances and memories in life that bring you back home.' From this, it isn't the main feature of film poster but gives audiences a slight insight into the narrative which may be appealing to them and gives further information about the characters relationship. It is a basic overview which again, persuades people to go and see the film if they are of interest to this.

The main title is the biggest text on the poster which is purposefully done to add emphasis to it. The word are also capitalised and in white to contrast the colours between the background for emphasis also. Other text on the poster that has done this is the 'April 2' as it is an important aspect because it is informing people when the film is released therefore they can and watch it. Without this, it would lose more interest in the film because a lot of people wouldn't purposefully look for the release date unless they were of vast interest in it.