Film Poster: Research

For one of my ancillary product I have chosen to create a film poster to go with my short film. For the first stage of my research I decided to create a mood board to develop my understanding of film posters in my short films genre. 

Whilst researching short film posters I found that there are not many posters available from short films in the coming of age genre to explore and analyse, therefore I included posters from feature films in my mood board to add a wider range of styles to my research.

This mood board gave me an idea of the typical characteristics found within film posters for the coming of age genre. One characteristic that immediately stood out to me was the use of bright colours used throughout the posters, this is effective as it attracts the audience immediately upon viewing. There is also a wide range of different styles and colour schemes used throughout the mood board. 

One key characteristic that can be recognised from the mood board and my initial research is that for films with a plot based on one character's struggle, their film poster tends to only display the main protagonist. Where as, with coming of age films based around a romance, they tend to display two characters on the film poster, this tells the audience clearly whether the film is based around one characters journey, or two characters journey immediately. This will help influence my designs for my film posters, as my the plot of my short film follows one character it would make sense to have our protagonist the only character on the poster, however as our short film follows a theme of friendship perhaps we could incorporate the protagonists friend onto the poster as well.

The purpose of a film poster:
The primary purpose of a film poster is to inform the target audience about the film and its release date. It also aims to create a hype surrounding the release of the film. The poster will display key information such as release date, starring actors, classification. Posters use a combination of images, font and layout to create an impact with their target audience. The aim of the poster is to be effective and memorable the audience will be interested in paying to view the film upon its release.

The conventions of a film poster?

• A film poster generally displays the main protagonist in the foreground with the background simulating a setting similar to that the film is set in. The list of actors is also displayed as if an award winning actor is playing a role in the film this will usually be displayed in large font to attract a wider audience. 
• The images used for the foreground and background of the film poster reflect the characters and setting within the film. 
• The film title is generally displayed in large font clearly visible for the audience to see. 
• Institutional information is usually displayed at the bottom of the poster in smaller print.
• Typically the release date for the film is displayed in large font.
• A tagline for the film is generally also displayed.