Poster Research

A film poster is a poser used to advertise a film. Studios often print several posters that vary in size and content for various domestic and international markets. They normally contain an image with text. Today's posters often feature photographs of the main actors. Prior to the 1990's illustrations instead of photos were far more common. The text on film posters usually contains the film title in large lettering and often the names of the main actors. It may also include a tag line, the name of the director, names of characters, the release date, etc.

Film posters are displayed inside and on the outside of movie theaters and elsewhere on the street or in shops. The same images appear in the film exhibitor's press book and may also be used on websites, DVD packaging, flyers, advertisements in newspapers and magazines, etc. 

History of Film Posters:

Originally, film posters were produced for the exclusive use by the theaters exhibiting the film poster was created for and the copies of the posters were required to be returned to the distributor after the film left the theater. In the United States, film posters were usually returned to a nationwide operation called the National Screen Service (NSS) which printed and distributed most of the film posters for the studios between 1940 and 1984. As an economy measure, the NSS regularly recycled posters that were returned, sending them back out to be used again at another theater. During this time, a film could stay in circulation for several years and so many old film posters were badly worn before being retired into storage at an NSS warehouse. Those posters which were not returned were often thrown away by the theater owner, but some found their way into the hands of collectors. 

Beginning in the 1980's the American film studios began taking over direct production and distribution of their posters from the NSS and the process of making and distributing film posters became decentralized in that country.

EARLY TYPES OF POSTERS:

LOBBY CARDS:

are similar to posters but smaller, usually 28cm x 36cm, also 20cm x 25cm before 1930. Lobby cards are collectible and values depend on their age, quality and popularity. Typically issued in sets of eight, each featuring a different scene from the film. In usual circumstances, some releases were promoted with larger or smaller sets. The set for The Running Man (1963) only had six cards, where as the set for The Italian Job (1969) had twelve. Films released by major production companies experiencing financial difficulties often lacked lobby sets, such as Manhunter (1986). In the United Kingdom, sets of lobby cards are known as "Front of House" cards.

TEASER POSTERS:

is an early promotional film poster, containing a basic image or design without
revealing too much information such as the plot, theme and characters. The purpose is to incite awareness and generate hype for the film. A tagline may be included. There are some instances when teaser posters are issued long in advance before the film goes into production, although they are issued during the film development. Notable styles for teaser posters include:

• Bearing only a symbol associated with the film, or simply just the title
• A main character, looking away from the screen but looking at something in the distance

CHARACTER POSTERS

for a film with an ensemble cast there may be a set of character posters, each featuring an individual character from the film. Usually it contains the name of the actor or the name of the character played. It may also include a tagline that reflects the quality of the character.

Conventions of Horror Film Posters:

LIGHTING: 

If there is a character on the poster, the lighting would be very dark. This is a convention of the genre because it adds mystery and uncertainty. 

FONT:

Posters usually have bold script or serif font because they are announcing information about something. Script and serif font are both quite formal and the bold effect makes it stand out. For horror film posters, it has become common for font to be almost child-like. This type of font may not be in a straight line and it would be very informal in comparison to the serif or script font just like how a young child would write. 

DULL COLOURS:

Associated with fear and loneliness. Colours like black, red, brown, grey and maybe white are colours that feature in horror film posters. Colours like these are very dull and don't 'call out' for attention. This is a characteristic of a person who is lonely- maybe a character in the film. A predator (the antagonist) wouldn't want much attention from people except maybe their victims because they would get caught rather easily. Also the final girl is someone who doesn't long for the attention from the opposite sex and would rather just carry on doing what she is doing. Where as the victims long for the attention of everyone which is how they would get the attention from the antagonist. 

CHARACTERS: 

Characters that would feature on a horror poster are usually a woman e.g. the final girl or the antagonist. Audience's wouldn't want to know too much information about the film, so horror posters are not very detailed in terms of characters. This adds mystery and indicates the image of the person on the front may be in danger or a danger to the rest. Also stars that haven't made it 'big' in films, star in horrors to make it look as though this could happen to anyone. Where as if a globally known celebrity starred in a horror audiences may find it hard to believe and may not even get scared because they have seen the actor/actress before. 

BACKGROUND:

The poster's background is usually a very dark colour so the audience aren't able to establish what the setting of the film is. Also iconic films such as the Scream franchise where at least on the posters only feature the famous mask worn by the antagonist. Audience's straight away can recognise the film. A dark background makes the foreground image stand out more indicating that it has a significant role on the film. However if the location is featured it is usually a very isolated place. An example of this is the 'Friday the 13th' poster which is a forest. A place where people (usually teenagers) may hang out, out of view from the rest of the public and get involved in activities that may be frowned upon by the people they respect e.g. using drugs, sex and alcohol.

THE EYE:

There is often a manipulation to the eye to create an unnatural and eerie look, drawing the audience to
it because it is un-usual. The crop of the eye filling the frame also creates impact and expresses the emotional fear, as the eyes are often widened with fear. This makes it relatable to the viewer and creates enigma due to the fact nothing else can be seen other than the emotion and what ever manipulations have been applied. The editing can enhance the effectiveness of the image, for example with the 'Candyman' poster, in which the iris is a deep red and the pupil has been replaced with the silhouette of a dark figure, creating further enigma as we know the eye is seeing something we cant but we don't know who or why. There are also parts where additional things have been added onto the eye, for example the hand coming out from underneath the bottom eyelid in "The Eye"'s poster. This makes the audience look at it in a different way, due to the unnatural and disturbing nature of the image, therefore making them drawn to the poster and the film. The eye is often that of the victims, as they are the character that feels fear along with the audience, as we almost see what they see. The close up crop and close up zoom means the viewer only gets a small sense of the themes and storyline of the film, making it a teaser poster, leading the audience to want to find out more and see the film.

SETTING OF A HOUSE:

Many horror films use a house as a setting, so there are a number of horror film posters with an eerie
photograph of the house, either with the protagonist in the foreground or the house on its own. The main genre which uses houses are psychological and supernatural horrors, like 'Paranormal Activity' and 'Insidious', however there are also slashers which take place in a house. The background around the house used is often dark and the sky is foggy or manipulated in order to look strange and unnatural. They are often traditional looking houses that are large and have the potential to be haunted and creepy looking. The house as a setting also unsettles the viewer because of the feeling of safety linked with a home. Posters in which a house is used often creates enigma because we do not know whether it is the people who live in the house of the house itself that is causing the disequilibrium.

DARK FIGURE:

Another effective convention used in horror posters is a dark figure with their back turned to the viewer and their head slightly turned to be able to see part of their profile. This pose is particularly effective at creating enigma, and is mostly used to depict the villain. The lighting is usually quite dark and is sometimes back lit in order to highlight certain parts of the silhouette, often in unnatural ways to make it seem more eerie. The fact the identity of the villain is concealed and there is only a hint at what they are wearing, doing and what they look like creates enigma around the character and can be considered a teaser poster through this technique, as it makes the audience want to see the film due to the enigmatic nature. This convention is often used for slasher films, as the villain is the key to the plot and is usually a serial killer a weapon, opposed to psychological horror where they may be no actual villain and no psychical weapons. When this convention is used for a slasher film, there is often a hand raised to the figures back with the weapon in their hand, which tells the audience there will be violence and danger and will appeal to a target audience. Additionally, there is low lighting and red text paired with the dark silhouette to carry on the mysterious atmosphere that this convention creates.

Existing Posters- Inspiration: 

• The use of the colour red indicates the genre of horror as it is a common convention usually linked to blood and gore leading to death. The colour red is also linked to danger
• The image of a woman on the poster gives the audience an idea of who to look out for in the film
• The dark lighting and black background links to the darkness there will be in the film and gives the audience pre-fear

• the grey pale colours gives off a cold feeling towards the audience 
• we cannot see the faces of anything in the poster, this is the sense of unknown which is unnerving and mysterious

• the single house in the centre shows isolation, linking to fear of being alone 
• blurred sections of the poster and fog creates an eerie atmosphere with a sense of mystery
• the black and white leaves you feeling empty and unsure due to blankness and once again mystery
• scary prop of the boarded up windows could be based around the story line of isolation and unknown
• comments on the movie and a 5 star rating will make audiences eager to go and see the film

• picture in the poster and the title link together giving the audience a clear idea of the film
• the off black and white colours gives the poster an eerie feel as it looks old and unwanted

• close up of the actors face tells the audience who to look for- the emotion on the face is also portrayed onto the audience from the beginning 
• the title of the film takes over a significant amount of the poster allowing it to stand out 
• the mist in the poster adds tense atmosphere and mystery 

Sinister Analysis:

• The sell line here both ‘Paranormal Activity’ and ‘Insidious’ are really famous horror movies, despite being recent, and the majority of people at least know of them and know how popular they are, so if they look at this poster and see that they are by the same people, they will be intrigued and want to watch it. The text is positioned at the top of the poster, because that’s where people look at first when they’re reading. Also the two horror films title is a bigger size and bolder than the other texts, this is making them really noticeable as it is trying to promote the new horror film ‘SINISTER’.
• One focal point of the poster is the bold masthead. The typography of ‘SINISTER’ is in colour black and capital letters. This makes it stand out to the audience as it is really obvious and noticeable positioned on the centre of the poster, as well as this, the dark colour of the title contrast with the bright background. The font is typically creepy and plays on the title ‘SINISTER’ – already presenting a supernatural impression. Each letter has a sharp point at the end, which this connotes that there might be sharp weapons that are used in the film to kill people such as knives and chain saws etc. ‘SINISTER’ has a reflection around the letters that has been faded, this effect makes it look spooky and scary, it connotes to the audience that there might be ghosts used in the film and there will be mysterious things going on. In addition the front reflection of ‘SINISTER’ looks like as if blood is dripping down from the letters, this connotes that there might be a lot of blood, death and killing involved which just already makes the film look frightening. The letters of ‘SINISTER’ has been separated, this makes the masthead look very clear to the audience, and it shows that it is sending out a message to beware of might approach.
• The tagline under the title is also very significant as it creates the context for the narrative, which also links heavily to the image blow. This suggests that disequilibrium could occur in the movie because before anyone saw "him" everything was normal and dandy in life but after someone had seen "him" everything turned bad and there was nothing that could be done to get back to the equilibrium before he was seen. This connotes to the audience that once you see the supernatural being he will pursue you, which is making the film already more eerie and spine chilling for the audience. The same typography has been used for the tagline as in the title of the film to maintain the overall consistency of the film poster. The placement of the tagline is slightly unconventional, although its placement under the film title is conventional. It is smallest item of text on the poster, perhaps this has been used to reinforce a sense of mystery as the audience search the poster for an explanation to why the girl is drawing across the walls in blood.
• The main selling point form the film poster is the dominant image. This blooded face that looks as if it has been splashed and onto the wall, which then following a little girls hand on the blood makes it equally disturbing and terrifying. This will make the audience feel uncomfortable, as they can see a blooded face with demonic eyes looking directly forward, straight at the audience’s eyes, making the poster look very creep and supernatural feeling, which immediately declares that it is in fact a horror film. The poster adheres to the rule of thirds because the title crosses three of the thirds drawing the audiences eyes instantly to the title of the film, and then onto the images of the girl and the bloody face on the wall. The face on the wall looks like it's been made out of dripping blood that seems to have come from the girls hand as she drags it across the wall. Additionally, the colour the blood is obviously red and this connotes danger and death. This fits in with the film genre as it's a horror and there is usually blood and gore because they are key genre tropes that you would usually find in a horror movie.
• As the audience will be immediately also drawn into this little girl whose hand is leaving a trail of blood, makes the poster look even daunting as it connotes to the audience that this child must of painted this demons face on the wall with blood. Following on, this also connotes that something evilness has possessed the little girl into doing what’s shown on the poster. One typical of the horror genre is there are no prominent actors face is shown in the poster. This gives the audience to relate to an unknown character and emphasise with the little girl feelings and emotions. Despite the lack of any emphasis on the little girl makes the narrative and storyline focal aspect for the film. The enigma code on the poster will makes the audience question why the girl is there and why she's doing what she's doing, the poster looks very creepy in the way that the bloody face on the wall is looking straight at the audience giving them direct address. This connotes that during the film a scary face may pop up at any unexpected time to scare the audience, which is rather common for the horror genre.
• Another key feature is the damaged film stripe below the demon face, the damaged film stripe depicts that how the antagonist secretes have been destroyed by him, as this connotes that he has been filmed and discovered. This connotes to the audience that someone is trying to figure out the mystery of the supernatural, which makes the film frightening as dreadful things are going to be happening throughout this investigation.
• At the bottom of the film poster, there are films companies named that are involved with the film, to show they have been taken part of producing the film. This helps the audience because if they are a fan of some o theses companies other wok then they may enjoy the film being advertised with a poster.
• There is also the text saying ‘Coming Soon’ in big text at the bottom, this is a typical convention used in any film posters. This is showing that the film’s release date hasn't yet been announced and that this poster is simply to promote the movie, and get the potential audience excited for it for when it is supposed to be released.
• The background of the poster is in itself particularly grim and dull, which extremely makes the blood painted image and the dark masthead stand out to the audience. This connotes to the audience that the film id dark and spooky. The off white colours on the poster make it looks eerie, which effectively fits to a horror genre. The cracked and dirt on the wall and floor shows that the area within the poster is isolated; making the girl on the poster seem more innocent and at risk. The setting of this poster seems to be white room within a house, white it can represent an absence of colour reflecting the mood of the poster as soulless. The location of the poster is unknown but if the audience have seen the film trailer of ‘SINISTER’ they would know the primary location in which the narrative is set is within a house where a family were mysteriously murdered. This setting connotes and helps build up the audience’s expectations of the narrative as it’s unveiled that the majority of the film is based on the disturbances occurring within the house.

Prom Night Analysis: 

• 4 noticeable colours of red, white, grey and black in the poster. This makes the poster more effective because bright and colourful elements do not draw the target audiences attention away from the raw image. The colour palette is another signal of the horror genre to the target audience because it is very dark and therefore the audience has a sense of not seeing the whole picture in its true light. 
• The title is in red which has connotations of blood, passion and evil. The colouring makes the title stand out against the dark setting without stealing the focus from the main picture because it is neatly sized and in a basic font. The edges of the writing blur into the picture which gives a sense that the writing is glowing or it is written in blood which is now dripping down. This once again establishes the genre to the target audience by implying that violence and harm will be inflicted upon the victims such as the character on the poster. 
• The tiara is one of the main focuses of the poster and is cleverly used as the glamour is juxtaposed with fear. It is a stereotypical element of  a high school prom which reinforces the setting of the title. The placement of the tiara on the characters head as well as the untidiness of the the hair suggest that she is distressed and has been involved in some sort of violent struggle as the prop has become displaced and her hair (which would not look professional at a prom) is messy. The headpiece covers the character's eyes which makes the target audience focus on her mouth and the connotations of fear that are associate with this expression.
• This expression of the other main focus of the poster as it portrays pure terror and fear. These 2 elements are common to the horror films and therefore this factor of the poster displays the genre to the target audience. The mouth takes up around one third of the poster which highlights the importance and presence of the fear that will surround events in the movie. Also, the size of the picture represents the size of the scream which this expression would cause and thus involves the target audience as they imagine the noise this would make when they see the poster. 
• The poster has a worn and damaged look to it. This reflects the possible struggle that the character in the poster has experienced. It also means that the poster doesn't have a glossy effect to it. This once again mirrors the action that is suggested in the film as a prom suggests gloss and grace but here this is obviously not the case. The target audience would have to watch the film to see why this elegance has been disrupted. 
• The tagline of 'A NIGHT TO DIE FOR' is a play on words as it is a phrase generally used by the target audience but in this context the word 'die' suggests that this will actually happen in the film. The tagline is placed under the title so it is the second thing the target audience reads after the name of the production. The text fits in with the colour palette as it is in white and this also helps it to stand out from the main title as well as the background. 
• At the very bottom of the poster is an indication of the release date. This is obviously a teaser poster as the specific date is not stated. This tactic of teaser elements captures the target audience's interest and curiosity in the film from an early stage and also involves them in the distribution process as they are forced to look out for the exact dates of the release. Under the indication of release, the official website for the film is shown. This is some of the smallest text on the poster so it does not steal attention away from any of the bigger factors such as the film's title or the posters picture. The official website is included because people who are interested in the film can go on there to find out more about information, such as the official release date as well we being able to view teaser trailers. 
• At the bottom right- hand corner of the poster is the logo of the company that produced the film which in this case is 'Screen Gems'. The production logo is displayed because it wants to receive recognition if the film does well plus the fact that some people are attracted to the film because a certain company has been involved in it's production. In the bottom left-hand corner there are a few details about people involved in production. This is the smallest writing on the poster because it is only a teaser poster and therefore this information is not as important as when the film is officially released because its purpose is just to create interest in it. The function of these details are to inform the audience of who was involved in the production and thus give credit to them. In the official poster the credits are much more detailed and at the bottom, underneath the tagline and title. 
• There are obviously no big celebrities in this film as their names have not been used as a main focus to attract the target audience. If the poster were to contain celebrity names for the 'star factor', they would stereo typically be at the top of the poster as it is where the audience's eyes would be drawn to. This film has followed the conventions of the horror genre as the victim is female. Females are often chosen as victims in horror as they are classed as weaker than men and therefore they are more vulnerable to the actions of the villain.