Film Poster conventions: Theatrical

1. Film Poster conventions: Theatrical Images The typical conventions for the images on a noir thriller theatrical film poster is that the main character or characters are to be revealed. The image could be of one of the main characters showing that he/she is the main focus in the film or two even three characters can be shown but traditionally there is one main character on the poster. I have challenged this convention as instead of going with the norm and only using an image of only one character I have included three characters. This is because I wished to target a wider audience as having simply one male character would ensure that males would be attracted but females would have been less attracted, for this reason I used images of two females and one male in order for the film to attract not only a large audience of males but also females as both genders would then be able to relate to the film.

2. Text/Layout The typical conventions for the text/layout that is presented on a noir thriller theatrical film poster is that the text is to be located towards the top of the poster and also at the bottom leaving space in the middle of the poster for the image. Typical conventions also include having the release date of the film, the title, a quote, the directors name, social networking sites where fans can gain information about the film from, the films website, the age rating and also elements of iconography. In my film poster I have included all of these elements as in my poster the text is both located at the top of the poster and also at the bottom therefore leaving space in the middle for the image. I have included the release date, the directors name social networking sites/films website, a title and a quote, I also used iconography as the rose in the picture is to represent to rose necklace Rosaline has which is her mothers and the red writing symbolizes the blood and death in the film. I included all of these conventions as I wanted to make my poster as realistic as possible and for the poster to have a meaning behind the uses of texts and images, I also wanted my poster to have a huge affect on the audience and for the poster to attract their attention which is why I followed the typical conventions mentioned. I also wanted my film poster to relate to other film posters of the same genre as then my film would ensure to portrayed as a noir thriller.

3. Tagline Having a tagline is a typical convention in theatrical film posters, reasons for this is because they give an insight of what the film may be about and also create some mystery behind the film. To the left is an example of a great tagline, as you can see the tagline indicates the return of a male and how his return is important. The tagline also attracts the audiences attention and thought's as the audience then wonder about what the meaning behind the tagline could be. I wished to have the same affect on my target audience so I created the tagline “some things should never be kept secret” I chose this tagline as there will be some mystery behind the tagline used and will also attract my audience into thinking about what the secret is and what affect it has on the characters. Having this as a tagline also allows the poster to have a long lasting affect on the audience as they will be constantly thinking about this, this will therefore lead them onto researching the film and speaking about it to other which would be the word of mouth promotion strategy. Therefore having a tagline can lead onto the film becoming a success.

4. Colours/fonts In theatrical film posters for noir thriller there are mainly bright colours used but at times dark colours are used. I chose to follow this convention as it allowed me to use iconography as on my poster I used the colour red. This was because the red symbolises the blood and death within the film but the red rose also represents the rose necklace that Rosaline has of her mothers. I used the colour grey for some of the text as I thought that if I simply used red the audience would not be able to see it its importance as much so using the colour grey helped the writing in red to have more of an importance as the writing stood out more to the audience. The typical font styles that are used are that the font tends to be bold and sophisticated, this is because the font then give the poster and the film a very serious look and also portrays the film as a very dark film. I also followed this convention as the title I used is in bold in order for it to stand out and to grasp the audiences attention and I also used this to give the film a serious tone and to present the film as being dark and mysterious. I also used these fonts as they suited other noir thriller posters so this would ensure that my film would be seen as a noir thriller as the fonts relate to other fonts on other poster.