28a. What makes a good Film Poster

A film poster is used to market a film. To be able to attract an audience and gain an interest in their film, film marketers stick to certain code and conventions of film posters.

These are:

• It must be eye catching
• There must be a focal picture which will draw in the audience's attention 
• The title should be displayed in a large eye-catching font
• It clearly shows the genre of the film
• An indication of when the film is released
• Information on the directors and production company that worked on the film
• Reviews of the film
• Title of other popular films that the production company or director have made previously

There are four main types of film posters. Many films will have one poster of each type and will release them at different times. Many film marketer chose to release a number of different posters in the run up to a film cinema release as it creates a 'buzz' about the film.

The four main types of film posters are:

• Character Posters - Posters that contain an image of either one characters, or a group of many main characters from within the film. These types of posters are mainly done to promote a certain actor, especially if there is a popular or well known actor within the film. Sometimes film companies choose to release many different character posters with each character. For example, this was used for the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.

• Teasers Posters - These are usually the first poster that a film company will release. They usually do not contain a lot of information about the film except a realise date and the main character

• DVD posters - These posters are usually released the same time as the DVD. They usually contain more reviews as a lot more people have been able to see the film in the cinema than when any of the other posters we're released. 

• Theatrical posters - These are released the same time as the film goes into the cinema. These usually contain an image of either a main character or a group of main characters. They contain a lot of information about the film such as the director, producers, age rating, release date and sometimes reviews. 

I think for my poster I will choose to make a Theatrical poster as they have the chance to add a lot more information and more of the conventions.