The Purpose of Film Posters

Originally, film posters were produced for the exclusive use by the theatres showing the film the poster was created for. The purpose of film posters is promotion and advertisement and the idea is to attract a target audience. A single film poster can target a more specific audience to that of the 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 or actresses who are normally well known to the audience. Using well known cast members helps create a high profile for the film and helps increase wider distribution therefore helping the film gain more profit. Prior to the 1990s, 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.

The film posters for 'Elizabeth' show two very differnent views of the film. Firstly the US poster, shows the one main character while the UK poster shows a range of main characters. Furthermore, the US poster is mainly coloured in red which implies the film could be about love and passion whereas the UK poster is quite sinister looking which implies it has an element of thriller. Both these posters advertise the same film but have completely different definition of the film.

Film posters are displayed inside and on the outside of movie theaters, and elsewhere on the street or in shops. Nowadays, many posters are displayed throughout the London Transport system. This is due to the fact that many people nowadays commute and so during periods such as rush hour, it gives the advantage of a wider audience as the poster will be viewed by many commuters both young and old. The same images that appear on film posters may also be used on websites, DVD packaging, flyers, advertisements in newspapers and magazines.

Film posters have been used since the earliest public exhibitions of film. They began as outside placards listing the programme of short films to be shown inside the hall or movie theatre. By the early 1900s, they began to feature illustrations of a scene from each individual film or a variety of overlaid images from several scenes. Other movie posters have used artistic interpretations of a scene or even the theme of the film, represented in a wide variety of artistic styles.

An example of this is the film poster for 'Bridget Jones' Diary'. From the poster, we can see that Renee Zellweger, who plays Bridget Jones, is the main character as she appears in the centre of the poster and her two co-stars, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant (who are two well known actors) appear either side of her. Bridget Jones is holding a diary which gives off the impression that the film is about the diary and having the two male co-stars either side of her connotes that it could be a RomCom about the two men fighting for her.

Moreover, its not only Directors and Producers that use film posters. Audiences also use film posters to gain certain information about the film such as:

• Genre - this tells the audience what type of film it is for example, whether its a thriller or a Romantic Comedy. This therefore gives them an indication as to whether its the sort of film that ppeals to them.


• Cast - some people like to watch films that include a certain actor or actress in the cast.


• Possible Narratives - a film poster may also give an idea to the audience of the types of themes in the film


• Release Date and Distribution - if an audience is interested in seeing a film that is yet to be released, then the release date can tell them when the film is available to be viewed and also the places of where it will be screened.

This is a teaser poster for 'Harry Potter 7'. This poster includes the title and release dates. However, as this a teaser poster, the Producer limits the information about the film on the poster to try and get audiences talking about the fil and then it trying to gain audience interest. Also, the title of the film is abbreviated 'HP7'. This is because from previous films in the series, audiences have gained and understanding of the film and so can easily recognise the title and film.