Summer Holiday Research - Film Posters

A film poster is used to advertise a film. There are many posters advertising films all over the world to gain publicity from the audience. Most of them contain an image e.g. main character from the film posing, along with some text and tag lines. They're usually displayed in public areas e.g. billboards, cinemas (Inside & Out), Newspapers, Magazines.

Film posters advertise before the film is available to premiere in cinema, the reason for this is because posters give audiences a little teaser, an idea of what the film is about just by looking at the cast (pose, clothing etc.) and name of the film.

Difference between a Teaser trailer and a Character Poster

Teaser Poster

A teaser poster is an early promotional film poster which includes an image or design, but without much detail to it, not revealing any of the storyline at all. This is a publicity stunt, it catches the audiences attention and causes excitement for the premiere of the film. Sometimes a short tagline is included or the poster can just contain an image of a prop or a brief shot of the main character (most likely facing away from the camera).

Character Poster

A Character Poster is featuring the main character or group, most posters feature an individual character from the film e.g. Harry Potter. Most posters include:

• The Title of the Film
• Age Rating, audiences will know whether the films appropriate or not for kids to watch
• Tag Line, a brief synopsis
• Star Ratings by film critics
• Quotes from the film critics (Sometimes)
• Cast (At the top of poster) & Crew (At the bottom in Steel tongs font)
• Release Date