A slideshow to show the generic conventions of a film poster and also go into detail about the generic conventions of a horror film poster.

1. Generic conventions of film
posters.

2. Title of the
film. A catch phrase
for the film to
entice someone
to watch it. Has
to be a very
brief idea of
what the film
would entail.
Image of the main
character or just an
image which is very
relevant to the film.
If the image is brightly
coloured and excitable
you can guess it is a
comedy, however the
image represents the
genre so it’s important
it is clear what genre
the film is.
All the distributors,
copy right
information and
the crew of the film
is to be listed at the
bottom
Main cast
members is to
be shown
clearly.

3. They often have an
example of the film
creators previous
work to give an
idea of what to
expect from the
new film.
This image clearly
shows it is a comedy
genre as it’s a funny
picture and shows a
man laughing.
Suggesting laughing is
what you will do whilst
watching the film.
Main characters as
often the cast of a
film depends on
whether people will
watch it or not. If
it’s got unknown
people starring
people are less
likely to watch it.
Often shows
the date of
release so
viewers can get
excited and
plan to see it.

4. All three film posters have similar generic conventions. They all show the title of the
film, and the genre of all three films is clearly represented by the images used on
them. At the bottom of both ‘Step Brothers’ and ‘The Last Exorcism’ it shows the
date of which the film will be released. On all three film posters there’s a small print
of the producers/distributors of the film which is a convention which seems to be on
most posters. Also as the actors in the ‘Step Brothers’ and ‘Love Happens’ are well
known it says their names at the top of the poster because people enjoy going to
see a film with a successful starring role in it. All three posters have catchy slogans
which also present the genre.

5. Generic conventions of horror film
posters.

6. An extreme close up image of an
eye is often a generic convention
used in a horror movie poster. A
manipulation of the eye is often
used to cause it to creep out
anyone who see’s it due to it’s
eerie and unusual look. The
cropped image of the eye also
shows the fear they are feeling as
the eyes are often widened with
fear. This creates enigma as
nothing can be seen other than
this terror-filled eye. In the poster
for ‘The Candy Man’ we see a
silhouette of a person within the
eye. Using an eye as a horror film
posters image is effective as it can
be manipulated in many ways to
cause it to look scary. This also
creates a teaser for the audience as
it gives away very little.

7. Many horror films are set in an eerie house which is often
(especially in more supernatural films) where the evil and the
horror is coming from. Blood and gore films sometimes also take
place in a house. Usually the house is surrounded by lots of
darkness to create that eerie feel to it. The appearance of the
house is often very old fashioned looking and not very looked
after which is unsettling for an audience as most people
associate home with safety and comfort.

8. - The main character will usually be shown in a dark light to add
uncertainty and fear of the unknown.
- Horror film posters, it has become common for font to be almost
child-like. This type of font many 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 - colours associated with fear and loneliness. This is to
reflect on the genre of the film and also the emotions of the
characters.
- The characters shown on a horror film poster are generically the
main antagonist or the protagonist. They will never be very
detailed of the characters as an audience would want to keep this as
a mystery. Often the main characters in a horror film are really
famous ones because 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.
- The posters background is also typically very dark to keep the
audience unaware of what the setting is of the film. Also iconic films
such as the Scream franchise where on the posters only the famous
mask worn by the antagonist and now is well known on a global
scale. A dark background makes the foreground image stand out
more indicating that it has a significant role in the film.