2. British Crime Film Posters
Movie Title
Stars firmly
establishing in
industrial location
with graffiti to
show crime
Montage of images
including main and
iconic characters of
film, characters at
different levels creates
connotations of loyalty
anxiety
Shadowed background
dangerous location but
also the sense of
overpowering/on
looking evil
Portrait
Bright lighting effect
showing their clothing
must be a battle
scene of some kind
which generally
appeals to male
audience
Main Actor
names
Green suggests stability
and endurance.
Sometimes green
denotes lack of
experience.
3. What is a Movie Poster?
• A movie poster can be seen in a number of lights: some see them
as a work of art but their primary purpose is as an advertisement
• The challenge for the creators of these posters is to maintain the
artistic values of these pieces while ensuring they are successful
persuasive texts.
• We the consumers of these texts can often tell the genre or have a
good guess at what the movie is about at just a glance depending
on the colour scheme and pose used for the main image but there
are some conventions which are common to all genres:
• -Masthead –Credit Block –Main Image –Actors names
• -Directors names –Reviews –Taglines….
• There are a number of different types of movie posters: Teaser
Posters, Official Cinema Release Posters and DVD Release posters
and when analysing posters we need to address what the purpose
of the particular poster is.
Horror Film Posters
Movie Title
Credit Block
Image: skeleton like
fingers with jack-o-
lantern face adds to
the title “Halloween”
making movie seem
even more creepy
Tagline quite creepy
and appropriate for
horror genre of film.
Knife suggestive of a
weapon a character can
use therefore this
anonymous character may
be a danger
Black background
creates a sense of
darkness , evil and
death
Portrait
4. Romantic Film Posters
Main Image of lead
male and female
characters, their
relationship main focus
of the movie.
Main Actors names
featured under their
image.
Tagline based on a
romantic theme, ‘Nothing
on earth could come
between them.’
Credit Block
Movie Title
Director
Soft/Pale colours
with cloud like effect,
gives impression of
heavenly like
atmosphere or the
idea of the cliché “on
cloud nine” is
suggested here.
Location plays big
part of this movies
story.
Portrait
5. Sci-Fi Film Posters
Movie Title
Credit Block
Stars firmly
establishing
outer space
location and sci-fi
genre
Montage of images
including main and
iconic characters of
series, montage
creates a sense of
excitement and fast
paced action
Dark background again
establishing outer-
space location but also
the sense of
overpowering/on
looking evil
Portrait
Bright lighting effect
showing there must
be a battle scene of
some kind which
generally appeals to
male audience and
action fans
Saga Title
