Conventions Of A Film Poster

In order for a film poster to be successful and gain exposure for a film, it must possess several key attributes.

Visual:
A poster must be eye catching and have a key image or figure within the shot that will draw the attention of the viewer.
The titling of the poster must be bold enough to gain the audiences attention for long enough that they will process the information that is on it, and the title must somewhat reflect the film in some way.
The yellow in the Tin Tin film poster in the bold capital letters captures the attention of the audience immediately, especially seeing as the majority of the poster except for the title is relatively dark in appearance.

The image on the poster must also clearly define the genre which the film fits within to the viewer. The Last Exorcism poster underneath is a perfect representation as to how a film company can represent their film in as clear a way as possible to the consumer. This poster shows a scary and quite uncomfortable image on it of a contortionist pose. This immediately signifies horror, especially with the face that the character is pulling in the image.

The release date of the film must be present on a poster. This is so crucial to a films success as the consumer would not know when the film would be screened otherwise, and furthermore, a consumer does not want to have extra work trying to find out information for a film, so Demand will be low.
Information about the film is a must, including reviews, production companies and the directors name. Many director's or film companies have large followings around the world. This release of information about who was involved in the production of the media could lead to vast improvements ina films success. Below is an example, whereby the Director has used his name on the film poster to attact viewers towards the film. As a Scorsese production, this film was bound to gain a huge following, due to the Director's reputation.