Film Poster Research

Short Film VS Feature Film Posters :

A film poster is a poster used to advertise a 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 layered over it. Today's posters often feature photographs of the main actors. 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 and more recently social networking links or website addresses for the audience to find out more about the production and share their thoughts using hashtags.

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 theater. By the early 1900s, they began to feature illustrations of a film scene or an array of overlaid images from several scenes. Other posters have used artistic interpretations of a scene or even the theme of the film, represented in a wide variety of artistic styles.

Poster Research:

Planning:

Idea 1:

Idea 2:

Idea 3:

In my opinion I prefer Idea 2 as it doesn't give too much away about location and characters. The text fits better on the page and is complex enough not to be boring and simple although sometimes simple can be very effective. 

POSTER COMPARISON:

Beating Hearts (short film) VS. Lucky You:

Beating Hearts:
Features: Film ratings and awards, very bold/large film title lots of quotes. Not many producer credits.
Design: Simple but effective, plain background, clever layering of images with text.
Colour: Red, Black & White.
Complexity: Fairly- Well planned layering of text behind images and layout of image.
Content: Very complex, lots of review information and awards. Clear text telling us who the producer is.
Overall Rating: ***** (5 stars out of 5)

Lucky You:
Features: Two main images, showing both characters and location. Gives two very basic hints to the storyline.
Design: Very simple, the background is plain black, the majority of text it white and some important text like release date, tag line and actors in red.
Colour: Red, white and black.
Complexity: Very basic, all central.
Content: Simple- Film name, tagline, actors, production credits small production company logos, two pictures relating to the film.
Overall Rating: *** (3 stars out of 5)