Film Poster Conventions (technical codes)

Just like anything else, film posters follow a set of conventions in order to be the most effective and successfully put across the needed information as well as entertainment for the audience. In this section technical codes will be explored and explained. Technical codes have to do with the techniques used in the construction of a text. The usual techinical codes used in film posters are as follows:
-a picture of the star or iconic image from the film
-film title
-tagline
-BBFC certificate
-Billing block
-background image
-name or names of main stars
More or less can be included depending on the film for example short film posters do not always have a picture of the star, or the name of main stars which is something my group and I will have to consider when it comes to making our own film poster for our short film. These technical codes are specifically chosen for purposes. A picture of the star or iconic image from the film is used so that audience can visually get a first impression of the film without having read information on it or seen the film itself; it helps audiences see either who is acting in the film or possibly the plot/genre of the film.

The film title is quite simply used so that the readers know the title of the film. This way they can get an idea of what the film is about (if the title has been chosen to reflect the film) but also can remember it, research it, find trailers etc. If the film title was not on the poster then it would cause a lot of confusion and could decrease the amount of people able to access or watch the film. Next, the tag line is usually used on a film poster to in a way summarise the film in a short sentence. Again it usually is something fairly memorable and allows the reader to know more about the film without having to have read the synopsis.

Moving on, the BBFC certificate is important as it allows audiences to understand the contents of the film and who it is suitable for e.g. if an adult is looking for an adult film to watch, if there is no BBFC certificate on the film poster they may end up watching a U film instead of one more suitable for them, same applies for younger audiences. The billing block is a technical code which is more important institutionally rather than for the audience; this is because it has details about producers, directors, other members of the cast or behind the scenes team etc which is not always what the audience is interested in however it helps the film poster to be recognised as a film poster. The final technical codes are fairly self explanatory. These are all the conventions that will need to be considered by my group and I when creating a film poster for our short film.