Poster: Common Conventions

There are many common conventions that film posters use to appeal to the target audience and to make sure the poster they create is up to the same or better standards that the other film posters are at the time so they can compete. As Bentley said in 1997 'The creative process is rearranging the old to create the new' and that is what I will do with the conventions I see on the magazines I analyse.

• Dark colours are very conventional for thriller, black and white are very common and then a themed highlight colour such as one in this image is used as they are very gothic and dark colours. Usually there is a use of bright red to highlight some of the text on the poster too, which connotes aggression and passion and also brings attention to the word/s. 
• The masthead is usually underneath the main image and isn't extremely large as the image is usually the focal point of the poster. The smaller masthead size also plays a part in the hierarchy of the poster, to guide the audience's eye down the poster. 
• The layout of the poster is usually an actor's name at the top, followed by a heavily edited image that looks really interesting, hints at the plot line and intrigues the audience whilst showcasing the star vehicle, sometimes there is a tag line written beside the main image. The masthead then conventionally follows underneath the image, followed by the credits block at the bottom of the poster which is small white writing showing all the company and business details.  Then conventionally the release date of the film follows the credits block. 
•  The main image is conventionally an image of the star vehicle/s and is heavily edited to intrigue the audience. The image can sometimes set some of the plot by showing the location of the film, or it hints at the plot line. The image is always of a good quality and the star vehicles usually have quite a blank expression to connote what their character feels throughout the film.