Film Posters: Layout and Composition

When creating a poster for a film, you have to take into consideration the composition and layout of in order to make sure your audience sees everything on the poster by guiding their eye. Common forms of composition include using the 'rule of thirds', where the page is split up into 9 equally sized sections, and where the lines meet at a '+' shape, is where the eye-line and focal points may be. A 'Z' shape is another composition technique used. This may be done where they're is text at the top and bottom of the poster, with a large image in the middle. A third composition technique is the triangle '∆' shape. This is where you get drawn from the bottom to a singular focal point at the top of the page. Posters can include only one of the composition types, or can contain multiple. The following are examples of how film posters use layout and composition: 

Z,  ∆ & O Composition, Two-Person Close-up, Describing Background.

For this poster for the film Avatar, the composition layouts used are the ∆ type and the Z type. The 'Z' is formed as you are first brought to look at the text at the top of the poster, which you read from left to right. You then move your sight downwards to the film title, but this would mean you will look across the main image in order to see this. You would then read the title from left to right, therefore forming the 'Z' shape. The ∆ shape is created as the two faces on the main image are placed fairly in the middle at the top of the poster, and there is a distinct different in terms of tone of the two faces, making the lighter face of the human stand out more. The curvature of his face almost forms a diagonal line towards the top or bottom of the poster, depending on how you look at it. The bottom of the main image in the poster is a lot more spaced out and is right above the film title, which creates the wide base of the triangle shape. This poster also slightly features the 'O' composition as the curvature of the planet in the background takes your eyes i a circular motion from the top of the alien's head, towards the bottom of the poster where you can see the banshee, and then towards the floating rock. As this poster features a close up of two characters who are placed very close to each other, we can assume that theses are the main characters and will be or will grow to have a close chemistry or romantic interest. This also has a vague describing background as it shows that they are not on earth but an entirely different world.


Other posters that feature a close up of two characters can suggest something different however, depending on the genre of the film and how close they are positioned together. If they are placed facing each other and far apart we can assume they're enemies, if they're placed back to back and looking away from each other then we can assume they are brothers in arms or a different side to the same person. The proximity, facial expression and eye direction are key to defining the chemistry or relationship between characters in a poster. 
Other examples of close ups:

Z & Rule of Thirds Composition, Group with Describing Background.

The Poster for Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children follows a similar composition to the Avatar one. The 'Z' shape is created in the same way with the text at the top and bottom of the poster, and the '∆' shape is created by having wide space on the main image and the film title at the bottom of the poster, and you are also brought back up towards the centred text at the top. Unlike the Avatar poster, this one uses the 'rule of thirds' technique. The character  in centre is placed within the middle sections of the rule of thirds grid, with her eyes approximately just above eye level. In the top left section there is a floating girl, in the top middle section we can see an old building, the top right is taken up by a tree, the mid left features a pair of twins and a young girl holding up a rock, in the middle right there is a young woman casting a flame and an invisible boy.  Another young by is placed on the 1st vertical line and is only just below the eye level line, which suggests he is only slightly below authority or importance to the woman in the centre. The distance and positioning of the characters helps to tell us who are the main characters and how important they are to the plot. This is also an example of a group with a describing background. There is an old building which we can assume to be the 'home' for the 'peculiar children'. The house seems to have its own grounds, away from any other civilisation. The 'peculiar children' are suggested through the fact that all features supernatural abilities, and as they are all within the grounds of the house, we can assume that they live there. 


Like with the two-person close-up, the relationships in groups can be stermined by the way the characters are posing or interacting with each other in the poster.If they are standing away, have their back turned, or are facing each other from a distance from the protagonist, then they can be assumed to be an antagonist. If they are facing each other and are close to each other then they will be comrades, if one has their hand wrapped around another person in an embracing or protective manner, then we can assume that they have a romantic interest in each other. Seeing the characters from a distance allows us to see more of what they look like and their relationship to other characters and the world they live in.



Describing backgrounds are used to help tell the audience the type of world that the characters live in, or to hint what the conflict might be. Without having a background, we can assume that the characters live in our normal world of Earth, and that they live normal lives. Plain backgrounds are more commonly used with romance or comedy films since we are more focused on the characters rather than the world.

Groups with decribing backgrounds:
In the below examples we can see that Captain America: The Winter Solider is about Captain America fighting off invading other-world forces along with Black Widow and Nick Fury, and that the characters in the distance will play an antagonistic role. In Crimson Peak we can tell that this film will take place inside an old gothic mansion during a time period within the past. In Oz: The Great and Powerful, we can see that this does not take place on earth, but a different fantasy world, and that given how Oz's costume looks different to the other character's, we can assume he is foreign to this world. 

Groups without backgrounds:
In these examples the posters only have 1-2 colour backgrounds to them. As I mentioned before, this is to make the characters the main focus as the films take place in an everyday setting so the poster does not need to establish a setting. In order to suggest the genre of the film, they rely on the typography and costumes of the characters. For Smart People, we can tell that the film will be academic-related given how the characters look like stereotypical students/ professors. In The Sapphires poster we can tell it is about soul singers as again, they are dressed like the typical soul singer. The poster for Enemy is also an example of using the perspective/vanishing point compositon as it draws the audience's eye into the side of the poster .

One-Person Posters
Long Distance:
Like the group posters with both describing and non-describing backgrounds, the long distance shots of a singular character helps us to identify who is the protagonist, or in some cases antagonist, for the film. . When showing the character by themself without a background, such as in 17 Again, we can assume that this is the main character for either a romance and/or comedy film which is set in a normal, everyday setting. When it shows the background it helps to tell the audience what relationship the characters have with the setting that they are in In the case of Pandemic, it could suggest that the character is a lone survivor in an apocalypse, or is one of the few survivors left, judging by the overgrown plantation in the foreground and destroyed city in the background. In Snow White and the Huntsman, the poster shows us Snow White who is grasping a knife. The enviroment around her is fantastical in both a horrific and beautiful way. This suggests that Snow White is not safe in this world she lives in.

Close Up:
By viewing a character from a close-up shot, we are able to identify the character's face better, and see their faciel expressions and emotions from a better perspective. The drawback to having a close-up of a characters fae for the poster is that it can be difficult to get an idea of the plot for the film, however the following examples still manage to give a hint about what the film's story is. For Scream and Annabelle we can tell these are horror films as scream shows a close-up of a female who looks scared of something, as the viewer we do not know what she is scared of. For Annabelle the doll purpously is make to look haunting and even has blood dripping from the eye, showing common iconography for the genre. The viewer will be able to determine that this will be the antagonist in the film and that the doll will potentially be a murderer as suggested by the blood. In The Martian poster we can get a vague idea of the setting he is in because of the reflection on his round helmet, which shows a rocky, barren land. The text over Matt Damon's face says 'Bring him home', which tells us the film will be based around a rescue mission.

Is it important to follow or break conventions?
The image on the right is a very typical layout for a film poster. Most of the time the film title is near to the bottom of the page with the credits underneath. When following this template you can clearly get across the right information needed and it will have the right type of composition to draw an audience's eye across it. However in order to make the film come across as unique, I think it is important to make the poster for the film unique as well. Not only will it make it look more creative, but it will make the poster look more rememberable, which will keep the idea of of the film inside the viewer's heads. I like the idea of having a describing background in my poster, as it will give an idea as to what the setting is for the film, however I wouldn't have the characters typically grouped together or having their back turned to the viewer as I find this to be an overused approach. I would like to incorporate perspective into my poster, like the Enemy poster as I haven't seen many posters to use this type of compositon and I think it is a clever way to draw your audience in. The idea of having a close-up of the anonymous mask for the main image has crossed my mind, but I believe it would not give much of a hint to the audience as to what the story is about. I think it is also clever when a film poster incorporates it's text, such a the film title, into the main image, like they have done in this poster for the film Fury (Left).

I found this video on Youtube explaining how a lot of film posters use the same composition and layout, also covering common poses such as having the protagonist alone in the poster with their back turned to the audience, or how in rom-com posters the female of the couple is pulling on a tie or scarf to show that she is in charge. Another thing covered is how action films these days often use the teal and orange colour scheme for the background as they are complimentary colours and stand out.