Poster Research - The Usual Suspects

The Usual Suspects:

This poster is of the film The Usual Suspects. Immediately, we see that there is a line-up of the characters, which gives away the genre to the film. It doesn’t follow the conventions of having just one main image; however it works as it aids in the narrative as the film always keeps you guessing. The colour used is white that gradients into a yellow colour and a black bar at the bottom of the page and the poster is slightly dark in lighting too, all of these features are conventions of this film genre.

The film title ‘The Usual Suspects’ appears on the bottom centre of this poster which is the conventional place and draws the audience’s attention to the title. It is bold, medium size and a clear font and is white in colour, which contrasts against the dark background. This will capture the audience’s attention.

This poster also includes the typical convention of the stars’ names, in the conventional place at the top of the poster. This allows the audience to know who is in it and attract fans that are already familiar with films that these actors have been part of. This would create a secondary target audience.

The poster includes a tagline below the title. It says ‘Five Criminals. One Line up. No Coincidence.’ The tagline helps to inform the audience on the genre of the film, as the word ‘Criminal’ relates to Crime. It also reveals some of the narrative but not enough to give away the plot, therefore enticing the audience to watch the film. Like the title, it’s also in a white text so that it contrasts with the black background.

It has the typical convention of a billing block, containing the names and institutions involved in creating the film. It allows the producers and institutions to be included in the poster. It is right at the bottom of the poster, in a darker colour so as not to take the attention away from the main image. This poster, however, does not contain a release date. This won’t allow the audience to know when the film is released, so in not having this feature, it won’t aid in promoting the film.