Movie Posters:

Movie posters have several main conventions, they all have a tagline, billing block title and release date. The use of layering images in movie posters is very common too, in order to create dimensions within the poster.

Period drama posters all follow similar conventions, they usually always show the main character at the forefront of the poster, and may include the supporting characters too, such as in this poster for "The Duchess".


This poster shows the key character in the forefront, showing her importance, whilst the other characters are in the background showing how they are not the main focus of the story, but are still an important part of the plot.

The colour schemes in period drama posters are often muted soft colours, this could be done to show the mood and feel of the film, and also to appeal to the mostly female audience, as muted soft pastel colours would appeal to them more. An example of this is in this poster for Pride and Prejudice :

The colour scheme in this poster is very bright and light, the use of the golden tones add warmth and the overall feel of the poster is a more cheerful and bright feel.

Another feature of period drama posters is the layout, for example using the title of the film in the middle of the poster to divide two pictures, as done in this poster for Atonement.

This poster is effective as it shows the audience the name of the film and the two main characters. The use of the different backgrounds also give a hint as to the characters backstory, the use of the poppys and the war scenes in both pictures suggest to the audience about the genre and the time it is set.

Overall, we shall be taking these codes and conventions of period drama film posters into account when we are desgining our own, in order for them to look as proffesional and authentic as possible.