Research into film poster design

The film poster for Shutter Island fits the original conventions of it's genre, as it has a sense of mystery. This is achieved by only lighting half of the main character face, giving the impression that he has two sides to his personality, which then fits in with the story like, a man who leads a double personality as he tries to block out his horrific past by living his life through another personality he has created. The island itself is portrayed to be very dark and dingy, making it look scary at first glance. On a closer look, its noticeable that the island is actually made up of photographs, taking out all sense of realism and making it seem as though it should actually exist in that spot.

The posters main text simply states the name of the film, whereas directly above is the name of the biggest star in the film. This endorses the film as it makes people aware of who is actually in the film, and the more popular/famous the characters are, the more likely the film is going to do good as the actors/actresses will have a bigger fan base than unknown actors, so it would be useless naming them.

The most common reoccurring factor of any film poster are the credits at the bottom. These are printed in small, indistinguishable lettering so they don't draw the eye, and aren't the main focus on the poster. They usually just credit the director and other actors in the film, so they get mentioned in the poster.