Film Posters- Purpose

Film posters are used mainly to promote and advertise a film. They are aimed at the target audience of the film, by highlighting genre and key aspects of the film. For example, this poster for "Rocky" illustrates both the romantic elements of the film, through the characters holding hands and the theme of boxing, through Rocky's attire. An audience would use this poster to gather information on the genre, themes and main stars of the film allowing them to decide more easily if they would like to see it or not.  

However, some films may not necessarily reflect the film as a whole in the poster,this can be seen in "Sweeney Todd", starring Johnny Depp, the poster implies the film is more of a horror film, thanks to the dark tone and blood stains which act as symbolic codes, however the film is in fact a musical. This can be seen as deliberate as it would allow the film to appeal to a more broad audience than that of a musical. This is used by the producers to advertise and encourage an audience to see the film, and to target a specific audience, in this case, a wider one than the film may appeal to.