Research on posters with a similar genre

As I have finished the creation of the trailer for my media promotional package, I now must think about the poster and magazine cover that will go with it. Unlike the last two years, I now have a better knowledge on what posters in such a genre should look like, as I have made quite a few posters in the past. I have however still conducted some research into similar posters and the types of things to expect.  One poster that I looked very closely at was the I Am Legend promotional poster:

The first key feature that I noticed was the main actors name at the very top of the poster. This is something that is very conventional with movie posters, especially examples in this kind of genre. I think that I may implement something similar, as the audience is always interested with who is in the film - if it is someone well known, it is likely that they will want to go and see it.

We are then presented with the slogan "The Last Man On Earth Is Not Alone". As well as striking, I really like the play on words as it sort of contradicts itself. This is definitely a feature that I want on my poster as it will be rememberable and people can link it with the film.

The background is very effective in this case. The destruction behind Will Smith just shows how much of a problem the situation is, which should attract the audience and interest them. As I have seen the film, I know that Will Smith voluntarily stays behind to find a cure. This is represented with the lighting in the background - he is walking away from the light (safe) and into the darkness (bad). Usually, it is the other way around as the main good guy is trying to escape the horror. This is a factor that increases the main characters heroism and bravery.

Finally, the conventional title, credits, and date are used at the very bottom of the page. As much as I would like to challenge such conventions, I do think that they are a safe bet when creating a poster as they tell the audience all the key information that they need to know to go and see the film. This is why I think I will use this poster as a template for my own.

To summarise, I really like how this poster has been arranged, and the connotations that it provides the audience are very strong and reveal a lot about what the film may show.