Film posters also tell you what the narrative to the film is. This, again, can be seen through the mise-en-scene of the characters.
The genre of the film can be clearly seen through colour and the lighting of the poster which is sub-conciously is taken into account very clearly. For example, red, black and other dark colours can mean a horror film or a film with dark elements.
Written text give very important indications to the film whether it be a quote from a newspaper, a star rating, a quote from the film, an effective line to make you think about the film, awards, outstanding actors, outstanding directors/producers/writers, etc.
In an adventure drama film like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the character is stood looking like he is in mid-battle as implied from the weapon in hand and facial expression of being on guard. The colours are dark and dingy-looking to create a sense of discomfort to portray the film events. The writing across which says "NOWHERE IS SAFE" indicates a quest for safety or an end to a war/feud/dangerous situation which give the sense of adventure from the poster.
In a comedy film like Knocked Up, the characters are pulling facial expressions that are humourous and the picture behind them is a serious situation which shows immediately that the film will have a large humour based around a real-life situation. The play on words at the bottom which says "Expected in cinemas soon" allows the audience to look out for the release date as well as it implying a joke on childbirth expectancy. The magazine quote "Unroarious... explosively funny" states the genre as comedy.
Sci-Fi Film Posters
Science-Fiction films would contain futuristic elements to describe the futuristic narrative and the colours would genrally be silver, blue, etc, and the written text across would usually be a quote about the filmto make you think about it.
