Final Analysis of Action Film Poster Layouts

Before creating my own poster for my marketing campaign for 'When Duty Calls', I need to look at different ways action film posters are laid out so when it comes to making mine I can trial all the different ways and see which one works the best for my film in terms of its narrative and its sub-genre. 

Below are five different action film posters that are all laid out slightly different from one another, and I will be looking into each one in more detail.

'Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning' (Pt. 1)

The layout for the poster is as follows:

• Dominant image is of the different actors/characters in the film
• In the background there is action film iconography, which emphasises the thrilling. tense nature of the franchise  - protagonist running on top of the train and jumping off a motorbike
• At the bottom the descending order is star name, title of film, billing block and release date/format/website all together slanted at the bottom 

'R.I.P.D.'

The layout for this poster is as follows:

• One main image with two protagonists in the centre of the poster, with their names under them
• Background highlights chaos and hints at the action in the film (car flying, lightning and earthquake)
• Tagline at the top of poster 
• At the bottom the descending order is star names, title of film, billing block and release date/website

'The Debt'

The layout for this poster is as follows:

• Two separate images of actors/characters in the film  (above and below title)
• In the centre of the poster they have placed the information for the film (over a faint image) 
• The order, in descending order, is names of stars, tagline, title of film, billing block and website

'Spectre'

The layout for this poster is as follows:

• Central dominant image of the protagonist with a background image of a character 
• Star's name at the top
• At the bottom the descending order is title of the film, tagline, billing block, release date, format/website

'Looper'

The layout for this poster is as follows:

• Landscape/quad instead of the default portrait/one-sheet poster 
• One image on poster with the two protagonists in the middle and background creates mystery 
• Names of stars at the top 
• Tagline(s) next to protagonists in the middle 
• At the bottom the descending order is director, title of the film and billing block