Teaser Posters v Theatrical posters

A marketing campaign of a film has different stages. Early on in the marketing process a teaser poster for the released will be revealed, showing minimal detail compared to the detailed release of the theatrical poster which is revealed closer to the release date of the film.

The Maze Runner (Ball, 2014)

Teaser Posters

These are three different examples of teaser posters for The Maze Runner. Each poster has taken its own approach to enticing the audience. The first poster shows the audience a glimpse of casting and character for the film.This is the only character presented on the poster, allowing the audience to assume he is the main character of the film. The character on the first poster appears to be looking at something out of frame, foreshadowing a possible tense atmosphere felt within the film. The second poster shows only the title of the film and the tagline. The tagline, "Find your way out", is shown in small text in the bottom corner of the poster, drawing the audiences attention to the films title which is integrated into the shape of the maze. The third poster is almost a combination of the first two. The audience see a silhouette of a character, possibly the one seen in the first poster, jumping over a segment of the maze with the title of the film centred at the bottom of the poster. This brings emphasis on the size of the maze compared to the character and evokes a feeling of suspense within the audience about the film.

Theatrical Poster

The theatrical poster shows the audience more of the cast and characters of the film. The character from the first teaser poster I analysed is positioned at the front of the group of characters, thus clarifying that he is in fact the main character of this film. The tagline of the teaser poster  has been changed from "find your way out" to "get ready to run". This adds to the excitement the poster evokes for the films release. The background of the poster shows the vastness of the maze and may be symbolic of the struggles the characters face in relation to the maze. By positioning the audience of the poster within the maze in front of the characters, it brings forward a question as to what the characters are running towards. The added information within the poster evokes a final wave of excitement within the audience.