DAT 403 – Movie poster tropes – What are they?

“A literary trope is the use of figurative language – via word, phrase, or even an image – for artistic effect such as using a figure of speech. The word trope has also come to be used for describing commonly recurring literary and rhetorical devices, motifs or clichés in creative works.”

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trope_%28literature%29)

The DAT403 Photomontage assignment states: “It should work as an original movie poster, including their traditional tropes…”

But what are traditional movie poster tropes?

• Credit block

• Press/media reviews and star ratings

• Industry awards (Cannes, etc.)

• Pull-out quotes

• Main cast names/images

• Tag line

• Reference to previous works e.g. “from the director of …”

• Often simple but striking colour scheme with just one or two main colours