Movie Poster Research

Making a movie poster is another part of our overall A2 portfolio, so I decided to start researching movie posters in a general way, to see what worked over all genres. One thing that was evident was that the best movie posters were simple ones. Premiere voted Alfred Hitchcock's Anatomy Of A Murder as their number 1 movie poster of all time. The poster design itself is extremely simple. A human body split into the limbs, with the title spread over them. The use of bold colours make the image more striking too.

A convention of many posters is 'floating heads', here evident in Gangs Of New York. Although in this example, it is saved by an inventive skyline on the American flag, films such as Race To Witch Mountain look tired and cliched just from the poster. I feel it is important to veer away from the whole 'floating heads' idea.

Many films use a single image, usually with the main character in it, to convey the emotion of the film through the background, font, stance, facial expression and colouring. A great example of a single image on a poster is Taxi Driver. The lone image of Travis Bickle on the street, a wary, deadly look in his eye perfectly conveys the emotions of loneliness and vigilantism shown in the film. The fact that there is no one else in the background, and the buildings are swathed in dark shadows further emphasise the dark nature of the story.

Specifically concentrating on our genre of film, post apocalyptic film posters do have some common conventions. I have also decided to cross over into dystopian films also, as these films often follow similar lines. A brilliant example of a movie poster is Brazil (1985). The striking image of the figure bursting from the gigantic filing cabinet and spreading their wings is a perfect allegory of the film. The main character, Sam Lowry yearns to break free from the futuristic system that holds his dreams prisoner. Also, the way the poster art depicts the flight of freedom suggests that although he will burst into the light, ultimately, he will fall into oblivion. The poster is a rare example of one symbol summing up a whole film perfectly.

Posted by Michael McGroarty