Concept and Creation, Just Outside The Theater Doors:

Why movie posters? I have no idea. But thats what it is for me. Some people in the world have no idea what they want to do for a living, and land in whatever paying position will have them. Others are lucky enough to know specifically they want to be an electrician, mechanic, airline pilot, delivery man, hotel manager, architect or farmer. I think in every profession, there are those who want to do what they do for a living and then those who simply do what they do for a living.

I'm lucky enough to know I want to be a designer. I am a designer. And if I could design anything, it would be movie posters. The goal of the poster is to singularly represent the entire tone of the film. Or at least thats the unofficial conclusion I come to...

How awesome is it to see a poster like One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest? I think that poster is near perfect for that movie. The look on Jack Nicholson's face matched with the rigid type hits every note of that movie. It's pretty annoying when you see that big movie star head as the only thing representing a film, and this is nearly a case of that... but I think it's pretty clear that there is more concept behind it. The About Schmidt designers may have taken influence from the Cuckoo's Nest poster? And I think it's a decent execution but still falls short when compared... Both of these though are WAY better than most of your "big head" posters.

Seeing posters like the Body of Lies one sheet's is always disappointing. It's like they took the good out of the Bourne Ultimatum poster and reposted it on every subway and billboard they could. And the Bourne one wasn't really that good to begin with. In general, the major studios go with these type of big star "money shot" posters. They put the faces of the names they are paying the biggest bucks for up there to herd the masses. Therein lies the relationship between the quality of a poster and the quality of a movie.

True Romance is my favorite movie of all time. But the posters for it suck. Which is unfortunate for someone like me who would love to have an awesome poster for an awesome movie hanging on the walls of my room. Because I was 8 when that movie came out, I was a little more occupied with smashing matchbox cars and wondering why Dinosaurs wasn't in the T.G.I.F. lineup anymore than observing the relationship of a shitty True Romance poster with an awesome True Romance movie.

There's the other side of this too. How good are posters for some of the best movies ever made? Is the poster for the Godfather amazing? I think it's good (not great). I generally like simpler composition though. And with ones like this, even if the poster isn't that great, because the movie carries on with such an amazing reputation; so does the poster. In most cases, the poster is the first thing that comes to mind when remembering a great film.

Is the Goodfella's poster that great? It's a "money shot" poster... big heads... I don't know. It represents a great film. And maybe it's just good enough not to be questioned. But is that the only reason we associate them with greatness? Have you seen the poster for The Crew? It's arguably similar to the Goodfella's one sheet, but is a much worse film. How 'bout Pulp Fiction. The main poster is great, I think it definitely captures all the crazy thats in that movie, but check out some of the other one sheets for it... not so much.

How annoying is it when you see a poster like My Best Friends Girl? I haven't seen that movie, and based on the poster, I wouldn't want to. I'll leave critique on that one up to Dane Cook, but from what I hear, it's mismarketed. Considering myself in the company of other poster designers, I have respect for those that choose concept over simply photoshopping some smiling faces together. Unfortunately we can't all have the career of Gavin Berliner. I think the Before Night Falls one sheet is an exception to the big head approach... Its just a shot of Javier Bardem with type over top of it. But his posture and expression scream Constructivism. Or maybe I'm totally full of shit?

I think a good movie poster comes down to concept. You can photoshop all the fake lighting and smooth skin you want, that won't make me want to see a movie. Posters for movies like American Beauty, Grindhouse, Black Snake Moan, anything Saul Bass has done, Hard Candy, the Eternal Sunshine series, Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas and The Pleasure of Being Robbed, amongst others I think all have great concepts (as well as execution). Grindhouse takes as much influence in its execution as Quentin Tarantino takes in making any of his films. Black Snake Moan is almost a throw back to the comic book cover influence on the Pulp Fiction key art.

Saul Bass. Enough said. (Take that however you like).

Some movies are lucky enough to get one good poster, OTHERS are lucky enough to get a great total campaign. I think The Dark Knight is the most recent example of this. That entire campaign was dark, conceptual, artistic and very well executed, much like the film. So... who's the Heath Ledger of poster design? I think the whole campaigns for There Will Be Blood and V for Vendetta were fantastic as well. Maybe I don't have enough steam left in writing this to defend specific points, or maybe they are just that good, but all I have to say about those is that they are fantastic campaigns.

There was a video of director Frank Darabont talking about his disdain for what is currently called "poster art." He spends a bit of the interview talking up Drew Struzan and specifically his poster for the original Harry Potter movie. He shits on the new Harry Potter poster for being "a PHOTOGRAPH, of the hip young cast standing there and staring at the camera with their heads cocked." Now, I really mean no disrespect to Drew Struzan, but his original Harry Potter poster isn't greatly different from that, other than that it's not a photograph. Just because someone painted a picture instead of taking a photo doesn't make the concept or composition any better. Okay, Struzan's has flames and a snow owl, I still don't buy it.

Check out the Polish posters from several posts ago, or here, these are amazing. They are the perfect combination of creative concept and artistry.

Frank Darabont gets a few things right though. It's not "a fucking Gap ad." There is nothing artistic or conceptual about a giant picture of your hip main actor, unless it's the Collateral poster. Tom Cruise is crazy, but that movie rules. He also points out that a lot of key art comes from this "adjunct of these people in these marketing department with no love of art and no imagination what-so-ever."

I was really happy to hear that, because being on the outskirts of the film marketing industry, I don't have any real credibility in saying most of the people doing movie poster art simply do what they do for a living. In the dealings I have had with those people, it seems to be the case. I just hope some day I can meet someone who works on movie posters because they want to.
And then they can hire me.

- Derek Gabryszak

-----------------------------------------------

AFTER THOUGHTS:

- I know there are hundreds of other posters that could have been great examples to prove or disprove every claim I make, take it easy, nobody has that much time on their hands. Or at least nobody worth knowing about.

- Theres a few posters at the top I haven't touched on that I still think are great:

The Pool - I haven't seen this movie, but I think the posters are fantastic... same goes for Pray The Devil Back to Hell.
Basquiat - It's just a big picture of our main character, but his expression is perfect and the smeary red paint all over mimics the mess of his life.
Paris Je Taime - Saul Bass-ish, great colors, love this movie.
Premonition - Awesome concept, I haven't seen the film, but I think that poster is awesome.
Syriana - It's so fun making a mess...
The Darjeeling Limited - I think is one of the better Wes Anderson posters, it's very busy but I think properly fits the film.
Flow and A Girl Cut in Two - Both very simple... maybe its the colors I love? Especially when next to each other.
King of Kong - On the fence about... It's almost good?
The Blaxploitation posters - Black Caesar, Black Gunn, Super Fly, We Shall Kill The Old Way - I love these... and they totally contradict a bunch of the things I covered above, but I don't care. Great color and type.
40 Year Old Virgin - Judd Apatow's films have a poster style almost as unmistakable as Saul Bass'. But they are just photographs, so according to Frank Darabont, fuck him.