Let’s talk movie posters

So as I have announced earlier this week: A new blog series! I want to talk to you about movie posters. What kinds of movie posters there are, what some of them have in common and a few examples of great posters. Take a look!

Movie posters in general

Movie posters are always a great way of advertising. Hang them where ever you like, and people will definitely notice them. If I go to the cinema, I always have to take a look at the posters. Not only to take a look at what movies are out or on their way, but also to get an idea of the story and the characters. There are multiple sorts of posters: Teaser posters, character posters and movie posters in general.

The teaser posters are the first to be released, mostly at the same time as the first teaser trailer. You don’t really get an idea what the movie is about, the intention of the teaser poster is to create a hype. On a teaser poster, you can see (part of) a character or the title of the movie. Sometimes, a tagline is included. Take a look at a teaser poster for Avengers: Endgame below.

Character posters are used whenever there’s an ensemble. Sometimes, a poster has the total ensemble in it and sometimes, every character has its own poster while all posters are in the same style. A bit more information is given here in comparison with the teaser poster. You can see all the characters, which obviously gives you a better idea than the teaser poster. Take a look at an example of an ensemble character poster and a series of character posters below.

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My analysis

Colours and characters tell us a lot about the kind of movie. Let me explain. (While I have to say that my analysis is taken in general, some movies may stand out!)

Action movies make use of contrast: The use of dark colors together with bright colors. (Most of the time orange and blue).

I just googled “Action movie poster” and these were the top results. A lot of contrast, most of the time dark characters in combination with bright colors in the title or a backdrop. An interesting thing: Almost all of the characters in these movies are using a weapon.

Drama movies have muted colors with few characters who are all looking sad.

The sad characters isn’t that weird: We’re talking about drama movies. There are almost no bright colors to be seen and none of the posters have more than three people in them.

Comedy movies make use of a bright background or a white background with characters posing weirdly.

Comedy movie posters are a whole lot different from the ones we’ve seen earlier. Lots of bright colors in the background, lots of characters and those characters all have a funny face or pose.

Indie movies use a bright background with a few characters.

The bright background is pretty easy to see. It seems like with indie movies, the posters OR have on character in it who takes up most of the space, OR the characters are somewhere in the background.

Romantic movies show both characters in a romantic pose with a light or an orange background.

It seems like there are two possible ways to explain romantic movie posters: Either they use orange as main color or they use a light color like white or blue as main color. There seems to be nothing in between. The thing that all these movie posters seem to have in common, is that the characters are in some kind of romantic pose.

My favorite movie posters

I love to look at posters – movie posters even more. I like to analyze them, to form an opinion about them. I have made a board on Pinterest on which I pin my favorite movie posters. If I ever get a home myself, I’ll definitely hang some of them on my wall. I just don’t have enough space right now, sadly. Take a look at my favorites below.

I love the use of negative space in the poster of The Lion King, Pride Rock inside of Mufasa’s head. Take a look at it again if you didn’t notice it. The negative space in The Lord of the Rings poster is also amazing, you see the towers but also the ring being dropped. The Ant-Man poster is a great way of advertising: You’ll want to know why this person is so little. I would stop and take a look if I would see this on the street.

The use of colours in Guardians of the Galaxy is what draws me to it, without the title, I wouldn’t have noticed the characters on the rock. I can’t explain what I like about The Perks of Being a Wallflower, I’m just getting drawn to it.

I guess we can say that I like minimalistic posters – the less, the better!

What are your favorite movie posters? Leave it in the comments and I might pin in on my Pinterest board!

Take a look at the preview Let’s talk blog posts:

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