What is your question/theme?
What constitutes a good movie poster - Anatomy of a Film Poster
Why is it important/interesting?
Cinema is a fundamental component of popular culture, everyone has a favourite film and everyone’s opinions are different. There have been so many different movie posters and ways to approach the movie poster over the last century, some of which everyone is incredibly familiar with the image of. It would be really interesting to delve into the core aspects of the film poster and dig deep into the actual graphic design, Is there one single approach to the film poster which is the most successful or is it more opinion based? Have we idolised film posters for years which actually aren’t good posters, or does the very fact that they have been idolised mean they are successful?
What are the important points / arguments / theories / concepts /contexts? (include key writers - theorists) How do they relate to the question / theme?
Important points will definitely include different design movements such as modernism and postmodernism. I will study arguments and theories put forward by key designers of these movements, e.g Massimo Vignelli in ‘Vignelli’s Cannon’, and analyse examples of movie posters using these sources. Another interesting topic will be the commodification and consumerism the Hollywood and blockbuster movies, and how marketing strategies and formulas have become more important than resolved and impactful design. Ultimately in my essay, by analysing a variety of case studies and using key sources to serve as different sides of the argument, I will formulate a response/answer to what constitutes a good movie poster, and whatever this answer is will inform the work I produce which will definitely contain movie posters I have designed in response to what I have learnt.
How do you intend on exploring the question / theme? (methodology)
The majority of the research I gather will be secondary research, examining movie posters and texts which contextualise and critique the success and creation of a movie poster. Beyond this, it would be good to gather some primary research, perhaps this could be something along the lines of surveying people and asking them to pick which movie posters they think are the most successful out of a list I provide. The outcome I create will be a direct response to my findings in the essay.
Why are you using this process / activity - how does it relate to the question / theme / theories? (Justification)
Fundamentally, what I am examining is whether or not there is a directly proportional relationship between specific graphic design methods and practises, and the success of a film poster. The context of a film poster has changed throughout the era’s, and with it, the style of film posters has changed depending on the prevailing graphic designs style of the time. The only way I can accurately asses the success of a film poster, as a singular com position as opposed to a subject of its era, is to critique and analyse it using a range of sources from different perspectives and different eras. Beyond that, when considering the subjectivity of the film poster, and the importance of its appeal to the general public, this is when it would be interesting to actually ask a range of people, which design they feel is the most impactful.
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