Movie Posters
What Is A Movie Poster?
A movie poster is a poster designed to attract potential moviegoers to see a movie. Movie posters generally offer basic information like the title, the names of actors, actresses, directors, and producers while offering a visual of some kind that represents the movie and a ‘tagline’ or teaser used to further entice would-be movie patrons. That’s really it. While there are different approaches and templates useful to advertise and market a particular movie, but in a nutshell, all approaches must concisely ‘capture’ a film with the express purpose of convincing a certain audience to go see that film. This isn’t unlike persuasive writing assignments or even a debate where students need to convince an audience to accept a premise or conclusion. In the case of the movie poster, the task is simple enough: Communicate key information about a movie in a way that persuades readers who otherwise may not be interested. To achieve the Key tips for creating a successful Movie Poster 1) A poster should be Aesthetic - It should get attention so the message is delivered 2) A poster should be Focused - It should focus and communicate on a single message 3) A poster should be Ordered - The sequence should be well ordered and obvious 4) The text should be distinguishable- the text should stand out either by creativity or boldness, so that viewers can read and remember the title. |
John AlvinJohn Alvin was one of the most celebrated contemporary American cinematic artists. He illustrated multitude of film posters for American cinema. He is credited for designing posters and key art for over 135 films. Alvin’s trademark style came to known as Alvinesque by his associates and friends. His notable illustrations include E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Lion King, Rainman and Star Wars. Born on November 24, 1948, John Henry Alvin grew up in Hyannis, Massachusetts. Since his parents belonged to US military, they had to often move from one base to another. Upon their permanent settlement in Monterrey, California, Alvin went to Pacific Grove High School and graduated in 1966. Sunday newspapers held attraction for young Alvin as it featured movie advertisements which led to his growing interest in movie poster creation. In 1971, he earned his graduate degree from Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles and soon after took up a job as a freelance artist. While he was working at an animation studio as an animator, Alvin was invited by a friend to work on his first official movie art campaign. It was a poster creation job for Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles. Alvin came up with an unusual concept for the poster because it employed quirky elements from the film, as he depicted Brooks wearing a headdress. The idea was suggested to him by his wife. Alvin’s work was appreciated not only by Brooks but also by other filmmakers. He ended up signing up contract with Brooks to design posters for his further films including Young Frankestein. Over the years, Alvin landed several noted official movie art campaigns. One of the most memorable of his artworks was his poster for Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, released in 1982. The poster illustrated the extraterrestrial creature, E.T’s finger touching his human friend Elliot’s finger. The touch of the fingers creates a rich glowy effect which lends the poster a magical touch. Reportedly the idea for poster was suggested by Spielberg himself, inspired by The Creation of Adam painting by Michelangelo. The human hand featured in the poster is modeled after Alvin’s own daughter’s hand. In the span of thirty years of his professional career, Alvin produced artwork for over 135 films. He worked with some of the prestigious film studios in Hollywood, such as Disney Studios, Warner Bros. Entertainment and New Line Cinema. Some of his remarkable projects included Jurassic Park, Predator, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, Beauty and the Beast and Cocoon. Moreover, on the 30th anniversary of Star Wars he created celebratory posters and other artworks for the franchise. It was followed by Peter Jackson’s noteworthy Lord of the Rings trilogy film art campaign. In fact, he invested his creative energy into some of the most extraordinary film projects of the decade, Walt Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean films and the Warner Bros’ Harry Potter film series. Some of Alvin’s colleagues believe that his creative force was the sole reason behind the success of film projects like The Lion King and Hunchback. The National Collection of Fine Arts selected his poster of The Phantom of the Paradise to be part of their collection. A collection of posters that toured Europe as part of the US Bicentennial, entitled Images of an Era (1945-1975), included some of his artwork as well. A portfolio of his work is published posthumously, titled The Art of John Alvin (2014). John Alvin died of a myocardial infarction in 2008. https://www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/john-alvin#:~:text=John%20Alvin%20was%20one%20of,by%20his%20associates%20and%20friends. |
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Assignment overview
For this assignment, you will create a movie poster based on a book. Pretend you are a movie producer, what book would make for a good movie. Consider if you can reinterpret this book and tell it in a new Way. Even Think about what kind of movie it will be, live action, animated, horror, action etc. You have complete creative control from the type of movie you want to produce and how you want to advertise for in ie the poster.
What kind of book can you choose to create your movie and consequence poster around, any book, children's literature, fiction, nonfiction, classics, Shakespeare, poetry, young adult literature, fairy tales, and even graphic novels. You have a wide range to choose from, so if you're not a reader that is ok, you've actually read more than you know in your lifetime. You will be graded on your creativity, attention to detail, as well as the information that you provide. The poster should look like one that you would see in theatres—informative, eye-catching, and interesting to the viewer. It cannot in any way, represent an actual movie poster that has been created through the movie industry, in other words you cannot take imagery from an already made movie. Now that is not to say you can choose a book that has already been made into a movie but you must reimagine it. Consider the great Gatsby, this was a movie at least two times before, you may do this, but you can not take a Leonardo DiCaprio photo from the previous movie and use it as your graphic .REQUIREMENTS: 1. Your poster must contain original art to represent the main idea of the story. You need at least one main graphic, but may choose to include more. 2. Color must reflect the mood and genre of the movie 3. Title of story and author’s name must be clearly visible 4. Must display the movie name clearly and creatively using one of the Text effects learned in the exercise. 5. Include a “tagline” for the story. This should act as a “teaser”—make it short and catchy. 6. You must have a three-sentence summary of the story ( see the summery assignment) 7. Be creative and have fun with this! DO NOT: Copy existing art for the movie. This is your original work! Leave white/blank space on your poster. It should be completely filled and neat Be boring. This should be eye catching and attract movie goers. TEXT worksheetProposal and Summary AssignmentMovie Poster Proposal: In a google doc's answer the two questions below. This will count for your movie summery.
1. Genre – What is the genre for your movie poster? Find an example of the original movie poster or book cover art online and save it to your folder. Identify the Genre, Title, Tag Line. Describe the poster in a paragraph using descriptive language. 2. Plot Summary – Understand the basic parts of your film before starting the plan for your added designs. Write 1 paragraph explains the plot- including Genre, Title, Tag Line, Plot, and Characters. 3. Taglines- write out your ideas for taglines… highlight the one you think you are going to use in your final poster. 4. Visual Clues - what kind of colors and imagery might you use to convey the story and overall feel of the movie. |
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Requirments
REQUIREMENTS:
1. Your poster must contain original art to represent the main idea of the story. You need at least one main graphic, but may choose to include more.
2. Color must reflect the mood and genre of the movie
3. Title of story and author’s name must be clearly visible
4. Must display the movie name clearly and creatively using one of the Text effects learned in the exercise.
5. Include a “tagline” for the story. This should act as a “teaser”—make it short and catchy.
6. You must have a three-sentence summary of the story ( see the summery assignment)
7. Be creative and have fun with this!
DO NOT:
Copy existing art for the movie. This is your original work!
Leave white/blank space on your poster. It should be completely filled and neat
Be boring. This should be eye catching and attract movie goers.
1. Your poster must contain original art to represent the main idea of the story. You need at least one main graphic, but may choose to include more.
2. Color must reflect the mood and genre of the movie
3. Title of story and author’s name must be clearly visible
4. Must display the movie name clearly and creatively using one of the Text effects learned in the exercise.
5. Include a “tagline” for the story. This should act as a “teaser”—make it short and catchy.
6. You must have a three-sentence summary of the story ( see the summery assignment)
7. Be creative and have fun with this!
DO NOT:
Copy existing art for the movie. This is your original work!
Leave white/blank space on your poster. It should be completely filled and neat
Be boring. This should be eye catching and attract movie goers.