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Erin Brent

Professor Alain Blunt

ARTS404

10 May 2016

Film’s Journey to Minimalism

Advertising and promoting for motion pictures has always been intentionally tied to the

use of posters. As Gary Rhodes points out in the article “The Origin and Development of the

American Moving Picture Poster”, all throughout film history – beginning in the days of silent

film up until the present, posters have been used as a centerpiece of movie marketing. Posters are

so strongly linked to the movies they are related to that their images often act as an embodiment

or a symbol representing the movie. Even after a film’s main advertising and marketing stages

are completed, its posters continue to be memorable images that symbolize the film in a way that

is static and unchanging. By using examples of movie posters created between the 1930s and the

2000s, it is clear that a pattern can be found regarding the journey from ornate design minimalist

design. Graphic design plays a significant part in setting the tone of a movie and representing the

time period in which it was made and/or set.

According to “Remembrance of Films Past: Film Posters on Film” by Stephen Parmelee,

film posters very early on were used to advertise “moving picture shows” before and shortly

after the turn of the 20th century. They typically featured only text and information about the

type and location of the exhibition. Once the movies entered the mainstream and reached popular

appeal and their exhibition became financially practical for the general public, between 1910 and

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1915, posters began to appear that were designed specifically for individual films and portrayed

characters, actors, and events from that film.

It is evident that the mission of the poster is to attract people. The poster must

bring the people across the street. Secondly, having gotten them there, you must

tell them in as few words as possible what they will see when they get inside. You

must excite their curiosity sufficiently to make them part with their nickel, dime,

or quarter. Thirdly, you must appeal to their artistic sense, and managers are apt to

underrate this quality of the general public's mind.

– Designer Scotson Clark

The movie poster has a responsibility to find a balance between form and function. Its purpose is

to be attractive and interesting but it also must function as a working advertisement and be

informative and useful.

Like any form of art, movie posters have evolved over time. The aesthetics and idea of

the movie poster did not appear out of thin air. Given the similarities in showy coloring and

large, bold typefaces, it is apparent that the early film industry found inspiration from posters

advertising the circus. By looking at posters such as King Kong (1933) by Carroll Clark and

Alfred Herman or Gone with the Wind (1939) by Howard Terpning, movie advertisements in the

1930s featured very bold text and detailed hand illustrations often depicting the film’s main

characters in a scene from the film. The poster for King Kong gives a preview of a scene wherein

King Kong ravages through New York City. Gone with the Wind’s poster depicts the male lead

holding the female lead, with the backdrop alluding to a plot point surrounding a devastating fire.

The 1940s left us posters that primarily feature the main characters without giving much

information about the plot of the story. The movie poster Casablanca (1942) by Bill Gold does

not hint at anything having to do with the film’s plot. The poster depicts illustrated portraits of

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seven of the film’s characters. The poster is not completely ambiguous however, as the

characters are in costume which does give context. Creating and distributing posters was not

consistent in the early days of American film advertising. The bulk of posters in that era were

created by different lithograph companies who were not associated with the film manufacturers

(Rhodes). This trend has since been stopped, allowing manufacturers to have more control over

the publicizing of their product. For the duration of the 1930s and 1940s, movie posters were

beautiful, full page illustrations. At this time, the ratio of imagery and information to space is at

its highest, and this factor does evidently decline over the course of the twentieth century leading

up to minimalism in the 2000s.

In the 1950s, movie poster designers began to take on less literal and more conceptual

approaches to their designs. This can be seen in Saul Bass’s poster for Vertigo (1958). The center

of the poster features a dark, silhouetted figure that looks as if it is being sucked into a spacious

looking, spiral hole. The hierarchy of this poster seems to favor this illustration over the text,

which spells out the film’s title and its two lead actors. As well as designing the theatrical poster

for Vertigo, Bass is also responsible for the film’s opening title sequence. According to “Saul

Bass: Anatomy of Film Design” by Deborah Allison, opening credits were "little more than

perfunctory afterthoughts rarely more creative than having the names of the movie's stars and

production staff revealed by the turning pages of the book." before Bass arrived on the scene.

Saul Bass changed this tendency, creating a heavily-stylized (and immediately memorable)

opening montage for The Man with the Golden Arm in 1955.

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His refreshingly modernistic and original approach to titling brought him fame and

opened the door for other artists to create title sequences and ending credits that fit in as a part of

a film’s storytelling. Exhausted by the pressure of the new industry standards that he had played

such a role in creating, Bass

almost entirely ended his

career in titling work in the

mid-1960s. He later

returned only to produce a

few highly acclaimed

sequences in collaboration

with his wife Elaine Bass

(née Makatura). In his final

years, he created sequences

for Martin Scorsese films

such as Goodfellas (1990)

and Casino (1995). During

his hiatus from title making,

Bass gravitated toward

making short films that

would overtly focus on the

philosophy of creativity, its

origins, and its modes of

consumption (Allison).

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The 1958 poster for Attack of the 50 Foot Woman by Reynold Brown features an almost

entirely full-page illustration that portrays an image that is synonymous with the film’s title. It is

a straightforward and memorable image that relies on the attractiveness of the illustration more

than it relies on the names or images of the film’s lead actors, whose names were tagged on to

the bottom of the poster in a quiet way that does not seem to match the intensity of the

illustration. This trend seemed to flip come the beginning of the 1960s. Breakfast at Tiffany’s

(1961), designed by Roland Anderson and Hal Pereira, incorporates more text and less complex

illustrations in its official poster. The poster seems to have a strategy that requires emphasizing

the fame of its star, Audrey Hepburn. A full body illustration of Hepburn is fixed onto the full

length of the poster, and her name shares equal importance with the film’s title. This same style

is seen in the poster of Cool Hand Luke (1967) by Bill Gold. The main element of the poster is

its star Paul Newman. His image takes up nearly half of the page and his name is highlighted

with the same weight as the title of the film. Movie posters in the 1960s did not get rid of

illustrations completely, but the role they played was not as significant as it had been in the past.

Roger Kastel’s design for Jaws (1975) follows similar patterns as posters from the 1960s

did. The main body of the poster is an illustrative portrait of the film’s main character, however

in this case the star of the film is a great white shark. Rather than this poster using this method

and relying on the fame of the star, it relies on the shock factor and the excitement that is

associated with the shark and the illustration’s depiction of the shark swimming up through the

water where an unsuspecting person swims. As written in “Remembrance of Films Past: Film

Posters on Film” by Stephen Parmelee:

Film posters, of course, have a humble and grubby reason for existence: they

advertise a product. The poster is not for personal or private enjoyment, but is

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developed for public display and to attract public attention. It was designed to be

understood at a glance, communicating an announcement or commercial to

passers-by. Rarely does a poster offer a mystery to be unraveled, but rather it

attempts to arrest attention (by eye catching) and deliver a message swiftly and

convincingly. It uses popular symbols and popular idioms—the language of the

spectators in its target audience. Poster designers often reduce their image to a

single element, usually exaggerated, which will be fixed in memory after a single

glance.

Taking this quote into

account, Kastel has

created a poster for

Jaws that succeeds in

exaggerating a

symbol that is

memorable and

delivers a message

about what the story

that the film tells. The

official poster for

Jaws reveals elements

that are important to

the plot of the movie

and gives the viewer

context to understand

what the movie is

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about without knowing the specific events of the plot. This poster in particular stresses the

illustration as its most important element. The shark’s nose acts as an arrow which is pointing

upwards towards the title of the film; “JAWS” is written in a bold, sans-serif font. This is not the

only text on the poster however, it also features the names of the film’s lead actors, an

endorsement “the terrifying motion picture from the terrifying No.1 best seller”, as well as

additional information at the bottom, such as the name of the director, the composer and the

movie’s MPAA rating.

Beginning with 1977’s A New Hope and remaining consistent until the present with

2015’s The Force Awakens, the theatrical posters for the Star Wars franchise have been

thematically consistent following the lead of Drew Struzan’s poster for A New Hope (1977). This

poster features a collage of both illustrative and photographic components. It features portraits of

the lead actors, space crafts and light sabers. The images are action packed and very busy. None

of them have a focal point, and each has an abundance of informative text on the bottom third of

the poster that is seemingly thrown on as an afterthought. There are pros and cons to practice of

consistency throughout the posters of the franchise. Unlike many film series’ which typically

begin and end in a decade or less, the three generations of Star Wars have spanned over the

course of almost forty years with more of the story yet to be told in the coming years. Keeping

the same basic layout for all seven of the Star Wars movies is smart in terms of recognition;

however using the tricks of the 1970s for an audience in 2015 would likely not be effective for a

film. To be fair, these rules do not apply in this context, as the franchise is not relying on the

same tradition forms of advertising as A New Hope (1977) did and The Force Awakens (2015)

did not need to garner a new following of fans from scratch.

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Posters that came out of the 1980s begin to resemble posters that we are used to seeing

today. John Alvin designed the theatrical poster for 1982’s E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial. This

poster is part of the era that begins to find balance between imagery and the text. The imagery

features photographic, graphic and illustrative elements. The poster’s imagery shows E.T.

reaching a hand out and touching his finger to the finger of the young male character, mimicking

Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam”. Behind this is a photo still directly from the film, when

the boy is riding his bike in front of the moon. Both of these images that take up the entirety of

E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial’s poster are direct references to the movie. The images make more

sense to someone who understands the context and has seen the film previously than to a first-

time-viewer.

The poster for Ghostbusters (1984) by John DeCuir Jr. is completely graphic; this design

is off the beaten path of this time where most posters featured photographs. The image of a ghost

behind the red circle and slash “no” symbol has become a very recognizable and iconic symbol

representing Ghostbusters. It functions similarly to a logo. The make-up of this poster is almost

50% image, 50% text. The image of the ghost behind the “no” symbol appears again, replacing

the “O” in “Ghostbusters”. The names of the film’s three main stars are featured prominently

above the title, again taking advantage of the star power that the film has, but not in a way as

flashy as using photographs of them as promotional material.

James Verdesoto created the iconic poster for Quentin Tarentino’s film Pulp Fiction

(1994). This poster is off the beaten path towards minimalism that began in the 1970s and 80s.

The imagery is a little busier, and it features the film’s leading actress in a role as the seductress.

The poster is designed similarly to a magazine or book cover and is made to look dated. To show

this, it features graphic elements such as wear and tear and a 10-cent sticker. The image does not

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give away much

information about

the movie’s plot,

but it does help to

set a tone. Its dated

elements combined

with the dark

atmosphere

surrounding the

leading woman, the

gun placed in front

of her, and the

cigarette in her

hand all contribute

to this poster being

reminiscent of noir

films. The font that

spells out the

words “Pulp

Fiction” is very

western and leads to the conclusion that this is a crime movie.

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Over the course of film history, theatrical posters from the past have transcended the

purposes for which they were originally made and become icons. There are many symbols that

could be used to represent Pulp Fiction but its poster is the most memorable. In Stephen

Parlamee’s writing, he notes that the director, Quentin Tarantino often slips references to movies

he is inspired by and has enjoyed in the form of featuring these movies’ theatrical posters in his

own movies. The posters from films that show up in Tarantino’s films are often movies that he

grew up with, and they are mostly action-oriented, sensationalistic, and exploitation films, and

they are almost exclusively American. In Pulp Fiction, Tarantino’s love of film posters can be

seen in a scene in which the characters visit a restaurant and nightclub called Jack Rabbit Slim’s,

The club is decorated with posters from films of the 1950s and 1960s, which seem close to the

film’s aesthetic disposition. As the characters enter Jack Rabbit Slim’s, Tarantino pays homageto

director Roger Corman by displaying the restaurant’s decorations in the form of posters for The

Young Racers (1963), Rock All Night (1957) Sorority Girl (1957), and Machine Gun Kelly,

(1958). Also visible in the nightclub are theatrical posters for Attack of the 50 Foot Woman

(1958), Motorcycle Gang (1957), and Road Racers (1959). Tarantino uses this tactic again in

Death Proof (2007) in a similarly themed restaurant called Guero’s Taco Bar. This same homage

has been given to Tarantino, for example, the poster for his film Reservoir Dogs (1992) often

being displayed on characters’ bedroom walls in movies as wide-ranging as Following (1998),

Art School Confidential (2006), and Employee of the Month (2006).

On the track of movie posters that iconically represent the movie it was created for, Home

Alone (1990) has one of the most memorable theatrical posters of that decade created by Dan

Webster. As written in “Compose, Design, Advocate” by Anne Frances Wysocki and Dennis A.

Lynch, posters are usually in public places and are fighting with the entirety of the surrounding

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area for the attention of passersby. Because of this, an interesting composition or typography can

only go so far when a poster is battling with potentially thousands of neighboring, attention-

grabbing visuals. Home Alone’s poster features an image of the film’s main character with his

hands on his face in a position that is reminiscent of Edvard Munch’s painting, “The Scream”.

The image comes off as slightly unsettling and gives the poster a sense of uncertainty. With little

context given in relation to this photograph, it succeeds in being interesting in content.

The poster is booming with text, having a tagline that begins at the top and continues in

the center of the poster, together reading “When Kevin’s family left for vacation they forgot one

minor detail: Kevin. But don’t worry… He cooks. He cleans. He kicks some butt.” The two

sections are inconsistent in spacing, size and color, so the break of the text doesn’t bring the

viewers’ attention from the top of the poster to the bottom. Like the title of Ghostbusters which

is stylized with the “no” symbol as the “O”, the title of Home Alone is stylized on the poster as

“HOME ALONe” with an illustration of a house replacing the space between the words. This

makes the title seem more like a logo and makes it more recognizable.

Movie poster design in the 2000s is seemingly very disconnected from design from the

twentieth century. Throughout the twentieth century, it was as if designers were building off of

designs from previous decades and changing and tweaking them to create the layouts for the next

decade’s posters. This trend discontinued at the turn of the twenty-first century when movie

poster design turned minimal. It is not fair to generalize the entire decade however, as thousands

of posters were designed by a plethora of artists and design teams and they don’t all follow the

same guidelines. This considered, it does appear as though the beginning of the twenty-first

century was also the beginning of a fresh era of movie poster design.

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The theatrical poster for Almost Famous (2000) published by Pulse Advertising is a model

example of this sensation. The entire poster is filled with a close-up shot of the lead actress’s

face. The words “Almost” and

“Famous” are placed in her

sunglasses, partially covering the

reflection of lights and a band

playing a show. The movie takes

place in the early 1970s and the

image is lightly grainy to indicate

that it is dated. Though the

director’s name is on the poster, it

does not call attention to itself as

the text remains low on the visual

hierarchy. Following this, the

actors’ names appear at the bottom

of the poster, lost in a sea of other

text about the film. This body of

text does not stand out and would

have to be read purposefully. The girl’s face and sunglasses are very clearly the main element of

the poster. The images speak for themselves and overall the poster succeeds in storytelling

without being busy. The viewer isn’t overwhelmed with information but can still make

assumptions about the movie and understand what the movie poster is saying.

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Another poster from the 2000s that embraces minimalist design is that of Spider-Man 3

(2007). Though the first two movies in the franchise are similar in design and concept, the third

succeeds the most in storytelling and giving a preview of the film’s plot. Superhero movies don’t

need to rely entirely on flashy advertising to bring in new fans, as these heroes have legacies and

cult-like followings before their movies are even conceptualized. The poster for Spider-Man 3

differs from the first two in the franchise because it effectively portrays a representation of the

movie’s main conflict, which is an internal struggle or light vs. dark situation. Aside from the

main imagery which takes up most of the poster, the top of the poster features a tagline, “The

greatest battle lies within”, while the bottom is taken up by the title and information about the

movie such as actors, the name of the director, and companies involved with the creation of the

movie. This body of text seems to serve in regard to the design or layout. It would have to be

read intentionally as it is small and unreadable from a distance. The poster’s layout favors the

image of Spider-Man and his dark counterpart over the title of the film, as the image of the

superhero is recognizable enough on its own. The image could stand on its own and have the

same effect.

It is evident that movie posters in the 2000s have become very minimal in comparison to

the full page illustrations of the 1930s and 1940s. Neither of these styles is objectively better

than the other, as they both served their purpose in the time they were relevant and implemented.

In modern times when people are seeing as many images and advertisements as we do, it is

necessary to communicate as much information as possible by using tactics that come across as

minimal and simple.

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Works Cited

Allison, Deborah. "Saul Bass: Anatomy of Film Design." Journal of Film & Video 68.2 (2016):

61-62. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 Apr. 2016

Parmelee, Stephen. "Remembrance Of Films Past: Film Posters On Film." Historical Journal Of

Film, Radio & Television 29.2 (2009): 181-195.Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Apr.

2016.

Rhodes, Gary D. "The origin and development of the American moving picture poster." Film

History 19.5 (2007): 228+. Academic OneFile. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.

Wysocki, Anne Frances, and Dennis A. Lynch. Compose, Design, Advocate. Longman, 2011.