Be Careful

Kerry Haggard of Commerce, Georgia was sentenced recently to 6 ½ years in prison for selling fake movie posters as the real thing. He had a New York City printing company make copies of movie posters, such as The Mummy, Frankenstein, Murders in the Rue Morgue and others, he then sold them on Internet auction sites as  authentic movie posters. His scheme was eventually discovered and he was charged and sentenced. Still, many people were fooled by these posters and lost a good deal of money because of Haggard. So, I figured now would be a good time to post some tips to keep in mind if a movie poster purchase is in your future. Yes, I’ve written about this before, still it is a good idea to know what to look out for, so that you won’t be fooled.

Know What You Are Buying
Do as much research as you can on the poster you want to purchase. Google images of the poster and search for information about the movie in question. Sometimes the actors pictured or other features in the poster can increase or decrease the value. If you going to buy a movie poster from a movie that was made before 1980, you need to learn what the dominate sizes were, how many versions of the poster were used during the film’s initial release, whether the poster was rolled or folded, if it has a National Screen Service (NSS) number and so on. There are two websites that I want to mention that can help a collector learn about movie posters, one is Movie Poster Grading Company (http://www.mpgrading.com) and the other is the Learn About Movie Posters website(http://www.learnaboutmovieposters.com/).

The Movie Poster Grading Company was established so that movie posters can be authenticated with a tamper proof tag that lists identifying aspects of the poster such as the title, size, grading, history and other information. This website has a list of known fake movie posters. So, it is a good idea to check out this site before you buy a movie poster. The Learn About Movie Posters website has information about poster sizes, publicity photos and stills from movies, as well as information about preservation of the movie memorabilia and the different kinds of movie posters used in different countries. The more you know about movie posters, the less likely you are to be fooled by a fake.

Ask Questions Of The Seller
A reputable seller, whether online or bricks and mortar welcomes any and all questions, even the dumb ones. If you aren’t getting any answers, you don’t like the answers you are getting or you have a feeling that something isn’t right, don’t deal with the seller.

If A Deal Fell Through, Don’t Feel Bad
If for whatever reason, you weren’t able to get a particular movie poster and you still have your money, don’t feel too bad. If you couldn’t come to an agreement on price or other features, then it was for the best that you didn’t make that purchase. That isn’t to say that the other party was out to cheat you. Still, when making a purchase of an item like a movie poster, things should feel right. If they don’t, shake hands and walk away. Somehow you’ll get the movie poster of dreams. You just need to be patient and educated.

If Something Is Too Good…
Yes, it is cliché, yet true. If you find a Bride of Frankenstein movie poster at a flea market, more likely than not, it is a fake. If someone offers to sell you a Casablanca movie poster for $99.99, more likely than not, it is a fake. While technology helped someone like Haggard to produce a fake movie poster, educating yourself can go a long way in preventing you from being fooled by those who sell fakes.

Of course, my advice remains to not to purchase a movie poster for investment purposes, rather to purchase it for your own personal enjoyment. You can’t go wrong when you buy something that you like.

NOTE: I am not endorsing any company that authenticates movie posters, nor am I endorsing any website that has information about movie posters.  The websites and companies mentioned in this blog entry were listed for informational purposes only.

Sources:
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=247420

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-04-11/frankensteins-fraudster-sentenced-to-6-dot-5-years-in-prison

http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20120412/NEWS/120419957/1008/sports?Title=-A-look-at-movie-posters

Movie Poster Grading Company http://www.mpgrading.com

Learn About Movie Posters http://www.learnaboutmovieposters.com/

Advertisement

Metropolis for Sale

Would you believe that a German 3 sheet of Metropolis, the classic 1927 silent sci-fi film by director Fritz Lang is up for auction? Yes, it is true. It is being sold at Movie Poster Exchange.Com. You can click on the website name to go to the page where the poster is being sold. How much is it being sold for? Would you believe $850,000?

Darn, these things always have to go on sale before the Powerball hits $75 million. Kidding aside, I know, this entry seems more than a bit ironic considering last week’s entry dealt with not falling for the hype that surrounds the news of pop culture items being auctioned off for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Metropolis auction shows another side of the issue. Namely, if you are going to buy a pop culture or movie related item with the hopes it will appreciate in value, you need to get something with a track record of increasing auction and sale prices.

Metropolis is a good example of this.  The last time a Metropolis poster when up for auction was 2005 and it sold for $690,000.  Before the 2005 auction, a Metropolis poster sold on eBay for $200,000. As you can see, Metropolis prices have gone up each time it sold. Yet, before you run off to buy a Metropolis movie poster, there are three important things you should know:

1)    These were original theatrical posters that were sold. Meaning that these were posters that hung in movie theaters and survived all these years.

2)    Metropolis is a very rare movie poster. There are only 4 known to exist.

3)    Don’t expect to find an original Metropolis movie poster at a flea market or in an older relative’s closet.

While Metropolis has a history of increasing sale prices, the only person who got this poster for a steal was the theater employee in 1927 who decided to take the poster home, instead of throwing it out, after the movie’s initial run. Think about, if a movie poster sells for $690,000 in 2005, wouldn’t it make sense that it would sell for more than that in 2012.  Yet, as great as it is that Metropolis has appreciated in value, it is important to note that movie posters that sell for six figures and up are out of reach of the average person.

“Well what about the movie posters from today’s films?” You must be asking. “They are available at a reasonable price. Won’t they sell for big bucks 20 years from now?” That’s hard to say. Case in point, the film Citizen Kane is considered one of the gems of American cinema and it is listed at number one on the American Film Institute’s (AFI) Top 100 Movies list. When it was released in 1941, it bombed. Now imagine you are a teenage movie theater usher in 1941. The manager tells you to get rid of the movie poster for Citizen Kane because its run is over. You throw it out without thinking twice about it. Fast forward to 2006, a one-sheet movie poster (27 x 41 inches) for Citizen Kane sold at auction for $60,000. Who would have guessed in 1941 that a film that bombed would be so revered and its poster so valuable? The answer is few to none. So, don’t go picking up movie posters for Cowboys and Aliens thinking it will become the Citizen Kane of the 21^st Century.

Still, if you like Cowboys and Aliens and get a movie poster from the film, don’t let the idea that you may not be able to trade it in for a mansion and a yacht take away from your enjoyment of the poster. After all, space and the American West are both frontiers, so it was only a matter of time before someone put them together. Too bad it didn’t do well in theaters. Also, Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig are kind of cool looking. (But not as cool as Matt Damon!)

Sources:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/metropolis-poster-record-leonardo-dicaprio-298114

http://movieposterexchange.com/buy.php?mode=key_search&keyword=metropolis

http://www.afi.com/100Years/movies10.aspx

Heritage Magazine Fall 2008 “Remember When…1941” Pg. 8

Minimalistic Movie Posters Are Cool

In this blog and on my Facebook and Twitter pages, I have highlighted many examples of minimalistic movie posters. In case you just surfed in and don’t know what they are, minimalistic movie posters are movie posters distilled to a single image or just a main image with only the most necessary background. Since words don’t really describe minimalistic posters here are some examples:

(FYI: The Dark Night Rises poster was done by artist Chaz Russo and his work can be found here. The Amazing Spider-Man poster was done by freelance graphic designer Matt Ferguson and his work can be found here.) I must admit that seeing these kinds of movie posters have turned me into a fan. What is it about such posters that make them so great? Here’s my two cents on the subject:

Not Created by Committee
One person created these posters. That person had an idea and decided to execute it. There was no market research done on the images. No suits were involved in the process.  If digital means were used to create the poster, it was used by someone who didn’t just learn how to the use the program at 9:00 AM on Monday and started making posters at 10:30 AM. It was just one person and his or her vision. Out of that came a thing of beauty.

Created by People with Talent
These posters were created by people with 1/100,000 of the budget of a Hollywood studio, yet they create something that makes you stop for a moment and look at something in a good way. Yet, the studios are drowning in money and when they try to make a minimalistic movie poster it turns out like this:

The above X-Men First Class poster is not a good movie poster, period. Yet, the artists who make the minimalistic movie posters time and time again make amazing posters. They have the mythical “it” and that enables them to meet the challenge that creating a minimalistic movie poster entails. Not to say that it is easy to create such a poster, it isn’t. After all, how do you decide which image to focus on and how do you stop yourself from putting in other images? I don’t know how they do it. Still, because of their talent, they create posters that surpass almost anything the studios create.

They Are Good Ads for the Movie
There have been times where I’ve seen the “official” poster for a film and thought “That’s nice” and wasn’t moved to see the film.  I’ll see a minimalistic movie poster for the same film and think “I WANT to see that movie.” Never mind the fact that the film is past its theatrical run and it’s only available on DVD. The minimalistic movie posters instill desire in me. The Photoshopped creations from the studios just don’t do that.

They Are Works of Art
Look at the examples of fan created The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man minimalistic movie posters and tell me that they aren’t works of art in and of themselves. Even if you know nothing about the movie in question, these posters look good enough to be displayed in any museum.  Through the artist’s knowledge of the film, as well as use of color and space, he or she creates a work of art. This one lone person, who has nothing more than talent, the right tools and access to the Internet, is able to create something beautiful. Whereas the studios, with all their resources, more often than not create something that ranges from pedestrian to downright dumb and many times, the movie poster isn’t even beautiful.

Just goes to show you, less is more, especially since committees aren’t known for creating great works of art.

Sources:
http://www.shockya.com/news/2012/01/16/the-amazing-spider-man-gets-three-fan-made-minimalist-posters/

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/10/21/adam-rabalais-art/

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/rorschachsrants/news/?a=51170

The Enduring Appeal of Movie Posters

As I was surfing the ‘Net looking for topics to write about I found few items that show both the evolution of movie posters and how they endure both as works of art and commerce.

First, there was an article in the December 3 San Diego Reader about rejected movie posters from the 1980’s. This article was just one in a series of articles about a collection of movie posters designs that the studios rejected. Most of these movie posters featured in the article were mock-ups or one of many versions that an artist created for studio executives to choose from. One of the posters featured was for the thriller Fatal Attraction. The mock up is on the left and the version that appeared in movie theaters is on the right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I like the one on the right, since the tagline of “On the other side of drinks, dinner and a one night stand is a terrifying love story” makes you wonder, “What do they mean by that?

Another web item featured pictures of Ghanaian movie posters. While I mentioned these types of movie posters in a previous entry, (you can read it in The Travels of American Culture  February 10, 2011) to refresh your memory, Ghanaian movie posters came about in the 1980’s as VCR’s and videocassettes were introduced in the African nation of Ghana. Independent contractors would drive around the countryside with a television, VCR and generator. They would stop in a particular town and for a small admission fee, they would show a movie, mostly American films. In order to advertise their show, they hired artists to create movie posters. These creations were made with oil paint and canvas. Sometimes the posters reflected the plot of the movie, other times they reflected the imagination of the artists. (See below.)

Well, by the mid 1990’s, as television and video became more available, these mobile cinemas fell by the wayside and the operators couldn’t afford the artists anymore, so they relied on photocopied movie posters. Subsequently, these posters became sought after by collectors and they have asking prices of $200 and up.

So, how do these two examples show the enduring appeal of movie posters? Don’t worry, I’m getting to that. Movie posters are the original multi-taskers. They are vehicles of both commerce and art. Movie posters, if they are designed well, pique the viewer’s curiosity about a film, later they serve to remind the viewer how much he or she enjoyed the film and are things of beauty, in and of themselves. If they didn’t meet these criteria in the first place, no one would want them. So, despite all the tech diversions out there, folks still have an affinity for a 27 inch x 40 inch piece of paper that features pictures of people in situations ranging from the absurd to realistic. “It’s the stuff that dreams are made of.”

Sources:
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/big-screen/2011/dec/03/part-5-famous-movie-poster-rejects-youve-never-see/

http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2011/12/01/ghanas-movie-posters-are-better-than-americas-movie-posters

http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/cool-stuff/cool-stuff-ghanaian-movie-posters.php

The Studios Need to Hire These Artists

As I have mentioned many times in this blog, the Internet is my primary source for information for this blog. This week’s entry is no different. Not too long ago I found two items about custom made movie posters that I want to share with you.

Mondo Tees
The folks out of Austin, Texas have done it again. To commemorate the release of the Jurassic Park trilogy on Blu-Ray, Mondo had artist JC Richards create a movie poster that surpasses the original. (The original movie poster is on the left, Richards’ creation is on the right.)

In fact, the image on the right should have been used for movie posters when the Jurassic Park films were released. The image with the dinosaurs in the forest gives you an idea what the film is about, but leaves enough mystery so that you’ll want to see the film to learn more. Also, it is just a beautiful image that honors dinosaurs as the majestic creatures that they were. After all, dinosaurs as a species were around for 180 million years. Humans, as in homo sapiens, have been around for only 200,000 years.

The Royale
As great as Mondo is, it isn’t the only place that is creating custom made movie posters. An arthouse movie theater in Mesa, Arizona, called The Royale, features custom made movie posters for special screenings at the theater. For the theater’s showing of Scott Pilgram vs. The World, artist Randy J. Gregory created a movie poster that was inspired by old school video games. (See below).

Keeping with the old school video game theme, artist Daniel M. Davis created this poster for the theater’s screening of the documentary King of Kong. (See below)

The Bloggers Opinion
Now these movie posters featured are both excellent works of art and amazing movie posters. They promote the film and are pleasing to the eye. These artist should be working for the studios. They know how to create movie posters that both engages the viewer and piques the viewer’s curiosity so that he or she is interested in going to see the film. So many current movie posters are committee designed Photoshopped monstrosities that they are examples of how not to make a movie posters.  Therefore, powers that be in Hollywood, how about having fewer starving artists in the world and hiring Messrs. Richards, Gregory and Davis?

Sources:
http://www.universetoday.com/38125/how-long-have-humans-been-on-earth/

http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0878252.html

http://www.fusedfilm.com/2011/10/check-out-mondos-newest-jurassic-park-poster/#int38

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/jackalope/2011/10/the_royale_offers_custom_movie.php

http://theroyaleaz.com/

Old Time Movie Posters & The Latest App

Just when I thought I heard it all when it comes to movie posters, the Internet surprises me with some tidbit that makes me think, “Hmmm, isn’t that something” or “Wow, that’s cool!”  Here are two movie poster news items that I want to share with you.

Oldies but Goodies
Herb Bridges of Sharpsburg, Ga, owns a collection of original chalk movie posters. These weren’t the usual movie posters, but were extra items made by the Hollywood studios in the 1930’s and 1940’s to promote their films. Bridges worked in a movie theater in Atlanta when he was a teenager and that’s where he first saw these kinds of posters. Many years later, he was able to purchase 70 of these posters. As beautiful as these posters are (see picture below) they were discarded after a film’s run ended.

Sometimes a theater employee would keep these posters, which then leads to these posters being snapped up by a collector, like Bridges, many years later. These posters will be featured in an upcoming episode of Public Broadcasting System’s (PBS) The Antiques Roadshow, where they will be appraised by one of the show’s appraisers.

Yes, There’s an App for That
A company out of Hong Kong, called Mobile Brother has developed a smart phone app that allows for a person’s face to be placed into a movie poster from films ranging from Mummy: The Legend to Twilight. So, if you always wanted to be in the movies, this app can’t help you with that, but it can at least get your face in a movie poster. This app is available for iPhone and Android phones.

My Two Cents
What do these two news items reveal about movie posters? One, there is always something new to discover about movie posters. I had no idea that there were chalk drawn movie posters until I read about the collector from Georgia. Now I can’t wait to see them being appraised on television. As for the smart phone movie poster app, that tells me people’s vanity knows no bounds. Other than the “cool” factor, what is the point of putting your face in movie poster? As much as I like movie posters, I’m not eager to put my face in one. I like them as is. Also, in case you haven’t figured it out by now, let me be the first to tell you that many apps exist just to collect demographic information. So, if you want to reduce the amount of spam in your inbox, sign up for fewer apps.

In closing, you never stop learning. Of course, some of the things you learn about, you can do without.

Note: The smart phone app company and the company’s product was mentioned for informational purposes only. It is not an endorsement of the company or its products.

Sources:
http://www.times-herald.com/Local/GPB-filming-Bridges–posters-for–Antiques-Roadshow–special–1765019

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/istar—-changing-average-people-into-leading-stars-125411008.html

http://www.mobilebrother.net/

A Different Kind of Movie Poster

For the most part I get my ideas for this blog from Google Alerts. In case you are unfamiliar with this service, you sign up at Google and you request to have links send to you on any subject you desire. Obviously, I chose movie posters. Well, this week’s entry was suggested by someone out in cyberspace. Specifically the senior editor at Collectors Weekly.Com, Ben Marks, sent me an email about article in the June 17 issue of his publication dealing with a company based in Austin, Texas called Mondo and its work in creating and selling new posters for previously released movies. You can read the article here.

Even though I dealt with this subject before, (see Current Trends in Movie Posters, April 21, 2011 and Less Is More, August 18, 2010  ) I figured I would revisit it, because it is an interesting subject. In a nutshell, the article is about how Mondo has rock poster artists create movie posters for the special screening that they do.  For example, Mondo had a screening of the Sam Rami horror film Evil Dead and they had a limited number of posters made for the event. Not only are these posters clever re-imagings of the original (see below and FYI the one on the left is from Mondo, the one on the right is from the original theatrical release of the film)

but a robust Mondo poster flipping marketing has emerged. People will buy these posters and within minutes of completing the sale, they will then list the Mondo poster on eBay and sell it. For example, in 2010 Mondo did posters for the three original Star Wars films and sold them for $50 each. Now the average price for the set of these posters on eBay is $650.

Mondo’s work isn’t the only example of movie poster that weren’t created or commissioned by the major studios. Just Google “Fan created movie posters” which are exactly that, movie posters created by fans of a particular movie or genre and 43,900,000 results come up.  (That’s a lot of people with time on their hands.) Also, Director Ed Burns recently held a movie poster contest for his film Newlyweds. The winner would be chosen based on who gets the most number of votes on Facebook.

These posters, in addition to being great works of art, show that one form of art, namely film, can influence another form of art, namely static images created either by hand (i.e. drawing, painting or lithography), created by photographic means or those created electronically (i.e. Photoshop). As I stated in many ways and in many times in this blog, it takes a talented artist to create a thing of beauty. Be it a movie poster created from the art department of a movie studio to a movie poster created by a company like Mondo or by an individual, good talent is good talent and a cool looking movie poster is a cool looking movie poster—no matter where it comes from.

P.S. Thanks Mr. Marks for emailing me. Let me know what you think of this blog entry.

Sources:
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/mondo-the-monster-of-modern-movie-posters/

http://thescreenwritinglife.blogspot.com/2011/04/ed-burns-new-movie-closes-tribeca-film.html

 

If Something Is Too Good…

In April, a Federal judge postponed a status hearing regarding a Georgia man who sold counterfeit movie posters. According to a news story in the Athens (Ga) Banner-Herald, Kerry Haggard of Commerce, Ga was indicted on mail fraud charges for selling fake vintage horror movie posters. While it was good that this person was caught, there are still others out there who have the means and the guts to pass off fake movie posters as real. So, it is important to be vigilant. In that vein, here are some tips to keep in mind when buying a movie poster. Yes, I’ve covered this subject before, but it never hurts to get a reminder.

Know What You Are Buying
Do as much research as you can on the poster you want to purchase. Google images of the poster and search for information about the movie in question. Sometimes the actors pictured or other features in the poster can increase or decrease the value. The more you know about the poster, the less likely you are to be fooled by a fake.

One place to learn about movie posters is the website for the Movie Poster Grading Company (www.mpgrading.com). The website has a list of known fake movie posters. So, it is a good idea to check out this site before you buy a movie poster. This company was established so that movie posters can be authenticated with a tamper proof tag that lists identifying aspects of the poster such as the title, size, grading, history and other information.

Ask Questions Of The Seller
A reputable seller, whether online or bricks and mortar welcomes any and all questions, even the dumb ones. If you aren’t getting any answers, you don’t like the answers you are getting or you have a feeling that something isn’t right, don’t deal with the seller.

If Something Is Too Good…
The saying is cliché and it is still true. If you find a Bride of Frankenstein movie poster at a flea market, more likely than not, it is a fake. If someone offers to sell you a Casablanca movie poster for $99.99, more likely than not, it is a fake. Note: Bride of Frankenstein is a rare movie poster. The Style E version, of which there is only one in existence, (pictured below)

was to expected to sell at auction in 2010 for $700,000, but it failed to make reserve. So, it didn’t sell. As for Casablanca, a one sheet (27 x 41 inches) poster sold at auction in 2005 for $20,700. (pictured below)

While technology can make it easier to produce a fake movie poster, educating yourself can go a long way in preventing you from being fooled by those who sell fakes.

Of course, my advice remains to not to purchase a movie poster for investment purposes, rather to purchase it for your own personal enjoyment. You can’t go wrong when you buy something that you like.

NOTE: I am not endorsing any company that authenticates movie posters.  The  movie poster authenticating company mentioned in this blog entry was listed for informational purposes only.

Sources:
http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/041911/new_816833389.shtml

http://www.mpgrading.com/Default.aspx

http://movieposters.ha.com/c/ref/worth.zx?&ic=althome2-Center-WhatsValuable-102009

http://www.ha.com/c/press-release.zx?releaseId=993

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/coming-soon-a-film-poster-to-break-all-records-2127352.html?action=Gallery.

Haven’t I Seen You Before?

Would you believe that there will be yet another Three Musketeers film? It’s true. This version stars Orlando Bloom and Milla Jovovich and was directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. The movie is scheduled for release on October 11, 2011. An image of the movie poster is floating around cyberspace and chatter on it is mixed. There are comments from those who like it, saying that it recalls a time when movie posters were drawn. Comments from those who don’t like it range from “Blah” and “Lame” to “Too busy for this poster. My eyes are all over the place!!!” As for me, I like the compositional style, I just don’t like the look of those in the poster. They have a going through the motions/ “I’m just here for the check” look. Below is the poster.

Moving right along, a recent story in the Times of India was about two movie posters. In particular, how a Bollywood movie poster for Murder 2 was very similar to Lars won Trier’s Antichrist. Both posters featured arms entangled in twisted branches and if there weren’t an Internet either no one would call attention to it or the attention would come much later. Anyway, below are the two posters in question.

What’s going on here? Has Hollywood’s current recycling kick spread to posters? Actually no. The reuse/repurposing of compositional and artistic styles has been going on since before the Renaissance. Both Michelangelo and Leonardo DaVinci influenced Raphael. Henri Matisse and pre-Roman Iberian sculpture influenced Picasso. A can of soup influenced Andy Warhol. I would go on but you get the idea.

So, it’s not a case of movie posters artists getting lazy, they are taking part of a long tradition of artists seeing something that they like and incorporating it. What separates art from a mere copy  is when the artist uses a technique in such a way that it becomes a part of his or her signature style. Of course, with the above-mentioned Three Musketeers poster, sometimes taking elements from the past doesn’t always work. That’s why talent is so important. No matter what the tools he or she uses, whether photography, computer generated images or acrylic paint, the true talent of an artist shines through. Think of the movie posters for Back to the Future and Mystic River (seen below and created by Drew Struzen and Bill Gold, respectively). One is drawn and one is photographed, yet they are great posters because two excellent artists created them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Therefore, if the artist is good—a movie poster is a thing of beauty. If the artist is bad, the movie poster is lambasted throughout the Internet.

Keep this in mind the next time you look at a vaguely familiar movie poster.

Sources:
http://www.flix66.com/2011/06/09/logan-lerman-and-orlando-bloom-look-awful-in-new-poster-for-the-three-musketeers/

http://www.movieweb.com/news/the-three-musketeers-poster

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-09/news-interviews/29637659_1_poster-mohit-suri-trier

http://www.artchive.com/artchive/R/raphael.html

http://www.artchive.com/artchive/P/picasso.html

http://www.drewstruzan.com/illustrated/portfolio/?fa=medium&gid=686&mp&gallerystart=1&pagestart=1&type=mp&gs=1

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/secrets-hollywood-s-greatest-movie-188670

Interactive Movie Posters

Someone once said that the only constant in life is change. The same can be said about movie posters.

What am I talking about?

Since the beginning of motion pictures, movie posters have been made of paper. The dimensions and artistic styles have changed over the years, yet paper was the dominant medium. That is until recently. Technology has advanced to the point where movie posters are no longer just static images. I wrote about this development in my blog entry of December 16, 2009 called Living Movie Posters. Yet, what I wrote in 2009 isn’t the end word on the evolution of movie posters.

You mean there’s more?

Of course there’s more.

A recent issue of Pocket Lint, a gadget news and review website based in the UK, had an article about Warner Brothers releasing a smart phone app, which can be used to unlock audio samples, visual animations and other features locked in images from the upcoming Green Lantern film. App was created by a company called Zappar and it created “hot spots” in the poster that can be tapped to allow a smart phone owner with this app to access these goodies.

What if you don’t have a smart phone? Well, on one hand you’re going to miss out; on the other hand are other ways movie posters are evolving. One way is digital signage. Digitimes, an English language website that covers Taiwan’s IT industry, ran a short piece about how digital signage is being used in the Phillipines. One digital sign company called Cayin has 22 of its digital signs in select Filipino movie theaters. These signs are used to display movie posters, trailers, film synopses, rating, screening times, and even promotions. Before the digital signs came along, movie theater employees would use PowerPoint presentations and that limited them to a single layout without show times.

These two developments show how technology is playing a part in the evolution of movie posters. From static displays on paper to dynamic images rendered via a smart phone, movie posters are become more than just advertisements and more than just art; they are becoming experiences in and of themselves. What’s next? I have a feeling we’ll find out very soon and it will have a certain cache of coolness. After all, if it wasn’t cool, no one would want to be associated with it.

Sources:
http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/40253/greenlantern-augmented-reality-app-launches

http://www.digitimes.com/supply_chain_window/story.asp?datepublish=2011/06/07&pages=PR&seq=209