Everyone who goes to movies see all the latest and greatest movie posters as they go into the theaters for upcoming movies – at least the ones that producers hope will be great hits of the season. Ever wonder what the elements are that make for great movie posters? Well, there are several elements that designers take into consideration when they are creating these posters, such as:
Grabs their attention – Certainly one of the most important aspects is that the poster grabs the attention of everyone who sees it – enough to make them want to see the movie. In many cases they are quite flashy, but some of the best ones use characters from the movie to grab interest of passersby. Big name stars are often effective to generate attention.
Exciting Images – Imagery is another essential characteristic of a great movie poster. It uses some type of design that catches the eye, illustrates the aspect of the story without giving away the plot of the story. Many of these utilize sex appeal to grab the attention of the movie goers, but it also gives just a bit genre of the story, such as romance, horror, adventure, drama, or comedy.
Interesting Subjects – The movie poster designers also understand that the subject must be interesting, and their greatest aim is to put the viewer in the middle of a scene from the movie. The intent is to make the moviegoer so curious about the movie that they must go see the movie to find out what happens that led up to the picture in the poster – and even more important, to create the desire to find out what happens afterwards.
Alluring – Another aspect is that the movie poster must be appealing or alluring to fans. Most true fans look for upcoming movies starring their favorite actors, ones being produced by their favorite producers, or ones being directed from their favorite directors. They specifically look for the movie to be released and the additional intent is to create enough appeal for the movie to create new fans.
Technique – The style of the movie poster is also very important. Whether the movie is expected to be a blockbuster, or if it’s an artsy film, the style has to be comparable to the aspect of the movie. For example, a comic-book style of font or characters would be as inappropriate for a poster for a historical drama as an elegant style would be for a movie that is a spoof or comedy.
Durability – The appeal of the movie poster must be one that is able to survive the test of time; meaning it must be as appropriate for the movie theater as it will be for the DVD cover that will be released at a later date.
Memorable – Last, it addition to being memorable, if it’s a sequel, it must be recognizable that it’s connected to the previous movie – particularly if the original movie was a big hit. The chances are very good that if the original was a great success, then the sequel will be an equal or greater success.
The designers of movie posters make great efforts to ensure that their posters encompass all these aspects when they are creating the images to draw crowds to the next great film.