Originally Posted by Kinsella5
MD99 I will chime in here even though a few have. My apologies for the delay, I was under the impression I would get notified when someone posted here, but I guess I must not have that function set up.
With regards to original authentic movie posters, that is the terminology for those posters that are sent to movie theaters only, and aren't found for sale in retail shops. A movie studio will have a poster printed up and then they are distributed to movie theaters around the country. The theaters then display the posters inside or outside their theaters to promote films currently running but also films that are coming soon. Original movie posters use to come folded but there were also rolled originals too, but most of them would ship to theaters folded.
In the mid-80's studios did away with the folded aspect and began shipping posters out to theaters rolled. Around 1988/1989, studios began issuing "double-sided" originals to theaters for the light box frames you see at theaters. This was done because the light would reflect the image more so when a poster was placed in a light box frame (this also has gone through another change over the past few years too that I will touch on later in this post). Studios continued to issue single-sided originals, but double-sided was become the norm if you will.
However, some of the smaller studios that were just starting out were only producing single-sided originals. For example, in the early 90's Miramax Pictures was an unknown studio, and for two of their films "Pulp Fiction" and "The Crow", both of which were released in 1994, ONLY had single-sided originals made. There were no double-sided versions of these posters made. Period. If anyone claims otherwise, they are not as informed as they think they are, because Miramax did not produce double-sided original movie posters for those two films. One of the first double-sided original movie posters from Miramax was for "The English Patient".
There are double-sided original movie posters but then there are also single-sided original movie posters. With the exception listed above, the double-sided ones are for movie theaters only, while the single-sided ones are usually ones that are geared towards advance screening giveaways, convention giveaways, or other promotional events. When a movie has both a double-sided and single-sided movie poster made, collectors prefer double-sided over their single-sided counterpart, and the double-sided ones are generally rarer, and with them being more sought after, they can get much more expensive.
Because original authentic movie posters can't be obtained by simply going to the neighborhood retailer, like you would find a comic book or pack of baseball cards, it has been a rather unique collectible for fans, who not only are a fan of movies, but appreciate the artwork and/or imagery found on movie posters. There have been some amazing movie poster artists out there, one of the most popular (and my favorite) is artist Drew Struzan who has created the artwork on countless number of movie posters from Star Wars styles, to Indiana Jones styles, Blade Runner, The Thing, and many many more. Some posters opt for photography of the stars, etc over an artists interpretation though.
There are not many dealers out there that specialize in original authentic movie posters. While some offer originals, some offer reprints, and some offer a combination of both, there are only a handful that really concentrate on just offering the authentic originals. I am one of those dealers who only will offer the authentic styles you see in theaters, and never any type of reprint/reproduction. Unfortunately there are dealers and individuals who offer reprints but don't bother to inform their customers that what they are ordering IS in fact a reproduction. That is the problem I have with those types of people. Advertising a poster as a reproduction is one thing, but selling one and not explaining the difference is something entirely different. I have no problems with a dealer offering reproductions, so long as they clearly state it is a reproduction.
When a reprint/reproduction poster is issued, generally it is from a company that has been issued a license from the studio to produce and sell a reproduction movie posters. These are generally 24x36 inches in size or 27x39 inches in size. Original authentic movie posters are 27x40 (previously were 27x41 inches) and up until a few years ago, the ways to tell an original from a reprint were generally the size and if the poster was double-sided (but also some other factors).
Now, it's a different story. There are those out that, including a few fellow poster dealers, who have decided that offering reproductions and making them appear as originals can be quite profitable. They don't concern themselves with being honest or reputable, but rather look at the dollar signs at the end of the day. These people hurt the poster collecting hobby, they aren't helping it. Over the years there have been double-sided "fakes" spotted and reported but generally collectors and dealers make it known (such as for Spider-Man, Titanic, etc) so people are on the look out for them and helpful websites such as the Movie Poster Authentication website helps greatly. These double-sided fakes have generally been easy to spot, for example, the posters for "Titanic". The authentic original movie posters for "Titanic" featured gold-colored credits on them. The fakes/reprints had blue-colored credits.
Are all double-sided original movie posters then faked as well? No, not all of them. Generally it is the higher profile posters that are, for films such as the two mentioned above, and most notably "The Dark Knight" but for others as well. When the teaser advance style for "Spider-Man" came out, the poster was quickly recalled from theaters (yes it is true, there are times when a movie is released and later recalled back, which in turn, makes that poster highly sought after just for that reason alone). This "Spider-Man" poster stirred up quite a controversial because the poster featured the reflection of the World Trade Center towers in Spider-Man's eyes on the poster. Sony Pictures recalled the poster from theaters and everyone assumed it was for that very reason because it was in theaters right around 9-11, however, it wasn't recalled for that reason at all. It was because Sony used the image of the Chrysler Building on the poster, without authorization. The WTC reflection/9-11 was just a coincidence on that poster. The trailer was pulled from theaters however, and re-edited, because it in fact showed a helicopter caught between the webbing and the towers, but the poster wasn't recalled because of the 9-11 events. Because this poster was so hot, reprints and bootlegs began appearing everywhere, some single-sided, some double-sided. There are some very informative websites that explain the differences too, so you know what to look for when searching for an original against a fake.
With regards to "The Dark Knight" of the five styles made for the domestic U.S. release, (4 of them for the 2008 release, and 1 style made for the 2009 re-release), only one style generated an enormous amount of attention, thus, brought out the dishonest dealers/individuals and that was the advance style "B", which was the only style released for the U.S. marketing campaign that featured Heath Ledger on the poster in character as The Joker. This style was released to theaters in December 2007, to coincide for the film's first actual trailer showing footage from the film, (the teaser trailer was released in the summer of 2007) and was still on display in theaters across the country when Ledger died suddenly. Theaters were asked to take the posters done because the studio didn't want to appear that they were trying to capitalize on his death by promoting the film, which was all just a big coincidence. Most theaters complied, some didn't. Theaters were sent more of the first advance style "A" as replacements. However, because of his death, some people wanted to capitalize on his death as soon as they could and started putting out reproductions onto the market as originals and fans as well as collectors were buying them up like crazy. Most dealers who had the true authentic originals sold out within days, if not hours, of the news spreading of Ledger's passing. The authentic originals, like any collectible, began rising in price, just like a piece of artwork would if the artist passes. Original movie posters have always been considered investments to collectors because they are not only difficult to obtain, but some posters will increase value faster than others, for various reasons. With this Dark Knight style "B", people started coming out of the woodwork for the posters, some happy to have a reprint, but many wanting the authentic originals. One dealer in particular, that I refer to as "MG" started selling reproductions from their website, and making the double-sided. Why? In my opinion, to fool those into thinking they would have an original. This triggered fans into thinking they had the real deal, and would buy more to re-sell on eBay. When I think about it today, the sheer number of people who think they have an original authentic version but really have a home made reproduction, is disappointing to say the least. For the record, the original authentic version of this poster is 27" across by 40 1/16" high (also referred to as 27x40.1 inches). To my knowledge, only three movie poster dealers have these available, and I am one of them.
Over the last few years, double-sided original movie posters have gone through one major change, that at first, most people wouldn't notice, but once they know what to look for, it's pretty clear what this change is. If you take a double-sided movie poster, let's say the first advance style "A" from "The Dark Knight" (the graffiti wall style with the black circles and dripping blood red Bat logo on the wall), and then took the "Sherlock Holmes" teaser advance styles that were just released to theaters, and flipped them over, you will see the difference. The Dark Knight poster will have the same color consistency on the front, as well as on the back of the poster. However, if you look at the Sherlock Holmes posters, the front of the poster is very vibrant, but the backside, while still double-sided, has a "faded" look to it. The coloring and vibrancy isn't nearly as pronounced on the back as it is on the front.
In my opinion, this is being done for a few reasons. The first reason, and clearly the most evident, is because the light from a light box frame in a theater will reflect better through a lighter source, than a darker one. Before, when the poster had the same color consistency on both sides, the light would reflect but not as much as it does now. By making the backside a lighter version of the front, the poster is still double-sided, yet the light can reflect the poster artwork much more than ever before. If you have a movie theater local to your area, go by and see if they have these Sherlock Holmes styles up in their lobbies, and you will see that the light almost makes these posters glow and really stand out now. The second reason this could be done, and just my guess, is to prevent counterfeits from appearing. This reason is probably a speculation on my part, and reason #1 above being the real reason why studios are doing this faded lighter backside look to the poster, but perhaps maybe a small reason is the counterfeits out there.
Most Star Wars movie poster collectors will know that when the Star Wars prequel films were released, George Lucas made sure to add something to the posters that would set the original authentic ones apart from any reprints/counterfeits. He added an anti-counterfeit watermark on the posters. Not all of the prequels have them, but for example, if you take the final style of "Revenge of the Sith" (featuring artwork by Drew Struzan) and flipped it over so you were looking at the backside, right around Padame's head, looking at the right angle, you can see a Lucasfilm title and logo. At first glance, you can't see it, but then again, you cant' see the ghostly image on a $100 bill unless you look at it in the correct lighting. I give kudos for Lucas for doing this to his posters, which he also did on the posters for the latest "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" (again with artwork by Struzan). I do my best to inform my customers of things like this, so they know what to look out for when searching for an original. Do all dealers do this? No, they don't. Some don't even know themselves, but I feel the more informed a person is, the easier it is for them to make decisions when it comes to original movie posters they are looking to add to their collections.
There is a lot more I am leaving out, such as the many styles of original movie posters produced for a film, with some films having one poster, some films having multiple posters. The differences between domestic U.S. movie posters and International styles, as well as foreign styles, and also the lenictular 3-D style movie posters, but also the fan-made posters that are nothing more than fans who design their own posters and put the images on YouTube, MySpace, etc and try to fool people into thinking they are the real movie poster (The Dark Knight is an example of this), and the dealers who then take these images and reproduce them and sell them on their site, even though they were were created by fans.
However, I think I have made this post long enough, and hopefully can help educate collectors, both new and old, when it comes to making the right decisions when purchasing originals over reproductions.
|
All countries
Argentina
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
China
Colombia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Denmark
Finland
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
India
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
New Zealand
Norway
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
Linear Mode
