Why are movie posters so generic and boring nowadays?

[dmaul1114]

I'd guess that in the day of people just watching trailers on their computers, movie posters just aren't so important for promoting a movie and thus studios are putting as much money or effort into them.

[Caesar Will Rise]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

I'd guess that in the day of people just watching trailers on their computers, movie posters just aren't so important for promoting a movie and thus studios are putting as much money or effort into them.

I watch trailers on my computer and have a nice list of them in my iTunes library. We still get the occasional knockout poster though.

[Caesar Will Rise]

Originally Posted by victim

All three cast members are also looking in three different directions. What exactly are they looking at?

The Rock is looking at YOU! Can you smell what The Rock is cooking? The movie looks fun though.

[remake]

Another creative one:

[Donat96]

Originally Posted by victim

All three cast members are also looking in three different directions. What exactly are they looking at?

They're just running from the lizard that is chasing them.

[Caesar Will Rise]

Originally Posted by Donat96

They're just running from the lizard that is chasing them.

Yeah. And Dwayne Johnson is looking straight out of the poster and into my soul. It's kind of unnerving.

[remake]

Originally Posted by Caesar Will Rise

Yeah. And Dwayne Johnson is looking straight out of the poster and into my soul. It's kind of unnerving.

[blonde_devil]

much like the trailers, most rely on the actor to sell it. that's why you get a boring poster with the star in a generic shot instead of something interesting. look at the poster for "Walk the Line" - interesting to look at and gives away what the movie is about. yet look at some of the dvd covers - generic. not saying you shouldn't have the star on the poster but when you can look at the pic the use and not know which movie it is from (or worse, think of a few movies it could be from), then you have a problem.

it has become just another process in movie making - like movies, you get original posters every once in a while but more and more they are becoming generic and boring(like a lot of movies).

[blonde_devil]

Originally Posted by victim

Another creative one:

makes me think it will be an old-school Eddie Murphy film like Beverly Hills Cop but sadly, i know better.

[Caesar Will Rise]

Originally Posted by victim

I know right. I can practically taste what he is cooking. ________________________________ Cheeseburger. I'm so sorry if I seem a little crazy, but I am having too much fun right now.

[Donat96]

Makes me sad to think about how different cinema is today. Everything from how movies are shot, to the way they are marketed is very different to how it was just a few decades ago. Movie posters are a good example.
I would love it if modern movie posters looked nearly as good as this:

[Show spoiler]

But unfortunately we are stuck with hideous trash like that Journey 2 poster "art."

[remake]

The Paranormal Activity movie posters are also simple and terrible.

[toddly6666]

Movie companies should do contests for each poster. Let young artists submit a creative poster. Winner gets their poster all over the place and maybe a 1000 bucks.

Do movie companies have a poster dept within the marketing dept dedicated to producing a movie poster? What are these people doing? Maybe they are submitting creative posters, it's just that the big cheeses choose the final generic ones?

[Mahatma]

Originally Posted by victim

The Paranormal Activity movie posters are also simple and terrible.

No false advertising there then.

[Kinsella5]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

What is going on with the lack of creativity in most movie posters and blu-ray/dvd covers? Movie posters and home video covers seemed to be special back in the day. But nowadays, they are so ridiculously boring and uncreative.

There are some companies that understand that making a very artistic, creative home video cover can sell movies based on that fact alone. For example, Criterion and Shout! Factory totally understand this concept.

And then there are other companies the just churn out these dull, lifeless safe posters/covers. I don't get it. Is hiring an artist really that more expensive than hiring a graphic designer?

A bad movie can be seen more likely all because it has a nice-looking poster. I haven't seen Hobo with a Shotgun yet, but I want to see it only because of the cool-looking poster.

Can anyone explain what's going on with the lack of creativity?

With movie posters being a passion of mine, I do agree that over the years poster design has shifted to rely more so on Photoshop, etc. and less than desirable design work. It is kind of like how films used to rely on old school special effects instead of relying on CGI. Take films like The Thing, 30 year old film that kicks serious butt over anything being done today in my opinion. Watching that film now, doesn't make me feel like I am watching a film from 30 years ago but watching something that was so far ahead of it's time back then. Who knows, maybe Hollywood would go back to that era, I mean if a silent film can be up for Best Picture for 2012, all hope isn't entirely lost.

As someone mentioned, the poster community took a huge blow when Struzan announced his retirement but there are some really good poster designs out there. I do feel that first advance teaser style for HP and the Deathly Hallows featuring the burning castle was actually a really well done poster. A simple image and was quite popular from my stand point having people ask for it that were not even Harry Potter fans. The new Dark Knight Rises styles have been quite nice as well.

The Alamo Drafthouse exclusive posters for their special screenings are really well done too, especially those by artists such as Tyler Stout, Olly Moss, Martin Ansin, etc. These are screen prints and are extremely limited in nature compared to a standard movie poster, I am sure many of the people here know about these already but here are just a few examples:

Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair 2011 Screening:



Akira "Mondo Mystery Movie" One-Night Screening:



The Thing 2008 Screening:



Iron Man II 2010 Screening:



There are many more he has done as well as many others by various artists too.

[Haikira]

Bloody awesome posters. Especially The Thing and Akira. I'd stick them on my wall in an instant.


Here's one of my favorite official posters for a recent film. It was used for it's SXSW showing i think.


Click for full size



Here's another recent poster i love. It's an unofficial poster by James White.


Click for full size

[Kinsella5]

Originally Posted by Haikira

Bloody awesome posters. Especially The Thing and Akira. I'd stick them on my wall in an instant.

The Thing is virtually impossible to find, even though it is less than four years old. As you know Mondo offers a limited amount of them available, for The Thing they only made 210 standard versions and 65 variants. The standard now goes for about $2200-$2500 on the secondary market. The Mondo prints were not nearly as well known as they are now, 2010 was the year people started finding out about them, nowadays, their prints sell out in seconds as opposed to weeks like they would in 2008.

Akira is a very rare one indeed, and was one of the hardest Mondo/Alamo Drafthouse prints to get because it was the first ever Mondo Mystery Movie print. No one really knew what that really meant, I mean it was a secret showing that people bough tickets in advance for, with zero knowledge of the film being shown. The print offered would be unveiled at the opening of the film and then only offered for sale at that screening, never to be sold on their website, etc. They made 180 standard editions of it and 80 variants. Once word got out that night and the following day what it was, people went nuts for it. This, and the other Alamo/Mondo prints to have a tenancy to rise in value, some much faster than others. Because of the rarity and difficulty obtaining Akira, it has been on the rise (with 2012 being the 30th anniversary of the original manga being published is helping as well). Like The Thing, these only pop up for sale once in a great while but the prices are getting out of the range for some collectors, and will continue to rise over the years.

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by Kinsella5

The Alamo Drafthouse exclusive posters for their special screenings are really well done too, especially those by artists such as Tyler Stout, Olly Moss, Martin Ansin, etc. These are screen prints and are extremely limited in nature compared to a standard movie poster, I am sure many of the people here know about these already but here are just a few examples:
There are many more he has done as well as many others by various artists too.

These guys are amazing of course, but it's sad that this type of creativity is only for unofficial/collector/film festival-type posters, rather than released to the public (as it was in the old days).

[P@t_Mtl]

I have said this before and most of the time people disagre but mostly it's because while Hollywood as always been a business now a days it's more of a business then the art. Once they were a business of making art, now Hollywood is a corporation about making money. Everything, every aspect is about how much money can we make or save, not about the creation of the movie. Some still think of the art first but they are mostly run down by the business men.

[Caesar Will Rise]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

I have said this before and most of the time people disagre but mostly it's because while Hollywood as always been a business now a days it's more of a business then the art. Once they were a business of making art, now Hollywood is a corporation about making money. Everything, every aspect is about how much money can we make or save, not about the creation of the movie. Some still think of the art first but they are mostly run down by the business men.

And then there are those brave souls who even when the bean counters set a limit say screw it and manage to inject real passion and creativity into their films despite the corporate machine's machinations. I consider Real Steel to be a great example of this recently. Shawn Levy delivers what I believe to be his best work as a director ever and Hugh Jackman gives it everything he's got. The rest follow suit. I even thought the posters were cool. Original? Maybe not, but the design was probably meant to invoke a warm and possibly nostalgic reaction in people. I know it sounds like I'm shilling for the film, but you know what? Maybe I am and I just can't help it. The critics who called it a soulless factory product couldn't be more wrong if they tried. Art can still be injected into even the most unlikely films these days if the director and his crew have the guts to buck the trend.