Why are movie posters so generic and boring nowadays?

[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.

CREATIVE POSTERS/COVERS:

[Show spoiler]

BORING,GENERIC POSTERS/COVERS:

[Show spoiler]

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

[Mandalorian]

I wasn't even born back then, but I miss the hand drawn posters. Beautiful artwork. Nowadays it's all photoshop, and whatnot.

[chad_1138]

I agree with all the boring ones shown except Fast Five. I really liked that design. The IMAX theater we saw Fast Five at had a giant lobby stand (5-6 feet tall and 10-15 feet long) of that poster, it was pretty sweet.

I do agree though that movie posters are getting boring, most likely thanks to photoshop.

Just like the kids at the school I teach at have no knowledge of how to write anymore thx 2 the invtion uv txting LOL

[Mahatma]

Originally Posted by chad_1138

I agree with all the boring ones shown except Fast Five. I really liked that design. The IMAX theater we saw Fast Five at had a giant lobby stand (5-6 feet tall and 10-15 feet long) of that poster, it was pretty sweet.

I do agree though that movie posters are getting boring, most likely thanks to photoshop.

Just like the kids at the school I teach at have no knowledge of how to write anymore thx 2 the invtion uv txting LOL

Off topic,but that last line made me laugh

[Scorpion Soldier]

Whilst i understand what you're saying i have to say i heavily disagree about the Harry Potter teaser poster being boring and generic.

[blonde_devil]

i think there are 2 reasons. first is that studios are too lazy/cheap to get an artist to do the work even though some of these posters are classics. look at the Star Wars and Star Trek posters and tell me a live action pic would be better. the posters, which most dvd/bluray covers use, are supposed to grab your attention and it think most studios forgot that. the second that ties into it is that they confuse live action with photo-realistic. a great example is the star wars covers where they took photos to mimic the original covers - they look like crap compared to the originals. and there is no reason why you can't use actual pics. I think some of the Superman 2 ones used real pics and looked good. but they see an artists doing a really good portrait and get the idea in their head that if that portrait is good, a real pic would be better and then the photoshop the hell out of one. look at the Back to the Future posters - would the actors and a real car really have looked better? i think it is just a phase like when Fox wasn't using the fanfare or when Warners didn't use the WB shield - it will pass and all it takes it one movie with a kickass poster doing well.

[Todd_Gaines]

why is UK box art almost always better than US

for example:

uk this is great



US this not so great

[Caesar Will Rise]

Originally Posted by Mahatma

Off topic,but that last line made me laugh

It should also be a reason to cry.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

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

...Um, excuse me, did some one forget I'M still in the room?

Q: Why have theatrical posters become boring head-collages?
A: Because actors are greedy. And those who aren't, have greedy agents.

One of the contract perks to being the "bigger" star of the movie was getting a bigger percentage of the profits. But of course, since movies don't make profits anymore, the only perk is whether you're one of the actors "lead" enough to get your face on the poster, and remind people that you're in the movie.
And since the professional side of acting is to remind the public and other producers that you WERE in the movie, to be a character minor enough, or actor un-drawable enough, not to be featured on the poster, is a major slant no actor wants to be subjected to....At least as long as he can negotiate his contract
(That's also why, if you see two actors on a romantic comedy poster, the names are "switched" over the heads--That way, there's no conclusive argument about who was billed "first". Billling order is an actor's nitpick that dates back to the days of vaudeville.)

Q: Why do we have bad covers instead of good ones? That's like having bad stuff instead of good stuff!
A: Because every design of a VHS, DVD or Blu-ray cover is copyrighted by its design department and studio. The first release is usually close to the original poster, but after that, something has to be tweaked to be legally original--The background has to be changed, or a different configuration of actor placement. After about six or seven or eight releases in the twenty years since home video...a designer begins running out of options, and creativity sets in.
Sometimes, like Near Dark, they just go all out and sell it in whatever way they think they can get money for it on the shelves. You're only buying, they have to do all the selling.

Q: Why didn't they use the German poster of Freddy vs. Jason instead?
A: Now you're just being loopy. Go away.

That was an easy one!...Next question?

[toddly6666]

Look! I can lift up my shirt and fart on you!





Let's just combine two generic posters into one. Look at how well it all merges together!

[Caesar Will Rise]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

Look! I can lift up my shirt and fart on you!





Let's just combine two generic posters into one. Look at how well it all merges together!

Both of those look equally awful. Wow. Just wow.

[Guydowood]

Simple Drew Struzan is retired!

[Donat96]

Originally Posted by Guydowood

Simple Drew Struzan is retired!

A simple way to put it. Sad that painted poster art had to die. Looks much better most of the time than Photoshopped junk that is used today.

[feeter]

Originally Posted by Blu-ray Fanatic

One of the reasons why today's posters are generic and boring is because the demand is so high, there are too many movies coming out, and most of all the developers can't keep up with the pace so they're required to make copies.

From the time production to the start of the promotion studios have time to create a nice poster... they just save money... a good poster by an artist costs money... i guess they get someone in the promotion dept. to do several to save money

Originally Posted by EricJ

One of the contract perks to being the "bigger" star of the movie was getting a bigger percentage of the profits. But of course, since movies don't make profits anymore, the only perk is whether you're one of the actors "lead" enough to get your face on the poster, and remind people that you're in the movie.
And since the professional side of acting is to remind the public and other producers that you WERE in the movie, to be a character minor enough, or actor un-drawable enough, not to be featured on the poster, is a major slant no actor wants to be subjected to....At least as long as he can negotiate his contract
(That's also why, if you see two actors on a romantic comedy poster, the names are "switched" over the heads--That way, there's no conclusive argument about who was billed "first". Billling order is an actor's nitpick that dates back to the days of vaudeville.)


:

[HelmutNewton]

This one has got my vote for the worst Blu-ray cover in recent memory. It looks like it was whipped up by an unpaid studio intern in 5 minutes.

[toddly6666]

[remake]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

Terrible.

[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.