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Metropolis poster
Metropolis poster

A film poster is a poster used to advertise a film. Metropolis is a silent Science fiction film directed by Fritz Lang and written by Lang and Thea von Harbou. A poster is any piece of printed Paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface Use of such posters goes back to the earliest public exhibitions of film, where they began as outside placards listing the programme of (short) films to be shown inside the hall or theater. By the early 1900s, they began to feature illustrations of a scene from each individual film. An illustration is a visualization such as a Drawing, Painting, Photograph or other work of Art that stresses subject more than

Contents

History

On with the Show1929 lobby card
On with the Show
1929 lobby card

Originally, film posters were produced for the exclusive use of the theatres exhibiting the film the poster was created for, and the posters were required to be returned to the distributor after the film left the theatre. On with the Show! ( 1929) is historically important in cinema history as the first modern Sound film photographed In the United States, posters were usually returned to a nation-wide operation called the National Screen Service (NSS) which printed and distributed most of the film posters for the studios between 1940 and 1984. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the National Screen Service ( NSS) was a company which controlled the distribution of theatrical advertising materials in the United States from approximately 1940 through As an economy measure, the NSS regularly recycled posters that were returned, sending them back out to be used again at another theatre. During this time, a film could stay in circulation for several years, and so many old film posters were badly worn before being retired into storage at an NSS warehouse (most often, they were thrown away when they were no longer needed or had become too worn to be used again). Those posters which were not returned were often thrown away by the theatre owner, but some film posters found their way into the hands of collectors.

The 1932 Mummy 3-sheet poster, of which only 1 copy is known to exist, is considered to be the most valuable film poster in the world. The Mummy is a 1932 horror classic from Universal Pictures directed by Karl Freund and starring Boris Karloff as a

After the National Screen Service ceased most of its film-poster printing and distribution operations in 1985, some of the posters which they had stored in warehouses around the United States ended up in the hands of private collectors and film-poster dealers. Today there is a thriving collectibles market in film posters. Some have become very valuable among collectors, with a few rare examples being auctioned for US$500,000 or more. The record price for a poster was set on November 15, 2005 when US$690,000 was paid for a poster of Fritz Lang's 1927 film Metropolis from the Reel Poster Gallery in London. Events 655 - Battle of Winwaed: Penda of Mercia is defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang ( December 5, 1890 &ndash August 2, 1976) was an Austrian German - American Metropolis is a silent Science fiction film directed by Fritz Lang and written by Lang and Thea von Harbou. [1]

As a result of market demand, some of the more popular older film posters have been reproduced either under license or illegally. Often there is no indication on these reproductions that they are reproductions, which has led to some problems in the collectibles marketplace.

Beginning in the 1980s, the film studios began taking over direct production and distribution of their posters from the National Screen Service and the process of making and distributing film posters became decentralised. A movie studio (aka film studio) is in the established sense of the term a company that distributes films. Today, film posters are generally produced in much larger quantities than necessary to promote a film at the theatres, because they are also sold directly to the public by retailers who purchase them at wholesale prices from the studio distributors. Modern film posters are also often sold from websites set up by the studio to promote a given film. Because of this, modern posters are not considered rare, and are usually readily available for purchase by collectors.

Notable film-poster artists

Examples: Blade Runner, The Lion King, Jurassic Park
Examples: Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Sting
Examples: Vertigo, The Shining
Examples: What's New Pussycat?
Examples: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope ("Style B" re-release) [2], Barbarella (1979 re-release)
Examples: Casino Royale, Breakfast at Tiffany's
Examples: Camelot, Apocalypse Now
Examples: Back to the Future, The Thing

Awards

The annual Key Art Awards, sponsored by The Hollywood Reporter, include awards for best film poster in the categories of comedy, drama, action adventure, teaser, and international film. John Henry Alvin ( November 24, 1948 Alvin created movie posters which are also known as Key art, Early life John Alvin was born on Blade Runner is a 1982 American Science fiction Film, directed by Ridley Scott. The Lion King is a 1994 American animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, released in theaters on June 15 1994 Jurassic Park is a 1993 Science fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on the novel of the same name by Michael Richard Amsel (1947-1985 was an American Illustrator and Graphic designer. Raiders of the Lost Ark (also known as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark) is a 1981 Adventure film directed by Steven The Sting is a 1973 Caper film set in September 1936 and revolving around a complicated plot by two professional grifters ( Paul Saul Bass ( May 8, 1920 — April 25, 1996) was an American Graphic designer and Academy Award -winning filmmaker Vertigo ( is a Psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring James Stewart and Kim Novak and featuring Barbara The Shining is a 1980 horror Film directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on Stephen King 's novel of the same name Frank Frazetta (born February 9, 1928) is an American fantasy and Science fiction Artist, noted for his Buck Rogers What's New Pussycat? is a Comedy film directed by Clive Donner and starring Peter Sellers, Peter O'Toole, Romy Schneider The Brothers Hildebrandt are Twin brothers who collaboratively worked as Fantasy and Science fiction artists Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope (originally released as Star Wars) is a 1977 Space opera Barbarella is a 1968 erotic sci-fi film directed by Roger Vadim and based on the French Barbarella comics Robert McGinnis (born 1926 is an American artist and Illustrator. Casino Royale is a 1967 epic surrealistic Satire originally produced by Columbia Pictures starring an Ensemble cast Breakfast at Tiffany's is a 1961 American film starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard, and featuring Patricia Neal, Robert "Bob" M Peak ( May 30, 1927 – August 1, 1992) was an American Commercial illustrator best known for Camelot is the 1967 Film version of the successful musical of the same name. Drew Struzan (born 1947 is an American Artist. Struzan has painted album covers advertising collectibles and book covers but he is best known for his extensive Back to the Future is a 1985 science fiction Comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis and produced by Steven Spielberg. The Thing is a 1982 science fiction and Horror film directed by John Carpenter, written by Bill Lancaster and starring The Hollywood Reporter is a major trade publication of the Film industry in the United States. The Hollywood Reporter defines the term "key art" as "the singular, iconographic image that is the foundation upon which a movie's marketing campaign is built. "[3] In 2006, the original poster for The Silence of the Lambs was named best film poster "of the past 35 years". The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 suspense film directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, [4]

Collecting

The collecting of film memorabilia began with such things as scrap-books, autographs, photographs, and industry magazines, but quickly expanded in the post-World War II era. Film memorabilia consist of anything related to cinema that one considers valuable whether sentimentally or financially World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Collectors began seeking out original advertising material, and the classic "one sheet" film poster became the pinnacle object to own for any given film. Other material, such as lobby cards, other-sized posters, international posters, personality posters, and glass slides also began to become highly sought after. Today, the field of film memorabilia collecting has grown into an internationally recognised community of increasingly serious and financially secure collectors, making it one of the fastest areas of speculation for investment.

Film poster sizes

Film posters come in different sizes and styles depending on the country. The most common are listed below. [5]

United States

The following sizes were in common use in the United States prior to the mid-1980s, but have since been phased out of production:

United Kingdom

Australia

Key Art Awards

Lobby cards

Lobby cards are like posters but smaller, usually 11" X 14" (but also 8" x 10" before 1930). In the Entertainment industry, a one-sheet or one sheet is a single document that summarizes a product for A daybill is one variety of Australian movie Poster issued to cinemas at the time of a film's release In the Entertainment industry, a one-sheet or one sheet is a single document that summarizes a product for The Key Art Awards are an annual collection of honors given for outstanding achievement in artwork and other promotional materials advertising movies Lobby cards are collected and their value depends on their age, quality and popularity. Typically issued in sets of eight, each featuring a different scene from the film. In unusual circumstances, some releases were promoted with larger (12 cards) or smaller sets (6 cards). "The Running Man" set, for example comprised of only six (6) cards, whereas the earlier classic "The Italian Job" set spanned twelve photographs. Films released by major production companies experiencing financial difficulties sometimes had no accompanying "lobby set" at all. Perhaps one of the most notable examples of this scenario would be Michael Mann's cult classic Manhunter (1986), for which no USA lobby card set was ever printed.

In the United Kingdom, sets of lobby cards are more typically referred to as "Front Of House" cards. However, this can sometimes also refer to black and white press photographs - in addition to the more typical 8 x 10 inch lobby card style promotional devices.

Types of Film poster

Teaser poster

Teaser poster are early promotional film poster, containing a basic image or design without revealing too much information such as the plot, theme, and characters. The purpose is to incite awareness and generate hype for the film. A tagline may be included. A tagline is a variant of a branding slogan typically used in Marketing materials and Advertising. There are some instances when teaser posters are issued long in advance before the film goes into production, although they are issued during the film development.

Character posters

Character posters is a set of film posters, each featuring an individual character from the film. A film poster is a Poster used to advertise a Film. There may be several versions for one film The poster is commonly advertised for films with an ensemble cast. An ensemble cast is a cast in which the principal performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance in a dramatic production Usually, it will contain either the name of the character or the name of the actor/actress portraying the character. It may also include a tagline that reflects the quality of the character.

References

  1. ^ Lang film poster fetches record, BBC News. 2005-11-15. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 655 - Battle of Winwaed: Penda of Mercia is defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria.
  2. ^ Star Wars re-release article
  3. ^ Key Art Awards press release
  4. ^ 'Sin City' place to be at Key Art Awards Hollywood Reporter, retrieved 2007-10-07
  5. ^ Movie Poster Art Gallery - Glossary Sizes Accessed 06/Dec/2007

External links

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