By Hayley
I love movies. From posters to trailers, actually seeing the movie on the big screen to holding the physical copy, I love every second of it. Seeing the progression of film and industry marketing over the years has been fascinating. Trailers have gotten more creative rather than informative, experiential marketing tactics have been introduced (check out how they promoted the reboot of Carrie), social media has changed the way we tease and share the latest releases, and on and on it goes. The one thing that remains constant though is the classic movie poster. At the beginning of cinema, that’s all people had to go off of for any hints as to the plot of a movie. Posters have changed size and printing methods, but the idea has always been the same: make people want to pay to see a film in a single stationary image. No pressure right?
While I’m a movie buff, I am by no means a harsh critic. I’m not the person who only wants to see the Oscar films or the hottest hit out of Sundance. I can get into some Fast and the Furious because I really just want to be entertained, and if a movie can do that, it’s money well spent in my opinion. I am however a designer as well, and when it comes to the posters, that is where I start to become more critical.

So are fan posters better than studio versions? Honestly, yeah. At least they have been for a while now. I personally think the insurgence of fan posters have made studios take notice, and they’re starting to do more about it. So maybe the next time you’re at the movies, examine the posters for the upcoming releases and think a little deeper on why you do or do not want to see a movie based on what you see. Look for the ways Hollywood tries to trick your eye, and for the ones who decide to take a risk and sell their movie in a completely different way. The small shift I’m starting to see in film posters gets me excited to see the future of how beautiful films are portrayed in print and become collector items once again.