All great movies should have a great movie poster to go along with it. They do a great deal for movies that have not yet come out. Movie posters create an image that sticks in the audience’s head and gives them an idea of what the movie will be about. If the movie poster is not that good, the possible audience member will not go to see the film. If it is well done and captures the person’s imagination and attention, they become a possible customer. Customers are money and money is important to movie producing companies. This being said, movie posters must be carefully crafted to a certain expectation that will bring in the most customers. Just as in the movie, all aspects of the poster have a reason for being there. There is a certain theme that any poster is trying to convey to all who see it. The Lord of the Rings Return of the King’s movie poster is no exception. The color and the composition of the poster convey that the movie is very structured and has a clear backbone, contrary to what one might think if they were to take only a quick glimpse of this poster. This is important as it really is how the movie plays out, and the viewer can get a better understanding of what they are about to see once they understand this. 

When this movie poster is first seen, the it shows a lot going on, and might seem a bit chaotic. With colors splotched everywhere, the colors themselves appear somewhat unbalanced. The closer one looks however, the easier it is to see that the colors are carefully selected and provide structure and links each character in one way or another.

The primary colors used in this poster are black, gray and white with a tinge of yellow. There is no vibrant blues or oranges or pinks. No greens or reds either. All of the colors are quite sedated. They blend very well and there is nothing that stands out. This provides a unique cohesion to the poster. What may seem like a random jumble of colors actually provide good coherency to the poster and give insight to the individual characters.

The white surrounding Gandalf is the brightest portion of the poster and even this is not too strong. The light that Frodo is holding is clearly bright in his hand but to the viewer it is not overwhelming either. Gollum is interesting here as he is the only really off color. He is painted a disgusting pale fleshy color that stands out against the white background he is covering. This singles him out in the poster in some way as he is the odd color and does not follow the white/yellow/black/gray colors of the rest of the poster. The wording at the bottom of the poster stands out well against the dark background. The gold lettering naturally draws the viewer’s attention to the words. This is a great design so the audience doesn’t have to struggle to find the name of the movie. It is practically given to them. Even the words at the bottom, “The Journey Ends”, is rather prominent and is easy to see. The color on Aragorn’s face stands out quite a bit. His whole face is a yellow hue same as the tower of Sauron to his immediate left. This demonstrates some kind of connection between Sauron and himself, a connection that is actually made in the movie. To put this in contrast, Gandalf and Arwen are covered in a white color. This is significant of them not having a connection to Sauron. The white also blends into the armor of Aragorn, making yet another connection directly to Aragorn.  

The figures on the bottom almost follow the same color scheme. Sam and Frodo have the same drab gray and green colors that give the feeling that they have been through a lot together. The two things that stand out are Frodo’s hand, the light and his other hand, where the sword is. The light blends with Gandalf’s robes and shows some sort of connection. Frodo’s sword stands out between Sam and Gollum. The color of the sword provides good contrast in that section of the poster. Gollum himself is a gross pink that stands out in that section as different. This color causes him to stand out as the lowest on the totem pole of characters on the poster and does not show him in a good light. This signifies his demeanor in the actual movie pretty well. If someone had to choose one color to describe Gollum’s action and will in the movie, this color would be a good bet. 

The composition of the poster initially might create a feeling of chaos, however, if one was to take a closer look, it is not chaotic at all. There are patterns on the poster that make it organized and structured. Obviously Aragorn is the center of attention here as he covers almost a quarter of the space. To his bottom left, Arwen is overlaid on top of Aragorn. To his right, Gandalf is laid under Aragorn. This creates a very nice overlapping pattern that emphasizes their individuality.  This pattern makes it easy to look at and the eye is not having to find each character. It flows nicely. The bottom of the poster is a little more complicated to look at. Frodo is the largest character with Sam nestled between him and Gollum. One thing that does help the eye here is the line created by the top of Gollum’s head, the tip of the sword, Sam’s head and Frodo’s head. This makes the eye easily follow one character to another and gives the poster more organization. 

There are two really defined lines between the characters. The first is the line between the top three and the bottom three characters. This line places the bottom three on top of the upper three. This line is very easy to decipher and the viewer can see the clear divide between them. This also, in addition to structure, adds insight into the film. The top three are intertwined somehow in the film and the bottom three have their own troubles and interact with only themselves. This is very accurate to the movie. The second line is the one that runs from Aragorn’s sword, down to Frodo’s arm and then off the bottom of the poster. By seeing this line, the eye and the viewer have an easier time looking at the poster. Once the composition is looked at closely, the poster becomes well-structured and organized. 

This movie poster for The Lord of the Rings Return of the King is a visually pleasing poster. It looks cool. When first seen, it looks somewhat unorganized and somewhat chaotic. However; a closer look is taken, it is seen that the colors are carefully chosen to provide structure and optimal function to the viewer. The same goes for its composition. It is well planned to give the viewer a structured viewing appearance. The poster is structured just like the movie, almost perfectly. This is therefore a truly effective promotion for the film. A look at the poster tells exactly what the film is like.  