
All great movies should have a great movie poster to go along with them. These posters 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 done well and captures the person’s imagination and attention, the poster creates a potential customer. Customers are money and money is important to movie producing companies. With this in mind, movie posters must be carefully crafted to fit 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 structured and has a clear backbone, contrary to what one might think if they were to take only a quick glimpse of the poster. This is important so that the viewer can get a better understanding of what film they are about to see once they understand the structure of the poster. 

When this movie poster is first seen, numerous things are going on, and might seem a bit chaotic. With colors splotched everywhere, the colors themselves appear somewhat unbalanced. The closer one looks easier seen are 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 are no vibrant blues or oranges or pinks. No greens or reds either. All of the colors are quite sedated. This sedation of the colors also points to a serious tone that the movie conveys. There are no “happy” colors such as bright pink, purple, blue or green. They give off a serious aura. In addition, the colors blend 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 great 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 Frodo is holding is clearly bright in his hand but to the viewer the light’s not overwhelming either. Both of these light colors point to a relationship both Gandalf and Fordo have with the “light” side in the movies. They are the good guys. Gollum is interesting here as he is the only truly 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. The title is practically given to them. Even the words at the bottom, “The Journey Ends”, are rather prominent and 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 Aragorn’s armor, 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 something together, which is what happens in the movie. The two things that stand out are Frodo’s hand, holding the light, and his other hand, where the sword is. The light blends in with Gandalf’s robes and shows some sort of relationship between them. Frodo’s sword stands out between Sam and Gollum. The color of the sword provides good contrast in that section of the poster. Gollum’s gross pink color 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 put him in a good light. This points to his demeanor in the film. 

The composition of the poster initially might create a feeling of chaos, however, if one was to take a closer look, the poster is not chaotic at all. There are patterns on the poster that add structure and organization. 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 fantastic overlapping pattern that emphasizes their individuality. In the film, each character has their own struggles. This individuality gives great reference to the unique hardships that each character faces. This pattern also makes the poster easy to look at and the eye does not have to find each character. The composition flows nicely. The bottom of the poster is 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 well 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 simple to decipher and the viewer can see the clear divide between them. This also, in addition to structuring, adds insight into the film. The main two story lines involve all of the upper characters in one and all the lower characters in another.  The top three are intertwined somehow in the film and the bottom three have their own troubles and interact with only themselves. This is 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. 

The positioning of the character’s points to their relationships in the film. Arwen is basically facing Aragorn, which points to the relationship they pose to the film. Also, Gandalf is in the top half of the poster. This points to him having more of a connection to Aragorn and Arwen than Frodo and Sam and Gollum, who are all in the bottom half of the poster. All three, therefore have some close connection in the film. 

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