‘Don’t judge a book by its cover,’ but do judge a movie by its poster. Books are works of literature; stories written and read, all through the medium of text. Films however, are stories or ideas expressed visually, and it is much more important to create an image that both properly conveys the film stylistically, and gives the viewer basic information about the film’s subject matter. Furthermore, the poster or posters need to be attention-grabbing, as their main purpose is almost always to advertise the film they represent. In the pictorial essay, “Iconic Posters in Film,” Eddie Waitman gives examples of posters that are recognized as iconic because of one or more of their stylistic choices. There are many styles and methods used to sell the film, such as tag-lines, symbols, logos, minimalism, and sexuality. When used properly, these methods can create an iconic poster that is remembered as a work of art and recognized as more than an advertisement. 

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, a 1982 science fiction fantasy film directed by Stephen Spielberg, has  some of the most iconic posters of the twentieth century, and can be recognized by almost any American adult. The movie is about an alien, E.T., being left behind on earth and quickly befriending a lonely young boy, Elliott, who helps E.T. with the adventure of returning home (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial). The film is aimed toward a young demographic of children, and so the poster needs to appeal to children. The poster, designed by John Alvin, depicts a scene from the movie with Elliott and E.T. flying on a bicycle, an image that excites children and raises curiosity about the movie. The title is placed at the bottom of the poster in large text so that it can easily be seen and read by young kids looking up at the poster on the wall. The font used for the title is carefully chosen to be familiar to the young audience, a handwritten chalkboard style, similar to what they might see in school. The tag-line is small and insignificant, causing the young viewers who might struggle with reading, to pay more attention to the image around it. The colors used are cool tones of blue and black, with the large moon even being heavily blue tinted. These colors, while not attention-grabbing, do the job to make the movie look serious and mysterious, not silly and simple, as E.T. is at its core, a movie about friendship (Waitman; E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial).

Another iconic poster is from Stephen Spielberg’s 1992 film, Jurassic Park. Jurassic park, unlike E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, aims to be an action packed science fiction thriller. Jurassic Park was adapted from Michel Crichton’s 1990 novel of the same name. Universal studios, who funded the movie, spent 60 million dollars on advertising and licensing deals for the film before its release, however only a single theatrical poster was used (Jurassic Park). Universal studios and Spielberg contracted many artists to design poster art before deciding on a single design. John Calvin, a noted poster artist, presented a design that borrowed from the logo for the fictional Jurassic Park found on the cover of the book. An extremely minimalistic approach was taken by Calvin. The skeletal profile of a T-Rex, an image easily recognizable by both fans of dinosaurs and fans of the original Crichton book, is placed behind a red background with a yellow outline. The colors are important to the work’s simplicity, the red and yellow used are because they compliment each other well, making each appear extremely vibrant over top of the jet black background. The words “Jurassic Park” stand out as the largest feature on the poster, written in an attention-grabbing white primitive-looking font. The rest of the poster is black and gives no other detail of the films story- no characters, no images from the film, no plot behind it- a bold decision for a movie worked on so diligently. This was done to add to the already highly anticipated mystery behind the fictional Jurassic Park. Children and adults alike want to discover the lost world of dinosaurs after seeing this single minimalistic image (Waitman).

Simplicity is a great design for posters, however many artists/designers discovered early on that one fact, when used correctly, works extremely well: sex sells. The 1958 science fiction film, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman played on the trend seen in film throughout the 1950s of giant-sized protagonists, however it changed one major aspect: the lead was female. The film appealed to the growing science fiction fan base of the cold war era, along with middle school aged baby boomer boys (Attack of the 50 Foot Woman). The poster needs to reflect the films risqué subject matter and give details about the subject matter, as commercials were still a developing medium in the 1950s. The poster was designed by Reynold Brown, and unlike many posters from the time period, the title was not placed as the stylistic focal point, instead a character was. Nancy, the 50 foot woman, can be seen in wearing nothing more than a few draped pieces of fabric around her chest and hips. Her nails are and lips are red, a color associated with sex and passion. Her hair is down and untamed, symbolic throughout art for extreme sexuality. Her pose is very suggestive; her long legs are spread, her rear is out, and she is leaning forward exposing cleavage to the viewer. All of this together grabs the male viewers attention, and placed in large letters next to the woman is the title in red all bold type over top of a yellow unrealistic sky. The viewer is left remembering only two parts: the film title, and the half naked woman. Today, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman is remembered most for its poster, not it’s film, as the poster has a pop-culture icon (Waitman).

Sometimes a poster has no clear meaning after a quick glance. The poster for Jonathan Demme’s 1991 psychological thriller, Silence of the Lambs, was treated with the same level of perfection as the film, which received Academy Awards in all the top five categories: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Adapted Screenplay. A female FBI agent, Clarice Starling, seeks help from imprisoned serial killer, Buffalo Bill, in order to catch another serial killer, Dr. Hannibal Lecter. However there remain many deeper meanings and hidden narratives throughout Silence of the Lambs. The film is also dark and filled with death, so it should be fitting the poster stays true to all of these aspects (Silence of the Lambs). The poster depicts Clarice with red eyes and her mouth covered by a moth. While it is Clarice’s face, the photo quality is rough and grainy and her hair is not visible, leading to an unrecognizable look; Clarice because an anonymous woman, just like many of the victims of serial killers. The warm colored moth is the most prominent aspect and draws the most attention, and under investigation a skull can be seen on the back of the moth. However it is not actually a skull at all, it is a Salvador Dali work titled “The Morphing Body”: an image of a skull composed of carefully positioned nude women. Moth and butterfly imagery is seen throughout the film to represent metamorphosis that the many characters, often serial killers, go through. The covering of Clarice’s mouth parallels the covering of Hannibal Lecter’s mouth with a metal mask seen in the film after his capture. The red can symbolize blood and death, and specifically because it can be found in the eyes, it can represent the gory horrors witnessed by agent Clarice Starling. The rest of the poster being in black and white is more than a stylistic choice, it symbolizes the duality between good and evil- light and dark. The poster for Silence of the Lambs reveals much of the story’s important symbolism and plot in its, at first glance, unremarkable image (Waitman).

 There are an array of techniques used to create a memorable film poster, and by using one or more of them correctly, a work of art is created that can stand equal to the film it is representing. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial catered to a young audience by making the poster relatable and easy to understand. Jurassic Park’s poster used a memorable logo that stood out and hid details about the visuals of the film for a big release. Attack of the 50 Foot Woman featured one of the first mainstream posters to embrace the use of sexuality to sell the film. The poster for Silence of the Lambs is filled with complex symbolism from the film while creating an interesting work of art for the viewer.  These posters, and many more like them, will be remembered as a counterparts to the films, and are vital to how the image of the film is shaped and remembered. “Iconic Posters in Film” is presented in the format traditionally associated with loose posters, plastic protected in a bound together like a book. This format can be found in stores across the US, where many fans of films, art, and posters can sift through to examine, search, find their favorite, or discover new favorites. Today, with more and more advertising mediums becoming available, theatrical posters for movies are becoming less and less significant as an advertising medium. However, the same level of care and craftsmanship should be put into posters, because if not, an amazing form of functional art will be lost.
