I tried making a conscious effort to find posters in areas I might not have normally visited this year. That’s the effect of having been able to follow so many design firms and artists on Twitter before a majority (justifiably) bailed upon its sale. With such broad and instant access, the ease at which I discovered new releases made it so I often forget to look elsewhere.
Imp Awards is still a great resource, if only to sift through everything they’ve tagged as a given year to see if something got missed. Then there’s Brandon Schaefer‘s year-end collections and Adrian Curry’s extensive Mubi posts and Instagram to get an inside look from two poster artists and connoisseurs. And there’s a slew of other accounts who keep on the pulse of the art form when so many (e.g. studios who commission the work) can...
Imp Awards is still a great resource, if only to sift through everything they’ve tagged as a given year to see if something got missed. Then there’s Brandon Schaefer‘s year-end collections and Adrian Curry’s extensive Mubi posts and Instagram to get an inside look from two poster artists and connoisseurs. And there’s a slew of other accounts who keep on the pulse of the art form when so many (e.g. studios who commission the work) can...
- 1/3/2024
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
There are a lot fewer ampersands this month as more theaters open and smaller studios decide to go back to their theatrical only rollouts with VOD arriving at a later date rather than simultaneously. I’m sure there will be even fewer next month and fewer still the one after that as Hollywood pushes itself back towards a status quo it desires. The big boys will obviously continue to toe the line as they build up their streaming service subscription numbers while also attempting to reap box office returns.
Advertising through posters and creative identities becomes even more important as a result with so many venues competing for consumer attention. Some people will be attending theaters and thus necessitate those giant cardboard displays. Some will be staying home and thus necessitate an attractive digital alternative while scrolling through online catalogs.
And if you’re Zack Snyder, Netflix will simply create...
Advertising through posters and creative identities becomes even more important as a result with so many venues competing for consumer attention. Some people will be attending theaters and thus necessitate those giant cardboard displays. Some will be staying home and thus necessitate an attractive digital alternative while scrolling through online catalogs.
And if you’re Zack Snyder, Netflix will simply create...
- 5/6/2021
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
It’s funny to think that streaming services like Netflix didn’t bother creating posters for their original work a few years back knowing they’d never have to contend with competition at the local multiplex. Slowly but surely they began doing a few here or there before steadily growing to the point where it seemed they enjoyed being able to embrace out-of-the-box designs for the same reasons they avoided the process altogether.
Now we’re at the end of a calendar to forget that saw a majority of theaters shuttered for nine straight months to make it so streamers became king. Big studios pushed titles out of 2020 altogether, small studios went virtual, and Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, et al. watched subscriptions soar. Suddenly their digital multiplex formed the playground for cinematic competition and the continued creativity of poster design found itself working at the top of its game just like always.
Now we’re at the end of a calendar to forget that saw a majority of theaters shuttered for nine straight months to make it so streamers became king. Big studios pushed titles out of 2020 altogether, small studios went virtual, and Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, et al. watched subscriptions soar. Suddenly their digital multiplex formed the playground for cinematic competition and the continued creativity of poster design found itself working at the top of its game just like always.
- 12/23/2020
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
1. TeslaIt’s been a funny old year. Scratch that... it’s been a terrible year, but as far as movie posters are concerned it’s been an odd, disruptive one. For one thing there have been far fewer films released this year: after the normalcy of the first 10 weeks things suddenly ground to a halt and many major releases were shelved. Movie theaters were closed for months (and have still not reopened in New York) and so there was no real need for movie posters per se, but as virtual cinema flourished online we still continued to make them, even if far fewer were actually printed. This year movie posters mostly existed as online keyart thumbnails but we designers continued to design them as if they were to be printed at 27" x 40", even sticking to the convention of leaving an inch and a half of safety on all sides so...
- 12/18/2020
- MUBI
“Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover” is a proverb whose simple existence proves the fact impressionable souls will do so without fail. This monthly column (with a special year-end retrospective today) focuses on the film industry’s willingness to capitalize on this truth, releasing one-sheets to serve as not representations of what audiences are to expect, but as propaganda to fill seats. Oftentimes they fail miserably.
So many posters proved their greatness this year by being bold enough to make interesting choices where composition is concerned. I’m still talking about mid-tier studios (very few of the below twenty-five are advertising movies produced by Hollywood with a capital-h), but even those independent establishments leaning towards artistry above celebrity wasn’t always a guarantee. That they’re using reflections, extreme close-ups, overlapped objects, and uniquely cut windows turning negative space positive is a testament to a willingness of putting craft above commerce.
So many posters proved their greatness this year by being bold enough to make interesting choices where composition is concerned. I’m still talking about mid-tier studios (very few of the below twenty-five are advertising movies produced by Hollywood with a capital-h), but even those independent establishments leaning towards artistry above celebrity wasn’t always a guarantee. That they’re using reflections, extreme close-ups, overlapped objects, and uniquely cut windows turning negative space positive is a testament to a willingness of putting craft above commerce.
- 12/30/2019
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
“Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover” is a proverb whose simple existence proves the fact impressionable souls will do so without fail. This monthly column focuses on the film industry’s willingness to capitalize on this truth, releasing one-sheets to serve as not representations of what audiences are to expect, but as propaganda to fill seats. Oftentimes they fail miserably.
With four big festivals happening this month, it’s no surprise that the only true blockbusters hitting screens are the highly anticipated sequel to a Stephen King property and the inexplicable return of Downton Abbey (September 20). We could probably throw Rambo: Last Blood (September 20) into the mix too for the boomer crowd.
That’s not to say movies like Hustlers (September 13) and Abominable (September 27) won’t make money. They will. The distinction comes from those two titles making their debuts on that same festival circuit. Just because the...
With four big festivals happening this month, it’s no surprise that the only true blockbusters hitting screens are the highly anticipated sequel to a Stephen King property and the inexplicable return of Downton Abbey (September 20). We could probably throw Rambo: Last Blood (September 20) into the mix too for the boomer crowd.
That’s not to say movies like Hustlers (September 13) and Abominable (September 27) won’t make money. They will. The distinction comes from those two titles making their debuts on that same festival circuit. Just because the...
- 9/4/2019
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
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