Is There Quality in Today’s Film Posters?
There is nothing like the beauty of film posters to summon the nostalgia of modern and classic American cinema. I happen to be a collector of film posters. I’m not talking about the lousy posters you can buy in K-Mart, but really high quality film posters, the sorts you would find displayed in up-scale theaters and even museums. I’m particularly attracted to film noir posters and film festival posters
The quality of film posters has changed drastically in my opinion. Years ago, film posters used to considered an artists’ illustration of the meaning and essence of a film. They weren’t just mere promotional tools, but often considered great works of art and attractive collectables.
As far back as 1940, film posters were actually hand drawn. Now they are churned out by the millions by graphic arts firms. If you can get your hands on them you’ll have a real gem. Realistically however, these treasures are extremely rare. But to capture the life, color and inventiveness of classic film posters, including film noir posters and film festival posters you just have to go with modern prints.
I’m not saying that there isn’t stellar quality out there in modern print. You can still find high quality, artistic film posters, which are still being produced for some new films, if you diligently seek them out. For instance, the recent Darren Aronofsky film Black Swan has had countless high quality artistic posters created for it. But I’m afraid for every Black Swan film poster, there are countless The Lorax posters!
Some of our most treasured memories have come from film posters and as venture in to a newer era of film making it makes me wonder, what’s next?
Introducing Filmwell
I am very happy to announce the release of Filmwell, a daily updated blog on film, criticism, and related matters. It is an honor to be working with this lineup of contributors.
Most of the writing I used to do here at Film-Think will now simply be posted over there. I will keep this site updated with fresh links as often as possible.
Under Construction
Due to the amount of places I am writing outside of Film-Think, I am having to do a bit of a redesign here.
All the archives are still present.