As I’m still recovering from my Friday night of amazing Milton-ness, I can’t guarantee coherence. But then, when do I ever?
I’ve noticed that–while meaning is often extracted from screenshots–nobody ever bothers to analyze movie posters. This could be because movie posters aren’t all that important, but I choose to believe it’s because nobody really takes them serious. Which is a shame, because design of movie posters is such an intentional thing. Just think–a poster, like a preview, must summarize the film in a way that will attract potential viewers while staying true to its essence. That’s not an easy thing to do in a 2 x 4 foot image. Thus, they deserve attention. On to the Morris posters!
This poster of Morris’ first film has a very unique composition. Almost half of it is black. This emphasizes the slightly ambiguous phrase at the top, and the lower half is simply an image of two of the characters in the film. It imparts no information whatsoever about the movie and is very simplistic. We’re essentially being told to just go see it if we want any real information about the film. Morris obviously isn’t concerned about attracting the general public. This poster contains nothing to ‘hook’ viewers, except perhaps its complete ambiguity.
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Aha! The whole canvas is used this time. Unlike the poster for Gates of Heaven, the image matches the title of the film, giving viewers a slightly bigger clue. Also, this poster has a very obvious hook: a recommendation from a prominent critic (Ebert) in a place where it will attract the most attention. Morris is still saying, through this poster, “Just go see it if you want to know”, but he’s ALSO saying “It will be worth it.” This is a change from the previous poster, which pretty much says “I don’t much care if you see this film or not. Either way.” (Not that Morris doesn’t care if people don’t see his film, but he is actively trying to attract audiences with this second poster.)
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Wow! What a difference. First thing you see? “ONE OF THE YEAR’S TEN BEST FILMS.” And then? “Based on the best-selling book.” Implication: The book is great and this movie will be too! The following questions pull the viewer further in, until arriving at the final line of text: “An Errol Morris Film”. Ah. At this point Morris is counting on his own growing popularity to promote his film, and it works. The design of this poster is much more dynamic than the first two, which also grabs the viewer’s attention. Bright colors and memorable images. Ok, now Morris is telling us to drop everything and run and see his spectacular film. That’s a pretty big change.
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The first thing apparent in this poster is the way the four men seem to be almost caricatures of themselves. This is obviously intentional. The colors are bright, but chosen primarily to accent the men. At this point, Morris is banking on the fact that audiences are familiar with his work, so he’s using an image that suggests that this film will be in a similar vein to his former ones. This time, the choices in text are reassuring, rather than insistent. Yes, it’s that guy Errol Morris again. Yes, Ebert liked it again. It’s a pretty safe bet.