Film posters are a powerful visual element which promotes a film’s themes and narrative. Film posters over a long period of time were a significant part of the film industry, vital for advertising purposes. Before digital media, film posters were important in circulating a film star’s persona and embodying a film’s cult status. The use of Charlie Chaplin and Marilyn Monroe, major film stars in their day, are prime examples of how film posters reflects star power. Cult films like Scarface and Night of the Living Dead with their dedicated followings seek out film posters as a way of owning part of their passion. However, film posters seem to have become obsolete in today’s digital world.
Print Media and the beginning of Cinema
From cinema’s inception to television’s emergence in the 1950s, print media was the dominant form of mass media. Print media’s vast circulation had the ability to engage the public with advertising content. Gordon Gorey, an advertising expert, stated this period was a transition from ‘sound-oriented beings to primarily visually-oriented’ society. Gorey’s statement reflects that film posters were a sufficient form of advertising, as seen in the ‘Biograph Girls’ popularity. Film studios originally refused to give advertising credit to actors/actresses, so that film studios would not need to pay extra wages. Yet, Biograph Studios began to understand that exploiting their actresses’ popularity through advertising meant securing extra profits.
Publicity for Film Stars
As cinema progressed into a vastly defined medium, it meant film posters were essential in reflecting a film star’s personality. Charlie Chaplin’s “The Tramp” character in its day was widely beloved. Modern Times was Chaplin’s first cinematic release after a five-year interval. This had been due to a creative turbulence in Chaplin’s career, causing media debate. This made Modern Times highly anticipated, so it was important for Modern Times’ film posters to engage with this aspect. The image of “The Tramp” character in a characteristic mannerism, along with Chaplin in capital letters, was likely to engage film goers’ minds.
Marilyn Monroe, both in her film career and public life, was constantly personified through her sultry persona. The Seven Year Itch made use of Monroe’s sexuality in an iconic scene over a subway grate, shown in its film poster. The film poster presents the audience with this sensual image, coinciding with the film’s title. This could be interpreted as a attention-grabbing ploy to make audiences immediately take notice.
A publicity shoot for The Seven Year Itch, where two thousand people saw Monroe enact this pose, continued to show 20th Century Fox’s control of Monroe’s iconography. The Seven Year Itch’s box office profit of $10.2 million 4 and references to Monroe’s radiance 5shows film advertising’s success in constructing film stars’ iconography.
Film Posters in relation to Cult Status
Cult films are defined as containing a dedicated fanbase, which has developed a subculture engaging repeated viewings, quoting dialogue, and other forms of audience participation. Scarface is such a film, which has become legendary in popular culture for its frequently quoted dialogue and scenes of violent excess. Scarface related merchandise has become collectible for avid fans, including film posters due to its recognition as a landmark in the gangster genre 6. The above image symbolises Scarface’s cult following. One interpretation of the black and white background can be a metaphorical battle between good and evil. Scarface fans could possibly see the good versus evil symbolism as Montana’s internal struggle, therefore the film poster reflects his personality. Montana’s personality is part of Scarface‘s cult image, explaining why the film poster could have a sense of glamour for Scarface fans.
The decline of film posters...
In today’s internet age, digital media has overtaken print media. Both have similarities in their aim to increase sales of their products. Yet, digital media has greater capability to attract audiences. Digital media is able to be present on social media, websites and emails, which are used globally on a mass scale.
Film posters in the past have been powerful visual elements in promoting its subject’s themes and narrative. Analysing film posters in relation to major movies stars and cult films, they had the ability to express the subject’s characteristics. The film posters containing Chaplin and Monroe reflected their iconography that was recognisable to audiences. This also applies to film posters for cult films, they contain familiar attributes which fans enjoy. Despite this, film posters in an industry increasingly dominated by digital marketing are becoming obsolete. Digital marketing has the ability to contain more information regarding films than a film poster ever could.
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