The Oscar for best poster goes to…

Well after all the fuss and faff of the past ten days I can announce that the Low Yo-Yo Stuff poll has awarded the best poster design for the 2011 Oscars to… Black Swan!

Speech! Speech! Well Natalie Portman was other wise occupied but I can accept the accolade on her behalf and suffice to say I think this was down to the beautiful teaser campaign created by La Bocca. Well now you have seen the poster you can buy the mouse mat, hooded tops, coffee mug etc at the Black Swan shop.

Thanks to all of those who took the time to vote (all 4 of you!) and to all of you who enjoyed the posts. Normal service will now resume.

A final recap…

OK, just to refresh your memory here are all 10 of the contenders created in Lego! It just goes to show you anything can be done in Lego and Photoshop! Get voting!

Winter's Bone

Winter's Bone. Directed by Debra Granik.

Synopsis:
An unflinching Ozark Mountain girl hacks through dangerous social terrain as she hunts down her drug-dealing father while trying to keep her family intact.

Design: Five33

OK the last one up is Winter's Bone I don't know much about this film as it's only getting it's release here in France at the moment. The poster on first look doesn't really tell me much, a photoshopped collage of elements, tell me it has a female lead, takes place in the wild and looks like it's not going to be Toy Story 3! The typeface looks like Helvetica with a stenciled effect treatment to the film's title giving it a cold icy look, this is echoed in the over all colour palette making it feel cold.

The general layout differs from the standard  'everything centered' approach of the majority of posters we have seen. The right ranged text balances with the girl's image, the negative space created by the trees creates a perfect place to place the text while the tree line leads the eye to the movies title. All in all a well constructed poster, if a little cliched in it's content.

It's only when you look at other posters in the series that you notice a distinct lack of consistency, certain elements are the same such as the girl and the trees but typographically, structurally and colour wise each have their own take. I don't think that one studio was responsible for all of these, if they were then their consistency checker was  at lunch the day these went out the door.

The title typefaces range from Kabel to Helvetica Neue and while trawling the net I came across a hand written version for the French release. With the placement, the film title sits at the top, middle or the bottom depending on which images are used. Even if this was down to regional taste and preferences, the same title font could have been used, all in all it feels a bit disjointed.

True Grit

True Grit. Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen.

Synopsis:
A tough U.S. Marshal helps a stubborn young woman track down her father's murderer.

Design: BLT Associates
Yep, them again!

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE! This is what this poster is all about. It roots its self firmly in the venacular of the Wild West and in all the film incarnations that we have seen before that live in the popular imagination. I see tumble weed, smell spur whiskey, hear creaky saloon doors swinging and in the distance see dusty riders approaching when I look at this poster and all through the simple power of a font. The font used here is Rockwell, created around 1910 so it wasn't even around when the West was wild, so why use it. The western has been a long running story, and with that a lot of cliches and misnomers and the designers by simply avoiding all the wood type and associated 'cowboy' fonts have side stepped a whole 'Rawhide' take on cowboy movies and created something that hints at a 'fresh' look at the subject.

The original poster for the John Wayne version of the film again not an Egyptian slab in sight

The text is beautifully crafted, clear and shows that good typography is enough to grab the attention of the audience. The structure that is created by the text is carried through beautifully on the character posters, none of the feel of the original is lost.

This is an excellent series and one that strikes a good midpoint between what a modern big studio production demands while retaining the character of the film and and giving it some integrity to boot all through well thought out and sympathetic design.

While researching this poster I also came across the work of Aaron Horkey who created his this version of the true Grit poster as a limited edition for Mondo. All the lettering and illustration are hand drawn, with no computer aid and then screen printed.

Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3. Directed by Lee Unkrich.

Synopsis:
The toys are mistakenly delivered to a day-care center instead of the attic right before Andy leaves for college, and it's up to Woody to convince the other toys that they weren't abandoned and to return home.

Design: BLT Associates
Yes for the second time!

Pixar movies are event movies, just like the old style Disney movies used to be. Your parents would take you to the cinemas as a Christmas treat to see the latest animated adventures and as soon as you have just finished watching one you find your self hankering for the next one, (well at least I do!). It is for this reason the the posters promoting their films don't have work too hard. With the Toy Story franchise there has already been two previous movie which have set up the style, that and the fact that every child under 12 has been indoctrinated into the cult of Buzz and Woody at sometime either through, toys, pyjamas, schoolbags t-shirts or any of the other endless merchandising avenues, I know I have a Buzz and Woody tucked away and I'm way over 12!

The brand is so recognisable now that simply using the number 3 in conjunction with the word 'toy' is enough to let you know what's coming. The typeface used for the Toy Story logo is Gill Sans Std-Ultra Bold and is probably uniquely associated with this film now. As this is an event movie there are lot's of varations, teasers, character posters, release posters, post release posters, you name it they have it, it would be pretty impossible for me to place them all here so here are a few of the character ones and one of the whole gang old and new together for one last time. One thing I will say and that is that I love what  Pixar do. The thought, care and attention that they put into all their productions, from the tiniest detail of how a character moves to pleasure they take in the craft of storytelling is evident in every frame and it wouldn't really matter to me what their posters show I'm always looking forward to the next one.

The Kings Speech

The King's Speech. Directed by Tom Hooper.

Synopsis:
The story of King George VI of Britain, his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it.

Design: 
I can't find a credit for the poster above but other posters that have been created for this have been done by:
All City,
TWC 
Momentum Pictures

This poster is clear clean and effective. It touches on all the governmental information posters of the 1930's especially the little crown over the 'I' it brings to mind the Keep Calm and Carry On poster while remaining in the present. The layouts use of space with the image of Colin Firths' mouth poised to speak to the Nation enforces the film's title and communicate a sense of anticipation.

Another thing that I like about this poster is the fact that you can see Colin Firths' pores! No smoothing over in Photoshop here a la Miss Portman. This little design decsion adds an authenticity and realism to it which echos the fact that it is based on a true story. I have read so many comments on film sites where people are aghast at the fact you can see real skin! God we have become sensitive flowers!

The one thing that does jar with me is the typeface used. If I was thinking of an English typeface from the 1930s, there would be only one choice and that is good old Gill Sans but for some unknown reason the designers have opted to go for Futura, I wonder if this has anything to do with Mr. Gill's questionable past?!

Where this film falls down is the plethora of other posters that have accompanied it's release, some follow suit perfectly, a change of colour from the mustard to red or orange, while others look like a bad paperback edition of the film released by Mills & Boon. Some use Gill while others use some sort of embossed effect serif as if alluding to an official seal and they all use the little crown to some extent. In general they all rotate around the same premise but fail to be as effective and direct as the main poster, this is probably due to studio pressure to feature shots of the main actors. Here are a few of the other posters I'll let you decide for yourself.

The Kids are Alright

 

The Kids are Alright. Directed by Lisa Cholodenko

Synopsis:

Two children conceived by artificial insemination bring their birth father into their family life. 

Design by:?

OK if you were expecting The Who living it up before Keith Moon went to the 'big gig in the sky' then your going to be a bit disappointed. This Kids are Alright is a film about a lesbian couple who have had kids by the same sperm donor and now as the kids come of age they want to find out who their Father is. Just as Inception screamed 'special effects Blockbuster!' this poster screams 'Family based Drama!' The colours are bright and fresh, almost summery which is complimented by the image nestled at the bottom of poster enjoying a nice meal outdoors, you just know that there will be highs and lows but essentially it will be all fine by the time the credits roll and you shuffle out into the cold.

The typeface used is Avant Garde Gothic a firm design favourite but one that is more often seen gracing record covers than movie posters. The text is nicely contained in a well defined block with well proportioned sizing of the various typographical elements. All floating it a blue sky. It breaks away from the standard Hollywood formula and as a result feels less heavy. I do find the yellow text a little 'buzzy' and hard to read, especially at smaller point sizes, but who reads all the text on a movie poster anyway!

As we have seen so far there are inevitably variations on the main poster wither it's more actor focused or gives the viewer an expanded view of the film. With this release there s only one other poster that looks like it was only constructed to hold all the nomination credits and gongs. it falls way of the mark set by the original and is the kind of poster that has me looking for the door! 

 

The large blocks of colour interspersed with head shots and over sized quotes  just makes me shiver. This poster holds more stars than most constellations while that lovely constructed block of text is squeezed mercilessly into one corner. When I look at it, it makes me think I've just lost at a game of celebrity Tetris which is never a good thing. 

The French version isn't much better either, it falls well into the usual approach for 'domestic blockbusters such as L.O.L., again lost is the nice fresh construction of the original.

Inception

Inception. Directed by Christopher Nolan.

Synopsis:
In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a highly skilled thief is given a final chance at redemption which involves executing his toughest job to date: Inception.

Design: Ignition Print
This is the studio who created the excellent print and poster campaign fort District 9 

This movie poster just screams "special effects blockbuster!" It follows the tried and tested Hollywood formula. I don't think we need to go through the checklist again, save to say that Leonardo DiCaprio is such a global entity that we don't need a headshot, a simple glimpse of him from behind is enough to convey who it is!
The dictionary defines Inception as;   
The beginning of something, such as an undertaking; a commencement.
I don't think that this evident in the poster. We have Mr DiCaprio standing with his back to us, (gun in hand) facing what looks like a serious leak in downtown New York, now either he is out to track down a dodgy case of plumbing, is tackling rising sea levels single handedly or something's amiss! It is only as the rest of the poster series arrives that we can start to piece the theme of the film together.

What I do like about this poster is the typeface used for the title. At first look I thought that it was Labyrinthus Regular but on closer inspection and after reading through a few forums it seems that it looks more like a customised version of Gotham which ties in with subsequent posters that use a solid red Gotham probably due to legibility which is a bit of a shame. The layout leads our eye neatly down from the tag line "The Dream Is Real." or "Your Mind Is The Scene Of The Crime", through the image and the central figure of DiCaprio to the main information, title. credits, logos etc which are neatly blocked together. DiCaprio's billing spans that of the eight other mentioned actors in a widely kerned uppercase that is only matched in girth by the movies title.

The colour palette is carried out through all the poster set, the red and white text sit on the mainly blue dominated images that give us a feeling of a cold, looming fate. All of the imagery for Inception shout 'big budget', 'special effects' and 'nothing appears as it seems', they are really well executed photoshop constructions, there is definitely no hint of the documentary feel that we saw in The Fighter inspite of sharing the same typeface.

As with most of the films I've featured so far, a series of posters are released to give us an expanded idea of the films themes as the release date gets closer. Inception takes this further giving 7 characters their own posters. These employ a similar layout to the main posters just ranging the text block right or left depending on the image and blending the folding city-scapes with the charters headshots.

All in all so far this movie has the most posters, (I have come across 12 but I'm sure there are a few more out there). This is pretty common place especially when it's a blockbuster, wait till you see Toy Story 3. There are the teaser posters, the week of release posters and then the post release posters, with this explosion of versions it is always possible to loose the feeling of unity but this set sits well together, the colour palette is consistent but there are a few inconsistencies in type positioning, size and weights etc (see the last two posters) but the over all feel remains the same even in the poster sub-sets.

The Fighter

 

The Fighter. Directed by David O. Russell

Synopsis: 

A look at the early years of boxer "Irish" Micky Ward and his brother who helped train him before going pro in the mid 1980s.

Design: BLT Associates
If you are in Hollywood and have a movie to promote these seem to be the 'go to' guys.

On first look, there is noting too out of the ordinary with this poster, in fact it seems too ordinary and that is where it starts to lure you in. In the last post Natalie Portman had been Photoshopped almost to abstraction but both Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg are looking relatively normal here, and this is the one of the key things that makes this poster work.  

The Fighter is based on the true life story of Massachusetts born boxer Micky Ward and it is this 'truth' which is the main theme of this release (in a similar way that 'time' was in 127 Hours). The shot of the two main characters has a candid, almost snap shot, documentary feel to it. It shows the two characters aren't engaging with each other, they aren't even looking in the same direction, there is a sense of time passing, for some reason 'Waiting For Godot' springs to mind. The first time I glanced at this poster I though the two actors were leaning on a fence or over a car roof, it was only on a second look that the I noticed Wahlberg was sporting a pair of boxing gloves and that tied the image back to the context of the boxing ring.

The typography is well balanced and contained at the top third of the poster leaving the bottom two thirds free for the image . The use of a simple rule neatly divides the actor credits from the title balancing them out and giving them both an equal billing. The use of Gotham is a good choice as well, it probably still  has a lot of resonance especially in America having been used on The Freedom Tower in 2004 and extensively seen in the Obama Presidential campaign. It has an openness and honesty to it which can only help when your retelling a true story.

Unlike the other films so far The Fighter doesn't have a series, simply a teaser poster which looks a lot more Hollywood and probably pre-dates the Gotham and structure used in the main poster and a more Hollywood, star driven version, this version holds on the the Gotham and the use of black and white hints towards the journalistic and towards other fight films such as Clint Eastwood's unforgettable Million Dollar Baby. I have also come across a couple of 'interpretations' which I thought worth including if for nothing else to hold up against the originals.

Black Swan

 

Next is Black Swan. Directed by Darren Aronofsky.

Synopsis:

A ballet dancer wins the lead in "Swan Lake" and is perfect for the role of the delicate White Swan - Princess Odette - but slowly loses her mind as she becomes more and more like Odette's evil sister, Odile, the Black Swan. 

Design by: Fox Searchlight Pictures

I have tried to track down more information on the design department at Fox Searchlight but have drawn a blank, if anyone has more info please provide a link.

This poster conforms to the standard studio template; a photo of the star, bottom of third of the poster holds the majority of  the information and enough negative in the image to place, press quotes, nomination info etc, all center aligned to give a clear reading path from the image to the text. The image has been photoshopped to within an inch of it's life as you can see from the original poster which was used for the Venice Film Festival, in fact it no longer looks like Natalie Portman, infact it reminds me a bid of Aladdin Sane. and of course the fantastic Pressburger and Powel masterpiece The Red Shoes.

The film deals with the themes of identity and the struggle for perfection which may explain the changing face of the posters. The design is refined and clean placing the viewers focus firmly on Portman's avine eyes and leading them down to the title which is set in a classic serif reflecting the films ballet setting. This poster is one of a set of three, there seems to be no cohesion of typography switching between a serif and modern sans but they all sit around the idea of 'good vs evil' and feature an image of the star with a loose red, black and white colour palette.

I can't ignore the fact that another set of four 'teaser' posters were produced for this film by London based studio LaBoca. The four posters are stunning, drawing visually on a range of influences from Bauhaus,  Polish posters, Art Deco and even a hint of Nazi propoganda. This feeling of time and place is further underlined by a range of Deco inspired fonts including Brittanic, Acier Bat and Monstra. The restricted colour palette and strong use of illustration make you ask why can't all movie posters be like this but there again these are not encumbered by countless credits, studio logos, billing rights, press quotes etc which is maybe a good thing!

I don't think there is a movie or design blog out there that hasn't featured these posters, but just in case you haven't come across them before here they are again.