The Color of Top Grossing Movies

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  • The Color of Top Grossing Movies

    Click here to check out Speak Up's article on the apparent trend(s) when it comes to movie posters and marketing. I really never had thought about how many posters are filled with black.

  • #2
    Re: The Color of Top Grossing Movies

    There's an interesting link in the comments section:

    http://salavon.com/Top25/Top25.shtml

    Stony stuff... and damn, that Star Wars sure was loud.
    "Forget it, Jake. It's Hollywood."

    My YouTube channel.

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    • #3
      Re: The Color of Top Grossing Movies

      Movie posters used to be one of the main ways of drawing customers in, but these days they mean jack. In the post-Jaws/Star Wars era of media blitzes and first-weekend grosses, movie posters are just a nostalgic fossil from a simpler time.

      To place any research into linkage between a movie poster in 2005 to that movie's worldwide grosses is absolutely bizarre. Oh yeah, it couldn't have been the 50+ million they spent on ads, the kickass writer-director, or the fact that the movie was star-laden... it's gotta be that black poster.

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      • #4
        Re: The Color of Top Grossing Movies

        The Black Dahlia had a great poster and it bombed. Funny how they didn't look at more bombs like Catwoman and Ecks vs Sever and come to the opposite conclusion.

        Besides, the article is on a graphic design website and despite what branding gurus and advertising executives want you to believe, there's no science behind any of the decisions they make; ergo, they can't make accurate predictions.

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        • #5
          Re: The Color of Top Grossing Movies

          Posters may not make a movie, but they still have some underlying value.

          The poster for 40 Year Old Virgin, for example, was simple yet quite effective in its brutal honesty.
          "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."
          -Maya Angelou

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          • #6
            Re: The Color of Top Grossing Movies

            I always look at the posters when I go to the movies, gives you an idea of whats coming up...

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            • #7
              Re: The Color of Top Grossing Movies

              There is some connection between the quality of the film and the poster for the film. Same is true for albums and their covers. Whether the connection is made intentionally by the creators or they turn out that way by fate, it seems like a cool, unique or witty poster or album cover is a reflection of the quality of the product.

              Check out the top albums from the top bands of all time, and even good albums from lesser known bands and you'll find the albums have cool, unque or witty covers.

              Weak albums from the same bands also have weak covers. Then check out the latest pop crap album and find a weak, bland cover. I don't think these pop crap bands set out with the idea that they have to have a crappy album cover b/c their music is crap, but nine times out of ten it turns out that way.

              Literally you can walk into a music store and buy good music based on the cover alone.The same is true with movie posters and movies. I don't think it has much to do with color though.

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              • #8
                Re: The Color of Top Grossing Movies

                You're right, sas. When record companies know they have a quality album, one's that's been long anticipated, they're going to open up the budget to do everything they can to wow the fans. From hiring the best photographers to assembling the most creative design team.

                Look at all the Led Zep covers and then look at all the wannabe Led Zep covers.

                Look at posters for most direct to DVD or cheapie films. Most are very cut and paste.
                "I ask every producer I meet if they need TV specs they say yeah. They all want a 40 inch display that's 1080p and 120Hz. So, I quit my job at the West Hollywood Best Buy."
                - Screenwriting Friend

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                • #9
                  Re: The Color of Top Grossing Movies

                  Budget may play a part but I guess that Jessica Simpson gets a large budget for covers/posters and I'm pretty sure w/o having to check that all her albums feature her face. Boring and bland for an album cover. Ditto for Britney, Kelly Clarkson, Agullaira, Celine Dion. The covers are unimaginative and glossy like the music. Similarly, plenty of movies have slick, glossy, expensive posters but with little creativity. They reflect the quality of the movie.

                  I think has more to do with imagination. I don't imagine the cover budget for The White Album was high but it's certainly one of the greatest covers of all time, and greatest albums. Abbey Road? - Not a lot of budget needed there but a little wit and we have one the greates, most talked about covers of all time. Tattoo you? The Zepplin covers? Nevermind? Nevermind the Bullocks? 1984? Van Halen's next albums had large budgets but their covers and music are not as memorable. Even if the band has little to do with the cover design, except for final approval, there is a connection between great album covers and great music.

                  How about Morrison Hotel? The band needed an album cover. Late one night, they're passing the hotel with their photographer, they jump behind the window, buddy takes the picture and there we have a great album cover, with very little thought or budget - it was just meant to be.

                  Same goes with iconic movies and their posters. Jaws? Star Wars? Godfather? Terminator? Even The 40 Year Old Virgin is now an iconic poster and movie, regardless if it's your cup of tea or not, the movie is an icon. In the case of Terminator and 40 Year Old, the budget was not terribly high, nor were the movies anticipated. The strength of the posters comes from the coolness and wit. Arnold frowning, looking cool with the shades and gun is just a cool image. The inside wit of the wholesome smile on the 40 year Old Virgin poster is what makes it great. Those things can't be bought with a budget. If anything, I'd say having a large budget stifles creativity.

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                  • #10
                    Re: The Color of Top Grossing Movies

                    Ah, The Morrison Hotel. Abbey Road. Minute by Minute. Some of the most simplest covers are the best.
                    "I ask every producer I meet if they need TV specs they say yeah. They all want a 40 inch display that's 1080p and 120Hz. So, I quit my job at the West Hollywood Best Buy."
                    - Screenwriting Friend

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                    • #11
                      Re: The Color of Top Grossing Movies

                      The problem with many of your examples is that you're only concentrating on examples that serve your agenda, and totally disregarding others. Sure, Jaws and Star Wars had killer posters, but not every popular movie followed the same pattern.

                      To illustrate this very clearly, go look at the movie posters for Alien and Aliens. One is a superb, timeless image of a alien cocoon/egg while the other is a very bland photo of Ripley and Newt.

                      Quick, tell me which one made more money - impressive since the majority of sequels make less BO.

                      You have to remember that prior to Jaws, movies were NOT sold via TV and had to depend on basic print ads and word of mouth, and one of the major ways of promoting a movie was through a poster. Before downtown decay and urban sprawl, the foot traffic by, and through, the local theater was immense, and it was a very much a cultural center of any town or city.

                      A poster was how a movie portrayed itself to the world, while today it's the TV ad and trailer.

                      Now, posters are relics of a bygone age, and TV advertising and promotion has become the primary method of getting the message out of the masses. Sure, studios still produce movie posters, probably to have something to put on the DVD cover, but these are virtually inconsequential .

                      Someone like Lucas could have used a simple text blurb, or no poster at all, and still made billions on the SW prequels. He could never have done under the old system.

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                      • #12
                        Re: The Color of Top Grossing Movies

                        Here, you don't even see images in the newspaper ads, just movie times. I'd say that "the movie poster" means almost nothing to potential audience: it's mostly the preview at other movies and TV spots that create buzz.

                        Sad, being into graphic art myself, but true.

                        Myself? I hate the world because screenwriters aren't allowed to put a cool cover on or illustrations in their screenplay.

                        People protest "But it should be about the WRITING, not some Photoshopped picture on the cover!"

                        Well ... what's the difference when the issue is How Cool Is The Poster Art, the One Sheet, whatever?

                        Sell a crappy movie with some genius movie poster ...? How's that different than putting illustrations in a Screenplay to inspire the reader's imagination?

                        It's about selling Imagination.

                        If the against-countless-odds bolt of lightning hits, and I ever got a career going that you'd hear about (as opposed to the immense blessing of just having a career, even one that allows for Art Without Celebrity ... which I bet is the better one to have anyway) --

                        You wouldn't hear people bitching about me writing an outline on a napkin to get a deal ...

                        You'd hear 'em bitching about the bulging, scotchtaped portfolio of visual crap they have to wade through to find the screenplay. "Aw Cripes! Every other page was a damn snapshot of some damn slum on the Ganges --!"

                        Hey, I'd throw the dice: I bet my cover art can make you want to read the Screenplay, like the Movie poster makes you want to see the movie.

                        That's all I'm saying: I should be able to throw the dice, without some sun-cancered-brown businessmajor a**hole deciding "Illustrations in a screenplay?! Frackin' AMATEUR!" ... and then that's the same moron who chooses to sell the movie with the worst Poster Art ever!

                        Guy who's scared of Cover Art shouldn't be allowed in a visual Artform like cinema.

                        Grrr. This is my game face! Grrrr.
                        sigpic
                        "As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world -
                        that is the myth of the atomic age - as in being able to remake ourselves."
                        -Mahatma Gandhi.

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                        • #13
                          Re: The Color of Top Grossing Movies

                          The problem with many of your examples is that you're only concentrating on examples that serve your agenda, and totally disregarding others. Sure, Jaws and Star Wars had killer posters, but not every popular movie followed the same pattern.

                          To illustrate this very clearly, go look at the movie posters for Alien and Aliens. One is a superb, timeless image of a alien cocoon/egg while the other is a very bland photo of Ripley and Newt.

                          Quick, tell me which one made more money - impressive since the majority of sequels make less BO.
                          Not sure why you find the Ripley/Newt poster to be bland, I think it works well for the film and the characters are as iconic as the alien. Both posters are great and so are the films.

                          I'm not suggesting that posters and covers are selling points that lead to big sales. I'm trying to talk about artistic merit of covers and posters being iindications of the product. I think the Ripley/Newt photo is artistic and works well for the film - not as some selling tool. I think the Alien image is great too, as art - not as a selling tool, although great art is often a selling tool.

                          I don't think you've disproven my thoery in any way.

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                          • #14
                            Re: The Color of Top Grossing Movies

                            Sure, studios still produce movie posters, probably to have something to put on the DVD cover, but these are virtually inconsequential .
                            I disagree. The 40 Year Old Virgin is a great example. The title matched with the photo is what sold me on the movie.

                            If they were inconsequential, studios, being cost conscious businesses, would put out plain covers with the movie title and little else.

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                            • #15
                              Re: The Color of Top Grossing Movies

                              Like I said, they need to have something to put on the DVD case, licensed products, posters, etc. Nerds love buying that stuff.

                              And I've heard friends of mine wax nostalagic about the same BS you are. They talk about how X album cover from the 60's is great, or how Y album cover from the 70's is so artistic, then hammer down on some late-80's or 90's cover from the same band, drawing comparisons to the quality of the music.

                              It's really a combination of the times and the fact that the music was so good that many of the albums *became* iconic simply because of that. Many of them aren't that good, their popularity just burned the image into our consciousness. Sure, 1984 was cool, but many fans prefer the cover to Fair Warning, while others... but 1984 was their major smash hit album. It's more obvious with other bands - the music created the iconic cover in many cases.

                              The Van Halen example works for the "times" argument, as the band's covers changed as society's expectation of an album cover shifted. I can look at many albums and CD covers, and even if I've never seen them, can guess which decade they're from. I'm sure you can too, and there are definite period trends that many confuse with quality. There are some very, very bad albums with killer covers, but no one remembers those.

                              And there are some absolutely classic 40's and 50's albums that look like CRAP - which does totally diffuse your argument, if only because most of the covers back then were extremely bland.

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