Film by Design
Film by Design
The Art of the Movie Poster
Contributions by Vlad Dima, Laura Hatry, Alicia Kozma, Lynette Kuliyeva, Madhuja Mukherjee, Frank Percaccio, Gary D. Rhodes, Courtney Ruffner Grieneisen, Marlisa Santos, Michael L. Shuman, and Robert Singer
Movie posters, regardless of their country of origin, have become indelibly linked with the films they represent, often assuming a status as visual encapsulations of films within collective memory. Long after their initial role in promotion is complete, these posters endure as iconic images, etched into film history and cultural consciousness. One can hardly hear mention of Steven Spielberg’s landmark production Jaws, for example, without immediately picturing the evocative poster art of Roger Kastel.
Film by Design: The Art of the Movie Poster is a groundbreaking and comprehensive exploration of the international and Hollywood movie poster as a dynamic artistic and cultural formation. Drawing inspiration from such prominent genres as horror, science fiction, and noir, the twelve essays in this collection provide insightful analyses of the movie poster as a vital component of the cinematic landscape from the silent era to the contemporary period. Crucially, this anthology rejects the notion of movie posters as mere historical artifacts or advertising tools and instead examines them as integral parts of a broader aesthetic framework interwoven into their respective film narratives. Each chapter, whether focusing on controversies, close-ups, or Cuba, is accessible to scholars, students, and fans alike. Through its intervention in film studies, Film by Design reveals the movie poster to be an ever-evolving medium, firmly grounded in both theory and practice, while serving as an essential and enduring element within the realm of film art.
In 1970, a double-bill poster for the Hammer horror movies Scars of Dracula and Horror of Frankenstein changed my life. It was my first awareness of the ‘movie poster,’ and I saw a path that demanded I follow. Indeed, among my first significant commissions were the UK campaign posters for The Evil Dead and A Nightmare on Elm Street. I had realized my ambition within fifteen years!In each instance, my inspiration was found in earlier forms. The Evil Dead was an homage to horror movie posters from the 1930s through 1950s. A Nightmare on Elm Street was inspired by the theatre posters of Jules Chéret. Understanding the lineage is essential. All poster artists take inspiration from what has gone before.
But there is so much more to explore. Film by Design: The Art of the Movie Poster provides a map that navigates the territory with unexpected surprises!
To date, the movie poster has been a curiously understudied topic within cinema and media studies scholarship. With contributors examining movie posters from the USA, Cuba, India, Senegal and more, this much-needed collection from Gary D. Rhodes and Robert Singer offers a range of useful scholarly theories and frameworks with which to study these neglected paratexts. This book should hopefully inspire a new wave of scholarship that finally gives the movie poster the sustained academic attention that it deserves.
Gary D. Rhodes is professor of media production at Oklahoma Baptist University. He is author of numerous books, including The Perils of Moviegoing in America: 1896–1950 and The Birth of the American Horror Film. He is also writer/director of such films as Lugosi: Hollywood’s Dracula and Banned in Oklahoma. Robert Singer is retired professor of liberal studies at CUNY Graduate Center. He is author of Beyond Realism: Naturalist Film in Theory and Practice. Rhodes and Singer are coeditors (with Frances Smith) of ReFocus: The American Directors Series and (with Stefanie Van de Peer) of ReFocus: The International Directors Series for Edinburgh University Press.
