How to Make a Movie Poster - Design Theory

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In this video, Mahalo Photoshop expert Justin Zagri explains the design theories that were taken into account when creating the Star Wars: Episode I movie poster.
How to Make a Movie Poster - Design Theory
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A movie poster is a filmmaker's first line of attack when getting people to know about your film. Unlike a movie trailer, you can put your poster in as many places as you want.
The idea behind a movie poster is to get people to want to see your film. You should be thinking about that fact throughout your design ideas. As you begin to sketch out or visualize your design, you want to think about the genre of your film. This seems like a no brainer, but it's really important. Everything you do with the poster will depend on the genre.
Next, you need to determine the mood of the poster within its genre. For example, a horror movie could be a slasher horror or a thriller horror. A slasher contains a lot of violence, but a thriller tends to contain less violence. You may or may not want to depict the mood of the film by portraying that.
You then want to decide which of the cast members should be in the poster. This can range from no cast members to a full ensemble. It all depends on the movie, but generally it is a good idea to show who is starring in your movie, especially if it is someone an audience will recognize.
Let's analyze a famous poster like one from the Star Wars series to get an idea of how to put one together. The
Star Wars posters are staples of traditional classic movie posters that feature the lead cast along with a few other elements that are important to the movie.
First, the background is black space. This is done to make the more colorful elements stand out and to imply that the movie takes place in space.
Second, there is a large use of bright light. As you can see, the two suns of Tatooine shine brightly between all of the characters. The shine and flare of the suns creates a sense of fantasy, imagination and grandeur. Put simply, it makes it look like a really big deal.
Third, the characters spread throughout the poster are shown in different ways to convey their importance to the story. Anakin Skywalker is the little boy in the center. He is the focus of the film. The eyes will always focus on the middle of the poster, so important elements should be centered. Above and to the poster's left is a big head shot of Qui-Gon Jinn, played by Liam Neeson. There are a few reasons he was placed here: he is the mentor to both Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi, he led on the plot more than anyone in the movie and he served as the emotional core of the story. Either those, or he was simply the top billed of the cast, meaning he was paid the most. This is unlikely, but there are plenty of situations where the top billed actor gets featured on the poster more than anyone else. Usually, it's the main character, so it works out fine.
To the poster's right is Queen Amidala. Her unique appearance already creates interest. Where is she from? What is her significance to the story? She is the only woman on the poster, so it can be assumed that she might be the romantic interest.
To the lower right are Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jar Jar Binks. Obi-Wan is shown holding his lightsaber. This is done to let the audience know two things: the kind of character Obi-Wan is in the film, and the lightsaber itself reminds people that those awesome lightsabers will be seen in the movie. Even the way Obi-Wan holds the lightsaber denotes a certain mood. Jar Jar is smaller, indicating a more supportive role, but his odd look and goofy smile implicate that he is the humorous character.
To Anakin's left are the Naboo's ship (Queen Amidala's transport), R2-D2 and C-3PO. Notice that C-3PO has no visible plating. This adds to the sense of wonder and makes you want to see the movie. The ship next to the droids accentuates the science fantasy nature of the film. It looks different than anything any of the previous Star Wars movies have seen. The ship is sleek, beautiful and streamlined. Very little in the previous films had designs like this, implying that we will see a new vision of Star Wars with new ships, environments, and other things that the audience will look forward to seeing.
Finally, a bright red and black face with menacing orange eyes covers nearly the entire background of the poster. This is the villain of the movie: Darth Maul. The crimson red colors and the...
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[@hektor-vektor7024]

Jar Jar is the key to this poster

[@timmonsflowers]

@Robert 0077 Mesa Mesa Darth jar jar. Mesa the dark side

[@JohnWestHam]

Wasn't a tutorial, but good breakdown.

[@Creative_Expression]

That's a tag line on the poster, a log line is used in script writing, and would explicitly state the basic premise of the movie, sans mystery.

[@chergagne7430]

Very nice content!

[@beatsdddx]

Great breakdown of how a movie poster works! I learned a lot...thank you.

[@pooperscoop54321]

that was the best star wars poster series ever. that one for the prequels and the ones done for the special editions of the original trilogy.

[@ashickakonjee8861]

Thanks for sharing such valuable information.

[@djkaneck1]

Enjoyed it, cool tut.

[@jasonwu6177]

thanks for video needed for project

[@Victor_CoverMusic]

I Love Movie Posters of 80s!!!

[@productionmark]

Nice. I like this theory.

[@kuyanick]

good stuff!

[@EditMania3DStar]

You got that right.

[@jayrockwell33]

while this video states the obvious in ways of approaching a piece of design, as a college/art student tutorial it's A+

[@the4thstooge80]

Clean video , very well done. My question is , did you need or get permission to use the poster art in your video ? I produce short films where people often reference films that have left an impression on them and want to use poster art while they talk about the film....what are your thoughts on that ? thanks in advance

[@HolaHola-lg5xl]

i will take a picture and draw it!

[@spectre3492]

wheres the next video in this series?

[@crazy96662]

nice

[@ageshero]

Haha.. not the best movie, haha. love this guy.

[@andrewfornes9518]

r2d2 should definitely be front and center...But Jar Jar should be in qui-gon jinn's place cuz he's great, too.

[@Ajourneyofknowing]

How dare you not like episode 1

[@JulioRamirez-zp7pg]

jar jar the sith lord

[@blablablazzzblablaz]

he/she didnt say it was

[@Godric56]

Episode one was not a 80's movie

[@dannyburke260]

...every single image...

[@magicguycouldbe]

actually, ive never seen star wars. so, im in the dark. what happened to c3po?

[@joshuasantos7514]

he lost his virginity.

[@dahpizzaboy6149]

Joshua Santos well put.

[@SCUBONZIES]

If your younger want to do art good "trace" get in your head better natural idea ya .

[@mistybrown1591]

Drew im a artist an adopted are you my real dad