Things
got a lot simpler in the 1980s, both for movie-goers and for
collectors of memorabilia.
Hollywood started filling the theaters
with light comedies and action films, and at the same time it stopped
producing almost all formats of movie paper except for the
one-sheet.
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| Movie Poster Art |
TV became the breeding ground of new movie stars as well as
many of the movies themselves, and TV was where the advertising
dollars to promote new films were spent. Meanwhile, cinema audiences
dwindled to a dedicated tranche of the younger population, so
coming-attraction trailers became powerful marketing tools,
previewing highlights to a captive and responsive repeat audience.
The
large lobbies of the new multiplexes also became home to elaborate
three-dimensional free-standing displays.The decade also saw the rise
of the VCR, and the home viewing of recently shown films saw the
gradual demise of the re-release.
While none of these changes did
much to increase the quality of the films being made, the graphic
quality of movie posters gradually began to improve as a new breed of
designers were given more freedom to create images that would attract
the interest of an overwhelmed populace, jaded by an unending barrage
of mundane advertising.
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| Movie Poster Art |
Popular
among college students, this U.S. one-sheet for Chevy Chase's 1985
comedy
Fletch
is strictly an advance, because of the "coming soon..." tag
line at the bottom.
But, as was increasingly the case with '80s medium-budget films, another poster was never issued, so this also became the final release version. Until the mid-'80s almost all movie posters were folded (upon printing), but as the decade wore on exhibition levels disappeared and they were rolled and sent directly to the one location playing the film.The example pictured was rolled, and brings a higher price than folded versions from this transition period.
But, as was increasingly the case with '80s medium-budget films, another poster was never issued, so this also became the final release version. Until the mid-'80s almost all movie posters were folded (upon printing), but as the decade wore on exhibition levels disappeared and they were rolled and sent directly to the one location playing the film.The example pictured was rolled, and brings a higher price than folded versions from this transition period.
Steven
Chorney, designer of this 1984 one-sheet for
Revenge of the Nerds,
was a prolific illustrator whose work could serve as a template for
1980s poster art.
He created posters for dozens of films, including Ice Pirates, Lady hawke, Oxford Blues, and Ordinary People. But he was no stranger to failure, having been responsible for the key art for Ishtar, one of cinema's magnificent disasters, nor to low-end comedies, having worked on Caddyshack II and Ernest Goes to Jail, as well as Nerds.
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| Movie Poster Art |
He created posters for dozens of films, including Ice Pirates, Lady hawke, Oxford Blues, and Ordinary People. But he was no stranger to failure, having been responsible for the key art for Ishtar, one of cinema's magnificent disasters, nor to low-end comedies, having worked on Caddyshack II and Ernest Goes to Jail, as well as Nerds.
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| Add caption |
Pictured
are the regular-release quad for
The Blues Brothers
(1980) and an advance poster; a style seldom used in the U.K, where
even A and B styles are scarce. By the early '80s Hollywood was
picking up marketing ideas from consumer corporations, and with the
changes in distribution and exhibition brought on by the new movie
houses, choices had to be made as to what was to be printed for each
film. If a studio had confidence in a title, as in this case, it
would budget more for ancillary poster displays and promotional give a ways.
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| Movie Poster Art |
The
1984 U.S. one-sheet above left is a true "teaser;" since it
does not include the title of the film. It is also a strong example
of the time-honored
Madison Avenue technique of creating a "brand image," now newly applied to movie advertising.The film itself was a super-successful combination of pop culture trends.
Saturday Night Live type humor; and emerging technological advances in creating special effects.The regular release poster pictured top right, is a clever evocation of the film's theme, reformatting the tag line and "no ghosts" symbol from the teaser Ghostbusters spun off one sequel and. in a fitting return to its origins, a children's animated TV series.
Madison Avenue technique of creating a "brand image," now newly applied to movie advertising.The film itself was a super-successful combination of pop culture trends.
 |
| Movie Poster Art |
Saturday Night Live type humor; and emerging technological advances in creating special effects.The regular release poster pictured top right, is a clever evocation of the film's theme, reformatting the tag line and "no ghosts" symbol from the teaser Ghostbusters spun off one sequel and. in a fitting return to its origins, a children's animated TV series.
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