So...what exactly did you think the title meant then?
Does Kramer vs Kramer sound like a love story to you?
The thread is about film posters, not titles. A versus in the title need not necessarily imply drama, it's about context. In KvK we have a poster with the portrait of a happy loving couple with their child in the middle. A versus in the title in the context of that poster could quite reasonably be implying, say, a lighthearted film about the ups and downs of everyday family life.
I think some people are still taking the imagery too literally and seeing that as the context. Film posters have always taken visual aspects from the film and used them to create an image that clearly represents what to expect, rather than the actuality. As long as the image gives the right impression there's no misleading. The trick lies in making the image not literal but relevant, and making sure the people acknowledge this when viewing the poster.
The Kong poster is trying to be representative, for instance (it looks like early concept art used as adwork), but it simply looks too literal, as if that particular moment will appear in the film - yet so many specific aspects of it are just wrong. The Alien poster is obviously representative, and while that moment in The Happening might not actually happen, it still gives a fairly good idea of what it's about in its filtered, stylized way.
I think some people are still taking the imagery too literally and seeing that as the context. Film posters have always taken visual aspects from the film and used them to create an image that clearly represents what to expect, rather than the actuality. As long as the image gives the right impression there's no misleading. The trick lies in making the image not literal but relevant, and making sure the people acknowledge this when viewing the poster.
The Kong poster is trying to be representative, for instance (it looks like early concept art used as adwork), but it simply looks too literal, as if that particular moment will appear in the film - yet so many specific aspects of it are just wrong. The Alien poster is obviously representative, and while that moment in The Happening might not actually happen, it still gives a fairly good idea of what it's about in its filtered, stylized way.[/QUOTE]
Now your stretching it....nothing about The Happening poster gives a good idea of what the film is about.
Now your stretching it....nothing about The Happening poster gives a good idea of what the film is about.
It could be contested I suppose. But the partly warped image tells something odd has happened to empty the streets, and some sort of struggle for survival ensues for a small unit of people. A bit obscure on the actual details of 'The Happening' of course (which gives it a bit of mystery to hopefully entice - it's a Shymalan film after all), but not misleading in the sense of misdirection.
Being There(1979). Shows Peter Sellers levitating(?) he does walk on water at the end but i cant remember the levitation image. I only remembered this after seeing the clip of Michael Keaton levitating in Birdman, i actually wonder whether the levitation is a reference to the image of Peter Sellers in Being There.
I can't find the film poster, but this VHS cover should give you an idea of what it was like. The Legend of Billie Jean poster gave an impression it'd be an action-packed near-future thriller. It wasn't.
A childhood friend and I bribed her older brother to rent Blow Out on VHS for us after we saw film posters all over tube stations a year earlier. A stark black poster with the face of John Travolta screaming gave an impression it was a scary horror film. It wasn't.
Two school friends spotted several posters of White Nights in a tube station. They talked us into going with them to see what they thought a martial arts film after school. None of us heard of Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines so we went in blind. We never forget their names since.
Two school friends spotted several posters of White Nights in a tube station. They talked us into going with them to see what they thought a martial arts film after school. None of us heard of Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines so we went in blind. We never forget their names since.
You do have a point, but were leg warmers really de rigueur for martial arts in the 80s?
Maybe they were all rocking the 'Fame' look back then ;-)
No wonder it was a disappointment after seeing the poster for this....the film was totally different.
Arnie in Star Wars... I can picture the scene when Darth Vader removes his helmet "You are vun ugly mudder******" and the classic line "Get to da Millenium Falcon!"
except you only ever saw one dragon on screen at any given time and it was a slow and ponderous film.
i remember the advertising got a lot of flack for this
Yes! Remember going to watch this looking forward to the helicopter and dragon sequence ! And it was really boring.
I think they had intentions of this being part 1 of a series...which never happened!!
You do have a point, but were leg warmers really de rigueur for martial arts in the 80s?
Maybe they were all rocking the 'Fame' look back then ;-)
:D:D In their defence, quite a few martial artists in their favourite films did wear knee socks, but I think the truth is, we all had the attention span of a goldfish.
Really? I know that movie very well and remember the original release.
Have also looked at various posters from different territories online, checked the IMDB listing and no mention of the tagline you refer to at all.
I thought that too. Lecter is only a supporting part - but he made such an impact. It's possible that the tagline was added to video or DVD releases after 'Silence of the Lambs' was released.
Trailers are often misleading as well. I only saw the trailer for Maps of the Stars after I'd seen the film which portrayed it as a dark, menacing thriller which isn't really the case. One line in particular was shortened and taken out of context to give a misleading impression.
The original Italian poster for 12 Years a Slave. It predominantly feautered Brad Pitt's face, with his name in bold at the top, and at the bottom of the poster a smaller image of Chiwetel Ejiofor running.
I thought that too. Lecter is only a supporting part - but he made such an impact. It's possible that the tagline was added to video or DVD releases after 'Silence of the Lambs' was released.
Comments
The thread is about film posters, not titles. A versus in the title need not necessarily imply drama, it's about context. In KvK we have a poster with the portrait of a happy loving couple with their child in the middle. A versus in the title in the context of that poster could quite reasonably be implying, say, a lighthearted film about the ups and downs of everyday family life.
Do you always take film titles literally?
http://www.impawards.com/2008/happening_ver3_xlg.html
The Kong poster is trying to be representative, for instance (it looks like early concept art used as adwork), but it simply looks too literal, as if that particular moment will appear in the film - yet so many specific aspects of it are just wrong. The Alien poster is obviously representative, and while that moment in The Happening might not actually happen, it still gives a fairly good idea of what it's about in its filtered, stylized way.
and The Naked Gun http://images.moviepostershop.com/the-naked-gun-movie-poster-1988-1020469010.jpg
are both misleading as neither scenes happened in the film. I am deeply outraged at this blatant fraud by the filmmakers and demand a refund and full apology.
Very good
A childhood friend and I bribed her older brother to rent Blow Out on VHS for us after we saw film posters all over tube stations a year earlier. A stark black poster with the face of John Travolta screaming gave an impression it was a scary horror film. It wasn't.
Two school friends spotted several posters of White Nights in a tube station. They talked us into going with them to see what they thought a martial arts film after school. None of us heard of Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines so we went in blind. We never forget their names since.
Maybe they were all rocking the 'Fame' look back then ;-)
No wonder it was a disappointment after seeing the poster for this....the film was totally different.
Arnie in Star Wars... I can picture the scene when Darth Vader removes his helmet "You are vun ugly mudder******" and the classic line "Get to da Millenium Falcon!"
Yes! Remember going to watch this looking forward to the helicopter and dragon sequence ! And it was really boring.
I think they had intentions of this being part 1 of a series...which never happened!!
The character spent the whole movie in a jail cell.
The only acurate 'The Happening' poster would have been a picture of a big steaming richard.
Really? I know that movie very well and remember the original release.
Have also looked at various posters from different territories online, checked the IMDB listing and no mention of the tagline you refer to at all.
I don't know...Mark Wahlberg was on the front of the poster, so it could actually be argued
I thought that too. Lecter is only a supporting part - but he made such an impact. It's possible that the tagline was added to video or DVD releases after 'Silence of the Lambs' was released.
I think I may have seen it on a D.V.D box.