Visual Hierarchy in Film Posters

The visual hierarchy of film posters has become standardised through much evolvement over time. Within these early posters you will notice they contain basic elements that still reside today.

Organisation is one major aspect that has developed over time, aside from the obvious heightened freedom and experimentation that technology now provides. Posters now offer a clearer sense of hierarchy. One might notice that text of the tagline or actors in pre-digital posters sometimes matched that of the heading. Ultimately, this causes the supporting text to compete with the heading. The Manchurian Candidate (1962), for example, gives off the feeling that the actors’ names are more important than the title. It makes it confusing in terms of what text should be read first. Arguably, the mass of text makes for an appealing aesthetic, but in terms of perceiving information, they lack.

In our contemporary society overloaded with media and advertising, of all text, the title of movie needs to be what stands out most at a glance. You can see how the heading in these posters has become the dominating text. It is not always the case, however, as you can see on the Friends With Benefits (2011) poster, but as a generalisation it seems to have become standardised element. Systematically, posters have also become more minimal in terms of amount of text. The use of taglines has become either shorter in length or non-existent.

References

http://retinart.net/graphic-design/50remakes-mr
http://justcreativedesign.com/2008/05/13/how-to-design-a-movie-poster-with-an-example
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViTprcddgRo