Movie Poster Visual Review

The movie poster (or TV show in this case) that I chose was the advertisement posters for the Netflix series “Stranger Things.” I think there are many elements of design in this poster that are noteworthy and perhaps why the show was such a success. Because Netflix advertised the show on its website before it even came out, Netflix subscribers were able to see this ‘coming soon’ ad on their home screen for a while. This was a good advertising technique because it made the show recognizable before even coming out, and it also catches your attention. Once it has caught the viewers’ attention, seeing the poster’s mystery makes the person looking at it want to watch. The intensity and mysteriousness give the viewer an incentive to watch. Both incentivizing to watch and having a recognizable poster are some of the first elements of design you want your poster to have. There are about four different scenarios and themes going on in the poster, both in the fore and background, making the poster jump out at you. Moreover, it is also unique and different, which is why it stands out. In the foreground, you have 3 of the characters on bikes. This is one part of the plot of the TV show. Behind them, on a different plane, are intense individual shots of each of the main characters. This draws your attention in and makes the viewer wonder, ‘why do they look so scared,’ ‘why do they look so intense.’ It makes you wonder what happens in the TV show and makes you want to watch it. The background is split into two sides, both giving away another hint to the series. On the left side are letters of the alphabet and twinkly lights. Taking such an everyday thing, like the alphabet and putting it in the background, shows that it is vital to the show, again creating mystery, drawing the viewer in, and intriguing them. On the right side is a blue night sky. The nighttime is to show that the series is a bit dark and scary because the night represents that. Moreover, the designer, Kyle Lambert, did a good job using contrasting colors, like blue and red for the background. Then at the bottom, standing out the most in a large red aggressive font is the name of the show. The font is an important design element because it can make or break the poster. For example, if the font was illegible or hard to read, a viewer quickly seeing this poster on the side of a bus or billboard driving won’t take the time to try to distinguish what it says if they’re in a rush or quickly passing by it. The way the letters are bold bubble letters, not filled in, with lines to outline them brings the eyes attention to it and therefore making it recognizable because people will remember the name of the show from the poster. I think the poster is well balanced. The different colors blend well together, and although there is a lot going on in the poster, it is all spaced out well so that it is not overwhelming. I thought the way everything was proportioned looked very good because you are able to realize what is most important to the show just by looking at what’s enlarged and upfront in the poster. It is like getting the main points across of the premise of the show only by looking at one poster. Although it is a 2D poster, it is really cool how Eleven’s (the main character, the girl with the shaven head reaching out in the center) hand looks like it is coming out at us. The way the boys biking under her are proportioned makes it look like her hand is 4D and actually coming closer toward us. Lastly, since I have watched the show, I know it takes place in the 1980s, but I feel like even if I hadn’t known that you get the 80s vibe a little bit because of the bright colors throughout the poster, and the font and color of “Stranger Things.”

http://www.kylelambert.com/gallery/stranger-things-season-1-poster/