Movie Poster Comparison Presentation

I remember once when I was a little bit younger, watching a 1995 film titled, “The Little Princess” which is an adaption of a 1939 film of a the same title. (If interested, you can watch the full length version of the 1939 film on Youtube for free and the full length version of the 1995 film on Netflix, if you have a paying account.)

 

Here is a side-by-side comparison of the movie posters. The poster on the left is the 1939 version, while the poster on the right is the 1995 version.

The posters are visually different, of course, but both incorporate similar qualities. To begin, the poster on the left mainly advertises Technicolor, the actress, Shirley Temple, and two of other main actors/actresses, Richard Greene and Anita Louise. The photograph of the poster is that of two of the main actresses in dark clothing with bright lighting and a dominant, purple background. Overall, the poster is broken up into three sections, with each section being placed in its own rectangular box - the advertisement of Technicolor at the top, the photograph of the main characters in the middle and the title and similar credits at the bottom. The printed fonts used are prominent and perhaps attention-grabbing due to the multi-colored text emphasizing the main title, main actress, and application of Technicolor. The 1939 poster gives an impression of the main character perhaps in trouble, which may reflect on the film and could entice viewers.

The poster on the right appears smooth and more visually attractive than the 1939 poster. It is arranged with advertisement of the film producer making a claim of America having a “second chance to discover a one of a kind masterpiece” at the top, listed quotes from various companies claiming the film is a work of genius along the right side, the title at the lower middle, movie credits at the bottom in a muted tone and the photograph making up the entire background pulling the whole poster together to form a concise presentation. Types of fonts are used effectively with capitalization of all letters of the producer’s “masterpiece” claim attracting attention at the top, the listed quotes to the right of the poster are in cursive exuding fanciful importance, and the final important section of font, the title, incorporating capitalized, cursive first letter of each word, allowing the title to be legible, but still appear visually attractive. The photograph of the 1995 poster is simply that of the main actress, her eyes and mouth wide, and it appears as though she is peaking from behind some obscure object. Overall, the impression of the 1995 film poster is curious and magical mainly due to the expression on the child actress’ face and the implemented cursive/italicization of specific sections of words.

Between the two posters, several aspects have been changed. In the first poster there is a photograph of an adult woman and female child, while in the second poster only a female child can be seen. In comparison, the lack of an adult woman in the 1995 poster might indicate a change in plot or in character importance. Moreover, in the 1939 poster the advertisement of the use of Technicolor and the name of the main actress, Shirley Temple, reflects on film market of the 1930s-40s. It could be concluded that importance is placed on an actress’ name because the potential audience may recognize her first or the use of Technicolor might have been also been an attractive feature to a potential audience.  However, in the 1995 poster version, emphasis is placed on how well the audience will appreciate the opinions of supposed well-known companies commenting about the movie, rather than the use of technology to create the movie or the names of the actors/actresses. In regards to the plot, both film posters present very little to indicate what the film might be about; however, the 1939 poster demonstrates that at least an adult woman might be important, while as the 1995 poster indicates no such thing.