Have movies and web series lost the art of conveying a story through its poster?

A picture is believed to say 1000 words, and it always has in the world of cinema. Much more so back in the day, when one hadn’t yet witnessed the advent of cable television, and decades before the Internet and social media became an extension of our personalities. Promoting the movie through songs, making a trailer, and media tours, was a distant dream. It was movie posters that drew audiences to the theatres. Be it cinephiles who grew up during the 60s and 70s, or ones from the present day who loves films from the older era, no one could stop raving about the level of detailing shown in the posters of iconic films that starred legends such as Dev Anand (Guide, Jewel Thief, Johnny Mera Naam), Rajesh Khanna (Aradhana, Amar Prem, Kati Patang), and Amitabh Bachchan (Deewar, Sholay) to name a few. Every 90s kid would remember Shah Rukh Khan picking Kajol up in the poster of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (a poster doing absolute justice to its name), or the one of Baazigar where King Khan is seen donning black goggles with an image of Shilpa Shetty and Kajol placed on either eye. 

Fast forward to the present day and one has to think a lot about the last poster of a film or web series that made as much of an impact. The thing is, there aren’t just a higher number of films and web series (something that we didn’t have back in the day) but far more ways to promote it. Enter the world of trailers, teasers (some offerings might even have more than one of each) that allow the creators and producers to reveal more than what a poster is capable of. Does this mean that posters have lost their relevance in today’s day and age? Why are they still being made? What does a filmmaker think about when designing a poster? Bazaar India spoke to two filmmakers who shed light on why posters will always stand the test of time. 

The magic of stillness
Time comes to a standstill when one stops and looks at a poster. What one sees and feels for the film or web series is between them and the art. For Ashima Chibber, the director of Mrs. Chatterjee vs. Norway, the magic of a poster will be in the calmness, and the time for reflection that the viewer gets. “A still image says so much. A poster is a still image at the end of the day. The viewer gets to view it and read more into it. There is a stillness that I like. When I was in film school, I would just go through posters and segregate them according to colour. You have postcards of those posters or versions that you find in so many cafes today. They are a collector’s item, a part of popular culture, and the very identity of a film that stays forever. You can’t do that with a teaser or trailer.” 

Chibber, who was also the assistant director for Chak De! India and Rocket Singh, gives an interesting analogy of what it feels like when one looks at a poster. “When you look at food, you eat with your eyes. The presentation of the film on a poster is like how food is served. You can stand and look at it.” 

Then and now: The relevance 

Gurmmeet Singh, director of popular web series like Mirzapur and Inside Edge, who has also been the assistant director for films such as Don and Jodhaa Akbar, talks about how the focus towards posters is present, but it’s one with a lot of change. “At a time when there wasn’t any electronic media, you only got to see trailers when you saw another film in the theatre. That’s why posters became very important to put out a film that was coming. Today it is like a cover image, kind of a calling or visiting card. In the current scenario, you have to put out the teaser and trailer to get people involved.”  

That said, with highly-anticipated films and web series coming out that see audiences eagerly await the offering’s first look, the poster is something that will always get traction. “Be it on the billboards, a newspaper or a printed medium, or the same image taken to Instagram and social media where it’s amplified, it’s important to share it and make it viral. The doorway will always be the poster.” adds Singh who talks about the challenges. “It’s tough for a new offering to get the audience’s attention just on the basis of a poster. This is why there is a lot more emphasis on the trailer. It’s an asset that holds more weight and increases the chances of your show getting a good opening.” 

Poster and other forms of content may be made for traction in today’s world, but posters for films such as Deewar and Sholay were designed for one thing alone—scale. “They were painted with classical colours, you could see the conflict on the poster. Posters back in the day had it all in the form of small cutouts on them that revealed everything. What existed was what people saw on posters. That’s how the posters spoke at time,” says Chibber who shares the story of Chak De! India’s poster. “It has the vibe of a team standing with attitude. Even if it’s SRK’s story, it is a sports film. Say a film like War, the poster is designed to extend the umbrella of who will come to watch the film. It has a star. When you have that, you design around them. That’s what brings people to the theatre.” 

Tackling the space issue and conveying the message

In the case of a poster, that’s a still image, the challenges that arise is the one of space. How much can you fit and what all is to be included? Do you make an important scene the poster or have a couple of actors on it? Singh speaks about this creative choice. “I think this depends on what the strengths of the film are. And what is the audience attracted to. Sometimes, you do want to show that it’s something with a lot of people. On the other hand, you don’t want to clutter it. You want the audience to focus on the star. You could also want to hold back the aces, keep things small, and surprise people when the movie is finally out. It depends on instinct and what people are thinking about. Sometimes you don’t want to over-promote something.” 

While Singh’s gone on to direct a show whose popularity continues to soar post the completion of its third season, things were very different for him regarding the design of the poster for season 1. “It was the initial days of OTT, and we didn’t know what audiences like and don't. At that time, the actors on the show weren’t as big as they are today. We were leaning into what we’d learnt from films because we knew it was a gangster franchise and that’s what we wanted to put out. We wanted them to have an image that seems larger than life. Give it a Godfather feel with Pankaj (Tripathi) sitting on a chair and the three boys around him. The poster told people that it’s going to be a battle for power.” 

Image credit: Spice Media

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