5 Reasons Your Movie is Screwed Before We See The Trailer: The Poster

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this post might not apply to every movie watcher on earth. The views expressed in this post are not specific for any single industry. The odds of the views expressed in this post applying to you are significantly reduced if you are an uppity-movie-watcher who thinks movies exists solely to ‘change the world’. The views expressed in this post follow the rationale that movies are an art ‘yes’, but an art that should be entertaining.

I don’t watch trailers very often because there is hardly ever a reason to. Nowadays when you hear about a new movie on social media, on the walls of the street, on a billboard, you are presented with all the basic information to decide there and then whether or not you are going to see this movie when it eventually comes out 6 months from now. And believe it or not, the decisions we make on first impression really do go very far in determining whether or not we will see that movie because the decision is consciously or unconsciously embedded in us. In fact, after the first opinion of the movie is decided the odds of it changing before a trailer are nil to zero – well maybe I exaggerate, but the odds are tiny.

The following might seem shallow at some points but the reality is that we really are this shallow whether we choose to admit it or not, and ‘yes’ we do judge books by their covers this is why the following is number one:

1. THE POSTER

The first look of the movie is a huge determining factor in whether or not anyone will see this movie. In fact, you can actually take a movie and give it a really stupid title and put it on an amazing poster and somehow convince the viewers to go see this movie. Proof:

Now whether or not you agree whether those movies have silly titles is all subjective but you get the point: the poster looks good… at least better than this:

Then arises the question of: how many people are on your poster? If you have more than three people on your movie cover then you better be doing something marvelous with it otherwise you’ve lost me. In nollywood -Asaba movies especially- we seem to have perfected the art of fitting the entire lead cast, supporting actors and wakapasses on the cover of a movie whilst still having space to repeat some of the actors on the poster by showing ‘scenes from the movie’ – I’m not here to see scenes from the movie, if I wanted to see scenes from the movie I’d watch the trailer. 

You have three people max and you do not try to fit in your mother, your father and your extended family into the poster of one movie. If you have no one on the cover well that’s a hard sell and good luck to you. How am I supposed to know what your movie is about? I’m pretty certain the movie is not about empty spaces or buildings or candy or whatever lack lustre item you have put on an actor-free poster in an attempt to sell the movie. Again, good luck to you.

If you have one person then all you have is riding on that, make an impact and make it count.

If you have two people then what are they doing with each other (minds out of the gutters please): Are they facing each other? Are they backing each other? Are they unaware of each other? Is one person on the poster so tiny that we don’t even realize there is another person on there? Are you consciously aiming for the Benjamin Button effect?

What are the colors on your poster? Do you have a color theme that should be made the designated driver because there is that much snooze going on? Or do you have a color scheme that has nothing to do with your movie? Is your movie a light hearted romantic comedy meanwhile the theme color of the poster is burnt orange?

Or is it the opposite? In essence is there something on the poster that after seeing it will cause me to make a mental note to come back in six months and watch this. Or will I end up making a mental note to avoid this one at all cost.

…to be continued.