Institutions
Hollywood Posters

Lead-in questions:

  1. What is the purpose of a film poster?

  2. What makes a good film poster? List as many things as you can think of.

  3. Look at the film posters below. Which ones do you think are the most effective? Why? Which ones are less effective? Why?

  4. What do the posters tell you about the films they are advertising? How do they do this? Think about the genre of the films  and how this affects the design of the posters.

 

Ocean's Eleven Poster Shanghai Noon Poster Gangs of New York Poster
1
 
2
 
3
 
Good Fellas Poster Shrek 2 Poster Pirates of The Caribbean Poster
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5
 
6
 
Titanic Poster Moulin Rouge Poster MI:III Poster
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9


Task 1

The descriptions below match the 9 films illustrated by the posters above. Match the description of each film with the number of its poster.

A) 

This romantic adventure-comedy set in the Caribbean during the early 1700s is actually based on the attraction of the same name found in many Disney theme parks. The somewhat preposterous story concerns Elizabeth, daughter of the new governor of Port Royal, Jamaica, Will Turner, the sole survivor of a shipwreck when he was a boy and Captain Jack Sparrow, a destitute pirate. Elizabeth is kidnapped by Captain Barbarossa who commands the ghost ship the Black Pearl and Will and Jack steal the Royal Navy’s fastest ship and set off in pursuit. The film was released in 2003 and has grossed more than $650 million worldwide at the box office since then.

B) 

This brutal gangster film, released in 1990, is based on a true story. It traces the career of gangster turned FBI informer, Henry Hill, showing how he becomes involved with the mafia as a boy growing up in a working-class Italian neighbourhood in New York. As Henry reaches manhood so his involvement deepens and his criminal activities become more ambitious and more deadly. However, the uncontrollable violence of his friends and his own involvement with drugs leads to his eventual downfall.

C) 

This film, released in 2000, is a mixture of several well-known genres. Set in the Wild West in the 19th century, this comedy western features extended martial arts sequences and has some scenes in China. It also has elements of the “Buddy Cop” genre as its two contrasting main characters (a Chinese imperial guard and a Western outlaw) are forced to team up in order to beat the bad guys.

D) 

This stylish Academy Award winning musical was directed by an unorthodox Australian director and released in 2001. It tells the story of a young British poet, Christian, who falls in love with the actress and courtesan, Satine, who is the star of a famous Parisian cabaret. The film is unusual in that it takes well-known contemporary popular songs, including hits by Madonna and Nirvana, and fits them into a story set at the end of the 19th century.

E) 

This film is a remake of a 1960s heist movie which featured the Rat Pack, a group of famous entertainers and stars who appeared together in films and on stage. The 2001 remake attempts to match the cool style of the original but other than the main plot device, which involves the robbery of a Las Vegas casino, and the main character’s name, Danny Ocean, there is very little in common between the two films. The remake does have a similarly stellar cast though.

F) 

This is the third film in a series of big-budget action movies based on a popular U.S. television series which was broadcast in the 60s and 70s. Like the TV series, the films feature stories about an elite team of secret agents employed by the U.S. government. This third film, released in April, 2006, brings the team leader, Ethan Hunt, out of retirement to rescue an agent who has been captured by an evil criminal mastermind who is intent on obtaining a deadly bio-weapon known as the Rabbit’s Foot.

G) 

This hilarious computer-animated film, released in 2004, is the sequel to a hugely successful 2001 movie, which was itself an adaptation of a 1990 picture book. Like the first film, it features the voices of a host of well-known British and American stars, and the simple plot is based on elements of easily recognisable traditional fairy stories, while at the same time the script contains many clever in-jokes and cultural references to keep adults amused. Much use is also made of pop music, both old and new.

H) 

This 2002 period drama is loosely based on a 1928 book about the criminal underworld in mid 19th century New York. The main character, Amsterdam Vallon is a young Irish-American whose father was killed by Bill ‘The Butcher’ Cutting in a staged battle between Irish immigrants and so-called ‘native’ Americans. Cutting is the leader of the natives and young Vallon, planning a bloody revenge, manages to gain his trust while concealing his own identity. However, the situation is complicated when Amsterdam falls in love with Jenny, an expert pickpocket and grifter.

I) 

This 1997 romantic drama is set on board an ill-fated luxury liner during its maiden voyage to New York. It centres on the doomed relationship of the upper-class Rose, who is unhappy because her mother is forcing her to marry a wealthy industrialist who she does not love, and the penniless drifter and artist Jack, who has won his third-class ticket for the voyage in a poker game. The film is the third highest box office earner in movie history and won 11 Academy Awards.


Task 2

Below are ten descriptions of actors who star in the films illustrated by the posters. Put the right number in the box for each description from the list of actors at the bottom. Each actor has a number but be careful – there are 12 actors in the list and only ten descriptions:

  1. Brad Pitt
  2. Jackie Chan
  3. Kate Winslet
  4. Julia Roberts
  5. Daniel Day Lewis
  6. Tom Cruise
  7. Johnny Depp
  8. George Clooney
  9. Cameron Diaz
  10. Nicole Kidman
  11. Keira Knightley
  12. Robert De Niro

A) 

He is quite short and has dark hair. He is 43 years old. He has Cherokee, Irish, French and German ancestry in his family and his name is of French origin. He dropped out of school when he was 16 to become a rock musician and had some success with a local band. He married the sister of the band’s drummer who was a makeup artist and it was through her that he met Nicolas Cage who advised him to become an actor. Success was slow to come though and they divorced in 1985. Now he is an acclaimed actor and lives with French singer and actress Vanessa Paradis. They have two children. He has often worked with the director Tim Burton and recently starred in a Burton film about a magical chocolate factory.

B) 

This former fashion model was born on August 30, 1972. Her father is Cuban-American and her mother has English, German and Native American ancestry. She is blonde and got her first modelling contract when she was 16. After she left school she worked for modelling contracts all around the world. She got her first acting break at the age of 21 when she auditioned for a part in the Jim Carrey movie The Mask. To her surprise she was cast as the female lead even though she had no previous acting experience. Since then she has had a number of mainstream hits including My Best Friend’s Wedding, There’s Something About Mary and Vanilla Sky. For Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle she became the second actress to earn $20 million for a role.

C) 

This leading Hollywood actress was born in Hawaii in 1967 and grew up in Australia. She is blonde and has classical good looks. She started taking ballet lessons when she was four and studied at Sydney’s Australian Theatre for Young People. During the 1980’s she appeared in several Australian movies and TV series. Her American debut came in 1990 in Days of Thunder where she appeared opposite her future husband, also a huge Hollywood star. She made several more films with him including Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Their marriage was dissolved in 2001 but her career has continued to prosper. In 2003 she won a best actress award at the Oscars for her performance in The Hours. On June 25, 2006, she married the country singer Keith Urban. She has herself ventured into singing in one of her films.

D) 

This Academy Award-winning actor is 63 years old and is regarded as one of the finest actors of his generation. He has dark hair and a big nose. He is particularly noted for his portrayal of gangsters and conflicted, troubled characters. He has collaborated over many years with the director Martin Scorsese. He was born in New York, the son of an Italian father and Irish mother. His first important acting role came at the age of 20 but his collaboration with Scorsese began in 1973 when he played a small-time Mafia hood in Mean Streets. This was the first of a long sequence of successful films they made together.

E) 

This actor, born on July 3, 1962, has appeared in a number of top grossing movies and has also produced films. He is short, has dark hair and a big nose, and always looks younger than he actually is. He was born in New York and has German, Irish and Welsh ancestry. He moved around a lot with his mother when he was young after his father left the family and he originally wanted to be a Catholic priest. After success in a school play he decided to become an actor. His first film role came in 1981 and in 1983 he had a leading role in Risky Business which propelled him to stardom. He has been nominated for Academy Awards several times but he has never won one, although his (second) ex-wife has. He has been a member of the Church of Scientology since 1990 when he became involved through his first wife.

F) 

She is the highest-paid actress in the world. She is quite tall and thin and she is a pretty woman. She was born in Smyrna, Georgia, in 1967, and has Irish, Scottish, Welsh and English ancestry on her father’s side, and Swedish on her mother’s side. She wanted to be a vet as a child but soon after graduating from high school she headed to New York to join her sister and pursue a career in acting. In her first film role in 1986 she had just two words of dialogue. Her big break came in 1990 starring opposite Richard Gere as a prostitute in the romantic comedy Pretty Woman. In 2001 she won a Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of the environmental activist Erin Brockovich in the film of the same name. Her films have grossed more than $2.5 billion worldwide.

G) 

This Chinese martial artist, actor, director, stuntman and singer was born in Hong Kong in 1954 but now he lives in America mostly. He is one of the most recognised names in martial arts action films and is famous for doing his own stunts and using pieces of furniture and other set pieces as improvised weapons. He has starred in over a hundred movies and has been a huge star in Hong Kong for many years but he only managed to break into the mainstream in America in 1995 with Rumble in the Bronx. He also has a pop music singing career. He is short and has dark hair.

H) 

This English actress is noted for having played a wide range of characters over her career. Her best known role is the female lead in the third highest-grossing film of all time. She has never won an Oscar but she is the youngest person to receive two Oscar nominations. She is blonde and very attractive. She was born in Reading in England and she comes from a family of actors. At the age of eleven she began studying drama and her career began on television. Her film career took off in 1994 when she played the joint lead in Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures and this role was followed by Sense and Sensibility in 1995 which established her as a well-known actress. She became a world wide star in 1997.

I) 

This actress was born in Teddington, Middlesex in England to a Scottish actress and  playwright and an English theatre and television actor. She is only 21 and is very good looking. She began her career as a child actress making her television debut at the age of seven. Her first film role was Sabé in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace (1999) but her breakthrough role was in the English film Bend It Like Beckham released in 2002. In 2005 she received an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination for her portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice.

J) 

This American actor, director and screenwriter is very good looking and first became well known for playing a doctor in a popular television series. He was born in Lexington, Kentucky and he is 45 years old. His father was a news anchor and TV host and his paternal aunt is a famous actress and singer. After a successful television career his movie career took off in the mid 90s and he has starred in a string of successful films. In 2006 he became the first person in Oscar history to be nominated for directing one movie and acting in another in the same year. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of CIA agent Bob Barnes in Syriana.

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