Butch and Sundance (opps)

Westerns fundamentally revolve around the juxtaposition of modern, civilized life and the rudimentary, untamed frontier. They take place in a time of transition. One where the inherent human inclination toward expanding territory coincided with the rapid growth of technology. The technology and desire for growth and adventure fed on one another, creating a society evolving at an extreme pace.

“Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid” captures this feeling precisely. To make a poster reflective of this, I decided to follow the example set by the western genre as a whole and combine new with old. To satisfy the classical aspects of my poster, I examined the trope of western wanted signs and previous movie posters and attempted to format my poster similarly. The elements I drew from these were large, centered portraits of the main character in a semi-painterly style and the type font standard in these posters. I also used text with highlighted bars to draw the observer’s concentration first, allowing them to comprehend the information essential to marketing, such as the name of the movie and starring actors, before looking at the scenes depicted.

Contrasting these widely used tropes of western culture are two images in a more modern style. First is a portrait of Butch and Sundance staring into the camera. While the concept of shoulder and up pictures in a movie poster is nothing new, the gradient behind them and the eye contact with the camera is a new twist used in current posters, such as “Moonlight” and “The Martian.” Along with the contrast, the portrait also captures attention. The human face evolutionarily draws our eye. Therefore, having too large faces will lead to more people looking at the poster, which is the goal. The second image I used to imbue the aspect of modernity is a digitally rendered, 3D scene containing a landscape of dunes and rocks with two blacked-out characters walking from left to right. Similar images are not often used in posters because it is fairly monochromatic, lacking the attention-drawing colors and intense action of other posters. In the context of this poster, the unassuming image is a feature, not a flaw. It is naturally observed after the title and portraits allowing for a complete experience of initial interest-grabbing and further exploration. I chose to create this render in the form I did because it emphasizes the aura of mystery and adventure promoted by the western genre. You don’t know why and where the people are walking. All that is known is that they are, giving an incentive to see the movie and fully understand the poster.

Through an integrated combination of attention curating composition and image, font, and color choice, my poster put a new spin on an established art form and serves as a successful poster.