Interview: Making 'The Master' with Poster Artist Dustin Staton (response)

After reading over the interview with poster artist Dustin Staton, I realized that I did not understand how much thought and dedication go into creating a movie poster. Personally, I never thought too much about the cover of a movie, I just wanted to watch the movie. I would look at the poster maybe and think it was nice, but it was just a passing thought. I also did not notice how movies have more than one poster, such as the teaser and the final copy. Now that I am taking this graphic design class, I can relate to Staton when he talks about having to come up with more than one idea and deciding which idea fits well. For instance, when starting a new project, I have to come up with ten different sketches. I had to do this too in my high school graphic design class. Staton also talks about different areas of the poster, such as the background or the title, and how it connects with the movie. He has to come up with specific details when starting the poster, like the tone and how to communicate with the tone. He finds inspiration by searching for other posters or book covers and studying their art styles to come up with one of his own. I do this too when drawing and it is great practice. Looking over this, I want to appreciate movie posters more and before I watch the movie, try and guess what it is going to be about and what the artist behind the poster is to trying say.