Analyzing Wartime Posters

The posters pictured in the following page of the book are different wartime photos from different countries. Most of them, if not all of them, seem to be from the WWII era, from the coloring and artwork of the paintings. I can pick out America, Germany, Italy, and Great Britian, as some of the countries being represented. They all have the same message support the war support the troops. Also, most of them having someone pointing or gesturing at the reader of the poster.

Analyzing Movie Poster Genres

This one's pretty simple actually

the more serious the movie is the darker the movie poster gets. Also the more serious the movie is the more artistic and well thought out the poster (of course there are always exceptions) "Date Movie" is of the comedy, "or so called comedy", genre. Therefore, the poster is light and simple. Also, in most comedy posters there is a funny tagline. "V for Vendetta" however, is much more dark since the movie is much more serious. The poster tend to get darker and darker as the moive genre progresses into the horror genre.

Analyzing Movie Posters

Movie posters have really become works of art. And marketing movies have become an artform as well. In the 50's when filmaking was more about entertainment than substance, they had to market "classics" such as "Attack of the Crab Monsters" by showing a full figured woman being attacked by whatever horrible creature was lurking in the film. There are also some forms of that classic marketing tactic still being used in movie posters today, I am definetly not going to deny that. But I think we have come much further in marketing tactics that film companies can use good visual images rather than the female body all the time. Look at the poster on the left. It is a bold standout image. Its simple and it gets the point across. If you look at the old Jaws movie poster it uses the exact same tactic, simple and clean. Other ways, of course is displaying the stars of movie right on the poster for the "star appeal" factor. The poster from "Anchorman" is a very good example of star appeal.

Movie posters are a prime example of visual communication. Movie posters, as well as the promos, have to be visually appealing otherwise they aren't going to sell any tickets. Posters have to use an image to get the gist of an entire two hour movie.

We have come a long way in the art of movie posters and it's a good thing too. Sometimes thats the only form of art people are going to get.

Jajuk - Selawik (The North American Indian; v.20)

Curtis, Edward S., 1868-1952.

I have always enjoyed portraits much more than I have landscapes or objects. Native american photos are particularly interesting because of the aged and weathered look of the people. These photos are very expressive of the Native American culture. One thing I noticed out of all the photos I looked at is that the Native American people never smile. I don't know if it is because it is just part of their culture or if they are just not happy about getting their picture taken. I really liked the eskimo picture above because I thought the coat framed his face well. I also thought the beaded head dress on the woman pictured above was just beautiful. I wonder how long it would take to make something like that.

Photojournalists

photo by James Nachtwey

Theres almost something other worldly about this photo isn't there? Almost like it could've come out of the Matrix or something. However devastating this picture is, it tells a story. Photojournalists tell stories to people in ways that the news organizations cannot. If you just look at a picture, it tells a story even without all the talking, controversy, and politics. Photojournalists add artistic expression and beauty to the every day news.

P.S. Mr. Weller: Your son did a very nice job on this article :)

Women of WWII

Woman at work on motor, Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, Calif.
Palmer, Alfred T., photographer.



Woman aircraft worker, Vega Aircraft Corporation, Burbank, Calif.
Bransby, David, photographer.



Woman working on an airplane motor at North American Aviation, Inc., plant in Calif.
Palmer, Alfred T., photographer.

These are very interesting photographs. These women were truly revolutionaries of their time and they deserve a great amount of respect. They are working jobs that used to be reserved for men. But there is something is funny about these photographs isn't there? These women are working on huge motors and machines. Dirty jobs. Yet, they are in floral print dresses, with their hair curled, with bright red lipstick on. I kind of wonder if that was their choice or some kind of dress code set down by the factories. I guess all revolutionaries need to take baby steps.