Movie Poster

For my Graphic Design class, we were all supposed to replicate the simplistic ideals from Saul Bass for vintage movie posters.
We were required to select a movie from the 70's or earlier. For me, the question of which movie to choose was a simple one; West Side Story. From a very young age I have idolized the classic movie musical, and have always had a special place in my heart for it. The revolutionary spin on a timeless classic of Romeo and Juliet is absolutely iconic. The Gangs of the west side of New York tell the story flawlessly, and have made instant rememberable music numbers, that i still sing along to. Made in 1961, the Movie musical is renowned for its spectacular cast, including Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer.

the poster selected for advertisement is one of a fire escape with silhouettes dancing. It was set on a red background, to create a more visually pleasing effect. the contrasts in colors are bright and give an ominous feeling to the movie. The fire escape idea was genius because the most prominent scene in the movie would be the balcony scene between Tony and Maria, which happens to take place on a fire escape.

I knew that even trying to create something similar to the original movie poster, would be an enormous challenge. I decided that the background to the picture needed to remain red; it gave the poster familiarity and power. One thing i did decide to change, was the amount of ladders to the fire escape. I felt like it needed more because with a few simple ladders, it wasn't necessarily clear that it was set on a fire escape. I also decided to make the silhouettes black instead of white, and the letters white instead of black. i personally think that it balances the picture out much more.






 Saul Bass's movie posters are iconic because he only uses a limited number of colors and shapes to tell the story that lures movie viewers in. It takes a special amount of talent to create something so powerful with so little. It just shows how overrated people believe in using so much to tell the pivotal points in a story.