Drew: The Man Behind The Poster(documentary)

[bassman]

This excellent documentary is currently on Instant Netflix and I highly recommend it for all the movie buff's here. The life and work of poster artist Drew Struzan, who is without a doubt the greatest theatrical poster artist of the last 30-40 years, if not the best of ALL TIME. Sadly the artistry in theatrical poster creation seems to be lost in recent years due to computers and Photoshop, which the documentary touches upon, but this is a great tribute to the man that has made so many iconic, beautiful images that are engrained in each and every one of our brains. Most certainly worth a viewing. 9/10

[MinionZombie]

Almost missed this post - I'll certainly keep a look out for this documentary! I'm a big fan of Struzan's work and I firmly believe that painted poster art is always superior to this photoshop bollocks we see so often, those heartless copy and paste jobs where you've just got a bunch of photographs of the main stars slapped onto the poster in a computer ... it's so lifeless ... so plain ... so uninteresting and without any interpretation. Fortunately there's still artists out there creating superb posters, such as The Dude Designs or Rick Melton, but it's certainly an industry that's taken a hell of a beating from the soul-less photoshoppers. Every time I see a plain, boring, uninteresting poster of two movie stars - or a still shot from the movie itself acting as the poster - I have a little sigh. Every time I see a painted poster, full of interpretation and inspiration, I get a little bit giddy with joy. Hopefully this doc will swing by British telly screens sometime.

[bassman]

MZ, if I remember correctly you're quite the fan of Alice Cooper? There's a section of the documentary touching upon the album cover of "Welcome to my Nightmare", which was one of Struzan's first paying jobs.

[MoonSylver]

I firmly believe that painted poster art is always superior to this photoshop bollocks we see so often, those heartless copy and paste jobs where you've just got a bunch of photographs of the main stars slapped onto the poster in a computer ... it's so lifeless ... so plain ... so uninteresting and without any interpretation. Agree 100%. IIRC it was this sumbitch that kicked the trend off... ...which at the time was the "new hotness", so OF COURSE everyone else HAD to do it to...

[MinionZombie]

MZ, if I remember correctly you're quite the fan of Alice Cooper? There's a section of the documentary touching upon the album cover of "Welcome to my Nightmare", which was one of Struzan's first paying jobs. I'm a big old fan of Alice Cooper, aye. I never knew that Struzan did the WTMN artwork - cool! Thinking about it now, it's a shame they didn't get him for Welcome 2 My Nightmare (2011). However, album art has always been a broad mixture of styles and approaches (likewise with books), so it's not such an issue when compared to movie poster art which was almost entirely painted awesomeness or the like, and now it's almost entirely feckin' photoshop naffness. Agree 100%. IIRC it was this sumbitch that kicked the trend off... ...which at the time was the "new hotness", so OF COURSE everyone else HAD to do it to... It was, was it? The near total abandonment of painted artwork is a damn shame, so it is. A shift from selling a concept and a feeling to just selling familiar faces. It's good to see that there are still some folks working in the medium who are producing original pieces that are hand crafted, something which is widely used on catalogue re-releases from companies like Arrow or Shriek Show etc. So at least that's something!

[shootemindehead]

I'll have to keep an eye out for that too. I remember as a kid trying to copy his poster art for the Star Wars/Indiana Jones films. Did he do stuff for that Atari 2600 game boxes as well? Some of those were fantastic, whoever did them.

[MoonSylver]

It was, was it? The near total abandonment of painted artwork is a damn shame, so it is. A shift from selling a concept and a feeling to just selling familiar faces. *Nods* Seems I remember reading it in some history of horror or another that I read...a trend they labeled "floating heads" IIRC. As you say, it's all about selling who's in it, not what it's about...plus it's lazy & cheap, which sums up the studio philosophy quite well...

[MinionZombie]

*Nods* Seems I remember reading it in some history of horror or another that I read...a trend they labeled "floating heads" IIRC. As you say, it's all about selling who's in it, not what it's about...plus it's lazy & cheap, which sums up the studio philosophy quite well... And yet with the amount of money they splash out on advertising being at such obscene levels, it's not like they can't afford to pay someone to put together a gorgeous painted poster!

[MoonSylver]

And yet with the amount of money they splash out on advertising being at such obscene levels, it's not like they can't afford to pay someone to put together a gorgeous painted poster! Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more, bob's yer uncle...not saying studios pad out every expense while the bandits flee with pockets full of cash & then write the whole cost of production off as a "loss" when it "fails to recoup its expenses"...

[MinionZombie]

Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more, bob's yer uncle...not saying studios pad out every expense while the bandits flee with pockets full of cash & then write the whole cost of production off as a "loss" when it "fails to recoup its expenses"... Aye! Apparently it's no joke that every studio and most production companies are constantly in the middle of suing each other over profits (or supposed lack thereof), as well as the slow-as-hell process of being paid on time according to back end deals etc. Just think of the amount of money wasted on lawyers for all that nonsense, not to mention the time wasted! Just be honest (that'll be the day!!! ) and maybe they'd have a lot less hassle to deal with.

[bassman]

Although Struzan had clearly done enough work and was at the normal age of retirement anyway, I still get the feeling from the documentary that the "floating heads" photoshop posters may have had a hand in his urge to retire. For example, Guillermo Del Toro paid Struzan out of his own pocket for the posters for the two Hellboy films and the studio STILL turned it down as promotional art. Didn't cost them a penny and they opted for the photoshop mess. It wasn't until Del Toro's special edition dvd releases that he was finally allowed to even use Struzan's artwork. Sad, really... I also find it really funny(as mentioned in the trailer) that Struzan's art for Masters of the Universe is infinitely better than the actual film. As Thomas Jane says "I want to see this movie, and I'm STILL waiting to see this movie!".

[MoonSylver]

For example, Guillermo Del Toro paid Struzan out of his own pocket for the posters for the two Hellboy films and the studio STILL turned it down as promotional art. Didn't cost them a penny and they opted for the photoshop mess. It wasn't until Del Toro's special edition dvd releases that he was finally allowed to even use Struzan's artwork. Sad, really... Now if that isn't a commentary on the fine art that studios have elevated Asshole Gazing to...