Touchstone redesigns "Signs" cover. Why? (1 Viewer)

[MichaelPe]

Aside from the fact that the new cover looks very fake... I'm just disappointed that it won't be one of those nice glossy cardboard Vista cases (like "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable" were).

 

[Adam_WM]

Does anyone have this art without the IGN logo? I'd like to update DVD Aficionado.

 

[Chris Farmer]

Yes I meant Pearl Harbor, guess I should have been more clear about that. I haven't seen Signs, but from what I've heard and from what I've seen of Shyamalan, I'm expecting a lot from this movie. It's definitely a "sight unseen" movie. I find myself doing that more and more, I think I'm getting the sickness...

 

[Paul-Gunther]

Considering this was one of the highest grossing films of the year, are there that many people who are going to look at the original cover and say, "Wait, Signs... what was that again...?"

 

[Brenton]

I don't think it's all that bad. Just the other day, I was thinking that the cover's focal point ought to have been the characters, because the cropcircles were a very minor element in the film.

But I do agree with Adam Lenhardt that the vertical scaling of the original poster looks pretty bad on the house and trees. Let's hope they make at least that one update to it.

 

[Jon Sheedy]

Original=work of art
New=work of hacks
A shame we won't get the classy original artwork.
Jon

 

[JulianK]

Maybe Touchstone wanted to avoid getting the disc confused with this UK knockoff!

 

[Mark Kalzer]

The bottom one reminds me of those great movie posters we had oh so long ago. Ones which convey huge scale and dramatic imagery. Good examples of this are the ones for Independance Day (What actors did they have to sell the movie with anyhow?), and the Star Trek First Contact one shown on the back of the DVD case (Which I like more than the one on the front). They just grab my attention far more than any stars can. I'm just not that kind of person who picks his movies purely based on who's in it. I've seen plenty of films that were quite effective with no-name actors (Who quickly became better known).

Nowadays these posters all look the same. I can see the point in making the focus be on the characters, but it's gotten too monotonous and repetitive. How many times have we seen posters which depict our main characters giving concerned expressions? (The expression is happy if it's a comedy) They don't work for me anymore. Whenever I look at them, I just think about the corporate marketing people trying to sell a movie based on stars, rather than the real essence of the film. The first poster shown up top isn't nearly as bad as some of the other ones I'm complaining about. It still has that terrific image of the "signs" in the bottom half! It just doesn't grab me as much as the second one does.

 

[Denny_S]

How many times have we seen posters which depict our main characters giving concerned expressions?

Oh this is funny and soooo true!
I'm really fed up with the 'BIG HEAD' poster work !
I really like the older more 'mysterious' and minimalistic style with regards to older posters of horror or sci-fi movies eg.: The Fog, Alien, Aliens, Prophecy, Rosemary's Baby, Exorcist etc. to name a few.
for the original 'Signs'
to the small 'BIG heads' version.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

I prefer "Look at my noggin" to "big heads"

 

[Lowell_B]

:frowning:
I loved the original cover art, it sucks that they have the "look at my noggin" (Thanks Jeff ) cover now. It's a shame that such a great looking cover gets destroyed like that. :frowning:
to Touchstone.
Lowell

 

[DarrylWHarrisJr]

M Knight must be a big Prince fan...nice how he stuck the "symbol" in the artwork there.

 

[GaryEA]

If Touchstone had kept this puppy in a slipcase, it would fold open and you'd have room for both the key art and the cast looking... concerned. The Vista packaging has always allowed more surface space to spread conventional market art out to allow for unique designs.

"Unbreakable" is beautiful in its package design. It's very striking and doesn't stray far from the original teaser poster or use the decapitated heads in the final one sheet.

The Vista "Sixth Sense" is a variation on key art (Style B, I think), as is "Tombstone", which does what this new version of "Signs" is doing - putting heads over orinial key art. "Tombstone" works well because a lot of effort went into making a unique design that uses sterotypical marketing tactics with a fresh approach.

"Pearl Harbor" also has a classy design. While I'm usually for using key art, it had already been used so the idea for an attache case was a good one.

I'm hoping that this is still comp art. If it isn't, it's a damn shame because Vista Series slipcovers/packaging have always stood out when you see them either in the store or on your shelf.

-g

 

[Carl C]

I'm hoping that this is still comp art.

Me, too. I'm not at all convinced that this is the FINAL cover art.

 

[Thomas H G]

U-G-L-Y

They don't have an ali-by


It's UGLY....


(somebody shoot me now please)

 

[Aaron Croft]

I thought it was cool that the Donnie Darko DVD included a sheet inside that fit perfectly over the from cover that basically was the original movie poster.
More DVD's should do this. Maybe they do and I just don't have the right ones
Aaron

 

[Tim Glover]

Loved the movie...maybe the best movie so far in 2002 but that may also be the ugliest artwork ever. Please give us the original artwork!!!!!!

 

[Jussi Tarvainen]

I hate the new cover too... and I really want to let Touchstone know my opinion. It can't be a bad thing for us to give them feedback, especially since they've changed a good cover into a bad one. Anyone have an e-mail address I could send my complaints, eh, I mean constructive criticism to?

 

[Chad R]

But we have to remember we are the "informed" movie going audience. The great majority of people don't know what we do, don't care about movies as much as us and therefore need to see that star's face on the cover. The people that come into a video store and ask for that "movie with the guy who was in that action movie with the black guy." The people who I've seen ask for "the movie with that guy, I don't know his name but I could tell you if I SAW him."

We'd buy/rent the movie regardless of what the cover looks like. The marketing department is shooting for those who won't.



But movie posters don't sell people on the movie. By the time 98% of the people get to a theater they know what movie they're seeing. And they've decided usually by TV spots or trailers which have the star's image plastered all over them.

 

[GaryEA]

But movie posters don't sell people on the movie.

I highly disagree with this notion. Usually, it's the first teaser posters that reach audiences as they walk out of a theater. Then as the release date approaches, final poster designs are introduced, offering more information. Some would say too much in some cases.

People remember what they see on those first posters, and it serves as a mental post-it note. Whether they actively search for new information or stumble onto it while watching Entertainment Tonight on a Thursday night, they already have an idea, and their interest is stimulated.

That's selling the movie as much, if not more, than the long litany of commercials, teasers and print ads that follow it. It's the first salvo of movie marketing.

Some of the biggest genre movies have used sybolism on their poster with great success. Batman, ID4, Spider-Man (the character is a symbol), Superman (sense a trend here?)... all of them used symbols rather than toting the cast. Yes, all of the above had extravagant promotions backing them, but the posters remained constant or varied little, and the money still came in.

How about Vertigo? Top notch cast and they aren't there, but people still associate that poster with the film.

M. Night has used a "6" for first movie, broken glass in the second and crop circles in the third. This guy isn't interested in spoon-feeding the audience and the poster designs have reflected that sense of mystery.

Many people and studio art departments underestimate the power of a good single image. Movie posters are an example of how a single images can draw millions.

-g

(edited)