Forget quads, one-sheets and billboards – the future of posters is in jerky, repetitive movements. Typically used by horror movies looking for an innovative way to scare their potential audiences into cinema seats, 2012 has seen an uptake from non-scary movies too, with the likes of Wolverine and Cloud Atlas getting in on the action. Below are 12 of 2012’s batch of kind-of-sorta-3D posters, none of which really stand up against Empire’s 3D lenticular Hobbit covers, naturally. cough
There’s a couple of ways to spot that Wolverine is in trouble here. One, he’s hunched over in the pouring rain – and with that much body hair, you’re bound to get that wet dog smell after a while – and two, he’s got a katana in his hand. If a man made of indestructible metal who’s blessed with six massive adamantium claws is using a sword, it’s either because he’s desperate or, um, he’s in love with a rather posh Japanese lady (see here for more details).
It’s a confident movie franchise that decides not to put any of its lead actors in its motion teaser poster. The Hunger Games is definitely a confident movie franchise. Forgoing the likes of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) or Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), it’s all about a metal mockingjay bursting into flames and leaping out of its pin surroundings. In case you were curious, the significance of this fictional bird is down to its revolutionary significance to rebels against The Capitol’s rule as well as representation as an emblem for a particularly exciting Hunger Games. Also, it can copy any sound perfectly), which is just swell.
A noisy one this, released to the internet as Comic-Con was raging down in San Diego. And though it doesn’t quite make up for the fact that many Judge Dredd fans weren’t able to go down and see what he was up to for themselves, it’s still a fine entry into this year’s motion poster canon. Karl Urban’s Dredd almost looks like he’s not going to do anything at all until – BAM! – there’s a bullet coming out of your computer monitor and a nasty crack in your screen. Figuratively speaking, anyway.
Though the film may be several hulk-sized fistfuls of fun, this tie-in motion poster – released in part to promote Trends International’s merchandise range – is about as fun to look at as Captain America’s bizarrely round noggin protection. It goes to the left, it goes to the right, Black Widow shows off her figure in a seemingly pointless fashion, Hawkeye is relegated to the back of the queue... you know, just like the comics.
Considering the film is called Silent House, Elizabeth Olsen appears to be in a building that’s making rather a lot of noise. A remake of Gustavo Hernández’s Uruguayan horror movie La Casa Muda, it was shot to look like it was filmed in one continuous take – even though in this motion poster there are the jolty cuts you’d expect from a less high concept horror movie. This motion poster is also notable for looking a lot like the finalised static version, with Ms. Olsen’s face mid-scream as shadows cover everything but her face.
Perhaps it should come as no surprise that the generic possessed-girl-goes-off-on-one horror, The Possession, has a generic possessed-girl-goes-off-on-one motion poster, with the only things of note being the bees –OH, NO! NOT THE BEES! NOT THE BEES! AAAAAHHHHH! – and the noise of an industrial building’s alarm going off. Plus, you can disable the sound at any time – huzzah!
A stills gallery by any other name, the motion poster for Cloud Atlas isn’t the most inventive take on the increasingly popular marketing tool, but it is trying something new with a movie that’s pretty much impossible to explain with a ten-second gif. Quick question, though. If you knew nothing about this film before looking at this motion poster, what did it tell you? Aside from the fact that Hugh Grant can really work yellow shades, of course.
For all ROTG’s marketing team’s emphasis on the fun and games to be had with the films’ minions-from-Despicable-Me-like elves – with their oversized jingle bell hats-cum-dresses an’ all – there isn’t all that much of them in the movie itself. But that undeniable fact is not going to stop their motion poster designers from arming the Christmassy munchkins with Mr. Freeze-style ice guns and baubles bigger than their heads. That said, bonus points for that all-too-rare sighting of a replay button at the top left.
Failing to understand the idea of a motion poster almost entirely, Team Recall decided to take the artwork from their traditional one-sheet and, um, put it into a YouTube video and make Colin Farrell turn into a load of squares. Arnie wouldn’t stand for this, that’s for sure – not unless it saw [a giant version of his head twisting through space](http://www.empireonline.com/features/arnie-movie-trailers/p13lers/p13), anyway.
Serving up something altogether different to most other motion posters, The Words requires its audience to actually interact with its marketing doohickey – even if said interaction only amounts to a mouse hover over Bradley Cooper’s handsome mug. Do so and prepare to see – wait for it – words appear from the poster itself, telling you a little bit more about what the film is trying to say. From a poster, as well! Imagine that...
Like Silent House, this is a lot like the final 2D poster release, only with Sinister it adds much more to proceedings. Exhibit A: the bloody face coming to life. Exhibit B: the super 8-style shonky footage effect, not forgetting exhibit C, the ‘bursting-out-of-the-screen’ gag at the end, making this all-in-all a pretty damn good motion poster, as far as horror movie motion posters go.
The Tall Man is a middling-to-terrible French/Canadian/American horror movie starring Jessica Biel as the mother of a child who is abducted by a mysterious figure known only as The Thin Man The Tall Man. Minus points for shamefully referencing The Who and additional minus points – though that makes no sense when you think about it, admittedly – for the clichéd use of a loud heartbeat and a child softly singing, as well as the fact that it’s another motion poster that’s actually just an embedded video.
Like the Avengers poster earlier, Texas Chainsaw 3D keeps it simple. Leatherface is from Texas (see typical Texan farmer garb), he has a chainsaw (see chainsaw) and he’s coming atcha in 3D (see wiggling back and forth 3D effect). The concept may be as simple as it gets, but the detail is pretty damn good – note the blood on the side of the guide bar, for example.
WARNING: The next motion poster is bloody disgusting and not for kids. So now you know.
Possibly the most disgusting horror movie motion poster on this list, Silent Hill: Revelation 3D’s moving teaser is about as horrible and obnoxious as you feared it might be. Are those meant to be nurses with brains for faces? Or over-bathed testicles? Whatever the weather, this is pretty much the definition of appalling. Nil points.