Bizarre truth about Nollywood Movie Posters

The Nigerian entertainment industry has continuously been evolving throughout the years. The industry went through many difficulties. Her early actors in the 1960s had to survive perilous times to make the industry what it is today. Now the Nollywood movie industry is one of the boosters of the Nigerian economy as her creativity has evolved into a wonder. But something still drags the Nigerian movie industry to the mud.

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Very few film producers in Nollywood put into consideration the design and look of their movie posters during pre-production. A film poster design is the first catch to a movie. It is the first visual material audience sees before the film trailer is released. Movie posters design components go a long way in retaining an interest in the mind of the audience. Regrettably, this excellent marketing concept that started since the 1870s is extremely overlooked in Nollywood by some movie directors and producers. Those that make attempts in making movie posters make ridicules in the name of designs while some get it right. In every movie poster, the faces of the main cast are arranged in order of their relevance in the movie, but some Nollywood movie posters overdo. Too many elements appear in one poster design, the creative so appalling, making the poster an eyesore.

How can a “cinema film” have the laziest designs?

The worst scenario is when the pictures of the cast are downloaded from the internet and arranged in boxes with the movie title in an absurd position distasting the audience. This uncreative approach towards movies is wrong, it makes the Nigerian audience look very dumb and receive whatever comes to their screen. It’s so easy to spot and analyze a film by its poster design. The job of an artist is to create new standards, manipulate consciousness through very striking use of shapes and colors. Film poster designs should be simple and highly creative simultaneously. It should prick the mind and catch one’s attention. Your audience should keep wondering what the movie director has in stock. It should be unique, catchy, and deliberate.

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Steps to making a proper movie poster

During movie pre-production, sit and plan with a graphics artist on unique ways to design the poster and other marketing materials of a particular movie or series.

• Take photoshoots to avoid low-quality pictures.
• Add some effects to photos
• Give the movie a unique catchy title
• Add the credits to the bottom of the poster
• Add a simple tagline if necessary

Credits to Emeka Anozie, the Director of African Odyssey: Ancestral Memories. (2018 Winner – Best Documentary Short – Black Laurel Films).