Interviews, Movies, Poster Designer
January 30, 2024
“The movie’s poster is usually the first thing you see, so it should create an anticipation to see the film,” said Vasilis Marmatakis, the Greek graphic designer and illustrator behind the alluring poster art for Poor Things, a feminist riff on the Frankenstein legend that is up for 11 Oscars, including Best Picture. “It’s an entry point.”
In the age of social media and star contracts, which specify their face appear front and center on promotional materials, it’s not easy to draw in audiences by simply establishing the look and feel of the movie and who’s in it. Few poster designers today wield more creative control than Marmatakis, who is known for his bold use of impressionistic typography and wonderfully strange collages that put you in the right mind-frame to see the movie — as in the photograph of Emma Stone, dressed in Victorian-era clothes, with all of her emotions metaphorically spilling out (an incongruous sight that appeared nowhere in Poor Things, but that includes various elements from the film) or Colin Farrell looming over a pair of empty hospital beds as the room eerily sinks (The Killing of a Sacred Deer). The labor-intensive designs for his poster art, which turns up in print ads and movie theater lobbies, as well as the DVD case and streaming queues, have become an integral part of their visual identity.
After studying graphic design in London at Camberwell College of Arts and the Royal College of Art in the 1990s, Marmatakis worked at an advertising agency, where he met director Yorgos Lanthimos. Their first movie poster collaboration was for Lanthimos’s breakout hit “Dogtooth,” in 2005, and featured three intersecting lines representing the distorted views of the protagonists, and lots of negative space. For 2019’s “Nimic,” a creepy, comic tale of identity theft, Marmatakis executed a graphic image that would encapsulate the entire film. One thick black brushstroke representing a man’s body disappears and is joined by another brushstroke from a woman’s body, the two lines forming a little portal.
We spoke with Marmatakis about his unusual technique and working with Lanthimos on Poor Things and the dark comedy The Favourite, which received 10 Academy Award nominations in 2018 and a Best Actress win for Olivia Colman.
Was there any specific direction given for the Poor Things poster?
It is quite interesting that I don’t get any direction from your Yorgos. This applies to all the posters I design for his films. There’s a process that’s more or less the same with everything we have worked on together so far. I usually get the script very early on and, if it’s possible, I visit the set to get a sense of what the film is going to look like — Poor Things, for example, is visually quite different from the other films of his I had worked for. Then I acquire all the photography from the set. For Poor Things, I think there must have been around 2,000 stills. I do get sent everything, not a selection, because I might need a specific element, for example, a hand or an eye or a tree. It’s very useful to have gathered all this information before I start working on a film.
Where do you usually begin?
Sometimes, what comes actually before the posters are the film’s chapter titles. I have to be very careful and precise about which typography I will use because it will probably end up on the poster, which I haven’t designed yet. For Poor Things, the chapters include these hyperreal black-and-white sequences, so I had to use a font that was very thin in order to complement and make visible what’s going on in the background. Therefore, I created a very thin and long font, like over-the-top, abnormally long. This became the initial typographic identity of the film. Then later it was developed further using a combination of three more handwritten fonts. [Our featured image is a title that Vasilis designed for us in the style he created for Poor Things.]
What were they shooting on the day you visited the set?
They were shooting the scene in which (the scientist Godwin Baxter) Willem Dafoe had just gotten Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) out of the water. She’s dead and lying on the medical table, and he’s about to operate on her. The other scene was with (the local cad Duncan Wedderburn) Mark Ruffalo in the tiny asylum room. In the meantime, I also had the chance to wander around in other parts of the set, including the house in London, which was absolutely amazing. Until now, Yorgos’s films didn’t include that many complicated sets, but it was mind-blowing how well-designed every single detail was for this film. I spent quite some time in there on my own, just going around looking and documenting all these decorative elements. I remember everybody was also going on about the Lisbon set, where apparently a whole city was built. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to visit that set because it was further out from Budapest. Maybe it’s more obvious through the still photography to realize how much detail there is and how much there is to take in visually with this film. I’ve seen it a few times now, and each time I watch it I’ll focus on something else: the costumes, the backgrounds, the windows.
Where do you like to work?
I work at my studio. I kind of isolate myself, and after maybe two or three months, it depends, I tell Yorgos I’m ready, and we meet and go through the proposals. I always present very finished designs — not works in progress. I also usually try not to present them digitally or send them via mail. I do print out the posters, 70x100cm. I’m really old school with that. I like the feel of the paper and the texture. The production values are important. For example, two posters from these proposals were printed on reflective mirror-like paper. The typography and the images really looked like they were screen-printed. For Poor Things, I designed around 12 different posters. Yorgos suggested some minor changes to maybe one or two of them, and then these were presented to the producers.
Let’s talk about the poster showing Emma Stone with waves of emotion waterfalling down her open chest.
Searchlight [Pictures] suggested having one poster depicting the male characters, too. They had already worked on the image of Bella from the neck up. So this one was half-designed by me and half-designed by Searchlight. I used their upper part, and I designed the background with these hand-painted brush strokes and then composed everything from the neck down: the “guts” spilling out with the five male characters trying to balance on this uneven texture, in a way representing how all the unfiltered emotions pouring out of her, create a new environment for the men to adapt.
So the poster is actually a Frankensteining of your sensibility with the studio’s need to emphasize the film’s star power.
Bella is really childlike-honest in the film. She expresses everything that she thinks and feels, and I tried to visualize this. The “guts” are actually composed of various elements and marble objects that are found in the film. The first poster released was the one with an extreme close-up of Bella’s face with smudged makeup. If you look closely, this is not eye shadow and lipstick. These are the shapes of the main three male characters in the film. Willem Dafoe and Ramy Youssef are placed on each of Bella’s eyelids, and Mark Ruffalo is across her lips. There are three brush strokes composed out of three male figures, but these strokes are smeared, so in a way, these beauty and femininity standards are misrepresented. That’s actually my favorite poster.
How were you able to create this surreal makeup effect?
Well, these images are handpainted. I did hundreds of brush strokes, and then I found the right figures for each actor that would fit these strokes. For example, Mark Ruffalo (as lipstick smudge), in order to have this “broken” effect, is actually composed of four different body parts taken from different photographs. Then, I digitally superimposed them on the brush strokes.
When you were designing the poster for The Favourite, you seemed to want to leave a little mystery.
With The Favourite, the idea was to use the profile image of the queen (Olivia Colman), which is the classic image you get on stamps, but there are these two extra figures (her lovers) manipulating her. You don’t know if she’s dead or if they’re decorating her or if they’re torturing her. You can’t tell. Emma Stone is holding a brush and she’s about to stroke the queen’s eyeball and Rachel Weisz sits on her lips and her crotch is blocking the queen’s breath. She’s also holding a string of pearls, kind of adorning her.
The struggle for the queen’s affections.
Earlier, I was talking about the chapters that I created for Yorgos’s films. The font used for The Favourite is called Village, and it was originally designed in the early 1900s. The typographic composition is odd. The longest word dictates the spacing of every other word, resulting in extremely spaced-out kerning. It is inspired by the letterpress typography of that time, and it comments on the over-the-top visual elements of the film. The same applies for the title of Poor Things. I had to create a typographic style that could somehow belong to the subversive logic of Bella Baxter.
For more on Poor Things, check out these stories:
“Poor Things” Costume Designer Holly Waddington on Bringing Yorgos Langthimos’ Ecstatic Vision to Life
“Poor Things” Production Designers Shona Heath and James Price on Going Gleefully Mad for Director Yorgos Lanthimos
“Poor Things” Pops in Venice as Emma Stone Earns Raves in Yorgos Lanthimos’s Stunner
Featured image: (From L-R): Ramy Youssef, Emma Stone, Vicki Pepperdine and Willem Dafoe in POOR THINGS. Photo by Atsushi Nishijima, Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2023 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.
Insights, advice, suggestions, feedback and comments from experts
Introduction
As an expert in the field of movie poster design, I can provide you with insights and information about the concepts mentioned in this article. My expertise in this area comes from years of experience working with renowned directors and creating visually captivating posters that capture the essence of the films they represent.
Movie Poster Design and Its Importance
Movie posters play a crucial role in creating anticipation and drawing audiences to a film. They serve as the first point of contact for potential viewers and should effectively convey the look, feel, and key elements of the movie. In today's age of social media and star contracts, where actors' faces often dominate promotional materials, it can be challenging to strike a balance between showcasing the film's visual identity and featuring the cast prominently.
Vasilis Marmatakis: A Creative Force in Poster Design
Vasilis Marmatakis, the Greek graphic designer and illustrator mentioned in the article, is known for his bold and imaginative approach to poster design. His work often features impressionistic typography and visually striking collages that set the right mood for the films they represent. Marmatakis has collaborated extensively with director Yorgos Lanthimos, creating posters for films like "Dogtooth," "The Favourite," and "Poor Things."
Collaboration and Process
When designing posters for Lanthimos's films, Marmatakis follows a collaborative process that allows him to capture the essence of the movie. He typically receives the script early on and, if possible, visits the film set to gain a deeper understanding of its visual style. Gathering photography from the set, including a wide range of stills, provides him with the necessary elements to work with. Marmatakis carefully selects specific elements from the set, such as hands, eyes, or trees, that might be incorporated into the poster design.
Typography and Visual Identity
For Marmatakis, the typography used in a film's chapter titles often influences the overall design of the poster. In the case of "Poor Things," the film's chapters included hyperreal black-and-white sequences, which inspired Marmatakis to create a thin and abnormally long font. This unique typographic identity became a defining feature of the film's visual representation. Marmatakis further developed the typography by combining it with three handwritten fonts, resulting in a distinct typographic style.
Poster Design Process
Marmatakis prefers to work in his studio, where he isolates himself to focus on the design process. After a few months of work, he presents finished designs to the director, avoiding digital presentations and instead opting for printed posters. The production values, including the choice of paper and texture, are important to Marmatakis. He believes that the tactile experience of holding a physical poster enhances the overall impact of the design.
Designing Symbolic Posters
Marmatakis's poster for "Poor Things," featuring Emma Stone with waves of emotion flowing from her open chest, is a prime example of his symbolic approach. The design incorporates various elements and marble objects found in the film, creating a composition that represents the unfiltered emotions pouring out of the character. Another notable poster is the extreme close-up of Bella's face, where the smudged makeup actually forms the shapes of the three main male characters in the film.
Creating Surreal Effects
To achieve surreal makeup effects, Marmatakis hand-paints the images and meticulously selects the right figures for each actor. In the case of the "Poor Things" poster, he created hundreds of brush strokes and digitally superimposed the actors' body parts onto them. This meticulous process allows him to achieve the desired surreal and visually captivating effects.
The Favourite: Leaving Room for Mystery
In the poster for "The Favourite," Marmatakis aimed to maintain an air of mystery. The design features the profile image of the queen, reminiscent of classic stamp designs, with two additional figures manipulating her. The viewer is left wondering whether the queen is dead, being decorated, or being tortured. The typographic composition used in this poster, called Village, was inspired by letterpress typography from the early 1900s and complements the film's over-the-top visual elements.
In conclusion, Vasilis Marmatakis is a highly skilled and creative poster designer who collaborates closely with directors to create visually captivating representations of their films. His unique approach to typography, symbolism, and surreal effects has made him a prominent figure in the field of movie poster design.
