I’ve been thinking lately, “If the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is willing to continue opening up new awards categories for art direction, editing, sound design, costuming, etc., isn’t it about time they considered the “Best Movie Promotional One Sheet” category?

Maybe none of us really want to see designers, photographers, illustrators, and art directors also getting up on stage and thanking their Moms, third grade teachers, 2nd assistant directors, and favorite spices for everything they’ve done to bring them to this point…

Until that category is included in the Oscar event, however, I thought it’d be intriguing to gather the posters for all of the major “best film” nominees of the evening and see what the Be A Design audience thought of them, as well as playing a bit of a game with the collection:

A. Which nominees would be voted as “best poster” in each category by our readership?

B. Will the “best poster” also take “best picture” in each category at the Academy Awards?

…And the nominees are…

2006 Nominees for Best Documentary Film

+ Deliver Us From Evil + An Inconvenient Truth + Iraq in Fragments + Jesus Camp + My Country, My Country

2006 Nominees for Best Foreign Language Film

+ After the Wedding + Days of Glory + The Lives of Others + Pan’s Labyrinth + Water

2006 Nominees for Best Film

+ Babel + The Departed + Letters from Iwo Jima + Little Miss Sunshine + The Queen

2006 Nominees for Best Animated Film

+ Cars + Happy Feet + Monster House

…and while we’re on the topic, I also wanted to toss out a few of my own nominees for intriguing film poster work that I’ve found while nosing around over the past year.

2006 P.Berkbigler Nominees for Best Film Poster

+ The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford + Crank + ATL + Calvaire + Snakes on a Plane + Perfume: The Story of a Murderer + The Motel + We Are Marshall

Let the voting begin…

Comments (16)

Adrian said:

Paul, Thanks for bringing all those posters together! The one that really sticks out for me is the “Little Miss Sunshine” poster. The yellow is so strong and appropriate. Look at that type! How did this make it past the movie execs with that negative space? Great movie, too!

Posted on February 24, 2007

Andrew said:

My Favorites are The Departed and An Inconvenient Truth.

I’m a sucker for Clipping Masks and subtle photoshop manipulations like the photo illustration done for the Gore Film. I like taking images that were meant to look one way and modify them to look another. Visual Puns.

I’d also go as far as Days of Glory. Again, nice clipping mask and i like the colors and imagery grouped together inside the existing outline of another human shape.

Posted on February 25, 2007

Peter Marquardt said:

I’ll vote one favorite and one runner-up for each category:

an inconvenient truth / jesus camp days of glory / pan’s labyrinth the departed / letters from iwo jima monster house / cars snakes on a plane / perfume

I believe your thumbnail sized poster collages were a great way for me to spot a striking poster fast. Posters rarely stand on their own, they have to stand out in an array of posters on a wall, on the cinema poster board etc.

Mike Miller said:

My thoughts:

Documentary Film: An Inconvenient Truth

Foreign Language Film: Pan’s Labyrinth

Best Film: Little Miss Sunshine

Animated Film: Cars

Also, I’ll second Peter Marquardt’s comment: “I believe your thumbnail sized poster collages were a great way for me to spot a striking poster fast. Posters rarely stand on their own, they have to stand out in an array of posters on a wall, on the cinema poster board etc.” Good post.

mydarndest said:

I have no clue what adrian is looking for in a poster. LMS is a great movie… poster whaaawaaaaa. Inconvienent Truth is strong. Perfume is most conceptual. Babel… shoud be shot. stacked type was never cool and they can not make it cool. Jesus camp… Jesus christ! What were they thinking? Snakes on a plane… I have to admit. I can’t believe they even made the movie. Posters is a little phalic… huh? Assassination of Jesse James… How Mag says Letter press is still cool. So this must be cool. Not. Was this really a movie… never heard of it. I like Genre films about this topic. That’s the news from mydarndest.

Nate Voss said:

That’s an interesting topic, Paul. I’m a huge fan of movie posters. HUGE. And why wouldn’t there be an award for something as industry-standard as the theater poster? I mean, Sagmeister’s got a Grammy, for crying out loud. But my ten-minute search of the web revealed nothing of the sort; I figured at least the scientific and technical oscars might be the place they give that award. Alas, nothing. I’ll keep looking, or else someone can just tell me officially they don’t give them out and I’ll stop.

And I would almost love that poster for The Depart-ed, if the didn’t hyphenate Depart-ed. But they did, illogically in only one of two word breaks. (man I’m a nerd)

Posted on February 26, 2007

Tony Seagle said:

The “An Inconvenient Truth” poster looks way to much like the low budget slasher movie posters that we’ve been bombarded with the last five years. This should be the movie poster for “SOYLENT GREEN” if they ever remake it. TWO THUMBS DOWN

Not impressed with any of the foreign language film posters.

I really like “Little Miss Sunshine” though I’m sure the press ops had a few nightmares trying to lay down that much Yellow coverage. TWO THUMBS UP

ben swift said:

I think that “Snakes on a Plane” graphic is pretty nice.

Matthew said:

RE: Nate Voss

“And I would almost love that poster for The Depart-ed, if the didn’t hyphenate Depart-ed. But they did, illogically in only one of two word breaks. (man I’m a nerd)”

You are a nerd, and I totally agree… which I guess makes me a nerd too!

I love the LMS poster. I saw the movie in Blockbuster the other night and the yellow cover really pops on the new release wall as well.

Great topic btw.

Skylar said:

The Motel

Jerry Underwood said:

The Academy doesn’t recognize marketing of any kind. The highest award for posters is the Key Art Award sponsored by the Hollywood Reporter. They also judge Outdoor, Movie trailers and other industry advertising. Unfortunately, there isn’t a free link, but this is a start:

http://flingk.com/s3okutq

Posted on February 27, 2007

Gavenda said:

Next time, I’m going to comment without hearing what others write so i can try and think objectively. I’ll pick what i think is the best from each section I think…

inconvenient truth…pan’s labyrinth…little miss sunshine but departed a close second for uniqueness…monster house…motel…

very cool topic, thanks.

Evan said:

documentary: an inconvenient truth

foreign: pan’s labyrinth.. but i’d like to see the lives of others a little closer.

best film: little miss sunshine. the departed, a close second.

animated: cars

Posted on February 28, 2007

Matthew Aubie said:

I think it would be awesome if they had a little segment during each Oscars talking about the process they took to decide on the poster they chose. Because they’ve had some great ones and some awful ones.

and yeah, Little Mis Sunshine rocks my world. The Jesus Camp poster reallllly disappointed me. So much could have been done w it.

Posted on March 1, 2007

La Thang said:

LMS is the right one for me. The idea, motivated picture and the layout can tell you a little about the movie’ story.

Posted on May 26, 2008

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Comments (16)

Adrian said:

Andrew said:

Peter Marquardt said:

Mike Miller said:

mydarndest said:

Nate Voss said:

Tony Seagle said:

ben swift said:

Matthew said:

Matthew said:

Skylar said:

Jerry Underwood said:

Gavenda said:

Evan said:

Matthew Aubie said:

La Thang said:

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