Discuss Ghostbusters: Afterlife, released on November 19, 2021 and directed by Jason Reitman.
#4957610
Chicken, He Clucked wrote: October 18th, 2021, 8:24 am New poster?

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Man. That is a TERRIBLE poster. Poster art really has gone downhill since photoshop. The lighting on Paul Rudd…man. The “big floating head” trope. They’ve got it all.

Star Wars always had some terrific posters, the Drew Struzan kind, and then on the sequel trilogy Disney just shit the bed. I think they did commission some Struzan work but it wasn’t for the main campaign, it was for a small limited edition thing for fans. Some of the Marvel posters are just horrendous. Antman and Black Panther come to mind.
deadderek liked this
#4957613
Well, looks like Ghostbusters Southside has proven to be more influential than anyone could have imagined.

https://ghostbustersnews.com/2021/08/21 ... outh_side/
groschopf liked this
#4957621
groschopf wrote: October 18th, 2021, 9:45 am I'm digging the poster! Much more atmospheric, and it shows all of the stars. It's a nice throwback with the composition.
Hmm. Just curious. What is it about that poster that makes it a nice throw back? It’s cool you dig it but…what is it a throwback to?

I also gotta disagree that it’s atmospheric. Well not entirely, there’s atmosphere. The atmosphere is “let’s throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” lol. It’s far too busy I think. The framing is awkward and not at all symmetrical. I dunno. Again, awesome that you like it. I’m glad someone does.

For me though & my taste? This poster has far too much going on. The photoshopping is really..not very good(especially on Rudd & Coon). But, again, it’s par for the course on mass distribution poster art these days. Believe it not, these marketing tools use to be works of art. Indiana Jones posters, Back to the Future, The Thing, E.T, Blade Runner, Harry Potter etc etc Even the original ‘84 Ghostbusters poster, with just the logo? *chefs kiss* perfection!

As a side note, does anyone remember the 1999 digital remastered DVD/VHS cover art? For some strange reason the one for Ghostbusters 2 didn’t even feature poor Ernie Hudson & it was a picture of the guys from the first film lol. That’s how little thought they put into it.
deadderek liked this
#4957622
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Chicken, He Clucked wrote: October 18th, 2021, 10:06 am Personally, I think it's the best poster they've put out so far. :whatever:
Two votes!
RichardLess wrote: October 18th, 2021, 10:13 am Hmm. Just curious. What is it about that poster that makes it a nice throw back? It’s cool you dig it but…what is it a throwback to?
The style some posters used in the '70s and '80s (including homage to Struzan). It doesn't have the illustrated aesthetic that would have drive that home, but it uses characters in differing proportions the way some of these examples do. The highest billed actor is the largest character in composition, a vignette of a setpiece is shown, and a little bit of kinetic imagery from an action scene is thrown in for good measure.

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Going with just logo as the advertising worked brilliantly in '84 when no one knew what it signified, and it couldn't be confused with marketing for any other of the Ghostbusters films now. But in 2021? They not only have to communicate that this is a new film, they also have to underscore it's ties to the original films. They can do it more efficiently, but probably not without giving away more spoilers.

Something else to consider; a pyramid will be a dominant shape we see in the film signifying Gozer, while an inverted pyramid signifies the energy pulling entities into the ghost trap. It's a nice play using that inverted pyramid to connotate the opposite of the (presumed) big bad of the film while pulling all of that busyness down toward the bottom of the poster. That draws the eye to the title in a calming part of the composition that still has time to be playful with the Mini Pufts working the trap.

Needless to say, I'm in to it :)

[edited to reduce the size of the images]
Last edited by groschopf on October 18th, 2021, 11:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
Kingpin, Chicken, He Clucked and -1 others liked this
#4957623
RichardLess wrote: Hmm. Just curious. What is it about that poster that makes it a nice throw back? It’s cool you dig it but…what is it a throwback to?

I also gotta disagree that it’s atmospheric. Well not entirely, there’s atmosphere. The atmosphere is “let’s throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” lol. It’s far too busy I think. The framing is awkward and not at all symmetrical. I dunno. Again, awesome that you like it. I’m glad someone does.

For me though & my taste? This poster has far too much going on. The photoshopping is really..not very good(especially on Rudd & Coon). But, again, it’s par for the course on mass distribution poster art these days. Believe it not, these marketing tools use to be works of art. Indiana Jones posters, Back to the Future, The Thing, E.T, Blade Runner, Harry Potter etc etc Even the original ‘84 Ghostbusters poster, with just the logo?
1. It features the title on black which immediately evokes the first movie promo art and also RGB.
2. The actor portraits evoke 80’s film posters you namecheck already.
3. I don’t think the Photoshopping is bad, I’ve seen bad PS on posters, this works imo. Assume you’re referring to the lighting on Rudd’s face being cast on the wrong side but in this type of poster it’s not a big deal imo.
4. The colour balance is better than the other three, which stick to a yellow/green/blue scheme intending to differentiate from the previous movie marketing and emphasise the Ecto… but those posters left a lot of empty space and didn’t sell the cast. The coloured proton beams dividing up this image add much needed balance to the image.
5. The Mini Pufts.

It’s a really solid poster and I’m please they went with something like this over and in addition to the other two. This does a better job of selling the movie and it looks quintessentially ghostbusters.
#4957626
I wonder if they’ll be an in-movie Ghostbusters commercial—perhaps something they stumble across on YouTube. If they shot a third commercial that didn’t make it into the originals, it’d be great to see it make an appearance. The two original commercials are a thing of beauty.

I like the concept of the new poster, with the cast being within the boundaries of the trap’s streams, and the mini puffs about to engage the foot peddle. I’m not sure if they got the execution just right—it feels almost too busy to me.

My first ghostbusters DVD set was the 2005 release, with the green slime in the background. But I always liked the cover art for the 99 release, asides from Winston being omitted on the GBII cover. Actually I didn’t really like the cover art for the second one, just the first one. Something about slimer and the purple sky makes it very pleasing to look at.

As much as I love the poster for the first movie, it’s probably too paired down to be the poster of a modern tent pole blockbuster.
Last edited by Sav C on October 18th, 2021, 10:53 am, edited 2 times in total.
pizzarat, Wafflerobot liked this
#4957627
I'll also add that the composition of the poster is literally containing the story. That is so cool to me.

And the busyness is more of an issue when scrutinizing the image on a desktop. A lot of the detail goes away when viewing the poster on a smartphone or seeing it hung up outside of a theater.
Sav C, pizzarat, Kingpin and 1 others liked this
#4957630
Sav C wrote: October 18th, 2021, 10:52 am I second pizzarat on being happy they’ve gotten away from the cornfield motif for the posters. Nice to see some variety.

I wonder how screen accurate that proton stream is…
Was that you in the really nice looking uniform who had that photo-op with Jason recently? That was incredible. I really want to get my own uniform. I've been thinking of the GBI style at the beginning of GBII. That way it would cover both films. :)
Sav C liked this
#4957631
Add me to the list of people that like the new poster the best. The proton streams are a bit off, but other than that, I really like it. It hints at the original team coming back, it shows all of the main casts' faces, with the equipment. It has the terror dog in the background, and it isn't set in a boring cornfield with a weird oversaturation of blue/green.
Sav C, groschopf liked this
#4957634
pizzarat wrote: October 18th, 2021, 10:57 am
Was that you in the really nice looking uniform who had that photo-op with Jason recently? That was incredible. I really want to get my own uniform. I've been thinking of the GBI style at the beginning of GBII. That way it would cover both films. :)
I wish it was! 😁 I don’t have a suit at the moment, but was contemplating getting one for the premiere haha.
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