Collecting Film Posters 101

British Quad by artist Tom Chantrell Price Tag $500

Like any theater the Oak Street Cinema was no exception of having film posters hang from their walls, but instead of new films they would be posters from older films

A home with no decoration can look like a bleak place. Like most people, I decorate my place to liven the mood up a little bit. Sure you may see things like framed comics hanging on the wall, but what you are most likely to recognize in my humble home is film posters hanging everywhere. That is because I simply just love film of all types, but I end up getting asked a lot of questions on how to choose the right film poster, where to buy, and more.

These are not very easy questions to answer, because a lot of factors should go into making your determination of which film poster to buy, where, and etc.. That being said I am willing to pass on my knowledge onto others. I’ll cover the basics in each area in a separate blog. The first blog will focus on poster selection.

Ultimately when selecting the right film poster to buy, you first need to ask yourself some questions. 1. Why I am buying this poster? 2. Can I afford this poster?

Breakfast at Tiffany's One Sheet Price Tag $9,000

 

 

1.      Why am I buying this poster? This is really what you should be thinking about first when selecting a poster. Are you buying the film poster because you want to show your love of a certain movie? Do you want to show your love for a certain genre? Maybe you are trying to show your love for your favorite actor or actress.

As long as you are not limiting yourself too much when answering these questions you should be able to find a poster that can fit perfectly for you wall. If you limit yourself too much, maybe to just a certain film that you absolutely. You might just find out you are not going to find that certain film poster you want to buy to hang on your wall.

What I mean by that is simple; you might hate the artwork on the poster. Or maybe the poster for that film is so expensive that you just can’t afford the poster. In the long run, you are going to end up putting this poster on your wall and you are going to have to look at the poster every day. 

Rocky One Sheet $650 without the signature

For example, the poster I look at when I first open my eyes is my autographed Rocky poster. The Rocky poster was selected as a constant reminder to myself that underdogs win as they long as they can take the hits life brings stand up and keep moving forward. No one character in film, has affected my life more than Rocky. Honestly I want that inspirational message to be the first thing I see when I wake up.

However not every poster in my collection was chosen for this reason. Sometimes a poster was chosen to show my love for certain genres or studios. For instance, in the 50’s and 60’s a lot of great posters were being made for the science fiction genre. Some of the artwork done is just jaw dropping. Tom Chantrell, Bill Wiggins, and Vic Flair made are amazing artists from this era. If you go this route then you ultimately leave yourself a lot more wiggle room to selecting an affordable poster.

Vampire Circus by Vic Flair Price Tag $690

To me that is what you should leave yourself with is plenty of options to choose from. Don’t just limit yourself to United States posters. If you like the artwork on the British Quad then go with the British Quad. Here are some examples of poster differences from other countries compared to the U.S.

Nightmare On Elm Street US One Sheet VS the Nightmare on Elm Street British Quad

 

My framed Dr. Who & The Daleks

The last thing to remember for affordability is size and restoration. Just because you love the artwork on a poster sometimes size needs to be taken into consideration. Posters vary in sizes from the common U.S. 27x41 or 27x40 to Six Sheet Poster 81x81 and yes they even get bigger.

 Do you have the space for an 81 x 81? If you do can you afford to frame the poster.

A few years back I framed a 3 sheet poster by myself. I had the frame custom cut, ordered the plexiglass, and art care foam board then assembled the poster. After I was done I spent close to 500 dollars to accomplish this project. If I had gone to a professional framer I would have spent over 3 grand having the poster framed.

That said the poster is the crowning achievement of my collection, but leaves little room for other posters. It is also the reason why I will only other frame one more 3 sheet poster because there are very few places in my house to hang this poster.

To learn more about movie posters and the different artwork that has appeared on some of them visit the Movie Poster Database at: http://www.learnaboutmovieposters.com/newsite/MOVIES/MPDB.asp

Come back later for my next article on where to buy posters, hidden costs, and hot to spot a repro from a real poster. Do you have an original poster or is yours from the video release?

As for first film that I am going to review we are going to travel back to 1972 and watch Dracula A.D. 1972 directed by Alan Gibson and starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.