A while ago
A poster went around Reddit
And got a bit of attention
I was surprised that
A friend of mine instantly recognized it as Chinese
With the use of white, negative space
It's only then, I realized that
Different countries approach posters very differently
I never realized that
Because good posters are often underappreciated
We don't tend to notice the good ones
It's usually the bad ones that catch our eye
So today, let me purge my ignorance
And explore the world of Asian movie posters
Posters from China, Japan, and South Korea
Let's see what each country's general design trend is
And highlight a few posters that I personally love
Keep in mind that I'm not a graphic designer
I only made a few posters for my own films
So take my opinions with a grain of salt
I'll stick to mostly recent films
Since there really isn't much to talk about
With regards to the infamous "Photoshop" age
Everyone suffered back then
Like, why is this guy transparent...?
So, let's give them the admiration
They rightly deserve
If you look up Chinese posters on Google
You'd find a lot of cases of plagiarism
Unlike Japan and Korea
The Chinese film market really only became big
In the past decade or so
The market has yet to value posters as an art form
As with any starting player
With no budget
And even less time
The best an overworked, underpaid graphic designer can muster
Is to copy someone
Who best to copy
Than the biggest player in the world, Hollywood?
The only problem
Is that Hollywood blockbuster posters in general suck pretty hard
They are notoriously unimaginative
As a result
Many Chinese posters end up feeling
Both cheap and uninspired
Wandering Earth's main poster is atrocious
I hate posters where characters just stand there
Doing nothing
It's just an illustrated list of actors
And a badly photoshopped one at that
But its scenic posters are pretty amazing
After all, the actors in the film aren’t the draw
It is the world-building
But my favorite is this one
In which it captures the main selling point of the film
Being an adaptation of the Chinese Sci-Fi classic
Look at those old and worn out pages
Stabled together
Capturing that post-apocalyptic feel of the film
Where society is barely functional
But my favorite is how it illustrates the story
The story of Earth leaving the solar system behind
On this image, every planet is listed
Except for Earth
Intriguingly missing, leaving an empty spot
That's a sick concept if you ask me
Much like this poster
When Chinese posters get good
They get REALLY good
Most of the best Chinese posters out there
Are all design by one man and his company
Huang Hai
Their posters are beautifully poetic
And very visually striking
The Golden Era tells the story of a woman activist and novelist
Living in wartime China
The tilt-shift effect and the high angle shot
Looks down onto her, as if she's a miniature model
The seemingly random splashes of ink
Paints the big world she's living in
Signifying the chaotic time the film is set in
And signifies how much influence her, as a writer
Has on the world
Oh, and the international poster is also really good
My favorite Huang Hai poster has to be Masters in Forbidden City
It's a film about museum workers
Repairing and restoring historical relics
The poster relies almost solely on the beauty of these artifacts
What makes this poster special
Is here
This is what Chinese people describe as
"Drawing the eye of the dragon"
Giving life to an art piece
The shape of this worker is tiny
Insignificant
While the relic is immense
It captures the feeling of restoration perfectly
It is a delicate and tedious task
It takes sometimes years just to repair one relic
Yet it also captures that feeling of history
A moment in time
As the tagline suggests
Big history, Small craftsmen
Of course, Huang Hai isn't the only one who makes good posters
Brotherhood of Blades 2 is visually beautiful
But what's interesting is how small the actress is
Yang Mi is a very high profile star in Mainland China
And is absolutely someone to draw in more box office revenue
The decision to leave her so tiny is bold, to say the least
But it works
The beautiful composition draws you in
The empty space leaving you wanting for more
So you read the text
That's how you find out who she is
And once you went through this process
You are not forgetting this poster ever again
Many Chinese animations also have great posters
I'm guessing it's because the studio already knows how to draw
Big Fish and Begonia's poster is just...
Wow
But its quaint character posters are also really beautiful
Makes me wish the entire film looks like this instead
White Snake has a spectacular hand-drawn poster
Even if it doesn't really reflect the film's art style
Its international poster however
Is next level
White Snake is a story about seeing humanities in monsters
The eye of a snake monster seeing its past memories
And tearing up
Is the perfect visual summary
In recent years
Great posters became a hot topic in China
More and more people are paying attention to this art form
If these beautiful posters for Ghibli movie re-release are any indication
The Chinese poster industry
Is going to be something very special
Now let's travel to Japan
In terms of general design trend
Japanese live-action films love this manga panel design
It's hard to make screengrabs look good in posters
As it tends to look flat, busy, and out of place
But Japanese poster designs mastered it
And it is very recognizably Japanese
You rarely see other countries do this
More often than not, I find it to be very pleasing
Even if it's very overused
Still, Japan is not immune to Mount Rushmore posters
At its best, you have this
Which is aesthetically pleasing
But otherwise lacking in metaphor
At least I don't see it
At worse, you have this
I don't know why
Anime and manga adaptations tend to come with
The worse posters
This is worse than Wandering Earth
It does have one exception:
The poster for Death Note focuses on the two main characters
Or rather, the pitch-perfect recreation of them
As if reassuring the audience
That this is more than a cosplay
But the one I like is the one featuring Light
Backlit
Dark clothes on dark background
It's sinister
But the real highlight is the apple
The symbol of sin
Is it floating?
Or is it falling?
Or is it holding up by an invisible being
In this composition
Your eyes jump between Light's face
His hand
And the apple
The ambiguity is intriguing
But also symbolizes Light as a character
Perfectly
Still, my favorite live-action Japanese poster
Has to be this one
Instead of going for movements like most posters
This film goes for stillness
With the two birds resting on the hilt of a sword
It feels both calming
And foreboding
Makes even more sense when you realize
The film features a blind swordsman
But really
When it comes to Japanese cinema
Animated movies are the current king
Your Name's poster is all-around well done
Low Angle to show off the beautiful sky
Something that Makoto Shinkai is known for
Image splits in half while remaining connected
Reflecting on the film's parallel storylines
What I'm always amazed by, however
Is the text layout
Japanese posters almost always have this uncanny ability
To make a wall of text look clean
Here's the English version for comparison
The poster for The Journalist took it to the extreme
As the title suggests
It's a film about investigative journalism
It cleverly uses the text in the format of a newspaper
To tell you the title
The hook
The list of actors
And the time it'll be in theatres
All while using the gaps to highlight the two characters
Of course, there are also split panels down the bottom
It is a Japanese film after all
Back to Anime
Hello World is a film about preserving old culture
Through the use of technology
The upper, technology-themed part of the image
Is mirrored in the bottom half with nature and older architecture
Representing the struggle between the two
At the bottom, two characters hold hands
Showing the true message of the film
That the connection of human heart is the key
The poster for A Silent Voice doesn't seem very special
Outside of its fantastic art style
But it does have one neat thing
And it's pretty obvious when you see it
Shoko, the girl here
Is the only one who's not facing left
She's almost, but not quite looking at the camera
In fact, she's looking at nothing
She's in her little own world
In the film, Shoko is deaf
And this poster, through one image
Captures her emotional isolation from other people
And then, there is Tokyo Godfathers
Characters stacking on top of chaotically arranged skyscrapers
Representing their frantic journey through Tokyo
But did you notice that everything is arranged
In the shape of a Christmas tree
Finally, there is Paprika
A film about dreams
And just like its premise
The poster is visually crazy
If not a bit seductive
The poster overlays this madness of dreams
Onto the body of the main character
In the style similar to traditional Japanese tattoo
Like every dream has an effect on your body
Imprinting itself onto your identity
I, however, prefer the DVD cover
The close up of the face covered in madness
With the eyes standing out
Highlighted by the shape of the hair
You can't help but stare at it
When your eyes meet
It draws you in
And now
You are in her mind
In her dreams
Mesmerizing
I know I said I don't like Mount Rushmore posters
But man, the South Korean film industry sure makes it work
Faces are the main trend of recent Korean movie posters
But it's not just faces on posters
There's always something interesting going on
And you can usually guess the theme or plot of the movie
Oldboy has this uneven close up versus medium split
They feel conflicting, contrasting
Yet because of the size differences
They feel distant
Like they are plotting something against each other
What a way to show conflicts
Forgotten is the total opposite
It nearly perfectly matches the two faces
Making it uncomfortable to look at
Just like the poster
The movie is a total mindf*ck
Dealing with multiple identities of multiple people
All entangled into one unifying conspiracy
Monster took a familiar big head poster concept
And throws a twist into it
The two heads along with the striking arm and claw
Creates a triangle for your eyes to wander back and forth
With a title like this
It just makes you wonder
WHO is the monster?
The girl who's holding him by the neck?
Or the man who's smirking while all this is happening?
Now that's not saying there aren't generic big head posters
But even when they are generic
There's usually a strong composition
To prevent it from being bad
Some times, movies would take the big head concept
And use it on medium or wide shots
People just stand there
Graduation photo style
And just like their big head counterpart
The good ones always have a twist
One of the most memorable ones
Is A Tale of Two Sisters
What a poster
The image splits into two parts
With the parents dressed in black on top
Mirrored by the two sisters dressed in white
The immediate interest is the blood all over the two
But did you noticed the two sisters
Are in very similar gestures to their parents?
One with her back straight
The other with one hand to the side?
But instead of confident and assertive
The sisters look weak and lifeless
As if they are puppets of their parents
Of course, who can forget about Parasite
Which has this poster
The feet at the bottom
Is, of course, the biggest interest point
It also puts the entire image off balance
Giving it a twisted feel that matches with the film itself
But the group itself is also intriguing
It contains two families
One rich, one poor
How can you tell?
Well, the poor family members aren't wearing shoes
Overall, Korean posters appear to be the most consistent
Among the three countries, we discussed today
Although at times
It does get pretty samey
But rarely is a poster downright bad
That speaks to the overall robustness
Of South Korean cinema
Respect
If there's ever a picture that worths a thousand words
That picture would've been a poster
Condensing an entire script
Distilling an entire movie
Down to one single frame
That is an art
I took the liberty to redesign the poster for Pure Hearts
See how it changes your expectation
And the perception of the film?
I bet at this moment
Every single one of you still remembers most posters
Shown in this video
And many of you became curious about the movies
Simply because of the posters I showed
That's the power of a good poster
Next time
When you walk past one
Give it a closer look
On that image
Are details, crafted by artists