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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Topic: Source for Hi- Rez Movie Poster artwork.
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Justin Hamaker
Film God
Posts: 2253
From: Lakeport, CA USA
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 11-05-2013 09:16 PM
The highest resolution I have ever found online consistently is MoviePosterDB.com. It is a pay site in that you will need to buy credits and each download will cost you credits. You can buy 100 credits for 5.00 euro, and most downloads are 2 credits.
MoviePosterDB.com
Just out of curiosity, what size are you printing? Are you trying to print at the full one-sheet size of 27"x40"? If you're trying to print smaller than 27" x 40", you can scale down to achieve a higher resolution. For example, 27" x 40" at 300 dpi would be the same as 13.5" x 20" at 600 dpi.
Obviously this won't matter if the original image/scan wasn't high enough resolution to capture all of the detail.
I'm guessing that if you're prints are looking fuzzy, you're taking a smaller image and making it larger. For example, I downloaded a one-sheet for Gravity from the above site and it is 3386x5000 pixels - which equals 250 dpi at 13.5" x 20". But if you were to stretch that up to 27" x 40", it would be a 125 dpi image. But at 250 dpi, it's probably going to look pretty good, depending on the printer you're using.
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 11-06-2013 12:02 PM
If the movie studios actually intend to distribute electronic versions of movie posters and allow theaters to make prints from those files they ought to be sending PDF files rather than dopey JPEG images. Of course, I don't think the studios want any end users making prints in the first place.
Even if you had a 27" X 41" one sheet image with a native 300ppi resolution (which would come out to 8100 X 12300 pixels) the type, logos, etc. in the image would still look soft when printed. In high quality print production elements like type, vector-based logos, etc. are rendered at resolutions beyond 2000ppi.
The PDF format can contain pixel-based and vector-based artwork. PDF/X is used in professional pre-press. A 27" X 41" one sheet in PDF could feature all the credits, 3D format logos, sound format logos, etc. all in vector form. They would print razor sharp no matter low large or small the poster was scaled. One would have more control over how the photographic imagery was embedded. And it wouldn't necessarily need to be 300ppi. I think 300ppi is overkill for photographic content on a movie poster (levels of 233ppi or 200ppi would be enough for continouous tone methods and 150ppi would be sufficient for any halftone process). Essentially the file wouldn't have to be so bloated.
Another issue is how those poster images would be used. A flattened one sheet image in JPEG isn't going to be very flexible. It's not like you can scale or reposition any of the many elements in the image to fit different sizes or shapes of displays -like re-purposing that vertical one sheet image to fit the long horizontal opening of an auditorium label sign.
quote: Mike Blakesley
I'm sure the day is coming when printed one sheets will be a thing of the past and all of exhibition will have to spend thousands of dollars to digitize their display cases… and the studios will pay for the big cinemas to convert.
I'm a little skeptical about that. On one hand, LED-based displays are growing more common at ticket booths and for overhead auditorium label signs. I can certainly see them replacing all the little horizontal "mylar" signs.
HDTV monitors can be rotated into "portrait" orientation. Their 16:9 aspect ratio isn't all that different from the 1.52:1 aspect ratio of a 27" X 41" one sheet. There are numerous multimedia kiosk systems available that can drive images and video to multiple HD displays. Still, there is the matter of cost. Lighted one sheet cases cost less than HD monitors in a kiosk system. Theater customers are very accustomed to seeing the printed one sheets. So I don't know if a theater would actually gain anything by shifting to an electronic display of a poster versus a much sharper, printed version.
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 11-07-2013 12:44 PM
quote: Mike Blakesley
While I love a good-looking printed one-sheet as much as anyone, I really don't think the average movie poster observer gives two hoots if a poster is printed on a sheet of paper or not.
Lots of people still like big photo prints as opposed to merely looking at photos on a computer screen or TV screen. If they were happy looking at only electronic versions of photos we wouldn't need any cameras that recorded more than a couple million pixels.
The trade-offs are pretty noticeable from a printed poster to a reduced resolution version shown on a rotated 1080p monitor. You're right about the credits at the bottom. Those thin, ultra condensed typefaces commonly used on one sheets can get pretty faint or fuzzy when reduced to fit the pixel count of a computer screen or TV screen. Small logos in the credits block can end up looking like illegible clumps of pixels.
I've dealt with similar issues in billboard ads. Billboards in high traffic locations are going electronic simply because the images can be changed every 8 seconds or so and bring in more income. But there's a huge tradeoff in resolution. You can't show anywhere near the level of detail on a LED billboard that you can on a static printed billboard. Color control is even an issue (lots of subtle highlight and shadow details can get blown out or crushed on a LED display if brightness isn't properly adjusted).
quote: Justin Hamaker
You don't need to use a subscription service for displaying digital content. Many TVs now have USB ports and can be set to play the USB files as a slide show.
This is true, but most people don't have the resources needed (time, talent, creative software, technical know how) to create their own content for a HDTV monitor, particularly one rotated into vertical orientation to use as a electronic poster case. A turn-key "kiosk" system of networked monitors, a multimedia playback server and supply legally acquired/licensed content removes all the end user work that would be required in a "DIY" setup.
quote: Justin Hamaker
When you start adding up what you're paying for things like auditorium and box office signs, these digital systems can pay for themselves within a couple years. You could even use these options for snack bar menus to eliminate the need for menu strips.
Electronic signs aren't cost free. Hardware can and does malfunction or break. It takes time/money to create the content for the electronic displays.
I have seen a few fast food restaurants install a wall of flat panel monitors and use them to display the food menu along with other animated/video content. The tricky thing is the system and content playing on the system has to be carefully designed. All of the content on those fast food restaurant menus is being generated by the company's advertising department or the ad agency working for them. That stuff isn't getting created on the individual restaurant level. The local guys don't have access to all the creative "assets" (product photos, graphics objects, logos, unique fonts, brand guidelines, etc.) to be able to do the job right even if one of the employees had a good computer and Adobe Creative Cloud subscription.
And that's really where I see a big problem with trying to use a flat screen TV to replace the printed mylar strip signs that slide into auditorium entry signs or changeable slots in the box office. I only see text-based LED signs replacing those things at a lot of theaters, not TV screens.
In a DIY situation where is the end user going to get the individual assets to create the proper sign for the TV screen? He can't just use a flat JPEG of the movie poster one sheet. I strongly doubt any movie studio or production company would give just anyone full access to the individual assets it has for promoting a movie. Studio marketing departments are pretty anal retentive when it comes to consistency of branding in a movie's promotion. They have all kinds of rules on how things are supposed to look in order to make ads uniformly consistent in every type of advertising medium. Out of would-be amateur graphic designers many don't get that or give a damn about it. Hence, they're not to be trusted in making their own home-brewed ads of the movie.
Every once in awhile I'll look at movie poster art on Google Images. I'm usually looking for some kind of detail, like if any movie posters have a Dolby Atmos logo on them (very few do). Some movies will have a fair amount of fan generated poster art. It's usually pretty easy to tell the difference between the fan generated art versus the stuff that came from the studio.
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Mike Blakesley
Film God
Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 11-07-2013 04:34 PM
quote: Bobby Henderson
I have seen a few fast food restaurants install a wall of flat panel monitors and use them to display the food menu along with other animated/video content.
And that is a huge gripe I have with the fast food industry. These stupid moving, changing, circulating menu boards, combined with the 47 "combos" that they all seem to be pushing now, have made ordering way too complicated. JUST LIST THE FREAKING PRODUCTS, ALL RIGHT? I'LL ORDER WHAT I WANT!
ME: I'd like a 3-piece chicken dinner, original recipe.
Kid: If you order the #8 combo it comes with 2 sides, or the #16 combo comes with a side and a drink, or you could get the #39 combo, that comes with an extra piece of chicken of your choice plus dessert, and a drink is a quarter extra for all of them except #16, which already includes a drink.
OK rant over, back to griping about movie posters. I've quite often had to print a onesheet myself when a "real" one wasn't available. My printer does 13x19 sheets. Nobody has ever come in saying "Man, I sure wish you had a full-sized one-sheet...the resolution on that one sucks!
I think the biggest job of a one-sheet is to inform the passerby what the movie is like, not dazzle them with its quality of print.
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Marcel Birgelen
Film God
Posts: 3357
From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 11-07-2013 07:55 PM
quote:
And that is a huge gripe I have with the fast food industry. These stupid moving, changing, circulating menu boards, combined with the 47 "combos" that they all seem to be pushing now, have made ordering way too complicated. JUST LIST THE FREAKING PRODUCTS, ALL RIGHT? I'LL ORDER WHAT I WANT!
I also especially hate those TFT panels with rotating menu items... No matter where, at a movie theater, fast food restaurant. It's totally fine that you put some animated content in there, but keep options and price info steady and do not shuffle them around while I'm reading them...
Regarding movie posters... I would really love to see some improvements in E-ink technology: better colors, bright white background and bigger surfaces. Also, E-ink displays should be cheaper to produce than big LCD/TFT/Plasma screens and do only require a minimal amount of power. I've already seen E-ink based price tags at local supermarkets and retailers. They're programmed using some kind of RFID programmer and do not require any power to retain the information on screen.
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 11-08-2013 11:48 AM
quote:
And that is a huge gripe I have with the fast food industry. These stupid moving, changing, circulating menu boards, combined with the 47 "combos" that they all seem to be pushing now, have made ordering way too complicated. JUST LIST THE FREAKING PRODUCTS, ALL RIGHT? I'LL ORDER WHAT I WANT!
That could be one reason why In N Out Burger has become so popular (aside from the fact its burgers taste great and are priced very competitively). The In N Out menu is very simple and old fashioned in appearance. The burger chain has a "secret menu" for its fan base (basically it's just different ways to customize burgers, fries and shakes sold there).
Animated content is the norm for any flat panel TV set trying to act like a sign. Why spend all that extra money on a video monitor if it's only going to be used to show static imagery? A standard sign cabinet internally lit with fluorescent lamps or white LEDs is going to be a lot cheaper to buy, operate, maintain and replace.
An independent theater operator, especially one who has any staff members that know how to use graphics and video editing software, can use flat panel HDTV monitors however he likes. But if theater chains adopt HDTV monitors as replacements for movie poster cases it's a guarantee they would be showing a lot more than mere, static posters. They would be showing a lot of stuff instead of movie posters.
I can image a theater multiplex box office featuring all its movie titles and show times displayed on a wall of flat panel HDTV monitors. I also foresee much, if not all, of that video wall being consumed by movie trailers, food ads and other stuff. It would turn into a chore for customers to see what time a certain movie is playing and in what projection/sound format. They would have to wait for all the other animated crap to finish so they could get another glipse of the show times. I suppose the box office person could suggest customers download their smart phone app to check show times and even buy tickets. With so much of the ticket purchasing going online I wouldn't be surprised to see box offices disappear from movie theaters. Just show up at the door, insert the credit/debit card that was used to order tickets online into a kiosk machine, the tickets spit out automatically.
There's lots of signs that are meant only to be static. Brand equity is built best by keeping that brand visible 100% of the time, be it a business name or movie title. I don't see retail businesses replacing their signs with color LED boards and only flashing their brand name once in awhile between other ads. The brand stays visible and they install an LED board under the sign.
quote: Marcel Birgelen
Regarding movie posters... I would really love to see some improvements in E-ink technology: better colors, bright white background and bigger surfaces.
E-ink technology still has a ways to go before it can take off in popularity. If costs of OLED production could ever come down from the stratosphere it might have a better shot since OLED displays can be backlit and produce very vibrant colors and contrast while maintaining a very thin form factor.
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