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ART DAY - Movie Poster original paintings!
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366 posts in this topic

Well, my original intention was to stop at one more movie poster artwork for my collection, but I kept going back to look at a few more examples I rather liked . . . so “one further example” quickly became four.

 

As the selection I’ve now put-together pretty much covers most of the different movie genres, I reckon this particular collecting aim has now been achieved.

 

Famous last words? Yeah, I know, nature of the beast . . .

 

Anyways, here’s the first of four updates, which I hope are of interest to fellow boardies (the remaining three acquisitions will be posted on this thread very soon).

 

poster%209.jpg

 

Vic Fair prototype artwork for the highly-regarded 1981 movie, THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT’S WOMAN.

“Actors Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons, Hilton McRae, Emily Morgan and Charlotte Mitchell under Karel Reisz's superb, sensitive and fluid direction bring Harold Pinter and John Fowles screenplay to the screen in stunning fashion. Some of the scenes will live in the memory for a long time, so powerful are the visuals.

 

Set in 19th Century England it is the story of a chance meeting between Sarah (Meryl Streep), an eerily beautiful woman, and Charles (Jeremy Irons), a biologist about to be married; they have a brief but passionate affair but her deep sadness and past force her to leave him. The movie works on two chronological levels, switching seamlessly between the two parallel stories which mirror each other in many ways.

 

Visually, this film is stunningly beautiful and haunting in the way the story of Sarah, a Victorian outcast, unfolds to reveal her history.”

For his prototype artwork, displaying a high degree of finish (for what is effectively a prelim), British artist Vic Fair chose a simple but very effective design of the Meryl Streep character’s portrait enveloping a key moment from the movie. As good as the idea might have been, the design was rejected in favour of what appears to be a mostly photographic image for the resulting movie poster campaign (that still managed to retain much of Fair’s original concept).

 

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“In the history of British film posters there are few characters as significant and influential as the designer and artist Vic Fair. During a career that spanned close to forty years, many of them spent as part of the same ever-evolving agency, Vic lent his inimitable style to several of the most iconic British movie posters ever printed. He designed marketing campaigns for most of the big film studios and distributors, including for the likes of Hammer Films and all of the posters for the very British ‘Confessions…’ series of bawdy comedies. Over the years, Vic also developed a strong working relationship with many of the British film industry’s leading directors, including Nicolas Roeg, Terry Gilliam and Michael Winner.

 

One of the things that really set Vic apart from his contemporaries were his skills at developing concepts that were unique and stood out from what was often a sea of other ideas, depending on how many design agencies a distributor might have been working with. He had a natural talent for concepts that used ingenious juxtaposition of elements to create surprising layouts and he wasn’t one to shy away from risqué concepts, many of which unfortunately never made onto a printing press. Many of these designs did, however, make it through to the end of the process and clearly demonstrate his cheeky sense of humour.”

poster%208_1.jpg

 

Vic Fair stands next to the large format (40″ x 60″) poster for The Man Who Fell to Earth, which he both designed and painted in 1976. Photo taken in 2013.

Back in a couple of days with another update for this thread . . .

 

 

 

 

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I'm in the camp that prefers the enigmatic, challenging look of the central figure in the prelim over the startled, or perhaps timid (emphasized by the visible hand clutching the cloak) feeling of the finished product. I'm also not surprised that they felt the need to add the couple embracing, but overall, I think the prelim is far more interesting than the final poster.

 

I've enjoyed those posts, hope to see more.

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I'm in the camp that prefers the enigmatic, challenging look of the central figure in the prelim over the startled, or perhaps timid (emphasized by the visible hand clutching the cloak) feeling of the finished product. I'm also not surprised that they felt the need to add the couple embracing, but overall, I think the prelim is far more interesting than the final poster.

 

I've enjoyed those posts, hope to see more.

 

+1

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Here's the second of my four Movie Poster original paintings updates.

 

For this one, it's back to the artwork of Tom Chantrell for a double-bill quad poster original (measuring 28" x 21").

 

Chantrell%201_3.jpg

 

High-Ballin' and The Big Sleep (circa 1978) by Tom Chantrell

 

In all honesty, High-Ballin' is not a film I ever remember seeing or will ever want to see. In doing some background research, the following review raised a chuckle with me:

 

"As much money seems to have been spent on stuntmen as actors. Cars screech, do wheelies, fly off a large hauler, turn somersaults, burst into flames, and generally do everything but tapdance on their reckless way to oblivion, sometimes on lonely Weston Road or in front of the Harbour Castle Hotel."

The Big Sleep is a remake of a 1946 movie. Set in England, rather than California, the story follows Raymond Chandler's book fairly closely otherwise. Philip Marlowe is asked by the elderly (and near death) General Sternwood to investigate an attempt at blackmail on one of his daughters. He soon finds that the attempt is half hearted at best and seems to be more connected with the disappearance of the other daughter's husband, Rusty Regan. Rusty's wife, seems unconcerned with his disappearance, further complicating the mystery. Only General Sternwood seems concerned as mobsters and hired killers continue to appear in the path of the investigation.

 

Chantrell's artwork makes (what are likely to be) two lacklustre movies seem appealing to potential cinema-goers being faced with an intriguing front-of-house movie poster display.

 

As such, nice art - shame about the movies . . .

 

 

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As such, nice art - shame about the movies . . .

 

I was scrolling through the TV channels recently and came across a showing of the Robert Mitchum version of "The Big Sleep" (it was either on the Movies! network or GetTV - channels 493 and 495, respectively on Verizon FiOS in my area; both of these channels show a lot of great older films and TV shows). Being a fan of the original, I tuned in for a few minutes to check it out. Seemed interesting - maybe I will try to track it down for a full viewing.

 

Anyway, think the double-bill poster is very cool, especially the Mitchum image. :applause:

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Thanks Gene and Bronty. Two images for the price of one isn't too bad a deal! :grin:

 

I sent a scan of one of my other Chantrell artworks to Neil Hendry, nephew of the late British actor Ian Hendry, for use on his web-site tribute to his uncle.

 

Here's a link to the piece, which is worth looking at:

 

http://ianhendry.com/this-is-my-street-1964-rare-original-quad-poster-prototype-artwork-by-tom-chantrell-shared-by-collector/

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Here’s the third of my four movie poster artwork updates.

 

This one serves nicely as an example of the Western genre.

 

Pancho%201.jpg

 

GUNS FOR PANCHO VILLA prototype artwork by Tom Chantrell

 

An early proposed poster design, with an image size of approximately 21"x 16", for the 1972 film about the Mexican revolutionary leader, Pancho Villa. Although unused, this remains a typically inventive conceptual design by Chantrell, the bullet ridden woodwork providing a backdrop for dripping blood which reveals an image of the eponymous subject.

 

As the resulting movie was re-named ‘Pancho Villa’, this painting suggests that Guns For Pancho Villa was an early working title. The stencil-like image of Pancho is reminiscent of Che Guevara-type posters both prevalent and popular during the time.

 

A nice simple, but highly-effective design, ultimately rejected in favour of a newspaper-style movie poster campaign (also designed and illustrated by Tom Chantrell, the artwork element being the train carnage).

 

poster%207.jpg

 

PANCHO VILLA (1972) movie poster by Tom Chantrell

 

I like both versions, even if the actual movie they were designed to promote hardly rates as a classic of the genre . . .

 

“Pancho Villa is a 1972 American, British and Spanish spaghetti western film directed by Eugenio Martín. The film features Telly Savalas, Clint Walker, Chuck Connors and Anne Francis. Shot in Spain, this ‘brawling spectacle’ has an often-overlooked light-comedy satirical facet, which to this day often confuses the viewers. The storyline was developed during the Vietnam War and reflected certain anti-war sentiments in American society.”

 

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This Pancho Villa art is my favorite of your Chantrell pieces so far! It reminds me of, and is far superior to, Criterion's art for "The Battle of Algiers."

 

Also, the Robert Mitchum + Peter Fonda/Jerry Reed double-bill is very well-done too. Film noir meets demolition derby. High-Ballin' never looked so good!

 

And Matthew's Terminator piece is very cool. I'll have to look for more work by Tongdee (Hey! I found some here from the Swank Modern Design Gallery event referenced in Matt's CAF: http://www.swankmoderndesign.com/eyegasm.htm)

 

Well done, gents! (thumbs u

Edited by The Shoveler
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Not final paintings, but I am working on an article for Hogan's Alley right now about Jack Davis and I think we will be using large (he did them at full one sheet size) finished preliminaries for two of his classic covers-Bad News Bears and The Long Goodbye. Look for it this Winter!!

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