From a storytelling point of view, designers can face a lot of challenges when creating a film poster. Within just a single image, we need to spark intrigue without giving too much away and we also need something eye-catching that ideally gives the viewer something more to see upon closer inspection. And all the time staying true to the tone and specifics of the story.
One powerful tool we have available to us is reflection. Although this can seem incredibly specific, if it suits the narrative – there are many opportunities to create a mirror of a character or scene. These include: lakes, puddles or any body or water, windows, glass, sunglasses and of course, actual mirrors. Anything reflective – even eyes! In this article, I’ll examine some of the ways reflection has been used in poster design and how this helps to tell a story.
Identity Crisis
So many plots in film centre around characters hiding or discovering another side of themselves. A reflection can represent inner and outer lives brilliantly through very obvious differences like the poster for The Cured or much more subtly as in the poster for Alice, Darling where a closer look reveals Anna Kendrick’s blurry double self screaming out.
Poster design by InSync Plus
Poster illustration by Akiko Stehrenberger
Sinister Symmetry
Symmetrical elements can be a great fit for horror – invoking a feeling of the uncanny, especially when the angle or perspective is a warped one. Designers can also break the symmetry to convey story elements as in the creepy poster for The Curse of La Llorona that will have you worrying about the fate of any children in the film. This break in symmetry can also be through the absence of imagery like in the poster for TV show The Outsider where the dark central figure only appears in the reflection – creating intrigue about the nature of this mysterious ‘outsider’.
Poster design by cold open
Poster design by The Refinery
Imagining Things
Reflections can be a visually compelling to depict a vivid imagination as part of a story. In The Greatest Showman poster, Barnum may be standing in an empty hall but the bottom part of the image shows the reflected glory of the shows he imagines – giving the audience a vision to root for. Similarly, the poster for Slumberland perfectly captures the idea that a whole new magical world might be awaiting you whenever you go to sleep.
Poster design by BLT Communications, LLC
Poster design by B O N D
Beneath the Surface
This is a popular one! Reflections are just perfect for hinting at what is going on if you scratch the surface of a story. This approach often puts more focus on the reflection (that’s where it gets interesting) and cuts off much of the ‘real’ version. It also varies a lot in subtlety – the reflection can be anything from completely naturalistic to metaphorical to revealing a whole other world of the narrative.
Poster design by Jeremy Saunders
Photography by Victoria Will
Changing Places
Stories where characters swap lives – through a literal body-swap or in a more real-world way – carries a lot of inherent drama. Reflections can be a fun way to show comedy high jinks where the characters feelings about their changed situations are clear, or they can depict a darker narrative where the characters feelings are much more mysterious.
Poster design by LA
All in the Eyes
A close up of an eye previously became so ubiquitous in horror film posters that it’s probably not surprisingly that it seems to have fallen out of favour in the mainstream. However, for the right poster, using the reflection in an eye can be visually arresting and exciting. It conveys the perspective of individual – bringing you right into the action and then opens up another side to things with what you see reflected. A version of this idea that I’ve seen used much more recently – for instance in the Challengers poster – is the reflection in sunglasses which creates more distance, giving things a voyeuristic feel whilst maintaining a clear sense of perspective.
Poster design by GRAVILLIS
How do you feel about the use of reflections in poster design? Has this idea become overused or is it evergreen? Do we just need to find more ways to innovate around this technique? What brilliant ‘reflective posters’ have I missed? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
For poster and graphic design services for your latest TV or film project, drop me a line at adam@strelka.co.uk.