Contagion/SAFE

The treatments of a poster is another effect often employed in giving a feel to an image. In the case of the Contagion and Safe posters they both are text heavy and sport a very weathered look.  Text is very powerful. People react very strongly to it and in many cases will see text, or try to see text in abstract shapes. Words are incredibly powerful and recognizable. 

Both posters have a weathered look and feel. This mood is translated though the torn edges, seemingly crumpled dirty paper and faded rough edges. The mood is weathered, old, and struggling. It is a good feel for a movie that is apocalyptic and a movie that is about an abduction. Both posters give a rough feel and seem to reference some sort of struggle. All this is done with only text. Safe has a small image, but it does not give much information and is not the prominent image.

The safe poster is good and has similar feel and style as the Contagion poster. But, the Contagion poster is so much more intriguing. The way the word Contagion is created with the faded letters from well known important cities around the world. The horizontal vertical juxtaposition is very interesting. It visually keeps your eyes moving and emphasizes different things, the cities and the title. Then as a lovely finishing touch the bio-hazard photo at the top brings it all together. That small sign partially off the poster does so much. It sets the mood and gives most of the information. That sign tells you the importance of the listed cities and what is going on. The worlds of this image create a powerful image in the viewers mind. Being able to create such a powerful image and concept with so few words is wonderful. This poster is so powerful visually and within its implications. Working with all text is difficult, but this poster is a wonderful example of how to handle it.