Saul Bass was an American graphic designer and Oscar-winning filmmaker, best known for his design of motion-picture title sequences, film posters, and corporate logos.
Bass in 1979
Image: Saul Bass’ Signature
North by Northwest movie trailer screenshot
Psycho title sequence
A film poster is a poster used to promote and advertise a film primarily to persuade paying customers into a theater to see it. Studios often print several posters that vary in size and content for various domestic and international markets. They normally contain an image with text. Today's posters often feature printed likenesses of the main actors. Prior to the 1980s, illustrations instead of photos were far more common. The text on film posters usually contains the film title in large lettering and often the names of the main actors. It may also include a tagline, the name of the director, names of characters, the release date, and other pertinent details to inform prospective viewers about the film.
One-sheet film poster for This Gun for Hire (1942)
The world's first film poster (to date), for 1895's L'Arroseur arrosé, by the Lumière brothers
Rudolph Valentino in Blood and Sand, 1922
Battleship Potemkin, 1925