Why do movie posters do this?

[Trekker4747]

This is a trend I have noticed all my life.

Whenever you have a movie poster with the cast on it the order the cast is in on the poster is usually opposite the order their names are across the top of the poster.

Why is this?

Wouldn't it be more logical to order the names at the top of the poster in the same order as the actors are lined up in the picture of the poster?

 

[JacksonArcher]

Movie studios are inherent bastards.

 

[Captain Ryan]

to mess with your mind.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

example?

 

[T'Baio]

It is part of an actor's contract in which order their name appears in all credits.

The picture of the poster is done to be as aesthetically pleasing (well, to the minds of marketers, anyway) as possible.

Sometimes, the two do not match up.

On the other hand, actors are starting to get more in their contracts, such as what order, left to right, their mug appears on the poster, and sometimes demanding their picture is under their name.

Hope this clears it up.

 

[Skywalker]

Mmm, floating heads.

 

[Captain Ryan]

example?

 

[M'Sharak]

This is a trend I have noticed all my life.

Whenever you have a movie poster with the cast on it the order the cast is in on the poster is usually opposite the order their names are across the top of the poster.

Why is this?

Wouldn't it be more logical to order the names at the top of the poster in the same order as the actors are lined up in the picture of the poster?

Didn't we just have this thread recently?

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

I don't understand. The Dukes of Hazard Poster lists the names in exactly the same order as the fine print listng below?

What is the OP's point?

 

[trampledamage]

I don't understand. The Dukes of Hazard Poster lists the names in exactly the same order as the fine print listng below?

What is the OP's point?

They aren't in the same order as the picture. At least I'm pretty certain that isn't Sean William Scott sitting on top of the car...

 

[JacksonArcher]

The first (and subsequent?) Pirates of the Caribbean posters are also good examples. Johnny Depp's name always appears first, but he's in the middle, and everyone else is misaligned with the ordering of the cast names. Not a big deal, but definitely something I've noticed which has kind of always gotten me curious (thanks T'Baio for clearing that up).

 

[Small White Car]

I think that noticing things like this is a good measure of how anal retentive and obnoxious someone is. If this bothers anyone, they should probably be slapped.

Oh, and btw, this always bothers me too.

 

[JacksonArcher]

I think that noticing things like this is a good measure of how anal retentive and obnoxious someone is. If this bothers anyone, they should probably be slapped.

Oh, and btw, this always bothers me too.

You know what bothers me? Posts where people complain about people complaining. That's just way too much complaining for me.

 

[Aragorn]

When I went to see The Usual Suspects, someone thought Kevin Pollack was Stephen Baldwin because of the poster.

They aren't in the same order as the picture. At least I'm pretty certain that isn't Sean William Scott sitting on top of the car...

He's referring to billing order (the little credits at the very bottom, and the way they appear during the movie).

 

[Kadratis]

Looks alphabetical to me.

 

[Nardpuncher]

I think that noticing things like this is a good measure of how anal retentive and obnoxious someone is. If this bothers anyone, they should probably be slapped.

Oh, and btw, this always bothers me too.

You know what bothers me? Posts where people complain about people complaining. That's just way too much complaining for me.

What bothers me is when someone comes in pointing out that the person is complaining about the complainer.
Sometimes a complainer just complains too much so people have to say enough.

 

[John Picard]

The first (and subsequent?) Pirates of the Caribbean posters are also good examples. Johnny Depp's name always appears first, but he's in the middle, and everyone else is misaligned with the ordering of the cast names. Not a big deal, but definitely something I've noticed which has kind of always gotten me curious (thanks T'Baio for clearing that up).

But, was Johnny Depp's image the most prominent? That would be a big indicator right there. Either way, who cares if the order of the names doesn't match with the images? Oh that's right -- Trekker needs to complain about something else in the world

 

[Shintaek]

I didn't care much about the names corresponding to the actors below/above it. I just assumed that the middle areas were the principal actors like in the Dukes of Hazard where Sean William Scott is in the middle because he's been in more movies that come to the theatres than the other two actors named at the top.

 

[Level 2 Diagnostic]

This happens all the time. I was able to find about a dozen examples of this, just from the past year alone.

Here's about the worst example I could find:

http://www.impawards.com/2008/nick_and_norahs_infinite_playlist.html

Would it really have ruined the poster if they just flipped the image?

Other recent examples:

http://www.impawards.com/2008/greetings_from_the_shore.html
http://www.impawards.com/2008/my_best_friends_girl_ver2.html
http://www.impawards.com/2008/two_lovers.html
http://www.impawards.com/2008/blindness_ver10.html
http://www.impawards.com/2008/lucky_ones.html

 

[Captain Ryan]

I don't understand. The Dukes of Hazard Poster lists the names in exactly the same order as the fine print listng below?

What is the OP's point?

They aren't in the same order as the picture. At least I'm pretty certain that isn't Sean William Scott sitting on top of the car...

They also have Willy Nelson and Burt Renolds' names switched, unless Burt became some old hippy and Will a clean-cut cowboy...