What is the History of Movie Posters
Movie posters often become the iconic way in which we remember movies or become symbols for major movie releases. But what is the history of movie posters and why did people start using them? It is clear that movie posters have developed with the movie industry and movie posters were there from beginning of cinematic history.
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Early History of Posters
The first clear movie poster was made by Marcellin Auzolle for the Louis Lumière film L'Arroseur Arrosé, or the Sprinkler Sprinkled, which was a comedy that debuted in Paris in 1895. That film is famous for being also the first featured comedy. There were earlier posters used for films, but these were mostly descriptive or discussed the type of cinematography rather than promoting the film itself. The poster shows the audience looking at the film, with one of the scenes in the film displayed (a gardener being splashed by water; Figure ). The film's surprising focus on comedy, where up to that point most films were closer to documentaries, surprised audiences, making it a major hit and soon launched the genre of comedy.
