Movie poster cartography — Predator (1987)
Movie posters don’t have to directly relate to the movie. They just have to engage with us enough that we go and see the movie. I guess in that way using a map like this ticks all the boxes, people give maps an instant sense of legitimacy regardless of the topic that is being visualised.
This gem of a movie poster does a brilliant job of merging traditional cartography with something as abstract as a movie poster for Predator.
Things that work
The topographic elements are fairly believable and the Predator is brilliantly masked within the contours and the valleys either side. Where other posters may struggle to reveal a crucial plot detail, this poster does so wonderfully. The team who set out to Guatemala in the film, discover that they are being hunted by creatures who have the ability to disappear into the surroundings. Hiding the Predator in contours is incredibly clever and keeps your eyes on the poster longer.
Cartographic detail showing the location of the map is important both with text at the top left and a map (albeit simple) at the bottom. It’s useful to include plot details as mentioned above and a map provides the perfect medium to give snippets away.
Additionally the inclusion of scale bars, directional arrows and credits at the bottom add to the realistic element of the poster and how it could be something that is believable used. For the general public who see maps infrequently — including traditional map elements brings the poster to life. Inspecting these elements help to create a story before they’ve seen the movie. The more believable the more likely the public will want to investigate and watch the movie.
What does the detail say
Mapped by the Army Mapping Service — think it’s actually the Army Map Service but it doesn’t sound as good so credit where credit is due changing it to mapping is probably beneficial
Edited and Published by the Geological Survey
Control by USGS, USC&GS, USCE — could potentially be data collected by, as if this a control check before publishing?
Topography from aerial photographs by stereoplangraph methods — googled the stereoplangraph method and I couldn’t find anything similar that is used in the real world
Aerial photographs taken 1945. Field check 1965.
Revised by the Geological Society 1967. — believable element that the USGS would revise the map, could be written after the above edited and published by note
Things that don’t work
Most of the difficulties that I have with the design comes down to the number one reason why I like the poster. By blending in the Predator into the contours, the designer has then tried to hide the outline as best as possible. I’ve sent the map to 4 people, only 1 person looked at it long enough to realise that there was the outline of the hidden Predator within the map itself. It’s hard to know why exactly but it’s all just our eyes tricking us.
It could be argued that there is too much else going on?
Maybe the markings in red across the map detract from the effect by drawing your eyes away from the topography. Removing one or two of these, along with one of the larger circles may be enough . The only other noticeable correction that can be made easily, without altering the contours, is perhaps the background colouring. The designer could have used the green background colour to draw more attention to the centre of the image and there are unnecessary extra water details around the river lines. When you look closely these details actually appear quite a lot around the map and it could be argued that these are just cluttering the poster itself.
I’m obviously by no means qualified to talk about design. But in my opinion the title should be larger. There’s a lot of extra space at the bottom of the poster that is used up by three scale bars, written details and the note that the map is an official document.
Removing one of the scale bars, combining some of the detail to the left and making the official document note one line could free up some space. Moving the map down and then increasing the size of the title would be beneficial for the purposes of the poster. At the end of the day I think correct cartographic design can be ignored if the poster is needed to market a movie. Not that I would have produced anything nearly as impressive.
Despite having written more about what doesn’t work than what does. This is fantastic. A credit to the designer who decided to make something completely out of the box for the movie. Perhaps every movie poster could have a map centric poster in addition to the typical style? I definitely wouldn’t be opposed to it.
