The BBC Reports on Matt Ferguson's Return of the Jedi Poster
We have written before of our love of illustrated movie posters of the twentieth century. Unfortunately, as the century entered its final decade, the personal computer gave agencies digital tools and techniques to create photo-based posters at greatly reduced costs, and they quickly became the norm. Some artists adapted (John Alvin being a wonderful example). Many illustrators never worked in the movie poster field again.
But, fans are passionate and they are creative. (They have even been known to produce entirely new films themselves.) If illustrated movie posters were not being produced for the films they love, then they would create them themselves.
In a coming blog post, we will write far more on the history of Alternative Movie Posters. But, this week, we highlight the work of British artist, Matt Ferguson.
Matt is one of a handful of artists whose fan-based work has been spotted by film makers and as a result, he is now (alongside the likes of Paul Shipper, Rory Kurtz and Akiko Stehrenberger) leading the re-emergence of illustrated movie posters for major film releases.
His latest official poster, for the 40th Anniversary release of Star Wars’ Return of the Jedi, is a cracker and follows his incredible poster for the 40th birthday of The Empire Strikes Back.
We were absolutely delighted to see this being recognised by mainstream news, with the BBC picking up on Matt's success.
Look out for more posts on Alternative Movie Posters and their impact on the key art for major film releases. In the meantime, you can read the full BBC article and see more of Matt’s incredible work here.
Adam and the Art of the Movies team.
