Changes

By the late 1960s, movies began to tackle major social issues such as the Vietnam War, social injustice, drug use, and other themes. Photography became more prominent on posters that also tried to reflect the mood of movies, such as serious movies showing scenes of drug or alcohol use, and the age of the anti-hero in movies began to become more prominent, as movie posters began to show these characters and feature them more prominently. The so-called Spaghetti Westerns or Italian Westerns, which were developments by prominent Italian directors such as Sergio Leone, also developed new gritty styles for posters that mostly used photography and showed the hero as a tough guy who showed no remorse. The era of the major blockbusters began in the late 1970s with <i>Star Wars</i>, which now went back to painted scenes. Movie posters in the 1980s increasingly used painted scenes that sometimes combined with photography. Famous artists such as Ansel Adams, Frank Frazetta and Bob Peak were all often involved in the production of movie posters. By the 1990s, digital movie posters began to appear, that also took advantage of animation becoming increasingly popular. Movie posters began to become more digital and used computer generated scenesparticularly for children movies or animations. However, many styles used started far earlier, such as prominent display of lead actors and actresses and promoting their names continued. The 1930s use of multiple types of posters to promote films also continued. Most posters today go back and forth between showing prominent actors/actresses and showing key scenes or action in a movie, even if they are digitally made or use a combination of photography and painting. The prominence of actors and actresses as well as the mood a poster sets is often seen part of the strategy used by studios in luring audiences to new films.<ref>For a discussion on more recent trends in movie posters, see: Salavetz, Jütka, Sam Sarowitz, Spencer Drate, and Dave Kehr. <i>Art of the Modern Movie Poster: International Postwar Style and Design</i>. San Francisco, Calif: Chronicle Books, 2008. </ref>