Art of the Movie Poster #5: Cold Weather

Cold Weather is the third release from indie auteur and one of the fathers of the mumblecore movement, Aaron Katz. It also marks his third collaboration with designer and photographer Marc Ripper, who has done all three of the SXSW poster designs for Katz’s films.

Cold Weather tells the story of a self styled Sherlock Holmes with a penchant for independent detective work as he investigates the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend. Set in Portland, Oregon, the mystery evolves amidst the monochromatic noir drizzle of the pacific northwest. Ripper’s design captures the tone of the movie as well as the physical setting while also evoking a strong sense of style and 60’s panache as you’ve got hints of Saul Bass/Hitchcock influence in the design, particularly the repeating raindrop pattern amidst shades of a single color. I was especially drawn in by the seeming homage to the Penguin book covers of the 60s and 70s, but as Marc points out mid way through the interview, these covers weren’t the only literature that lent inspiration to the poster design.

Brad Sorensen: You’ve designed all of Aaron Katz’s movie posters so far. Can you describe your working process with him?
Marc Ripper: I’ve known Aaron since we were roommates at film school. He’s a friend, we’ve worked on films together, and the posters have just been another part of that – not so much a separate process – and something I took an interest in creating once Dance Party, USA wrapped production. I like being close to the material when approaching the design. It’s certainly helpful and we have a good sense of each other’s tastes. There’s always a lot of sourcing of other posters or images as inspirational points to discuss style and tone. We look at a lot of 60’s and 70’s and foreign design work because it’s what grabs us.

For Cold Weather, I remember it being pretty open from the start. An idea jumped out at me from a jazz record I came across. I sent it to Aaron, describing it, made a rough version, and that was kind of it. I know we played around with placement and color a bit, but the initial concept stayed the same.

Sorensen: Setting and climate are integral parts of the film. Was it obvious that you’d somehow include one of these items in the one-sheet?
Ripper: Yes, for sure. I honestly couldn’t see a poster without one of them, although I think climate hints more at the mystery aspects of the story so well and can give a sense of setting also, at least the mood of the place, without being specific (Portland!). The title had some influence as well.

Sorensen: In Adrian Curry’s article, we get a sense of I how much you and Aaron are big fans of the Penguin book covers of the 60’s. The design is an intentional homage, but how did it figure into your design plans for this poster?
Ripper: This isn’t the first time they came up as a design reference. Maybe we were just looking at them more. Penguin discussions were mostly in terms of color palette and how that worked against the other graphic elements. The initial design was green almost until the end.

Actually, I had originally imagined the poster as a book cover for a detective mystery novel like the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew series, only with a brother and sister team. I wanted it to have an old paperback feel. The Sherlock Holmes references in the film inspired this line of thought and I think we were correct to embrace it.

Sorensen: How does your work as a photographer influence your poster designs?
Ripper: That’s interesting, because I don’t see them as connected, really – not directly. I might approach them with the same eye, but designing is a much lengthier time and I’m just generally aware of the process of it. It feels more like writing. There’s time to step back and experiment, rearrange. With the kind of photography I like, I don’t have that time and it’s a very fleeting experience. Maybe that’s the influence and the challenge – trying to make the design feel just as fleeting for me and others despite this process. A good question to think about. Thanks.

Sorensen: Did you experiment with different typefaces or was the italicized serif title always what you envisioned?
Ripper: Experimented, a little. Part of it came out of the excitement of getting Aaron on board with anything but Arial Black, which seems to be the one he’s latched onto. The rest was that it felt more in keeping with the book cover idea I had envisioned. I had a memory of a Faulkner cover in my head that used a slanted serif and something felt strong and classic about that. It gave it the right emotion for me.

Sorensen: There’s been plenty of buzz on this poster since it first surfaced at SXSW last year, have you worked on other campaigns for other projects as a result of this?
Ripper: I welcome any new and interesting projects. Really grateful for the buzz, though. Anything that gets people to hear about the film, too. Go see it! I’ve just started work on a poster for a documentary film out of Idaho. It’s about some unsolved murders there from the late 70’s-early 80’s. Darker subject matter to work with, for sure.

Sorensen: Finally, if you could redesign the one sheet for any movie ever made, which would it be and how would you do it?
Ripper: This is an impossible question. Although I don’t know how, I’d want to redesign the Badlands (click here) poster because it’s one of the greats and the one-sheet has never really captured it for me.

Cold Weather is currently in theatres – click here for dates/times/locations.