Some of the smartest alternative movie posters use semiotics to imply the storyline or plot twist.

The design below for 'reservoir dogs' is very smart as it uses the fact that the main characters are named mr brown, mr orange, mr pink and so on... The poster depicts these men as crayons which are falling in a domino effect. This subtly implies that one by one they will die in the film.

These minimalistic designs for the back to the future trilogy explain in what time each movie is set in a simple diagram. They are very smart, but too simple to make someone want to watch the film again, which is the purpose of a movie poster.

The poster design below is for the Tomb Raider game and uses negative space to incorporate one of the key iconic weapon/tools used by the main character. The design uses roughly 3 colours plus stock. The silhouette style has a lot of impact but can often make the design look too 2 dimensional. In this case the design looks like a silhouette puppet show with multiple paper layers.

The design below incorporates the same style and the popular Olly Moss style with a cutout of the main character with more silhouettes inside.

 The design below interested me as it is very relevant to my own movie which is almost completely focussed on guns and weapons.

Here are some tips on creating effective movie posters:

1. Attention – jump out from the wall.

2. Iconography – showing without telling.

3. Interest – create an incentive to see the film.

4. Appeal – create desire with fans and non-fans alike.

5. Style – a look that’s consistent with the film.

6. Lasting Appeal – a look that suits other formats.

7. Recognizability – if it’s a sequel, make it obvious.

I found this information here.

A lot of movie posters give the impression that they are 3 dimensional, or at least have more depth to them by creating a plane which objects or shapes from the design interact with in some way.

In the design below, the boarder crops the sky into a frame, but the foreground of the design breaks the rules of these boundaries and ives the impression that it is somehow coming out of the design.

A very similar technique is done with the 'A clockwork orange' poster in which the character is reaching through what seems to be a 2 dimensional plane.

There is a similar technique which can be done to videos in which characters move in and out of white strips that are down the frame. 

I would like to experiment with these techniques to see if I can add more depth to my design to engage the audience more.

It was 1964, and in Vietnam thousands of American “advisers” were already offering up their know-how from helicopter seats or gun sights. The United States was just a year short of sending its first large contingent of ground troops there, adolescents who would enter the battle zone dreaming of John Wayne and thinking of enemy-controlled territory as “Indian country.” Meanwhile, in that inaugural year of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, a new generation of children began to experience the American war story via the most popular toy warrior ever created.

His name, G.I.—for “Government Issue”—Joe was redolent of America’s last victorious war and utterly generic. There was no specific figure named Joe, nor did any of the “Joes” have names. “He” came in four types, one for each service, including the Marines. Yet every Joe was, in essence, the same. Since he was a toy of the Great Society with its dreams of inclusion, it only took a year for his manufacturer, Hasbro, to produce a “Negro Joe,” and two more to add a she-Joe (a nurse, naturally). Joe initially came with no story, no instructions, and no enemy, because it had not yet occurred to adults (or toy makers) not to trust the child to choose the right enemy to pit against Joe.

In TV ads of the time, Joe was depicted as the most traditional of war toys. Little boys in World War II-style helmets were shown entering battle with a G.I. Joe tank, or fiercely displaying their Joe equipment while a chorus of deep, male voices sang (to the tune of “The Halls of Montezuma”), “G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe, Fighting man from head to toe on the land, on the sea, in the air.” He was “authentic” with his “ten-inch bazooka that really works,” his “beachhead flame thrower,” and his “authentically detailed replica” of a US Army Jeep with its own “tripod mounted recoilless rifle” and four “rocket projectiles.”

He could take any beach or landing site in style, dressed in “the real thing,” ranging from an “Ike” jacket with red scarf to a “beachhead assault fatigue shirt,” pants, and field pack. He could chow down with his own mess kit, or bed down in his own “bivouac-pup tent set.” And he was a toy giant, too, nearly a foot tall. From the telltale pink scar on his cheek to the testosterone rush of fierce-faced ad boys shouting, “G.I. Joe, take the hill!” he seemed the picture of a manly fighting toy.

found at: http://www.thenation.com/article/175726/secret-history-gi-joe