Yeşilçam Film Posters of the 60s and 70s: Representing Romance

Cinema and movie poster have the most powerful potential of establishing the ethos and mythology of people, and both assume an audience on the premises of a cultural context within which they are produced. So a movie poster contributing to mass communication through designed visual means contains a lot of information about film industry, evolution of design, craftsmanship, and the taste of the artists and society as well as standing for a strong evidence of its time.

The decade 1965-1975 is important for Turkish cinema for being the golden years of this industry. Besides all the good memories associated with these posters, they indeed involve the history of Turkish cinema, graphic design as well as Turkish society. The great deal of labour involved, resulting from the poor resources of the period; design elements, typography, composition, the mistakes; all reflect the characteristics of then-Yeşilçam. Going over an archive of posters and with the help of interviews with designers, cinema historians and labourers, the article focuses on the relationship of design with the industry, technology and society.

The Yeşilçam movie posters are analyzed through the methods of iconography as well as reception theory. And therefore as well as exploring their graphic and visual characteristics they would be placed in the context of the social life, the conditions of the movie industry in Turkey, the character of Yeşilçam Melodrama and evolution of Turkish movie poster.

After a detailed research and observation, four categories are revealed as the most frequently seen types among the Turkish melodrama posters, according to the kind of images in relation to specific themes and concepts and the design schemas they use. These are “star posters”, “beefcake posters”, “phallic woman posters”, and “posters of movement”. The paper goes in detail how these categories are formed and their significance and their relation to the creation of the concept of romance.

Keywords:
Yeşilçam melodrama; film poster; graphic design; romance