illustration ; design
Sure it’s not on everyone’s favorites list… but this movie left a mark on me as a kid who was still reeling off the megaton blast of Ghostbusters.
The older I got I learned more about the history of this film project and what a passion project it was for Dan Aykroyd. Theatrically it flopped and it became a sore subject for him despite his enthusiastic efforts.
I wanted to honor that spirit of effort with this poster. It had to be a grimy, kitchen sink of visuals much like the film itself, with equal attention paid to each individual element, once again, like the movie. Whole ads and coupons and articles were created if only to be hinted at amidst the mess.
A funny anecdote follows this poster’s “unveiling”. The actress Valri Bromfield is notably missing from this poster. She played the “ditch-witch” cousin to John Candy’s “Dennis”. Originally, she was to appear along side him in the portrait. As the piece progressed, I realized she would inevitably be covered up. I mollified my own guilt at excluding her with two reasonable facts. The first being that this was a family portrait, nay say, an immediate family portrait. As a cousin she likely wouldn’t be present, right??? Secondly, this movie was obscure enough… would ANYONE remember her smaller, but no less amusing role?
Fast forward a couple weeks. While selling it at a craft market two dudes casually stroll by. One goes “whoa, cool poster!” the other then says, without breaking his stride, “it’s missing that other cop lady”.