In Voluptas Mors

In Voluptas Mors (1951). A portrait by Salvador Dali and photographed by Phillipe Halsman. A tableau vivant (living portrait) of Dali sitting next to a skull made of seven nude women.

This would later be used in the famous poster for Silence Of The Lambs (1991). Where the pattern for the Death's Head Moth, would be replaced by a recreation of the skull from Dali's famous portrait.

It does seem quite fitting for the movie. The killer (Buffalo Bill) saw the Moth as a symbol of transformation that paralleled his own transition from gender to gender, and his deadly and sadistic approach to make such a change.

The Descent (2005), would recreate the skull for the film's poster.

I'm quite fond of this poster. Not only a creative idea, but very fitting symbolism for what the women in the movie go through. It's great to see such creativity in marketing for a movie, but I appreciate it even more when it's applied to a really good movie like The Descent.

To me it makes the movie a little bigger, and in a way helps tell the story of the movie. Which is what great marketing should be. Not just a way to tell people about the product, but to contribute to the overall story and feel of the story, making it bigger than a movie. Giving it what we all sort of look for in art and creativity. A little depth.


UPDATE:
Check out our latest short/trailer. RED RIDING HOOD is a bad ass (REDD)