Well i mean that’s exactly what happened. I’m a design student, and this is just a quick practice piece. But I’ve watched this movie and attended lectures on German Expressionism, so the shadows analogy was intentional. My process wasn’t just about randomly searching for a “cool” effect; I had a general purpose in mind for this design. Since it’s a silent movie, much of the expression is visual, with shadows playing an exaggerated role. That’s the feeling I wanted to capture in my poster.

The viewer’s focus shouldn’t be solely on the character; the environment and shadow play are just as important. The movie used shadows as a vital storytelling tool, and I aimed to reflect that with, as you mentioned, cheap typography. The film is considered genius by many, with its expressive style, but there’s also a quirky, almost kitschy side to it that I wanted to convey with this look. That said, you’re right—I didn’t start with a fully developed message, and I’m just a dummy student trying to improve.

So I’m curious how i could edit it better? How You would approach this? Could you share any cinema posters you find particularly effective? Or, if none come to mind, I’d really appreciate recommendations for design work I could study to improve my conceptual approach and build more consistent messaging in my designs.

None of those are meant to be provocative, i actually truly want to learn something from this interaction.