09 March 2023

Conference posters in movies: Awake

The opening minutes of the Netflix movie Awake (2021) take place in a secured research building. How do I know?

Posters!

You can see them in the right side of all of these screen shots.

Screenshot from Awake 2021, showing hallway with posters on right.

There are a few posters in this tracking shot, but the one closest to the edge of screen is the only one where the components are visible. Solid two column layout. This is the only poster we see with any colour: some orange in the section headers.

Screenshot from Awake 2021, showing hallway with posters on right.

The two posters in the shot above drove me a little nuts. Typical academic poster, far too much tiny text. At least the one on the left has a good “hero” figure in the upper left. Two columns again, which is a little unusual, since three columns are more common.

Screenshot from Awake 2021, showing hallway with posters on right of Gina Rodriguez opening a door.

As star Gina Rodriguez enters the room, we see two more in the background. Two columns again, clearly with a lot of small text. Neither appears to have any graphics, although there are some shaded boxes in the right one, perhaps highlighting tables.

 Finally...

Screenshot from Awake 2021, showing room with posters on right, as Gina Rodriguez opens door.

While the shot is a bit dark, this is the only poster whose title can be seen.

Screenshot from Awake 2021, showing room with posters on right, as Gina Rodriguez opens door.

Appropriately enough for a movie about people not being able to sleep, the poster is “The impact of caffeine”!

Here’s a close-up, brightened up for visibility:

Poster titled "The impact of caffeine."

The only poster using the classic three column layout.

At first, I thought the posters must have just been there in the location they were filming in. But this is so on point with the movie that I am thinking that maybe the art director dressed the space with posters? At least this one? 

That the posters have such a consistent design and so little colour also make me think these are set decorations. You wouldn’t want brightly coloured posters in this dimly lit scene.

Maybe I’ve been at this too long when I’m paying more attention to the posters than the end-of-civilization plot...

External links

Awake on Netflix

Awake on IMDb


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