History Main / FloatingHeadSyndrome

* ''Film/JusticeLeague2017'' posters are primarily just the main characters staring straight at the viewer. Since the selling point of the movie is the characters gathered together, it ends up proving that TropesAreNotBad, as with some great lighting, colors and composition, the posters were praised for evoking both Rock Band covers (such as Music/{{Queen}}) and the iconic superhero group paintings of Alex Ross.

Not to be confused with when heads literally float as a magical side effect of LosingYourHead, or metaphorically as a FloatingAdviceReminder, or HugeHolographicHead, or SkyFace. Or, for that matter, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_head_syndrome exploding head syndrome]].

Not to be confused with when heads literally float as a magical side effect of LosingYourHead, or metaphorically as a FloatingAdviceReminder, or HugeHolographicHead. Or, for that matter, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_head_syndrome exploding head syndrome]].

* ''Film/JusticeLeague'' posters are primarily just the main characters staring straight at the viewer. Since the selling point of the movie is the characters gathered together, it ends up proving that TropesAreNotBad, as with some great lighting, colors and composition, the posters were praised for evoking both Rock Band covers (such as Music/{{Queen}}) and the iconic superhero group paintings of Alex Ross.

* Most of the covers for the NES ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' games' Japanese versions had this, for the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Robot Masters]] (from ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'' onwards). However, this is a [[TropesAreNotBad positive case]], as they are considered universally better than their [[AmericanKirbyIsHardcore overseas]] [[SoBadItsGood counterparts]]. When ''VideoGame/MegaMan9'' and ''VideoGame/MegaMan10'' came out as [[{{Retraux}} throwbacks to that era]], this design philosophy [[GrandfatherClause was preserved]] for their covers.

A term referring to the tendency for FilmPosters and UsefulNotes/{{DVD}} cover art to have a black background with the faces of the lead actors above the name of the movie. Sometimes it is a simple one or two heads staring at you with other, film-specific, art in the foreground. Other times it is the entire cast in various stages of intensity... and nothing else. When done with the {{villain}}, it is EvilOverlooker. Often overlaps with SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou.

The style became ubiquitous once the age of photo editing software came about, since it meant studios no longer had to commission an artist tens of thousands of dollars to paint a carefully crafted poster for them, when they could just take stock photos of the lead actor and have interns superimpose them onto any background. The same basic principle can exist with more than just a floating head, as full body group pictures splashed across the poster in different sizes and scaling creates a similar style except a lot more crowded (one well-known example of this style can be seen in posters for the ''Franchise/StarWars'' films).

* After the distinctive use of logo without text for the 1989 film ''Film/{{Batman}}'', the marketing division apparently decided to embrace this trope. The primary posters and video covers for ''Film/BatmanReturns'', ''Film/BatmanForever'', and ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' all use this approach, with the first two using variants of the logo for their teaser posters. This got dumped when the series was rebooted.

* This is pretty much [[UpToEleven the entirety of the logos]] for ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys2;'' it's just Freddy's [[SmugSmiler smiling face]] next to the title.[[note]]And, as a side note, the UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} banner [[RefugeInAudacity does away with the title, instead opting to assume Freddy's head will be enough.]] ''[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome It worked... and propelled the game to the #1 Best Selling Game spot.]]''[[/note]]

* Used for the "Movie Poster" photo backdrop in VideoGame/TomodachiLife

* One of the covers for ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica'' consists of nothing but Claire's face.

The style became ubiquitous once the age of photo editing software came about, since it meant studios no longer had to commission an artist tens of thousands of dollars to paint a carefully crafted poster for them, when they could just take stock photos of the lead actor and have interns superimpose them onto any background. The same basic principle can exist with more than just a floating head, as full body group pictures splashed across the poster in different sizes and scaling creates a similar style except a lot more crowded.

* All of the movies in the Walt Disney Home Video[=/=]Vault Disney Collection of [=DVDs=]. The ''Literature/{{Pollyanna}}'' cover looks especially bad, with the protagonist's giant head appearing in the sky above a normal-sized Pollyanna.

In many cases, the main film poster may be more creative because of the larger size it will be displayed at, but the vhs/dvd/blu-ray will have a more generic "main actor heads against a black background" design so that a potential consumer can see who is in the movie at a glance.

* ''Film/GangsOfNewYork'': In addition to the floating heads, [[MisplacedNamesPoster the names are jumbled]], so that Daniel Day-Lewis is a hot chick and Cameron Diaz has cool moustache.
* All of the movies in the WaltDisneyHomeVideo/VaultDisneyCollection of [=DVDs=]. The ''Literature/{{Pollyanna}}'' cover looks especially bad, with the protagonist's giant head appearing in the sky above a normal-sized Pollyanna.

* The [[http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Bev-K0aSL._SY355_.jpg DVD cover]] for ''Film/MulhollandDrive''.

* Film/TurkishDelight: Not on the poster picture as seen on the movies' [=TvTropes=] page, but [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Delight_(1973_film)#/media/File:Turkish_Delight_(film).jpg on the DVD cover]]: the two main characters' heads are really floating and tacked-onto the background.

* When the Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures started, there was no requirement for the cover to literally depict a scene from the book, and the cover from the first book in the series, ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresTimewyrmGenesys Timewyrm: Genesys]]'', included the Doctor's head floating in midair. Years later, when the last book, ''The Dying Days'', was being written, there was a thought that it should have [[BookEnds a similar cover]]. Since it was now the convention that the cover ''should'' depict a scene from the book, the author added a sequence where the Doctor's HugeHolographicHead appeared over London. Then that scene wasn't used for the cover after all.

* This was a common cover design for almost all of the Star Trek novels of the nineties.

** One of the Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration numbered novels, ''Imbalance'', had Crusher and Riker's heads floating over the Jarada's city.

* ''FZero'' series has this, notably ''F-Zero X'', which features Captain Falcon's angry face on the center of the cover.

* Movies from TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation sometimes get covers with this to [[AllAnimationIsDisney follow Disney's suit]].

* PhilCollins has his head in the red light on his ''No Jacket Required'' Album. Also appears in the music video for his greatest hit "In the Air Tonight" to intercut with Phil wandering down the corridor full of doors.

* Spoofed for ''ComicBook/DamageControl'' Vol. 3 No. 1. ''How'' many times can we do the same floating heads cover?

* The promotional posters for ''{{No Country for Old Men}}'' featured Llewelyn Moss as a tiny figure fleeing desperately from [[EvilOverlooker the looming visage of the inexorable Anton Chigurh]], the composition of [[http://www.amazon.com/Country-Old-Men-Vintage-International/dp/0307387135 the image]] reflecting the story's contemplation of trying in vain to outrun fate. For [[http://www.amazon.com/Country-Old-Men-Javier-Bardem/dp/B00118T63C the DVD cover]]? Floating Heads!

* All the ''Franchise/StarWars'' {{DVD}}s released during the 2000s suffer from this.
* ''Film/GiveMyRegardsToBroadStreet'', 2000s {{DVD}} release -- taken to the minimalist extreme; the original posters also had a dash of this.

A term referring to the tendency for FilmPosters and {{DVD}} cover art to have a black background with the faces of the lead actors above the name of the movie. Sometimes it is a simple one or two heads staring at you with other, film-specific, art in the foreground. Other times it is the entire cast in various stages of intensity... and nothing else. When done with the {{villain}}, it is EvilOverlooker. Often overlaps with SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou.

* When the Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures started, there was no requirement for the cover to literally depict a scene from the book, and the cover from the first book in the series included the Doctor's head floating in midair. Years later, when the last book was being written, there was a thought that it should have [[BookEnds a similar cover]]. Since it was now the convention that the cover ''should'' depict a scene from the book, the author added a sequence where the Doctor's HugeHolographicHead appeared over London. Then that scene wasn't used for the cover after all.

* Utilized in [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/78/Marypoppins.jpg this poster]] from the original release of ''Film/MaryPoppins'', which in contrast to later home video covers, emphasizes the flashy musical aspects over the fantasy aspects. This Syndrome was also utilized on DVD covers from [[http://media.photobucket.com/image/mary%20poppins%20dvd/doleted/Disney/MaryPoppins1998.jpg 1998]] and [[http://www.popentertainment.com/marypoppins.jpg 2009]].

* Yahtzee writes on the subject on [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/8631-Extra-Punctuation-American-Box-Art-Sucks this]] Extra Punctuation, touching on ''VideoGame/HeavyRain'', ''{{Ico}}'', ''VideoGame/AnotherWorld'' and others, as part of a column bemoaning how American cover art is almost invariably of poorer quality than its international equivalents.

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/star_trek_the_motion_picture_poster.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:The Heads Are Color Coordinated Too!]]

* [[SpiderMan Peter Parker]] had his own version of this within the comic pages, known to some fans as [[FanNickname the "Floating Heads of Guilt"]], which would appear whenever Peter was pensive or on the verge of death, showing the faces of his friends, his loved ones, and, one time, [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome a casual friend named Josh]].

* All the ''StarWars'' {{DVD}}s released during the 2000s suffer from this.

A term referring to the tendency in modern FilmPosters and {{DVD}} cover art to have a black background with the faces of the lead actors above the name of the movie. Ubiquitous once the age of photo editing software came about, since it meant studios no longer had to commission an artist tens of thousands of dollars to paint a poster for them, when they could just take stock photos of the lead actor and have interns superimpose them onto black.

When done with the {{villain}}, it is EvilOverlooker. Often overlaps with SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou.

[[quoteright:214:[[Film/TheFifthElement http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/f6718d6ce4e5a750e8e9f864ddc3bb39.jpg]]]]

* Almost all of the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' movies do this. ''[[Film/StarTrekInsurrection Insurrection]]'' goes for the EvilOverlooker instead.

* A slipcase edition of ''Film/IndependenceDay'' was simply a flaming Earth with WillSmith's head floating above it. Thankfully, the ''actual'' cover remains the same.

-->--'''David Drayton''', ''Film/TheMist''