Film posters

Independant film poster: Roping

 

My independent film poster goes against the typical conventions seen in film noir posters, these conventions including multiple characters and a stylistic colouring scheme. However it does folowing some convention by hiding the main character which is relevant to what the plot could be, using sharp lighting from the headlights of the car and rim lighting to create conflicting messages about the main character, as well as a silhoutte of an unloaded gun and what appears to be a strap for something which leaves the audience guessing and sparks curiousity. The urban background sets the scene for where the film is likely to take place, which looks quite homely, this could indicate a sort of trouble in paradise setting but again would make the audience want to watch it to find out what happens, with why this character is being confronted.

Poster analysis

As further analysis I looked at some other movie posters

Analysis of poster

The poster for drive is where I got some inspiration for my Independant poster, it features glaring lights and a brighter scene, initially urban and calm looking, until the audience notices the car tailing Ryan Gosling's character, which creates a sense of claustrophobia within the composition of the poster. This breaks many conventions of traditional film noir, choosing to adopt the standard modern poster layout, rather than a poster which features multiple characters.

The clothing which the main character is wearing consists of a white shirt with a black collar, which could indicate that he is a good guy with some bad secrets or is forced to do dirty work. The red studded glove visible on the steering wheel shows that he takes his job seriously and is probably highly skilled, while also indicating danger. The tagline "There are no clean getaways" suggests that the character will be facing many chases throughout the film, causing havoc, which may mislead some of the audience who visit the film, surprising them with a much better paced film rather than a generic action flick.

Main Production poster: Siren

First draft

For the first draft of my poster I wanted to focus on one the main characters, initially the idea was to have multiple posters of the main characters, so that the audience could spot them out as they traverse through their daily lives, finding characters and raising questions as to who they were. This particular poster is a voyeuristic style, with the black lines going across the femme fatales pose as if they were blinds, a typical convention of film noir. The black and white style creates a sense of innocence that relates to the character, similar to how she acts within the film itself. The font used was Rage Italics, which gives the film a sophisticated yet classical look, putting a twist on the usual fonts that were seen on film noirs of old. One problem I find with this poster in particular however is that it does not convey the mood of the film very well, there is no hint of a modern setting, which may shock those who decide to watch the film when browsing in a theater, as they may expect a black and white noir style of film, rather than a neo noir.

Second draft

The second draft of the poster follows the main idea once again, focusing mainly on one of the main characters, this time being Hawke, I used a scene directly from the film, in which Hawke lights a cigarette during the crime montage. The filter used in this poster is called Conté Crayon and is found with the default filter set in Photoshop CS5. I felt that this filter when I was exploring my options created a photographic effect, taken possibly from a cheap camera or phone in low lighting, creating various artifacts on the shot. The idea once again follows voyeurism as the picture could have been taken by someone observing nearby, which could possibly be the films antagonist Raymond or Dci Jones, however the audience are the ones who see this poster, which places them in that position, making them feel uncomfortable as they look at a visceral poster. I decided this time to include a faded image of the femme fatale, to show that there is a love interest involved, the audience may remember seeing her briefly in the poster when the film starts, instantly creating a connection and raising questions.

This poster has an overlay over it which creates a sepia tone, mirroring the warmth of the match that is lit in his hands, the version below has no filter over it and is simply black and white. The film title on this poster is red as opposed to white, to signify danger as well as place emphasis of the siren, informing the audience that the film features a seductive siren as well as connotations of the police and law, relating to how Hawke takes the law into his own hands within the film.

The lighting on actor James' face signifies that his character is slowly turning to a darker side, with light mostly present on his face as the darkness creeps around from behind, to achieve this I   changed the gamma correction of the shot to intensify the shadows, creating the effect which the audience can interpret when they view the poster at a bus stop or inside the cinema.

Choosing the filter and exploring ideas during the production of this draft.

Final Poster

I decided in the end that I wanted to use the white version of this poster, I felt that including two more people in the gang would finish the symbolic meaning of the poster, retaining the question that the audience will raise, but also stating why they are visible, as to if the images on the poster are an apparition of the protagonists mind.

An example of the poster advertised on a bus stop, the film is targeted at a more mature teenage audience and adults, so bus stops would be a perfect fit as many students around the country travel to college or university via bus, as well as many adults commuting or driving past, seeing the large rendition of the main characters face, triggering a recognition if they later on see an advert for the film online.