Film Poster

In between the first filming night and the second filming night I was able to complete my film poster on paper and then on the computer. My ideas have been attached below.

First draft of Film Poster

I liked the second idea more than the first. On my filming night I took some pictures and I chose to use this picture (pictured left) for the poster. I took the photo of the reflection of the clown in a mirror with my DSLR camera and a Pentax slave flash. This created over exposure in the photo and the shadow and background was black and half the clown was also covered by the darkness, which gave the effect that the clown was appearing out of the darkness, the light from the flash also further highlighted the clown and its menacing features. I decided to use this picture because of the natural effect and unease feeling it gave off. This is my original concept design of my film poster. I chose a black background because it symbolised the film being mysterious, dark and unsettling which are connotations of the film. It is also allows the target audience to identify that this is a horror film based on just a few factors which are conventional in the genre. I chose title Split because the protagonist in the trailer has a split personality, and that is the main narrative of the film. This is also both appealing and daunting to an audience because it is both an exaggeration and an extreme case of a mental disorder which can anyone. The title then sums this up, and its simplicity grabs the attention of the audience. I chose the font Myriad Pro (regular, size 250pt, sharp) in a deep red. The red most noticeably refers to danger and blood, and its darker tone reflects the narrative of the film. The red and the black are also the only colours which really stand out in the poster, which due its simplicity of the two colours is more effective than overwhelming the target audience. The size and position of the title is important because it stands out and because it is slightly off centre and to the left again unsettles the audience. To really make the font stand out I used several effects in Adobe PhotoShop such as general blending and outer glow:

General Blending: Opacity – 78%

Advanced Blending – Fill Opacity 62% Channels – R Blend Chipped Layers as Group Transparency Shapes Layers

Outer Glow: Structure – Opacity 72% - Noise 27% - Red

Quality: Range – 51%

Colour Overlay: Blending mode – Normal, Black Opacity – 26%

The rating stars are conventional to show the audience how good the film is. I made the stars myself by going on Google images and finding a picture of one star. I then coloured it red to match the colour scheme I’ve already discussed. I thought, however, this was slightly dull and to make it more striking and slightly unconventional to stand out and I put in stripes. This also further reflects the title as it emphasises the word Spilt as the main narrative of the film.

Second draft of Film Poster

From my original concept I made this poster (pictured left). I kept the design and the main focus of the picture and background the same but I changed the font of the title and added some more text (titles of the film magazines and a caption). The title has changed from red font to a red pixel distortion highlighting the black font of the title. This was done by: Font: Palatino Linotype Size 270pt Colour Red (H-0%, S-96%, B-89%, R-227, G-9, B-9)

Effects: Blending Mode – normal

Opacity 100% Fill Opacity 0 Channels R Blend, Red

Outer Glow: Blend Mode – Screen Opacity – 72% Noise – 27% Colour – Red

Elements: Softer Spread – 0% Size – 250px

Quality: Range – 51%

Colour Overload: Blend Mode - Normal Opacity 26% I chose do this as it has darker connotations as the title is almost lost in the darkness and highlighted by the red which symbolises blood and danger. Apart from the colour I kept the positioning the same because it connects with the clown figure. The caption underneath the title is another convention of the film industry as it further gets the audience’s attention as it makes them question the plot. I chose the quote “So terrifying it sends Pennywise back to clown college”, this shows intertextuality. This also will attract, not only horror fans but, the follower of Stephen King’s IT. It also, like with the star ratings, demonstrates the power of the film.

Third draft of Film Poster (finished copy)

Though I was satisfied with my poster, I thought I could improve it. I spoke to my target audience and they agreed with me and gave me some possible ideas and positive feedback. My target audience liked the back ground, the fonts, the star rating and the quotations. However they thought it was slightly cluttered and the image of the clown, however striking it was, wasn’t as scary as it could be.

The image of the clown I believe wasn’t frightening enough because the detail was lost. To solve this I thought, using the same image, to crop the image as an extreme close up would be more intimidating and terrifying. I used the lasso tool in Adobe PhotoShop on the image to cut around half the face to emphasise the split in his nature. The reason I have put it on the left is because the lighting created a strong contrast emphasising his features. This then further draws the audience’s attention to the title as the eye is lined up with the title allowing an easy natural flow. The title is the same as discussed already though with one change. My target audience did not comment on the title but I felt it could be improved. To do this I split it (again referring to the title) with an almost transparent identical font, which is slightly down and to the right of the original. This was done by:

Font: Palatino Linotype Size 270pt Colour Red (H-0%, S-96%, B-89%, R-227, G-9, B-9)

Effects: Blending Mode – normal

Opacity 100% Fill Opacity 3% Channels R,G,B Blend, Red

Outer Glow: Blend Mode – Screen

Opacity – 72% Noise – 27% Colour – Red

Elements: Softer Spread – 0% Size – 250px

Quality: Range – 51%

Colour Overload: Blend Mode Normal

Opacity 26%

Bevel & Emboss: Style – Inner Bevel Technique – Smooth Depth – 100% Size – 5pt

Shading: Angle - 60°

Altitude - 30° Shadow & Highlighting Mode – Screen Opacity 75%

Contour – Elements, range 77% In response to the feedback that the poster was cluttered, I decided to remove one of the star ratings, as I did not think that three identical ratings added to the poster. Then to balance the poster I added the conventional credits of those involved in the production of the film at the bottom of the poster. I both wrote the credits and developed their style to match that of the poster myself. I put them in white to make them stand out, contrasting the dark black and red whilst still matching the colour scheme, as they match that of the clowns face.

When I started doing the film magazine front cover I was then thinking of how it could be related to the poster. I decided it would be better to have one of the ratings as if it was from my magazine, so I've changed Total Film to Film Verdict. I have also changed the source where the description, "So terrifying it sends Pennywise back to clown college" is from. It is now from Film Verdict and not Empire. Below is the up to date poster, it is now completely finished.