I am actually quite excited for this assignment, as I really love pretty posters.

Here are some research before I start on my assignment:

FILM POSTERS

I went to borrow a book called A Century of Movie Posters at the library:

And here are some of the posters I like:

And I went to various sites to find all the top film posters:

The 40 Best Movie Posters of 2017

https://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/films/the-40-coolest-movie-posters-ever/103777

 

Design Elements of Good Movie Posters

https://www.theverge.com/2014/3/12/5497728/mondo-and-the-lost-art-of-the-movie-poster

 

And I found some posters I really like:

 

 

There is another poster for this film too:

http://thecapsule.info/capsuleposters

And here are some of James Jean’s film posters:

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/12/james-jean-shape-of-water-mother-blade-runner-posters

Conclusion

Through this research, I learn that film posters can be used to show the gist of the story, or the theme, or the genre of the film, or even the kind of cinematography used in the film ( for instance, the Besos Robados film poster).

Symbols can be used to make the poster iconic, like the moth and the skull in the Silence of the Lambs film poster, and the spiral shape in Vertigo.

Film posters shouldn’t be too complicated either, and colours should be used sparingly ( especially if there is more than one element in the film).

Okay now time to research on film campaigns.

FILM CAMPAIGNS

http://burningred.co.uk/2016/07/10-films-amazing-marketing-campaigns/

https://blog.printsome.com/best-movie-marketing/

I think that I love the Deadpool and the Dark Knight film campaigns the most.

Especially this Deadpool old school style billboard poster:

It really shows the essence of the character himself.

Some of the other forms the film is been promoted can be seen in here:

The Most Absurd Deadpool Marketing, From Tinder to Obscene Emoji

In truth, I didn’t know that there are so many innovative ways which movie campaigns can use to promote the films.  So I really learn a great deal when I did this research.

FILM NAMES
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/ct-what-makes-a-good-movie-tv-title-20150917-column.html

https://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/films/40-original-movie-titles/82570

http://www.imdb.com/list/ls075158873/

Yup. Naming a film can be so complicated. I found out that film names should be easy to read, should be meaningful, and should suit the film ( e.g. how it sounds should reflect the general tone of the film, or what it symbolise). A film name should be able to stand out, and be different.

There isn’t a need to strictly abide by these criteria. But it is good to know them.

So, for my film title, I will try not to create one word titles, because it is the trend now. I want to create something meaningful, like the film “Perfect Blue”, which contain symbolic elements to it.

I think as for the length, based on my research, the ideal film name should probably be 7 syllables or less? But I suppose most importantly is that the words flow well together.

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PROCESS

STEP 1: Coming Up with the story

So Initially, I came up with 2 stories and film campaign ideas.

1st film:

A girl who is unable to discern dreams and reality, and ended up descending into madness. 

Gist of the story:

She was kidnapped and abused as a child. Now the scene starts with her entering University. Things happen and she start to get hallucinations. The past and the present became blurred as the film continues. Then towards the climax, she disappears. As for the climax, I couldn’t think of one, but I suppose that is not very important, especially since I don’t want the audience to know the ending before they even watch the film.

Inspired by:

Perfect Blue, Spider (2002) and Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011).

Campaign:

Missing posters around Universities. The film posters will be placed near MRTs.

2nd Film:

A guy who blends into his surroundings (literally) , unable to stand out. As the story unfolds, we will see why he become that way and how he is able to change back.

Inspired by:

Loving Vincent, Colourful(2010) film poster, A Beautiful Mind(A Korean Drama).

Campaign:

posters on walls near the CBD area ( the character will be a businessman)

Posters in trains and buses.

I decided to work on the second idea instead.

STEP 2: coming up with the style

I really love the idea of using impressionistic techniques for this assignment, especially after Erwin talked about simultaneous contrast, and also after I went to the Impressionistic art exhibition during the holidays. I also want to practice on my ‘ colour-matching’ skills, because I am really bad with colours.

So I went to find out how to paint impressionistic paintings:

http://willkempartschool.com/how-to-paint-like-monet-lessons-on-the-techniques-of-the-impressionists-video/

As for the movie itself, I want it to be like a documentary, and not have too much intense action scenes.

STEP 3: Coming up with the compositions

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FAILED COMPOSITIONS AND IDEAS

For the poster, I initially came up with a few ideas:

Then I tried to implement the one I feel work best:

This ended up really bad. I realised how hard it is to make the main character blend into his surroundings and at the same time makes it stand out from the rest. Despite trying to use the symbol of a suitcase to create emphasis on the character, it still ended up horribly.

And so, because I really love the idea of impressionistic style (yup I am so stubborn), I decided to change story slightly instead.

It is now about a student from a rural village who came to the city to study as he got a scholarship. He got a really big cultural shock when he got into the city as he looks so different from the other students. And so the story will be about him overcoming his struggle with the environment and himself.

I came up with some sketches:

And ended up with this composition:

Which looks like some character made of legos at the bottom of a black screen.

I tried to change the composition a bit by changing the camera angle:

I realised that this composition isn’t good either halfway painting it.

And so I thought of doing the initial story I came up with, but instead of having similar colours as the background, the character will be duller in colour than those around him:

After doing this sketch, I realised how boring the poster is. It is just like a default poster design or scene that will be used when the story is about work and the lack of identity.

And so, because I am so stubborn on using an impressionistic style for my work ( I really love the faded look of the painted objects or people), I decided to change the story again.

This time, it is about an auntie with Alzheimer’s, and it is inspired by the film ‘ Still Alice’.

And as I want it documentary style, I decided to just focus on the face    ( also because I realised that with my current skills, I can’t do impressionistic style to paint the clothes of the character)

And here it is:

It ended up looking horrendous ( though I used my mum as my reference). But at least halfway through, I discovered how to use one of the brushes I have.

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And there you have it, my process so far.