Final Poster- how we created it

To create our final design we initially began by using the 'smudge' tool on PhotoShop to remove the 'coming soon' writing on the bottom of the palm as we felt that this ruined the image as it was too weak and it took away from the 'White Lies' impact. We then used a 'magnetic lasso' tool and selected around the hand, we inverted the selection so and then used a paintbrush tool and painted the background in black. This removed any imagery in the background and enhanced the black of the background. This makes the hand stand out more and leaves no other distractions to the hand itself. We then enhanced the brightness and contrast to make the shadows harsh and to make the center of the hand brighter. This again makes the hand stand out from the background as it is brighter. Using the 'scratch' font from 'dafont.com' we create the lettering. The initial lettering is quite messy and so we cleaned it up on PhotoShop using a paint brush tool in a separate document, as the writing was in black and the background was in white we inverted the colours to make the background black and the writing white. We altered the size of the writing by changing the size of the whole image to make it the correct size, we then selected 'Sometimes they' and dragged it over to the document with the image in it. We then enlarged the document again to make the writing even bigger and dragged 'Hurt' over and positioned it in the correct place. We then did the same thing with 'coming soon', opened a new document, pasted it over, simplified the lettering, inverted the colours, filled the letters in with red using a 'fill' tool after matching the colour with the blood on the hand, change the size of the document to make the writing small, and dragged the writing over to the document with the hand in it. For the final stage of our creation we used the 'text' tool and created our production and cast list using 'impact' font, we choose this font as it was simple and easy to read and could be small and still legible. We did this in a separate layer and moved it to the correct position and manipulated the size of the font.

Idea Development

After choosing our initial idea as design 2, we decided to develop it further and create alternative ways in which we could construct this poster. We used photoshop to create a realistic draft of each poster and changed certain aspects to see which one we thought would be the most successful.











In this draft we have changed the text of the tagline by placing 'hurt' underneath the rest of the text, which creates a greater impact. We have also placed the 'Coming Soon' in red, to emphasise the theme of violence and blood. This also creates layers of white and red, which helps to reflect the contrast of innocence and violence shown throughout our trailer. However, we felt that the placement of 'hurt' crowded the poster and took away the impact of the whole tagline.

In this draft we have kept the tagline the same size and haven't emphasised the word 'hurt'. This still gives a big impact, however, we felt that this didn't draw enough attention to the violence in the film. We also felt that by having all of the tagline on the same line, this created a bigger impact and didn't draw the attention away from the image.

In this draft we have kept all of the writing in white and kept the word 'hurt' in a bigger size. This is to emphasise the theme of violence, in which we think works well in anchoring the image of the hand. However we felt that the 'coming soon' appeared more striking in red, which is important in order for it to be identified as a film poster.

In this draft we have placed the word 'hurt' underneath the rest of the tagline, to draw an emphasis on the theme of violence. However as we previously mentioned we felt that overall it took away the impact of the tagline as you had to look at to many sections to read the whole sentence. All of the writing is in red, which we used to emphasise the blood and theme of violence in the poster. However we feel that it doesn't make the tagline stand out, as there is too much red on the poster.

In this draft we have changed the placement of the word 'hurt' and moved it underneath the rest of the tagline to draw emphasis on the theme of violence and struggle. However, we felt that it took away the impact of the tagline, as your eyes were attracted to too many places, which meant you didn't absorb the information. We kept the tagline in white as we felt that it stood out from the rest of the background and reflect the innocence in the film as well.

Our Photoshoot

Here are a selection of our images that we took on our photoshoot. To create the blood on the hand we used fake blood, and black eye shadow to emphasise the shadows to make the image more striking. We experimented with flash on and off to see the differnt effects it created. We also experimented with lighting with in the room to see how this effected the image. We decided that the most effective was when we turned the light off in the room and left the flash on as it lit the hand up and made everything around the hand dark and emphasised the shadows. We experimented with differnt postioning of the hand and using another hand to hold the hand to see if it created a scarier image. We decided that the 'coming soon' wasnt effective and planned to get rid of it once we began to edit them on photoshop.


We decided that this image was the most effective as the positioning of the hand looks as if its coming to wards you. It fill the majority of the shot and is centered therefore making it eye catching. The area around the hand is dark and therefore means that it will be easier to edit. The lighting has worked as the flash has reflected on some of the writing making it stand out and the shadows will be easily enhanced. We plan on enhancing the brightness and contrast to make it more shocking, and we would like to remove the 'coming soon' writing as we feel that it is not effective.

Draft poster feedback

After producing initial design ideas on Paint, we showed our class what we had designed in order to choose one idea and develop it further.

First Draft
Our peers felt that this draft gave away too much information, as in the trailer you are not able to see the man's face, whereas in this image although it will be dark, it still will show too much of the man's identity. This will diminish the narrative enigma and mystery created in our trailer. They also felt that whilst it was a striking image, it didn't stand out as much as the second draft and in comparison was 'boring'.

Second Draft
Everyone thought that our second mock idea would be the most successful film poster. The reasons they said for this was that it was an unique design that would grab people's attention and stand out the most from other film posters. This is important in order to attract an audience to watch the film, instead of them watching competitors films. People also said that our genre of horror was extremely clear, which is important to portray a story and attract people who are interested in this genre. By using conventions of a horror genre such as blood and low key lighting we are able to attract audiences that are engaged by this genre. People also said that as the title is on a hand it creates mystery as that is the only feature you have surrounded by darkness, which makes people question what is happening. As the title is in the middle of the page it stands out, which makes the title memorable. Although people did say that they think there should be more blood surrounding the hand to create a bigger impact.

Third Draft
Our peers believed that this draft also gave away too much information, as whilst the image is shocking and striking, it doesn't leave enough mystery to entice an audience in. They believed that if you were presented with this image you are given the climax of the film and receive the same emotion as if you were too watch it, which defeats the object in promoting it. They also stated that by using this image we would ruin the narrative enigma that we created in the trailer. As we used this image in a short flash, the audience were not completely aware of what the image was, which created a mystery and a want to find out. So by presenting this image we are diminishing this effect and ultimately not achieving our goal of attracting an audience.

Final Decision
Myself and Amy have decided that we are going to develop our ideas for our second draft, as this received the most positive feedback and everyone voted for it as the best idea. We also thought that this would be the most successful idea ad our feedback has encouraged us to develop it further.

inspiration

Myself and Amy where inspired by this poster due to its simplisty. It has a single image, and the key colour is red. The image fills the page and everything around the image is black. There is no production logos, just simply the title. This creates a narrative enigma and leaves the audience questioning what comes next. It doesnt rely on quotations, or captions to define its genre, as you can see through the image that it is a horror film. This shows how a macro media has used a simplistic style and we have taken inspiration from this.

Poster Mock Ups

After analysing other macro media posters for films such as 'Orphan' and 'The last house on the left', myself and Ferne have come to understand conventions within posters and techniques used to attract specific audiences. We have designed three different posters that we could use in order to promote our film, taking into account our research and its relevance to our own film.


Here is our first draft:








This draft focuses on a main image of the antagonist, which will grab peoples attention as they may feel like the figure is looking at them. The image of Bowe remanis sinister, as the poster will have low key lighting and as his hood is up it hides his identity. This helps the audience to recognise the genre of horror, as a dark colour palette and a mysterious figure are conventions of horror. We would have a dark background and the writing would be in white in order to stand out from the background. The white colour for the text would also reflect the title with connotations of innocence. We also placed 'Coming Soon' underneath the title so that the audience are able to relate this as a film poster.

This draft focuses on a main image of a hand. We wanted to use a hand to represent the girl pleading for help. We decided that as the main image we would put the title on her hand in blood to create a bigger impact. The hand would be in the middle of the canvas to ensure it is clear that this is the title of the film. This approach is a unique way in displaying the title of the film, which will help our poster to stand out. The genre of horror is clear through the image of blood and low key lighting, which are conventions of the horror genre. This will help to attract an audience that is interested in horror films, which are part of our target audience. We will also place the 'Coming Soon' underneath the image of the hand to ensure that the audience are aware that it is promoting a film. The simplistic poster creates a greater impact as people can focus on the image of the poster. We have used a limited colour palette of red, black and white. The colours of red and white are very ambiguous and create alternative meanings of the poster. These colours also contrast with the black background, which has universal connotations of evil and the unknown, which are themes our film portrays.

This draft uses a main image of Sophie who has been beaten and in distress. This is eye catching as it is an unusual and disturbing image to see. This will intrigue people and persuade them to watch the film. This image is also shown in the trailer which will create synergy between the different promotional mediums and build awareness of the film as a whole. The white lies will be in a black font as the image will not be black and this will help the title to stand out more than it is in white. This also creates a juxtaposition with the title as it uses the word 'white' and uses the colour 'black'. This can help portray the sinister aspects of a white lie, which is the concept behind our film. We have also used a tagline to reflect the concept of the film, which also makes the audience relate their own experiences of 'white lies' to the film and may encourage them to see the effects.

All of our drafts sell our film through a main image. This is because it is a horror genre and the images in the film will grab people's attention. As our film is in the micro media we have not used cast as our unique selling point as due to our budget we have not used anyone famous and people will not be able to recognise them.

Analysing Film posters

This is a film poster for 'The Last House on the Left' a major influenential campaign to the creation of my trailer. This poster is a really simplitic with one photo, no photos of the cast, and a simplistic colour theme. By not including images of the cast, I can tell that this is not the unique selling point for the film, and that they are relying on the genre of the film to sell it. By using a dark sinister colour theme they clearly portray this genre. In generic horror films the idea of a 'haunted house' is often used in a similar way to this image, with a lonely house on the top of the hill lit up by moonlight with silouhettes of bare trees around it. By including images like this the designers are using intertextual references, that the audience will recognise and relate it to other films of this genre. The use of light exiting the house and it being dark all around reflects the battle between good and evil with in the plot. The picture looks stormy due to the contrast which also reflects this storyline. The combination of the word 'House' being larger than any of the other words on the poster, and the image of the house relate to the focus of the house in the film. By making red the only other colour in the poster it reflects blood and danger. Red could possibly portray love and romance, but in the case of this poster it clearly reflects blood due to the splatters and the rest of the poster being dark and sinister. The title of this poster is larger than the image, this is unusual for most film posters as usually the designer is relying on the image to draw the attention of the audience in. This poster therefore breaks away from the conventions of film poster and subverts them, this may in itself draw the attention of the audience in as its not what they are expecting to see. The fact that the typography is really simple as well is usual as i would assume that normally if they were going to make the text the focus of the trailer, then they would choose to use a fancy font to make it more aesthetically pleasing. The reason why i think they have made the text the focus of the poster is because they want people to remember the name of the trailer the most, this is why they have also used a really simplistic font so that it is quick, easy to read and impacting and therefore memorable. At the bottom of the poster there is the names of the production company, studio, crew and cast memebers names. They are really small and compacted together, this means that they are not the feature of the poster.