Film Poster Design Experiment

Film Poster Design Experiment

I experimented with designs we could use for our film poster. Both of the images below are very rough drafts, using stills from clips that we shot to use in the trailer.

In the first draft I concentrated more on layout and colours. In the second draft, I used the layout of the first draft and worked more on the typography i.e. sizes and fonts.

First Draft

• I chose to use white as the main colour for the typography as it stood out well against the orange/yellow in the background image. This makes it easy for the audience to read in the short time they are looking at the poster.
• I wanted to have ‘pops’ of a bold colour, which is a common convention in film posters. I used an electric blue as this is the colour that clashes with orange in the colour wheel. I used it for the stars on the reviews and brackets around the award. This draws attention to the positive things about the film, making the audience more likely to want to see it.
• The billing’s block is in the conventional position. I used a template for this, but it will be personalised for the film in the final draft of the poster.
• I used transparent logos of production companies, this allowed me to change the colours so that they stood out against the background image. As they are at the bottom of the poster, where the background image is its darkest, it used white so that they are distinguished.
• I placed the reviews on the left hand side of the poster. I only wrote two, but we could use more in the final draft of the poster. They take up the middle half the height and about a quarter of the width of the poster. The review is larger than the critic, this is a common convention as the audience are more interested in what is being said about the film than the critic and who they are representing.
• In the image used, the character is slightly off centred, this conforms to the golden rule, as the audience’s eye falls on one of the four corners. In all of the corners there is something that draws the eye around the rest of the poster.
• The title is the largest text, in the top right corner of the poster. This draws the audience’s attention, and leads the eye to the tagline in the top left corner. The tagline is smaller than the title, a convention of all film posters.

Second Draft

• Again, I chose the main typography to be white. This is the colour that stood out most against the background image used. Although, the colour doesn’t work everywhere i.e. the left hand side of the mage is quite bright, so the white can’t be read very easily. As we are not using this image as the poster, this will not affect our final draft.
• The colour ‘pops’ compliment the background image used. I used a similar red colour to the doorway to the right of the poster for the brackets around the Sundance Award and the stars in the reviews. The light, pastel red attracts the audience’s eye around the poster. I also used the same green/grey colour in the doorway the character is sitting in for the tagline, again complimenting the image.
• The reviews are in the same place as the first draft poster. But I worked more on each review individually. There are certain words that are larger than the others, these words summarise the review and mean that the review can be read in a short amount of time, keeping the audience’s attention for longer i.e. Powerful. Moving. Masterpiece. compared to powerful and moving, an emotional masterpiece.
• The bold, blocky font is common convention for social realism film posters, which I did not use in the first draft. This font is a draft of what we will use in the final poster as I didn’t work on the colour/effect of it.
• In the final draft of the poster, we are likely to add an effect to the typography to incorporate it into the image used i.e. a spray paint effect so that it can be placed on a wall in the image.

Typography Conventions in Social Realism Films

Deconstruction of the Typography used in Social Realism Films

Social realism film posters follow conventions within the genre. I will be deconstructing the use of typography in the posters i.e. colour, size and position.

Fish Tank

• The majority of the typography is an electric blue colour. Although, due to the use of a baby pink colour in the photograph used on the poster, there are also uses of the same pink colour within the typography.
• The colours work well together, the title and reviews stand out, due to being bigger than the other parts of text. The star reviews also stand out, as they are the only pink writing on the poster.
• The less important text, i.e. the actors (given that these are not the selling point of the film) and the billings block are in smaller black text, which do not stand out as much, and therefore not drawing the audience’s attention
• All of the typography is within the left two thirds of the poster, with the main character filling the right third of the poster. This conforms to the golden rule as there is nothing in the centre of the poster, instead the title is slightly to the left, drawing the audience’s attention around the poster.
• All of the typography is the same font. All text is in capitals. This font is commonly used for social realism films. There is no special element to the text, it is quite basic and blocky. Instead, the typography is incorporated in the image, with peeling wallpaper effects being used.

This is England

• The title of the film is in bold colours. This is different to the rest of the text on the poster. The red, white and blue used represents the Union Jack, a symbol of patriotism. This conforms to the title of the film, allowing the audience to relate the two.
• The rest of the typography on the poster is black, making it seem less important than the title. The black stands out well against the light blues used in the poster, making it easy for the audience to read in the short time they are looking at the poster.
• The title is the largest text on the poster which fills the whole width of the landscape poster. The other text is smaller, again making it less important. The direction is the second largest text, showing the main selling point of the film as the audience are likely to enjoy this film is they like the director’s past work.
• The ‘This is England’ is slightly above the centre of the poster. It is above the characters in the photography used. The awards and reviews are at the top of the page, drawing the audience’s attention all around the poster. This billing’s block is in the conventional place, but very small and white, making it barely noticeable against the grey floor in the image.
• The same font is used throughout, apart from the director. The text stating the director of the fil is ‘spray painted’ onto the fence the characters are standing against. This incorporates it into the image, making the typography standout against the other text.   
• The rest of the typography is in al capitals in a bold, blocky font, common for the social realism genre.
• The ‘This is England’, has an effect on it, which incorporates it into the image. It looks as though it is on the corrugated iron fence the characters are standing against.

The Selfish Giant

• The title of the film is a light red colour. This contrasts to the neutral coloured image used for the poster and the brown typography used for the reviews.
• The red font is continued for the director/writer of the film. This highlights that this is the main selling point of the film as it stands out against the other text.
• The title of the film is very large compared to the other typography. It fills up half of the height of the poster and two thirds of the width. The rest of the space, minus the image, is filled with reviews including bold stars. The stars allow the audience to quickly see the reviews of the film – the more stars, the better the review.
• The position of the title is slightly off centre, fulfilling the golden rule. It is slightly left and above the centre of the poster. There are reviews written above and to the right of the title, making effective use of the rest of the space available. There are ratings of the film (stars) below the title is rows, this allows the audience to see a summary of what different critics think of the film, without spending too long looking at the poster. The billing’s block is the conventional place.
•  The same font is used throughout. An all capitals, bold and blocky font, a common convention of social realism film posters. The title of the film has a slight gradient, with the colour being a dark red at the bottom of the three words. There is an image incorporated into the title – electricity pylons.

Deconstruction of film websites

http://www.panmovie.com
- Typography: The titles uses the serif font  which is old fashioned, which is effective in relation to the story which was written in 1904.
- Moving background image: The moving background image of the pirate ship is effective because the image isn’t actually moving but it looks as though it does.
- Genre is clear: The genre is clear t be ‘Fantasy’ due to the floating pirate ship over the London skyline.
- Content: The website contains videos, photo gallery, fun & games, posters and soundtracks.
- Social media: At the top of the page the website shows the logos of the following social media sites, Instagram, Facebook, twitter and google+ #discoverneverland #panmovie
- Drop down menu: The drop down menu is a very small icon in the top left hand corner showing hyperlinks such as downloads and ‘meet the characters’.
- Soundtrack: There is a hyperlink showing the list of songs from the film so the audience can  research the music.
- User friendly: It has a simple layout and it is easy to navigate around the page.


http://www.jupiterascending.com

- Typography: The title is metallic and stands out, this works well with the genre of sci-fi.
- Background image: The background isn’t a moving image but it isn’t needed as it contains a lot of detail about the locations, characters and mise-en-scene.
- Genre is clear: The genre is clear to be sci-fi due to the futuristic buildings, out of space background and also from the type of clothing the characters are wearing.
- Drop down menu: The isn’t a drop down menu however there is hyperlinks that slide of the left and offer you options.

- Social media: In the bottom left hand corner it shows the logos of social media sites where you can tweet and share about the film.

- User friendly: The website is user-friendly as it is all on one page and no need to scroll down. All the information is at the top and it is easy to navigate through the page.

http://www.thewalk-movie.net/site/

- Typography: The titles bold, white and very simple, which stands out from the blue background.

- Background image: The background image is of a man walking along a wire across two buildings, which stands out and makes the audience want to go watch it as it is enigmatic.

- Genre is clear: The genre is clear to be thriller because the idea of action and suspense due to the man walking along the wire.

- Social media: the social media sites in the top left hand corner gives the audience the chance to follow the films online to find out more information.

- Drop down menu: The menu is very basic with very few hyperlinks such as videos and information and images of the cast and crew.

- User-friendly: the website allows you to watch the trailer automatically and the page is very simple with little going on, which makes it easy to navigate on.

  

Editing Practical

- Firstly I started by editing the sequence to make a flash back effect. I did this by using the close up shot of my face with tears and make up running down. I edited it to make it look like I was looking through the mirror thinking of happy memories. I then used repetition of this shot at the end of the teaser trailer.
- For the flash back I used the editing effect 'Flash' on the lights section and putting them in before the flash back.
- I then changed the shot of myself running through the subway to the same scene but filmed on the go-pro. I felt that the go-pro was more effective and also the lighting was darker which suited our genre.
- Next I added in titles at the end of the trailer. We started by brainstorming our ideas for our titles and came up with, 'Every moment that changes your life...changes who you are', and split this quote between two shots.
- Lastly I changed the titles at the beginning,' Life is delicate, Life is disposal, Life is eighteen',  to overlap previous shots so save time in the trailer so we come add in more images, this is because the title took up too much room.

Titles and Typography

Bullet Boy
- The font is distorted which suggests that the narrative is going to be imperfect.
- 'Thousands of guns on our streets', suggests that that it is an urban drama located in working class rough areas.
-'This is the story of one' conveys that its a story about true events that happened across the country everyday.

This Is England
- The titles have a white outline which contrasts with the black background and makes it stand out.
- The titles also suggest that the trailer instead of  theatrical because it indicates the narrative of the film.
- The white outline is also distorted and has a effect which looks like its been ripped out of a newspaper.


Train Spotting
- The titles in this trailer are very basic and the font is different on every title.
- The red and white titles have the same house style as the film poster which makes the theme obvious and the audience are able to recognise it.
- The font style isn't very creative but uses reviews which is a common convention in film trailers.


Shank
- The titles are very bold and the black font contrasts with the vignette background.
- The title, 'The gangs have taken over', takes up most of the shot which suggests that the gangs play a huge part in the production and narrative and that they are the antagonists.
- The sons-serif font shows that the film is modern because a serif font would suggest that it is traditional
and old-fashioned.

Girlhood
- The font is the same throughout the trailer.
- The white font constants with the black background and black and white is a commonly used combination in film trailers.
- 'One of the best coming of age movies', clearly identifies the genre and the possible target audience.

Editing our trailer

• After filming, we uploaded our footage onto final cut
• As a group, we looked through our footage to select the best shots and deleted the scenes which didn't work out
• Once we'd decided which shots we were going to use, I dragged them onto the timeline in roughly the correct order
• The scenes where Verity is writing on the mirror were too long so I had to crop these down so that it's a quick shot of her writing each word. I tried speeding the clips up so we can see what is being written but we all concluded that normal speed looked better where we can only see part of the word.

• The next scenes were filmed at school. We filmed by the lockers as this is a common convention in teen dramas. I cropped the shot so that it was of Verity laughing with her friends as this shot is being used through her good phase.
• The shot after is of her walking down the stairs in school. This shot wasn't planned on our storyboard but when we were reviewing our footage, we found that this would make the transition much smoother and make it link more to our storyline.

Typography Experiment

Typography for Trailer  

I used www.1001fonts.com to look for fonts to use for the typography of our teaser trailer.

The titles that we plan to have is the title and tagline of the film:

Life is delicate. Life is disposable. Life is eighteen.

Below is an experiment into what type of font is best suited for our genre and plot.

Otto

This font is quite similar to a girls handwriting which, as our main character in the trailer is a teenage girl, is suitable for our trailer.

The font is quite cursive but still easy to read, which is essential to ensure that the target audience’s attention is kept.

As our trailer is only 60 seconds, the titles will need to be quick to ensure that we have the maximum amount of time to show the story of the film. This means that the font must be easy and quick to read, which would depend on the size that this font would be.

 

Mumsies

Again, this font is similar to a girls handwriting, which is suitable for our plot and genre.

This font is more spaced out than the one above, allowing it to be read easier, which is a benefit for the trailer.

The drawback of this font is that it could be seen as too messy for the eighteen year-old girl that we have in the trailer. It also has less of a handwritten effect as the edges are more rounded that Otto, which is quite ‘scratched’.

Santos Dumont

This is also a handwritten font. This is less like an eighteen year old handwriting as it could be seen as an ‘old English’ handwriting style, seen in historical dramas. I liked the font because it looks like it could have been written in a diary, which would be good if we had focused the plot of the film around the girl having a journal.

As our trailer is based more around social media, this font wouldn’t be appropriate for our trailer.

HandTIMES

This isn’t a handwritten font. I liked this font as it is simple and a commonly used and therefore recognisable and easy to read.

If the font is larger, it is easier to see that the font is actually coloured in, with the edges not being completely straight.

This makes the font slightly imperfect, a common convention used in teen dramas as it can be seen as relatable. It is appropriate for our trailer as the main character goes ‘off the rails’ which shows imperfection, which could also be shown through the font used. 

Deconstruction of previous A2 media trailer - "The Deprived"

The Deprived

Production companies

• Simple yet effective production companies
• Relevant to genre

Camera angles

• Good range of camera angles - handheld, close up, tracking, long shot, etc.

Mise-en-scene

• Good use of location - abandoned buildings, forests, etc.
• Attention to small details such as rusting and blood stains to suit genre and to make it look abandoned
• Map looks realistic
• Dark lighting to portray atmosphere

Typography

• Typography is in bold to show its importance
• Letters aren't perfect - have a rough texture and possible blood stains
• Typography is appropriate as it is similar to the state of the location

Music

• Sound of radio/real news footage at the beginning - sound is distorted to give a no signal effect which is effective as this film is about survival
• 'Heartbeat sound' when clips of the location is shown to build tension
• Use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound - diegetic sound of the male actor speaking
• Effective use of sound at the end where we hear the sound of a gunshot and birds, possibly crows, flying away

Issues in teen dramas

Some issues that occur in teen dramas include bullying/social media, pregnancy, body issues, sex, drugs and alcohol. We will be taking inspiration from the following films as we want to target teen issues such as the dangers of social media and drugs/alcohol.
 

Pregnancy:

-Juno

-Pregnancy Pact
-Love, Rosie

 

 

 

Bullying/Social media:
-The boy she met online
-Stalked at 17
-Betrayed at 17
-Cyberbully
-Trust 

 

 

Drugs/Alcohol/Parties

-Project X
-Spring Breakers
-Requiem for a dream
-Trainspotting