So now we know what we've got to do, we'd better get cracking as there is much to be done. First step, research and planning. Nothing is just placed on a poster for people to say 'oooo doesn't that look good?'. There's always a purpose, deep stuff I know. Its like the whole 'blue curtains' in english poetry... Right, lets go!
Research and Planning:
With film posters, you'd think there was one style of poster that just gets whacked up on the wall for people to see, Well thats actually wrong. There are a wide variety of poster styles to chose from to promote a film in a specific way and for different purposes. There are 4 to choose from. Here they are:
Teaser Posters:
The first type of poster you can get is what is known as a teaser poster. It does what it says really, it teases the audience about a film. The poster has the most basic information about the film to give the audience a taster of the film genre, style etc. This style of film poster never reveals much about the film plot but will more often than not have a picture with the star or stars of the film within in it. Famous people are always a way to grab audiences into watching your film. People wouldn't exactly come and see a film if you said the lead was played by a newbie. You'd state the famous person within, even if they're playing the tiniest of roles....like a bin man or a chimney sweep. Something like that anyway.
Heres an example of a teaser trailer for the first of the Percy Jackson sequels. There is nothing revealing about this poster, not even a main character. The title and image matches showing the lightning and the suggestion that it has something to do with the greek gods with the main image being the Trident of the greek god Poseidon. A small tagline gives the smallest hint about the film but other than this no plot is revealed or even actors within the film...not even PIERCE BROSNAN!
Main Posters:
Now the main poster has a lot more information on it! This poster usually shows and names the main actors and actresses within the film as well as having an image of them within it. Main posters will ason contain production personnel (the people who work with and on the film in other terms). The distributors are also included within this style of film poster.
Again, Percy Jackson as an example, their main poster contains the three main actors within the film. It would be a bit silly to have a film called Percy Jackson and not actually contain him within the poster. This poster does give a little more away about the plot but not enough to ruin the storyline. At the bottom you can see the main actors within the film however these don't actually include all the people on the actual picture within the poster. They're name dropping really to show off who they have in their film and to grab all the fans of each actor within the film. At the bottom you probably can't see it very well but they are all the people who have worked on the film including the distribution company who, well...distribute the film.
Character Posters:
Again this poster really says what it is on the tin. The character poster contains a picture of one of the main characters within the film advertised. There are different versions of the same poster made around that character. So below you can see the posters for the Sherlock Holmes film. The two male leads are Jude Law and Robert Downey JR. This type of poster is really advertising the famous people within the film. In a way they're playing on the fact that a lot of people are HUGE fans of both these males so they've probably just gained another how many thousands of people (probably women) to go and see their film.
DVD Release Posters:
Now the DVD poster does what all of the other posters do but they also include a few extra details to make it a DVD poster. This poster usually contains short, one line reviews from newspapers, magazines, famous review sites as well as the star ratings the film is given.
In this King's Speech poster, it has several added publicity comments, the star ratings, all the good ones. You don't really want to be putting a two star rating on your poster really. You're just admitting your films pretty rubbish... This poster also contains the nominations it has been given and stating the top award they are up for just to say 'look at us, our film has to be good because we're nominated for big awards'. It works because people then go out and buy the DVD because others have said its good, well, well known publicity companies have said so.
Teaser Posters:
The first type of poster you can get is what is known as a teaser poster. It does what it says really, it teases the audience about a film. The poster has the most basic information about the film to give the audience a taster of the film genre, style etc. This style of film poster never reveals much about the film plot but will more often than not have a picture with the star or stars of the film within in it. Famous people are always a way to grab audiences into watching your film. People wouldn't exactly come and see a film if you said the lead was played by a newbie. You'd state the famous person within, even if they're playing the tiniest of roles....like a bin man or a chimney sweep. Something like that anyway.
Heres an example of a teaser trailer for the first of the Percy Jackson sequels. There is nothing revealing about this poster, not even a main character. The title and image matches showing the lightning and the suggestion that it has something to do with the greek gods with the main image being the Trident of the greek god Poseidon. A small tagline gives the smallest hint about the film but other than this no plot is revealed or even actors within the film...not even PIERCE BROSNAN!
Main Posters:
Now the main poster has a lot more information on it! This poster usually shows and names the main actors and actresses within the film as well as having an image of them within it. Main posters will ason contain production personnel (the people who work with and on the film in other terms). The distributors are also included within this style of film poster.
Again, Percy Jackson as an example, their main poster contains the three main actors within the film. It would be a bit silly to have a film called Percy Jackson and not actually contain him within the poster. This poster does give a little more away about the plot but not enough to ruin the storyline. At the bottom you can see the main actors within the film however these don't actually include all the people on the actual picture within the poster. They're name dropping really to show off who they have in their film and to grab all the fans of each actor within the film. At the bottom you probably can't see it very well but they are all the people who have worked on the film including the distribution company who, well...distribute the film.
Character Posters:
Again this poster really says what it is on the tin. The character poster contains a picture of one of the main characters within the film advertised. There are different versions of the same poster made around that character. So below you can see the posters for the Sherlock Holmes film. The two male leads are Jude Law and Robert Downey JR. This type of poster is really advertising the famous people within the film. In a way they're playing on the fact that a lot of people are HUGE fans of both these males so they've probably just gained another how many thousands of people (probably women) to go and see their film.
DVD Release Posters:
Now the DVD poster does what all of the other posters do but they also include a few extra details to make it a DVD poster. This poster usually contains short, one line reviews from newspapers, magazines, famous review sites as well as the star ratings the film is given.
In this King's Speech poster, it has several added publicity comments, the star ratings, all the good ones. You don't really want to be putting a two star rating on your poster really. You're just admitting your films pretty rubbish... This poster also contains the nominations it has been given and stating the top award they are up for just to say 'look at us, our film has to be good because we're nominated for big awards'. It works because people then go out and buy the DVD because others have said its good, well, well known publicity companies have said so.
Film Poster Deconstruction:
So now we've looked at the different types of posters we can get, its time to actually deconstruct one. We need to look at the different elements within the posters to see what we needed to include in ours as well as picking out the clever reasoning behind why they have included these features. Filmmakers don't just put things in their posters to 'look pretty'. They often represent elements of the film. Some may not be as obvious as others.
Before we look at a detailed deconstruction, lets just take a look at the simple features within a film poster. Here is the main poster for the 3rd twilight film. Take a look at each part of the poster, its all there for a reason, we just don't know it yet!
Right then, due to our film being a supernatural romance, it might be a good idea to deconstruct a poster of a film of this genre (just a thought). We can see what they include and why within their posters and maybe, just maybe it might help create our film poster and give our film the representation in needs (or something along those lines). So here is a deconstruction of the 1990's film Ghost. We may not have Patrick Swayze but there are plenty of other elements to make up for it!
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| Twilight Teaser Poster |
See told you it wasn't just a random film poster didn't I? The filmmakers are sneaky you know! Right, next up is the tutorial on how to use the software.
Photoshop Software Training and Tutorial:
Well now it's time to figure out how to use the software we're going to be making our film poster on. We'll be using the well known software Photoshop which enables you to do pretty much everything (other than make frogs into handsome Princes...its not that good!) As we'll find out later there are so many different fancy things you can do with this software from layering images right through to blending or adding effects to the images etc.
So due to our film being in the romance genre, the tutorial for blending a happy couple was a good place to start. This style poster would be useful to us after all we want to show the couple happy. So here is the tutorial I will be using to create this romantic hollywood style poster. Here goes!
And here it is, my version of this poster following the tutorial:
Not too bad eh? For a first attempt anyway. So now this has been done, we'd better move on to making our very own hollywood styled poster. Of we go!
Flat Plan
Before we actually begin to make our poster, we needed a rough idea of what it was going be set out like. Just to give us an idea of what the layout of the poster was going to be, we created what is known as a flat plan.
All the flat plan consists of is boxes with the object name within it, so if you were putting an image in a box you'd put 'Image' in a box wherever that is. Simple as, no large amounts of detail where its going to be a soothing beach image with a totem pole and dancing monkeys and why they're there (partially because no one will know why that image is even being used...).
So for our poster, here is the flat plan we have created:
At the moment that probably won't mean much to you but this is what our poster is basically going to look like. Don't worry this isn't our finished draft...
Construction of our film Poster:
Bokeh Background:
Right then, the poster making is under way. First up is the background. We wanted to create what is known as a booked effect for the background. This background was used in one of the films similar to ours called the Time Traveler's Wife and so we wanted to follow this blurred out background as if to show nothing can be seen beyond the moment now (deep I know).
So the first step was to watch a video tutorial on how to create this effect so to youtube it was!
Here is the video tutorial we watched to create this effect:
Right then, the poster making is under way. First up is the background. We wanted to create what is known as a booked effect for the background. This background was used in one of the films similar to ours called the Time Traveler's Wife and so we wanted to follow this blurred out background as if to show nothing can be seen beyond the moment now (deep I know).
So the first step was to watch a video tutorial on how to create this effect so to youtube it was!
Here is the video tutorial we watched to create this effect:
After watching this tutorial here is the effect we managed to create for the background:
Pretty cool eh? Looks all mystical and what not!
Credit Block:
When creating the credits there is a specific layout for this aspect of the poster. We needed to use the correct font as well as including the correct details within the credit block.
The font needed was known as 'Steel tongs' which enables you to enter different names of people with the film production using different keys. So this is what we used to get an idea of the order of film makers and actors:
To create the steel tongs credit block, we needed a chart to enable us to follow which keys gave us which crew members job, letter etc. So this is the chart we used to enable us to follow the characters. Some of them weren't as accurate as we thought so had to be careful in which one we followed. one wrong move and the directors the tea maker (not forgetting the biscuits).
Well here is what we created after following conventions and this chart of characters above:
Cloning tool:
On the shot you could see the ear of the female within the poster which we didn't think looked right within the photo (not that her ear isn't nice) and so we decided to use something called the cloning tool. This tool enabled us to clone a similar spot within the image, clone it and then add it to cover up the part where some of her ear can be seen.
So this is the before ear shot:
After the magical power of the cloning tool this is what the image looks like now:
Forget the rabbit being pulled out of a hat trick, this is real magic! The ear has now been covered. Precision is key in the film poster world. An ear can be the difference between a good poster and a great poster (don't laugh its true!)
Just a few more tweaks and the first poster should be ready! Be patient and the outcome will be revealed!
First Draft Film Poster:
So here it is, The Illusion of Existence first film poster, take a look!
Like it? Well lets see what our peers have to say about it!
Feedback on Poster:
Now that our peers have seen our film poster and given us feedback, we have something to act upon in improving our film poster. They had some really useful things to say that will enable the poster to be improved as well as things they liked within too!
So, here is the video of the feedback given about our poster:
Pretty critical eh? I'll go through some of the main elements we picked up on within this video:
'Are Kris and Alex meant to be see through'
The image had been edited so that Kris was a little see through, however Alex was just naturally pale and but there is no reason he should look see through. It was said that this is a rather large give away for the storyline and so it was said to maybe brighten them both up and leave them fully visible. We agreed with this and so will be following this feedback as well as giving Alex (right) a bit of a tan to brighten him up.
'No tagline'
Many film posters have taglines that follow the title, something witty about the film that is only put into context when the film is watched. It was said that it was missing and the poster would benefit from a clever tagline to give the audience a taster about the film to add to the title. We agree with this, however we were finding it difficult to think of a tagline that didn't give away the film plot easily but we will add one in following the feedback,
'Email address needs to be in a different font'
The email address is in the same font as the title and the names of the actors. They thought it would be better in a different font due to it giving out different information to the title and the actors names. We do agree with this as the web address needs to stand out and show that it has a different purpose, its a place where people can gather extra information and should be in a different font really so this will be changed.
'Over lapping text. White on white not clear.'
The credit block is slightly over lapping onto the images which is then resulting in the white text blending slightly into the white shirt of Alex making it difficult to read. This we agree with and so the credit block needs moving down to enable it to be in line with the purple box which was suggested to be turned black to blend the images.
'Title size good'
They liked the size of the title meaning it stood out from the rest of the text which was a plus. They thought it showed it was the title within the writing on the poster as well as it being placed in a place where it can be seen and read too.
'Last names aren't clear to see'
The colour of the last names of the actors isn't clear to read due to the colour of the the font. It blends into the background a little making it difficult to read. It was suggested to make the names bold and in caps to ensure that the names can be read or change the colour completely. We do agree it is difficult to see the last names and so will be changing this.
'Use different font styles'
The font is all the same across the poster and so a change in the title style would be good for them. We do agree the text font is the same and a little boring using it all the way across and so will be changing the font style for different elements of the text on the poster.
'The title is too fine to see from a distance'
It was said that due to the thin style of text we used, it was very difficult to see the font, especially from a distance which wouldn't be good on a bill board for people to read. The title needs to be clear and gripping to the audience and so the text font will be changed so that it can be seen from a distance.
'very close to the bleed, will bleed over when printed'
The names of the actors are close to the bleed and so will not be clear on the poster when printed which would mean the actors name would be cut off or blurred. This can't happen and so the text just needs nudging over which we will be doing.
'Photos look like they've been stuck on. Looks too photoshopped'
Our main issue is that the images don't look blended well and just look placed on top without any thought. This makes the poster look less professional and a little messy and amateur which we can't have for a film poster. To correct this the images need blending together and into he background to enable them to look a part of the background rather than stickers from a scrapbook.
'Should have got them to pose together as a group photo'
A way to prevent the images looking different and separate, taking a group photo was suggested to make them all look together. We did already have a group image which we can use so we will be taking on this comment.
'Like the background, conventional to existing posters'
The background was liked which was a good sign. They noticed that it was used in existing posters which meant we had followed the conventions well with existing media. They said it looked mysterious which is what we were going for.
'Alex's hair is white at the top, shows background.'
Where the image hadn't been finely edited, you could still see the background to show that it was a separate image, that or Alex was going old early which we don't think is the case. Careful removal of this will be needed on zoom to prevent his hair looking white.
'Alex is more pale than Kris who is meant to be a ghost'
Alex looks too pale which shouldn't be the case seen as though Kris is actually the character that doesn't exist so he should be paler for representational reasons. This is taken on board and so Kris will be made to look paler than Alex to prevent misrepresentation within poster.
'Lighting different in each photo'
The lighting changes in each of the photos which is why they look stuck on top of each other. The position they were in on the photo has effected the colour and lighting within the photo. This can be avoided by taking a group photo so the lighting remains the same for all three of the actors in the poster.
'Transparent Kris doesn't work'
As said before, Kris just needs to be fully visible as it just looks wrong. We agree with this as it looks like it is just a badly taken photo which isn't what we wanted. This will be one thing we definitely need to change!
'Ryma looking at the camera and the other two looking away is good'
The fact Ryma looks straight at the camera as if she is looking for help and that the others look away so it doesn't give anything away is good. The representation with Ryma looking straight at us as if she is asking for help.
'Change composition of actors and careful thought of poses'
The way in which the two lads on the outside are standing isn't clear and purposeful which detracts from the meaning of the film within the poster. Kris just looks like he's startled and Alex has seen something far more interesting to look at. There isn't a reason or meaning form their stance which is what we need to work on.
'Justice productions won't present a Justice Productions film, someone else will'
Yeah... Justice Productions can't present their own film, it needs to be someone else. HOOD FILMS it is!
' Spelling mistakes'
There are spelling errors in the credit block which we can't have. Even though it would be one less letter I don't think I fancy spelling my name Charlotte Billigham'. That needs changing as I'm not changing my name just for a poster really.
'Good patching up using the cloning tool'
The fact that they can't tell that Ryma's ear has been patched over impressed them. You couldn't tell it was cloned meaning the detail was looked at and taken care of well to cover up something we didn't really want in the image.
'Like the idea just needs improvements, touch ups'
This is true. The idea is good but it just needs perfecting so that it works well, complementing the film so we have quite a bit to work on.
Evaluation:
Overall the poster had good elements within in that enabled us to represent our film well. The background was a success, following the conventions of existing media such as the Time Traveller's Wife. The details within the credit block were mainly accurate with a few minor tweaks here and there. The details within the poster are there that are conventional to a movie poster within the blockbuster world which was a good aspect. The images were our biggest let down as they looked like they had been stuck on which took away from the rest of the poster and the true meaning behind the film poster or the film itself. A change in text font is needed to enable the audience when passing by to see the title and to differentiate the different features within the poster clearly without having to search for information.
Questionnaires
To gather extra information about what our target audience thought of the poster, we decided to create a questionnaire to gather the thoughts of people who do not come from a media background and only observe it rather than analyse in like we do. So each of the questions these are the results and what our target audience had to say about the rough version of the poster:
Question 1:
Question 2:
Question 3:
Question 4:
Question 5:
Question 6:
Now we've had the feedback, its time to act upon it and make some changes to the poster to give our film the publicity a blockbuster would have (or something like that anyways!)
Re-Editing Film Poster:
Now as you will see, I decided to start from scratch to make a brand new film poster to change the representation completely! So after taking some new pictures to represent the two main characters of the film, it was time to begin the editing. So here are the step by step images of the poster editing stages.
New Poster Flat Plan:
To get a rough idea of what I wanted the new poster to looking like, I did a brand new flat plan. So here is the new poster in simple form:
Layer Construction:
The image us added to a plane black background with the gradient added to give a white into black effect to blend the characters and the background together. This also gives a space to add in the text for the credits and title.
A textured background is then added to the poster to give the idea of being alone with the wood background effect, showing no one is around. This image was added as another layer over the black background with the opacity changed to show through as black.
The credit block is then added using steel tongs to credit people involved within film making and distribution. The actors are also included as well as the title of the film. The web address for the actual film is added at the bottom in a different font style and colour to stand out from the rest of the text within this block.
The title for the film is also added in a different colour and font style to stand out from the rest of the poster and text. This shows that its actually the title and the main feature other than the image of the poster.
The actors names are added separately then grouped to enable them to be moved around and aligned with each other. The font colour of the first name is made different to the last name as the last name is usually the one that is remember and differentiates actors within films (convention within existing film posters today).
The tagline for the film is then added, again in different font. More of a romantic font to symbolise the love between characters within the film. The tagline is related to elements within the film and only understandable if the film is watched.
The star ratings are added using the tool within photoshop that enables you to draw stars to show the reviews that sites and magazines have give the film when they watched it. The stars were individually input and then grouped when aligned, grouped together to move around and align with each other on both sides. The Dolby Digital sign is also added to the poster credits at the bottom.
Last touches, the actual comment some of the reviewers made about the film (positive obviously...) and the name of the reviewer (empire are kind aren't they?).
Well this is nearly the end of the film poster process. All thats left is to show you the poster and deconstruct it ourselves.
Poster deconstruction:
So we did a deconstruction of an existing poster towards the beginning of this post but now its time to see if we followed conventions and understood the representation within the film and conveyed it in the poster:
Final Film Poster:
So here it is, the final film poster. Look out it will be on a billboard near you! Or the internet, you can't get away from it then!
