Drafts of Film Posters

After making my film, I found creating a poster for it equally as challenging. It was perhaps not as time consuming, but as I was unsure of how to present my film, due to it being psychological, and therby had no gore or blood I could play on that would give the effect of a horror film. As a result, I created a number of different posters, experimenting with different types of effects and layouts.

This was my first poster that I created, using separate images that I took after making my film. It follows a very conventional layout, and this is because I didn't know what route I was going to go down, so I started off with something basic. In order to create a slightly distorted effect (using Pixlr), I intesified the vibrance, saturation and brightness, as well as lowering the contrast of the image. This created a dream - like hue, fitting with the films concept - as it based on dreams and the extent of which it can seem real. I wanted the title to have a slightly different look, and so layered the text, but used different colours so it was still illegible. I later added a layer of a credit block and then added the finishing touches of a release date and a tag line. My overall thoughts on this poster aren't particularly positive. This is because I don't think it works very well as a horror film poster to start, and I also think it looks too staged. This is perhaps because it is an image I took after I created my film, so it doesn't have quiet the same lighting/atmosphere as it. I also think that its far to basic - this meaning that it doesn't represent the horror genre that well, in fact, if I were to look at it, I would perhaps conclude that it was more of a sci - fi one. That being said, I do like how I layered the film title, because it adds another dimension it it, although I am not sure if I will continue this style on my final poster.

For my second attempt, I decided to take a whole new approach - this is evident in comparison to the one previously. Firstly, because I didn't like who staged the image looked on the first one, I decided to use screen shots taken from my film with this one. The images used are taken from clips at the beginning of it. I then added them into a collage and created thick boarders - because I have previously seen boarders on film posters, and example being 'Jaws'. I did this because it creates a disjointed effect, and thats the idea I was going for with my film - something that was more disorientating. I continued the style of the title, but decided to link it to colours included in the images, so this time it has a pale pink/salmon hue to match her lips. Originally, I didn't want the text to overlay the image, but then decided that the effect it created actually looked rather good, so long as all the margins were aligned. Thus, because of all the straight lines, I tried my best to keep everything in line, so it would still look neat. Lastly, I added a tag line at the top - because I thought it would look better than along the side or underneath the title, because this was already in the lower half of the poster. I then added a release date and credit block on the white margin, as to not distract from or cover the image(s). Personally, I do like how it turned out, but I still feel like it doesn't represent the horror genre completely, but then perhaps this is just because it isn't particularly conventional of what is usually seen. I think that using stills from my film worked better than using the images I had take separatel, and so plan to use this, if I can, with my final poster.

This is the final mock poster I created before I decided that I should stop creating drafts and mock and just create my final one. I kept with the theme of having a collage, except this time I wanted the images to cover more of the poster, and whilst searching for an appropriate layout, I came across this one which I thought had a disjointed feel to it. With this poster, I actually used a mixture of stills from my film and images I had taken, this is because I thought it would give a good contrast - and I think it is easy to see which ones I have taken from my film as opposed to the ones that I haven't. I edited the iages her much in the same way as I did with my fist poster, except I didnt do it to the same extent. This is because I wanted to create a similar 'dreamy' effect, but not have it so intense. Additioanlly, I abandonded the title style that I had previously used because it didnt fit with this poster, and just made it too confusing to took at. Furthermore, I changed the font I used slightly - but I think this didnt have such a good effect because again, it looks like something that would typically be found in a sci-fi film more so than a horror. With regards to the credit block, I'm not a fan of how it had to cover a large part of the bottom image, so thats what I would say is the worst part of this poster. 

Overall, I like different aspects of each poster, but I think for my final one I need to make the colour theme slightly darker. This is is because darker colours are more associated with horror, and my main issue with the ones above is that they don't look like something typically used on horror posters. Yet, saying that, I do like the fact that they are slightly unconventional. I also asked a number of people which poster they thought was the most effective or what they liked the most, and the majority of them tended to agree that it was the second one. Therefore, I plan to use this information when creating my final one - so it is a definite 'yes' that I will be using stills taken from my film - this is because I think that the eyes work better with regards to the whole theme of my film. 

I think this process was helpful, because if I had just started creating my poster without playing around with ideas, then I think it could have taken much longer. It also helped give me and idea of what I definitely didn't want to do, and some ideas that I wanted to continue or changes slightly. Additonally, by asking other opinions, it helped me decide what people thought was effective, and how I can use that to attract my target audience.