Introduction
This page of the blog will be used to cover all the research, preparation and construction of the film poster for Life of Hermit. This part of the course is worth 10 marks so it is important to create the highest quality poster in order to maximize our marks and to do this we will be using Photoshop.
The purpose of the film poster is based from the marketing side of production. In order to create a large appeal to our target audience, we would have to promote our short film by producing film posters so they can get an idea on what the film will look like. A film poster is one of the most vital parts of marketing as it is usually the first piece of advertising that is used to show the film therefore if the poster doesn't look good then it will create an overall effect of the amount of people that would see the film.
Throughout this ancillary task I will be researching on how film posters are presented and what is included in them so I can use this information to produce a film poster based on our short film, Life of Hermit. After producing our first print of the film poster, we will then receive feedback so we can use it to create the final print of our film poster.
Film Poster Research
Before the construction of our film poster, we will need to get an idea of how film posters are presented and what elements are usually included in each poster. To do this, I and the rest of Laconic Productions will analyse three existing film posters and point out the main aspects for each one. But before we do this, I will need to research the different types of film posters that exists.
Types of Film Poster
Teaser Poster
This is the poster that usually starts of the marketing campaign for the film. The poster includes very little information about the film and is used to increase the anticipation and appeal of the film. If the production company isn't very confident with the film, then they will release a teaser poster with the most famous names on it as audience members would be more willing to watch a film if their favourite actor/actress is in that film. Another way that a teaser poster can be used to show only the year of the film's release, rather than the full release date. This example is shown below from the film, The Avengers (2012).
Second Film Poster Deconstruction - The Way Way Back
Third Film Poster Deconstruction - Boyhood
Short Film Conventions
Throughout this ancillary task I will be researching on how film posters are presented and what is included in them so I can use this information to produce a film poster based on our short film, Life of Hermit. After producing our first print of the film poster, we will then receive feedback so we can use it to create the final print of our film poster.
Film Poster Research
Before the construction of our film poster, we will need to get an idea of how film posters are presented and what elements are usually included in each poster. To do this, I and the rest of Laconic Productions will analyse three existing film posters and point out the main aspects for each one. But before we do this, I will need to research the different types of film posters that exists.
Types of Film Poster
Teaser Poster
This is the poster that usually starts of the marketing campaign for the film. The poster includes very little information about the film and is used to increase the anticipation and appeal of the film. If the production company isn't very confident with the film, then they will release a teaser poster with the most famous names on it as audience members would be more willing to watch a film if their favourite actor/actress is in that film. Another way that a teaser poster can be used to show only the year of the film's release, rather than the full release date. This example is shown below from the film, The Avengers (2012).
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| This is the teaser poster for the film The Avengers (2012) |
Character Poster
Character posters is when the poster includes only one of the characters in the film and repeats the style with other characters in the film. This is usually used when the film includes a large ensemble of characters that have a big importance to the film's narrative. Character posters can also be used to increase the anticipation of a film as the production company can slowly release each character poster before the film is released to keep them interested.
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| These are some of the character posters for The Avengers (2012) which it includes characters like Nick Fury, Thor and Iron Man. |
DVD Release Poster
The poster is released once the film is distributed for the public to see as it includes positive reviews about the film so more of the target audience are willing to watch the film due to the positive reception. Nowadays, DVD release posters are not as common anymore because the production company would rather focus on creating TV advertisement than the poster.
Main Poster
This is the most important type of poster and the one that we will be producing for our film poster. The main posters includes information about the cast and crew of the film and should be the most appealing type of poster. This poster would be mainly used throughout marketing in compare to the other posters as it includes more information than any other film poster. It will also have the be the most appealing because the target audience are more likely to see this poster than any other type of poster.
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| The main poster for The Avengers (2012) |
Analysation of Film Posters
In order to find all the elements of a film poster, we have decided to deconstruct three film posters by analysing each element carefully and why they are used. We have also chose three films that have a good relation to our film so it will inspire us on what elements to use and how our film poster should be presented.
First Film Poster Deconstruction - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Second Film Poster Deconstruction - The Way Way Back
Third Film Poster Deconstruction - Boyhood
Short Film Conventions
Now that we have analysed three existing film posters, I am now able create a list of conventions that each of these film posters include. This will help show us what elements are necessary to include when producing our own film poster.
Here is a list of the elements that is necessary to include in our film poster:
- Creditblock to be placed at the bottom with the website
- Title of the film
- Tagline
- Image that has a good relation our film
- Cast name of main actor, David Twohey
- Appropriate colour and typography that is well justified
Now that I understand how a existing film poster is presented and what is included in it, I am now able to use this knowledge to begin planning for our film poster of Life of Hermit. In the next part of the ancillary task, I will begin software training on Photoshop so I am able use those skills to produce the film poster of Life of Hermit.
Software Training
Now that I have a good understanding of how a film poster is presented, I'm now going begin training with the software that Laconic Productions will be using to create an actual film poster for Life of Hermit. Photoshop is the software that we will be using to produce the film review because it provides the essential tools to create a film poster. This includes high precision with editing because we are able to create new layers for every section of the poster so if one part doesn't work then we can just change it without altering the rest of the poster.
Rather than performing trial and error on the software, I will be following this tutorial as a template to create my own film poster:
Now that I have a good understanding of how a film poster is presented, I'm now going begin training with the software that Laconic Productions will be using to create an actual film poster for Life of Hermit. Photoshop is the software that we will be using to produce the film review because it provides the essential tools to create a film poster. This includes high precision with editing because we are able to create new layers for every section of the poster so if one part doesn't work then we can just change it without altering the rest of the poster.
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| Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 is the software that we will be using to create our film poster |
I will be following this tutorial by using the same images in the video so I know that I am following each step. Here is how I created the film poster:
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| Firstly, I cropped the image using the quick selection tool. This wasn't very difficult to achieve as this tool specialises in cropping images out. |
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| A black rectangle is created using the rectangular marquee tool so I am able to blend the legs later during the training. |
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| I added the background by exporting it into a new tab and moved it to this tab. In order to alter the size of the image, I held shift while changing the size as it will not stretch the image. |
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| I made the background darker by duplicating it and having one of the backgrounds darker and then blended it together. |
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| I repeated the same technique when blending with the solider. |
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| I added the rain effect by adding a new blank white layer in front of the other layers and then adjusting the levels of the layer so the rain effect can be made. New layers have also been added to add the text of the cast name and film title. This wasn't very difficult to achieve as I played around with the different fonts in order to get the right one. |
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| Finally, I added the credit block by using the font, Steeltongs. I matched the colour of the font with the film title as the presentation will look better. |
Now that the software training is complete, I can now move onto the actually planning and constructing the film poster for Life of Hermit.
In the next part of the ancillary task, I will be producing a flat plan for the film review of Life of Hermit as it will be used as a template and guide when producing the real product.
Flat Plan
Flat Plan
We have created a flat pan before creating our actual poster. This is so we have a basic idea of what our film idea will look like before we actually get onto the software and create our film. We looked at different film posters and picked out a few that we could of based the film poster on:
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| The Breakfast Club - As The Breakfast Club is about a group of teens, like ours, we considered using the idea of a 'family portrait' as this poster uses, with all our masks and Hermit. |
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| Life of Pi - We considered having Hermits face one side, and the 'calm' mask the other, with an image of the masks and Hermit in cinema as the image in the centre. |
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| The Purge - We considered having a close up of the 'calm' mask. |
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| Hairspray - We considered having the faces of all the different masks with their colour behind them, with Hermits face at the bottom. We also liked the tagline, and thought about using "Who's behind the mask?"
But we decided not to use any of these ideas, and instead use a film poster that is like our film and with the same target audience as ours, Frank:
We really liked the simplicity of this poster as the colour really caught our eye and only using the mask instead of actors made us as an audience question what this face is, and doesn't give too much away to the audience and these are the things we want to achieve with our poster. We also like the different font styles, how the boarder and credit block is the same colour as the mask.
So after finding this poster, we started to create our plan. We changed the order of some things, but used stars and less quotes but we heavily based our poster on Frank.
This our flat plan for our draft print:  |
Before we can begin working on the construction of the film poster, we would first need to
Shooting On Location
Location: Drama Studio
Crew Members: Daniel Vidmar, Robbie Gale, Tilly Whitehouse
Time: 3:30-5:30pm
Props: Masks
Review of the Day
Crew Members: Daniel Vidmar, Robbie Gale, Tilly Whitehouse
Time: 3:30-5:30pm
Props: Masks
Review of the Day
We were going to spend after school doing the photography for our film poster as we couldn't do it any other day, but due to our main actor, Hermit, being busy we had to postpone our main shooting till tomorrow. So we decided that we would start editing the background and texts of the poster. We decided that we were going to do the first poster, and for that we only need an image of one of the masks. So we then set all up the lighting, camera and white backdrop so we could take images of the masks.
As a group we looked trough the masks and chose the ones we wanted to use as the main mask on our film poster. We then had to take a picture of each one of these masks, but because we had to make sure our hands weren't on the masks, as it had to be fully round, we had to find a way to hold the masks without any of our body parts showing. We each had a turn of taking the picture or holding the mask, and we tried it from different angles and sizes.
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| Discussing what masks to choose. |
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| I, Robbie and Tilly tasking photos of one of the mask |
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| Switching the camera. |
Product Construction
Now that we have the images for our poster, we are now starting the first print of our film poster.
Here is step-to-step guide of how we constructed the film poster.
1. Background: Firstly we created the boarder and background for our poster. We created a smaller box inside so it will act as the background. We wanted the boarder to be the colour of the mask, to quickly achieve this we used the eyedropper tool on the mask and then changed the colour of the boarder. Then we chose the colour of the background, this took a lot of choosing, we know we wanted a blue colour but we needed a bright blue that worked well with the colour of the mask.
2. Credit Block: We then created the credit block, we looked at the Frank credit block but decided we didn't want to do the same, then we looked at the Boyhood credit block, but ended up basing it on the Harry potter poster. This includes a lot of cast names, so we decided as we have a small cast we would include all of their names.
7. Actor Names: Before deciding we wanted one actors name, we questions whether we wanted more than one name on the poster, but then as a group we decided that it will leave the audience questioning more if we only have the main actors name on the title. We wanted 'Twohey' to stand out more than his forename, as this is how many film posters have presented their actors names. So first we created the text box for his first name and placed it right in the middle above the mask, then we created a text box below it. We decided we would have his surname in bold, but because his forename is longer than surname, we had to space the letters to make it stand out.
8. Website: Then we added the website name below the credit block, we didn't want to make it as light as the other text, but we didn't want to make it as dark as the credit block and boarder, so we chose a colour that was a little bit lighter than credit block text.
9. Tagline - To finish our poster we added our tag line "ones a crowd" we had different ideas of what our tagline should be, we didn't want it to be too long and we wanted it to be simple. So we all decided on "ones a crowd" as we decided this didn't give to much away to the audience like our other ideas. We created the text box under the title, but we didn't want it the same font as the title. We then increased the spacing between the letters. Then we centred the text.
Now that we have the images for our poster, we are now starting the first print of our film poster.
Here is step-to-step guide of how we constructed the film poster.
1. Background: Firstly we created the boarder and background for our poster. We created a smaller box inside so it will act as the background. We wanted the boarder to be the colour of the mask, to quickly achieve this we used the eyedropper tool on the mask and then changed the colour of the boarder. Then we chose the colour of the background, this took a lot of choosing, we know we wanted a blue colour but we needed a bright blue that worked well with the colour of the mask.
2. Credit Block: We then created the credit block, we looked at the Frank credit block but decided we didn't want to do the same, then we looked at the Boyhood credit block, but ended up basing it on the Harry potter poster. This includes a lot of cast names, so we decided as we have a small cast we would include all of their names.
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| Screen shot of the border, background and credit block. |
3. Image: We now re-added the image so we could add it to the poster. We decided it would be quite big as it will be the thing we want the audience to look at. But because we took the photo against a white background we had to get rid of the background. This proved very difficult because we wanted to get the perfect shape for the mask, and because there was shadowing on the background it resulted to us having to use the rubber tool, this was very time consuming but it had a good affect when we had finished.
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| This is the poster once we had added the mask and cut around it. |
4. Title: We then created our film title. We didn't want the title to be in the same font as used in our film, we wanted to give it a feel as if it has been wrote and not typed, as we wanted to give it a feel as if it was someone writing it. So we looked at different fonts, and then we came across ChalkBoard and we thought this would be suitable. We edited the size, and the spacing between letters and added it below the mask.
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| Poster with the title added. |
5. Review Quote: We then created the review quote which would be shown at the top of the poster. Before actually creating the text we looked at different review quotes from posters and saw many had a list of positive words about the film so this is what we wanted to include in ours. We created the text box and we were originally going to have the font the same colour as the boarder, but we then decided against this and then decided to go for a lighter colour, than the boarder. We then had to create a smaller text box underneath for the name of the review.
6. Star Ratings: This was very time consuming for us because we couldn't find the star shape tool, we spent a long time looking for it, but when we found it, it was easy to create the stars. But when creating them we had to make sure they were perfectly aligned, so we put on the grid and grouped them together and moved them across the page. We also then created another smaller text box underneath, like the review quote, so we can identify who gave our film this star rating.
6. Star Ratings: This was very time consuming for us because we couldn't find the star shape tool, we spent a long time looking for it, but when we found it, it was easy to create the stars. But when creating them we had to make sure they were perfectly aligned, so we put on the grid and grouped them together and moved them across the page. We also then created another smaller text box underneath, like the review quote, so we can identify who gave our film this star rating.
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| The poster with the review quote and the star rating. |
7. Actor Names: Before deciding we wanted one actors name, we questions whether we wanted more than one name on the poster, but then as a group we decided that it will leave the audience questioning more if we only have the main actors name on the title. We wanted 'Twohey' to stand out more than his forename, as this is how many film posters have presented their actors names. So first we created the text box for his first name and placed it right in the middle above the mask, then we created a text box below it. We decided we would have his surname in bold, but because his forename is longer than surname, we had to space the letters to make it stand out.
8. Website: Then we added the website name below the credit block, we didn't want to make it as light as the other text, but we didn't want to make it as dark as the credit block and boarder, so we chose a colour that was a little bit lighter than credit block text.
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| The poster after we added all the stars and actors name and website. |
9. Tagline - To finish our poster we added our tag line "ones a crowd" we had different ideas of what our tagline should be, we didn't want it to be too long and we wanted it to be simple. So we all decided on "ones a crowd" as we decided this didn't give to much away to the audience like our other ideas. We created the text box under the title, but we didn't want it the same font as the title. We then increased the spacing between the letters. Then we centred the text.
We have now finished our first print of the poster.
Film Poster - Draft Print
After many long hours of producing the first print, we have finally completed the film poster for Life of Hermit.
And here it is, the first print of the film poster for Life of Hermit:
Film Poster - Draft Print
After many long hours of producing the first print, we have finally completed the film poster for Life of Hermit.
And here it is, the first print of the film poster for Life of Hermit:
Now that the first print is completed, we are now able to collect feedback and use this information to improve the film poster.
Feedback and Evaluation
After completing the first print of our film poster, we are now able to collect a variety of different feedback from our peers and target audience. This is an important process because the feedback will be able to identify mistakes that we have not seen or realised and then we can use the information from the feedback to improve the film poster.
Feedback
First Feedback - Class Video
For our first feedback, we have decided to present the first print of the film review to our class and ask questions to them so we can identify what area needs improving. The class is a reliable source of information as they understand the terminology of the film review and will most likely give constructive criticism.
Here is the feedback from the class and our response to each criticism:
Throughout the screen cast we asked a number of questions to see what our audience thought of the poster.
Question 1: Is there there awareness of conventions of layouts and page design?
"Yeah, it looks like it's in the style of a poster."
"It looks like a real film poster and I do like the colour match between the mask and the the colour of the boarder."
Question 2: Is there awareness of the need for a variety in fonts and text size?
"I Like the Life of Hermit text font, it makes it personal, it makes it seem like a diary that they've written."
"The tag line is a little small."
Our group agreed with this statement, and we have increased the size of the tag line 'Ones a crowd'.
"I think maybe David's name, his christian name needs to be a little bigger."
After hearing this and looking more closely at our main actors first name, we agreed that it could do with being slightly larger. So we have increased it to make it more readable.
"I like the fact that both of his names are different sizes and that his last name is in bigger bolder writing".
Question 3: Is there any accurate use of language and register?
"You've put all the actors names in haven't you? That doesn't normally happen, you usually only have like one or two actors names"
This is a good point and it is a convention of posters to only include a small number of actors in the credit block. However, the examples that we looked at such as the Harry Potter films included all of the actors in the credit block. Also as it is a short film and there is only a small cast we thought that we might as well just include all of them.
"The colour of the credit block suits the theme, but it could be a little bit faint it think ."
"It does fit in with the brand of the whole poster".
"I think maybe it needs to be bit more of a peach colour, because it looks bit like an off orange/brown colour. Maybe it needs to be a little bit brighter."
We purposely had the credit block this colour as it matched the colour of the mask and the boarder. Although after hearing this, we believed that what was said was accurate so we have changed the colour of the credit block and listened to the criticism that was given by making it a brighter colour.
Question 4: Is there any appropriate integration of illustration and text?
"I do like the use of just the mask."
Question 5: Is there framing of shot using a variety of shot distances as appropriate?
"I think the mask is the right size."
"I don't know whether the mask needs blending into the background, maybe some shadowing underneath to give it a 3D effect"
We understood what Charlotte was on about but in our defense, in Photoshop the mask looks less shiny so it looks more like part of the photo.
"Its because the mask is an actual live picture and then you look at the background and its just a block colour that's why it looks bait weird. But I think it works that way, it just draws your attention straight to the mask."
"It looks like they have based it very similarly on the film Frank's poster which also has just the mask. It is simple but its very effective."
"It sells there film in a way because their film doesn't give to much away at the beginning and their posters the same."
"You sort of wanna see the relevance of the mask like, it makes you think whys it there."
Improvements:
"Enlarge some of the texts that we have mentioned."
"I think that's it really, i think its just the texts."
"I think you need to lighten the text of the credit block a little bit"
"I think you should Photoshop the black pieces of elastic on the side of the mask, so it don't make it obvious that you've just taken a photo of a mask."
After having all of this feedback for our poster, we immediately altered all of the elements that what was identified. We lightened the credit block to a brighter colour, removed the black elastic from the mask and enlarged the text that was suggested.
Once all of the improvements was given we asked for everyone in our class to give us a level based on our first print poster. I'm proud to say that the majority of the marks given from the members in our class was either 9 or 10 out of 10 which is a level 4!
Second Feedback - Survey Monkey
Deconstruction of the Film Poster
In order to make sure that we have included all the elements of a real film poster, we have decided to analyse the first print of the film poster the same way we did with the research. We're doing this because we will be able to compare this with the other de-constructed film posters and it will also help us point out some mistakes that we may have made.
Here is the deconstruction of the first print of our film poster for Life of Hermit:
Evaluation
Product Construction
After completing the first print of our film poster, we are now able to collect a variety of different feedback from our peers and target audience. This is an important process because the feedback will be able to identify mistakes that we have not seen or realised and then we can use the information from the feedback to improve the film poster.
Feedback
First Feedback - Class Video
For our first feedback, we have decided to present the first print of the film review to our class and ask questions to them so we can identify what area needs improving. The class is a reliable source of information as they understand the terminology of the film review and will most likely give constructive criticism.
Here is the feedback from the class and our response to each criticism:
Throughout the screen cast we asked a number of questions to see what our audience thought of the poster.
Question 1: Is there there awareness of conventions of layouts and page design?
"Yeah, it looks like it's in the style of a poster."
"It looks like a real film poster and I do like the colour match between the mask and the the colour of the boarder."
Question 2: Is there awareness of the need for a variety in fonts and text size?
"I Like the Life of Hermit text font, it makes it personal, it makes it seem like a diary that they've written."
"The tag line is a little small."
Our group agreed with this statement, and we have increased the size of the tag line 'Ones a crowd'.
"I think maybe David's name, his christian name needs to be a little bigger."
After hearing this and looking more closely at our main actors first name, we agreed that it could do with being slightly larger. So we have increased it to make it more readable.
"I like the fact that both of his names are different sizes and that his last name is in bigger bolder writing".
Question 3: Is there any accurate use of language and register?
"You've put all the actors names in haven't you? That doesn't normally happen, you usually only have like one or two actors names"
This is a good point and it is a convention of posters to only include a small number of actors in the credit block. However, the examples that we looked at such as the Harry Potter films included all of the actors in the credit block. Also as it is a short film and there is only a small cast we thought that we might as well just include all of them.
"The colour of the credit block suits the theme, but it could be a little bit faint it think ."
"It does fit in with the brand of the whole poster".
"I think maybe it needs to be bit more of a peach colour, because it looks bit like an off orange/brown colour. Maybe it needs to be a little bit brighter."
We purposely had the credit block this colour as it matched the colour of the mask and the boarder. Although after hearing this, we believed that what was said was accurate so we have changed the colour of the credit block and listened to the criticism that was given by making it a brighter colour.
Question 4: Is there any appropriate integration of illustration and text?
"I do like the use of just the mask."
Question 5: Is there framing of shot using a variety of shot distances as appropriate?
"I think the mask is the right size."
"I don't know whether the mask needs blending into the background, maybe some shadowing underneath to give it a 3D effect"
We understood what Charlotte was on about but in our defense, in Photoshop the mask looks less shiny so it looks more like part of the photo.
"Its because the mask is an actual live picture and then you look at the background and its just a block colour that's why it looks bait weird. But I think it works that way, it just draws your attention straight to the mask."
"It looks like they have based it very similarly on the film Frank's poster which also has just the mask. It is simple but its very effective."
"It sells there film in a way because their film doesn't give to much away at the beginning and their posters the same."
"You sort of wanna see the relevance of the mask like, it makes you think whys it there."
Improvements:
"Enlarge some of the texts that we have mentioned."
"I think that's it really, i think its just the texts."
"I think you need to lighten the text of the credit block a little bit"
"I think you should Photoshop the black pieces of elastic on the side of the mask, so it don't make it obvious that you've just taken a photo of a mask."
After having all of this feedback for our poster, we immediately altered all of the elements that what was identified. We lightened the credit block to a brighter colour, removed the black elastic from the mask and enlarged the text that was suggested.
Once all of the improvements was given we asked for everyone in our class to give us a level based on our first print poster. I'm proud to say that the majority of the marks given from the members in our class was either 9 or 10 out of 10 which is a level 4!
Second Feedback - Survey Monkey
We created a survey monkey and sent it to people who are in our target audience and asked them to fill it out. Survey monkey is anonymous so by using this it will give people a chance to put their real opinions on our poster:
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| Everyone liked our poster and we got positive feedback from everyone about this. |
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| We also got good feedback about the conventions and layout of our poster. |
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| The main area of critic on this question is the size of the font, some people said it was okay but some had issues with the size of the font with the actors names, quotes, credit block and title. This is one of the main points we are going to make improvements on. |
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| From this feedback, and improvements we are going to be removing the black bands on the side of the mask with the clone tool, we think this will have a bigger effect of 'what is that face' to the audience because it wont be obvious it is a mask. Also, we are changing the text sizes, so it will be easier for the audience to read and this was something that is brought up quite a lot. We will also be getting rid of some of the marks on the mask, but also leaving some to give it a more 'worn' look. |
Deconstruction of the Film Poster
In order to make sure that we have included all the elements of a real film poster, we have decided to analyse the first print of the film poster the same way we did with the research. We're doing this because we will be able to compare this with the other de-constructed film posters and it will also help us point out some mistakes that we may have made.
Here is the deconstruction of the first print of our film poster for Life of Hermit:
Evaluation
Product Construction
During the production of the film poster, I believe that we, Laconic Productions, were all able to work well together because each of us gave enough input and support into the film poster so that productivity was never prevented. Not many issues were made during construction as we took our time each element of the film poster, especially on the mask. However one of the main issues that we have found is getting used to the software because every time we want to edit an element of the poster, we always forget to click on that layer and sometimes, this can cause a big error with another layer. This is something that we have definitely took into consideration when we will be working on the final print of the film poster.
Feedback
When we collected the feedback for the film poster, I believe that we was given enough constructive criticism that we can use that information and improve the film poster. We were given praise for the layout and style of the film poster however one of the main criticisms of the product is that the text for the cast, tagline and reviews are a bit too small because the audience would find difficult to see those parts from a distance. This is something that we will defiantly work on because we already have the skills need to increase the size of each text. Another suggestion that was made is to get rid of the black bands on the mask as it doesn't look as professional if we include them in it so we will also be working on altering the image.
Self-Evaluation
Throughout this ancillary task, I believe that I have worked extremely hard during the production of the film poster. With workload, I and the other members of the group have worked equally when constructing the poster. One of my main texts was to erase the background from the mask and this took a while to achieve as it requires exact precision in order to for the image to perfect. At first, I was nervous about using photoshop because it is a software that I have never used so training was essential for me. From this, I've decided to do the training a week prior to the actual production of the film poster so I can ensure myself that I have the right skills needed to create the film poster. The next part I will have focus on is to find a way to erase the black bands from the mask by using the clone stamp. This is something that I have worked from the software training so I am confident that we can achieve this task.
Improvements
Now we have the feedback we can start making improvements on our poster so we can create it to the best of our ability. The main criticism we got was about the size of the text, so this is one of the main areas we will focus on.
1. Image: We got a comment from Mr Hood about the black elastic pieces on the side of the mask. We decided we wanted to get rid of these because it will make the audience question whether it is a mask or not, because it will seem more as a face and this is what we want to portray is it is not a mask, but an emotion. To do this we used the clone tool and cloned the side of the mask, and then we used the rubber tool to get rid of the excess colour on the sides. We also got rid of a mark on the eyebrow of the mask, as this was pointed out by one of our peers after the video.
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| The mask after we removed the elastic and mark on the eyebrow. |
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| The titles at the top after we increased the size. |
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| The tagline after we increased the size. |
4. Website: After making the boarder and credit block this colour, we decided we will change the website to an even lighter colour, and also increase the size as we had a comment about not being able to see this.
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| The improved creditblock and website |
Suggested Marketing Campaign
One of the suggestions that was made in our class video feedback was that we should able to use our film poster and creating a marketing campaign with it by including the same poster but with different masks. We really liked this idea so we decided to try and create some of these posters by including different masks and even changing the colour of the background.
Here are some of the marketing posters that attempted to make by performing trial and error:
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| Here's the film poster that includes the mask for the mysterious emotion |
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| Here's the film poster with the mysterious emotion but with a green background |
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| Here's the film poster with the worried emotion but it includes a purple background with a grey border |
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| Here's the film poster with the worried emotion but it includes a pink background with a grey border |
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| Here's the film poster with worried emotion |
Film Poster - Final Print
Now that all the improvements have been made, the final print of our film poster is finally finished.
And here it is, the first official film poster for the short film, Life of Hermit:
