Film Poster using the same image twice

When creating a film poster, it is important to contain and provide different conventions which may make the poster successful. A poster without, say, the use of a release date, isn’t particularly helpful to the viewer because they will want to know when they view the film.

Here is a list of different conventions which can be used in a movie poster:

1. Main Image 
2. Tagline 
3. Cast List 
4. Producer Credits
5. Age Certificate 
6. Title 
7. Release Date
8. Review
9. Star Rating
10. Social Network/Website

Things like a star rating, age certificate, social networking/websites or reviews, aren’t necessarily needed completely for the movie poster but should be included if required. The main points you want in your movie poster should be a title, the main image, a cast list, tagline, producer credits and release date- Even if vague (example, Summer 2016).

My 4 chosen genres of research for creating a film poster are Action, Sci-Fi, Horror and Comedy. My choice for these is justified by how popular these genres are today, most films are either of these 4 genres or are a hybrid of Action Animation or Romance and Comedy for example.

Connotation - an idea or feeling which a word invokes for a person in addition to its literal or primary meaning.

Action film connotations:
Explosions
Destruction
Super Heroes
Super Powers
Night Time Vehicles
Guns/Weapons Cityscapes
Athletic stunts

Action film posters generally feature athletic protagonists and antagonists in some sort of pose behind a cityscape, vehicular explosion or destruction of said cityscape. Other posters also feature the main character holding a weapons, usually a gun in modern films or in other cases, films based off of super heroes use the weapon they generally wield. Another common theme is a dark or night scape, which shows off the lights in the background but also brings the foreground out more, like the character’s clothes/costume for instance.

Sci-Fi film connotations:
The Future
Technology
Outer Space
Robots
Science
Space Ships
Exploration
Time Travel Conflict – Good VS Evil
Invasion
 Aliens

Sci-Fi film posters are on the opposite end of the scale, its main image and focus will be on capturing the essence of a futuristic and a world covered in new technology. It’s also in the best interest of the viewer to be able to see where the film is set, for instance, the setting for a film is in outer space. Therefore, the poster is likely to show that off and let the mind ponder as to what else the film could be like if presented with a big image of outer space and planets in the background. A sense of good vs evil can also come from a poster, a villain, Extra-terrestrial life or supernatural force being displayed against what the viewer can assume is the heroin or main character gives the feel and idea that two people or planets are at war with each other.

Horror film connotations:
Blood
Death
Killing
Villains
Victims
Haunted
Isolation
Monsters
Evil
Darkness
Gore
Weapons
Violence
Chasing
Ghosts
Phobias

Horror film posters have one purpose, to creep out the viewer whilst remaining in the constraints of what the film is about and also providing all relevant information needed. People usually fear of things that they don’t know much about or anything at all. Not all phobias are rational but things like clowns, spiders, the dark and the idea of necromancy frighten people. Monsters and other things like a haunted house or ghost are also great for achieving this effect. Horror is a good genre to make a poster for because you can let your imagination run loose and make something truly disturbing or gruesome to get viewers enticed and wanting to see what you have to show off.

Comedy film connotations:

Slapstick
CGI
Characters
Social Events
Naturalistic
Bright Colours
Sarcasm
Wordplay
Dark Humour
Language
Disturbing
Manipulation Subjects

Comedy film posters aren’t like the other three genres mentioned, in fact, sometimes a poster for a comedy film might be mimicking and copy an action or horror poster but in a way that its entertaining or funny to the viewer. Most posters feature the main characters or set of people associated with the main character and are all presented as equal and usually bright colours like a sky background or plain white or yellow background. What is happening in the background is entirely dependent on the theme of the comedy, whether its dark humour or slapstick.

My plans for this task:

My plans for this task is to create a horror film poster and also a comedy film poster using the images I have taken. My choices for this is because they both contrast from each other greatly. I also have chosen these genres so I can show off my ability and different Photoshop techniques I’ve learnt to create two different things from the same set of images. This also shows the power of editing and how much of an impact edited images can have for effect.

The results:

This is the original photography I used in order to create two film posters, the image is of my brother pulling a pose of shock and/or horror. With this picture I then cut him out of it which then let me use it in photoshop as it now had a transparent background.

My two chosen genres to create a movie poster on were Horror and Comedy, these genres worked well because of the face and pose my brother was already pulling. The horror poster features the typical conventions you'd see in one and the comedy poster is a twist on a serious topic turned light-hearted.

Above is my Horror poster, this was created on an A3 canvas and features my brothers photography along the bottom half of the poster. To create what is shown I used various different overlays and layer styles, for example, my brother has been given a orangey-red colour overlay as well as the layer style of dark like to blend and mix with the behind photograph.

Text was also edited, for the text I used a colour gradient, inner glow blending option as well as installed a custom font to achieve a scary or gruesome font. I didn't find this task but feel as if that if I was to revisit this task if I had more time, I would add more and implement more of what actual movie posters have.

This is my second poster which features the same image, however, this time I have used a different effect on the photograph. To make the effect shown here, I went to Image>Adjustments>Threshold and used a treshold of 121 to create a black and white effect.

I've also used a concrete texture and brush pack to create the fingerprint and outline that would usually be placed around a victims body in a murder. I've done this to clearly show the film is a crime movie. But because this is not what my chosen genre is, I included the murderer in the poster. This is where you'll notice that the poster also features a picture of a croissant with someones face on it and also holding a gun.

My title mixes in with the croissant nicely because its a play on words, the title "The Line Has Been Croissant" is meant to mean "The Line Has Been Crossed" but instead switche the last word to relate with the murderer of this hypothetical film. In hindsight, maybe a Hot Cross Bun might have been better, but maybe that's better left as a sequel for now.