Making of my Short Film Poster and

Article

Poster Flat PlanWhen thinking of a layout for my short film poster I have to consider the audience and what effect I want it to have on them. I am going to make my film poster simple and eye catching, so it could be used as one of the first film posters released. I am going to use a central image of the tree as my main image on the poster. This will stand out to an audience and give the main idea of the film away without telling any of the narrative. Also, having the title of the film at the top of the poster draws the audience attention to the name of the film, linking it to the poster and giving them the chance to wonder what the film is about; while making them want to see the film to see if they were right. I have put the tag line slightly to the right of the page so the eye flows from the title to the tagline. I am going to make my poster in the style of this flat plan to keep it simple but effective.

Poster Draft 1

I started the production of my poster by uploading a central image of the tree used in the film. I added a photo filter to the image on photoshop to make it look authentic, and added the title in an old fashioned looking font to link to old family trees. This set the simple basis for my short film poster as the central image of the tree entices the audience into the mystery of the film.

Title

Main Image

Poster Draft 2The title on the first draft wasn't big or dark enough so I changed the colour and made it central on the poster to draw the audience's attention to it.

I decided the colour of the poster wasn't authentic enough so added a more contrasting photo filter to make it darker and more dramatic.

I added the starring actor’s name in the centre at the top of the page to publicise his name and to make people aware of this new actor.

I created a tagline to advertise the film. I decided on using a rhetorical question to make the audience think. I used the same colour and font as the title to keep a house style.

I decided to put the question part of the tagline closer to the bottom of the poster, to separate it from the rest of the text. This is effective as the audience’s eye will naturally be drawn down the poster and this question will make them think about the film.

I needed to add the credits of the film to the poster to give more information to the audience. We decided on a production name, and picked out the important information to use in our film credits. I added a black background so the text stood out.

Final Poster DesignIn my final draft of the short film poster I wanted to make it look more authentic and atmospheric to relate to the theme of my film. To create this effect I decided to get rid of the industrial landscape in the background by painting over it in the same colour as the pink sky. I believe this gives the poster a very atmospheric, mysterious style and also makes the text stand out better.

I wanted to make my poster look professional, and after looking at some professional posters I saw that the actor’s names look better with one at either side of the top. So I added the female star’s name on the right hand side, while moving the actor’s name to the left. I made the text black to link to the background at the bottom of the poster.

When looking at the film information I thought it looked too fancy, and needed to be more simple. I changed the font to a plain font which you would see on a film poster. We also changed our production name to ‘Sixty Four Productions’. I added a film rating and date of release to make it look more professional.

The colour of the text also changed to a more golden colour, to reflect the authenticity of family trees.

Review/ Article Flat PlanThis is my flat plan for my article. It includes the typical conventions of the articles I have looked at, such as the headline and photos. I made a simple flat plan as my review does not need to be complicated as it is aimed at a younger audience. I am using 3 photos in total, which links to the conventions of ‘Total Film’ magazine as they use lots of images. I positioned everything in squares to create a nice neat layout.

Review/ Article Draft 1

This is the first finished draft of our article. I added blue, red and black boarders to the photos to stick with the house style of the magazine.

Review/ Article Final

We decided the pictures and information didn’t look professional enough so moved them around to make the page look more even.