This is the final copy of my movie poster design. My boyfriend, Brennen, is playing a part in a full-length feature that is being produced by theater students of SOU. The film is called Ambivalence, and I only knew a few things about it when designing the poster. It is about a man who is working at Blockbuster and is very unhappy with his life. It has a dark aura because the main character is very depressed and living in a filthy apartment. He only pursues another life at the very end of the movie when he leaves for Hollywood. The main prop in the film is a DVD of his acting monologues. This was the information that I used to create the layout. I knew I wanted Hollywood in the background to represent his dream of a better life. I tried to use techniques that we discussed in class such as splitting an image down the middle, and creating angled lines instead of straight horizontal/vertical ones. This is why I skewed the Hollywood image in an angle and why I cut the image of the man down the middle. I used the artistic filter to make the image of the man look more like a drawing. I used a half-and-half color overlay of blue and yellow on his face to represent Blockbuster. I added the image of a DVD because I knew that it was important to the plot. There was some empty space in the bottom right corner and upper left corner of the canvas, so I decided to add another color to the theme. I chose a blood-red tone to help set the mood of the film. The final portion was the title, which I had the most difficulty with. I wanted it to really pop. I chose a very geometric font to contrast with the Hollywood sign. I stuck with the blood-red color to accent the color scheme. I then added an outer glow to the letters, which complimented the yellow overlay on the man's face. I still thought that the title could pop out a bit more, so I tried to put a rectangular background behind it, but then the poster started looking a bit too geometric. I decided that I was at the point where messing with it more would take away from the image instead of adding to it. I chose to leave it alone, which was difficult for me because I often feel that I can make something better if I just tweak it some more. However, I am satisfied with the final product.
Someone once said of poetry that his or her poems were not so much finished as "abandoned." It's good to know when to walk away.
ReplyDeleteOne of the interesting things about your account of this assignment was the way you got to a place where every adjustment to one element potentially took away from other elements. So everything became a kind of balancing act. That's frustrating as an artist, but a real sign of artistic maturity and insight.