Ancillary Task: Short Film Poster

Final Poster Design

Ancillary Task: Poster; 3rd Party Feedback

In order for third party feedback, I posted my two poster drafts onto the popular web2.0 site Facebook whereby I asked people for comments on which poster they preferred and why:

From this, it can clearly be seen that there are mixed opinions. Some poeple stated they preferred the poster on the left due to the composition of the characters whereas others commented that the poster on the right seemed more aesthetically pleasing and conveyed a tone which linked in strongly with the narrative of my short film. One comment, made by Laura, was that which poster I choose to use depends more on the message I am trying to convey to my audience. Reading this, I deemed this to be quite a valid and thoughtful comment since this does indeed make a huge difference. Considering this opinion, I have therefore decided to use the poster image on the right as my final poster design since, as Kenny and Laura state, it appears to display the idea of competition much better which relates deeply with the narrative and moral of my own short film.

Ancillary Task: Improved Poster Drafts

From my poster draft ideas, I had to narrow down my ideas to two improved poster drafts. The above two posters are the results. Although they do differ slightly in terms of layout compared to the original poster drafts, the concept is still the same; in terms of composition of the characters and overall image used.

Ancillary Task: Poster Draft

In the leading up to the design and final production of my short film poster, I decided to draft out three potential poster design ideas. In doing so, I have attempted to try and adhere to the conventions of short film posters which I deduced from my short film poster research; for example, as can be seen in all three design ideas, there is minimal text as the text:image ratio is image heavy.

The image used for this first design idea is one which is featured in the footage of the actual film itself. I decided that this image could be quite powerful as a poster since it clearly states the genre of the film (more evident in the film itself) and both the protagonist and antagonist are featured in the same shot. Furthermore as to why I chose this particular image is due to the composition of the characters; the antagonist (on the left) is composed in such a way that she seems much more powerful and intimidating as opposed to the protagonist seen on the floor looking up to her 'competitor'. And this reflects the narrative of the short film as the antagonist is supposed to be seen as the underdog, performing the unexpected.

I quite like this design poster idea since it is a rather simple layout which does not consist of many colours and the genre of the film is evident; school. In addition, this image comes from a rather important point in the film since this is the place jsut before the two students begin their test. Again, the characters are composed and characterised in such a way that there is the antagonist on the left (representing a 'bad' character) and the antagonist on the right (reflecting 'goodness'); this idea is also demonstrated through the colours of the characters clothes too. From this, not much information is revealed about the short film and its narrative either, as with the other two poster designs, which again is a convention held within all short film posters.

This design idea, I feel, again is a good design for the short film poster. The conventions of a short film are clearly kept to as I have tried to imitate the structure of the short film poster "The Death of Salvador" which can be seen in my short film poster analysis; the characters are illustrated on a plain, solid background with nothing but the name of the film and the name of its director. I have also composed the characters in such a way so that the protagonist is at the front whereas the antagonist is in the backgroud, almost as if the represent lurking in the shadows in the sense of darkness - since she is a 'bad' character, only in the sense through her personality in that she is a boastful, smarmy person however.

Ancillary Task: Poster Analysis; Short Films

Comparing these short film posters to that of feature film posters, it can be seen that there are a few differences among their conventions, as well as many similarities.

To state those which are the same, it is the clear use of the title of the film being present, but then again, it would be a silly idea to not display the film title. The name of the film director has also been given but apart from that, there is not much evidence of any other text on the short film posters, like the feature films, such as quotes from newspapers and a star scale. This goes to show that short films are not as well known as feature films and in terms of scale, they are also much smaller. To continue on with this, for the short film posters shown above which are not animated, the names of the actors are not given showing the films are low key and that they do not use A list actors, therefore there is no need to state their names.

These posters, unlike the feature films, also display only the main characters of the film and does not incorporate any other ideas such as the genre or setting of the film. Furthermore, they do not give away or hint at anything which may be in the film so as to give the audience ideas about the narrative. The overall images used are also fairly simple and do not involve the use of special effects and the whole poster quite simply keeps to the minimum amount of information needed.

In relation to all this with my own poster to represent the short film in which I shall be producing, I will need to be aware of these features which have been kept, or removed, as it will show that I am capable of integrating these ideas within my own work and adhering to the short film poster conventions.

Ancillary Task: Poster Analysis; Feature Films

Film Poster Analysis

As I intend to create a short film for my coursework, one of the ancillary tasks I have to produce alongside the short film is that of a poster to promote the film. Above, I have chosen three existing film posters and analysed how the film poster makes use of a number of features to not only promote the film, but as devices to inform the audience of the film content:

- colour
- facial expressions
- font
- images
- layout

- language/ wording
- location
- poses (of characters)
- props
- text

These points have been addressed in a way whereby these details are ambiguous and lead to the audience producing a number of interpretations, therefore acting as a way to persuade the audience to watch the film.

When it comes to the creation of my own poster to promote my short film, I will need to take these conventions into account in order to produce a successful film poster, which gives the audience succinct detail and content about my short film, without giving away too much information.