The document discusses the process of designing a film poster. It begins by researching existing film posters across different genres to understand common conventions. Key aspects like the title, font, main image, and text layout are then considered. Photoshop is used to edit the main image and add layers of text. Inspiration is drawn from posters like Chloe and Inception. Hashtags and websites are included for promotional purposes. The final poster design aims to attract audiences using a simple yet eye-catching style informed by research.

1. In what ways does your media product
use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
- film poster

2. I looked at a variety of different film posters from different genres of
films. Film posters were very simple with either loads of text or not a
lot as the film is empathised enough through the image and mise en
scene of the poster. I knew I needed to research which style I wanted
to do.
I looked at different types of films and genres, all of which I took
ideas and conventions from them to create my own style. The poster
is used to promote your film. A colourful, busy cover will appear to
tacky for some audiences however too plain and the film might seem
boring and due to the audience not knowing enough about the film
then they might choose not to waste money watching it at the
cinema. Also due to the genre of your trailer also depends on the style
of poster which I am aiming for. It needs to appeal to the correct
audience.
I created my cover on Photoshop. Photoshop has allowed me to work
more professionally with what the software has to offer. It allowed me
to work in more depth with layers and editing the background image.

3. This seems to be the style
of film posters. A simple
layout which is where the
main conventions are.
MAIN IMAGE
TITLE
credits

7. Social network

9. TITLE
My trailer is based around the ‘end of the world’ 21st December 2012. So I needed a
title that is catchy yet relates to the story line of the trailer. I also wanted a short
title, maybe only one word when written. I chose to decide on numbers. I thought
they are short and catchy. I wanted to incorporate the date to. I came up with
three options which I put into a list and created a poll on Wordpress, below are
the results. 21 12 was most popular, which I al also a fan off most.

10. FONT
I began looking at different types of font on www.dafont.com. I didn’t
feel that Photoshop had enough options which is why I looked on da-
font. I needed a font that was bold, and caught peoples attention when
looking at my poster. My genre is also horror and I needed a font that
related to that, none of any did I didn’t feel. Da-font.com made it easier
to find the style of font I wanted and I went for a plain bold font which I
needed to choose a correct colour to make it eye catching. I didn’t want a
3D styled font as I didn’t think it related back to the genre of my trailer.
To the right are the three fonts I narrowed it down to. All of which are
bold and eye catching when I edit them to the correct colours that link
to the image and rest of the trailer. I chose to use the top image.

11. FONTS…
The idea for the three styles I really liked came from my research. The
above film posters all use simple font that is bold and eye catching, I too
wanted to do this. Super 8, Inception and Chloe are all effective and suit
the style of film. The rest of the covers use the same font as well as
another which I am going to represent as well. Hopefully it will appeal to
my audience.

12. PHOTOSHOOT
I used the same shoot for the poster as I did for the magazine shoot. I wanted a
close up image like CHLOE poster I looked at for research. The few I took where
they are an extreme close up are my favourite. They are sharp and empathise
scared and horror through his face as how close up it is. I asked Adam to look into
the camera. I feel this expresses the terror in his eyes. He is pulling a straight
face, however acting like he isn’t scared and doesn’t want to act like a coward.
Using an extreme close up photograph makes it easier to create the poster and text
around it.

13. EDITING THE IMAGE
I chose the above image to edit. I made it black and white and brightened the
image. This made the image sharper and stand out a lot more. I wanted to also get
rid of the shadow too. I edited the picture on Photoshop and used the ____ tool to
erase the shadow. The skin looks smoother this makes the image look more
professional and as though time has been spent on the picture which it has.

14. TEXT
I needed to also include text on the cover such as
actors, production companies, tag line, website
etc. the left image below is my first draft. I created
names from scratch as I didn’t want to include
famous actors. After finishing it I thought I
needed to make the text of the actors smaller and
the title larger. The red stands out on the cover. I
chose red from research looking at Inception in
particular as it is a strong colour. I have also added
a ‘#2112# this is popular within the modern day
world for promoting. Twitter is a social network
site that is popular and used a lot during the day
by millions of users world wide. It will create
more advertising. The bottom image I have edited
the picture slightly. I chose to re-edit it back as
the image is much sharper when bright, his face is
also smoother looking more professional.

15. TEXT
Relating my cover back to research I chose to adapt it even more. I
changed the font and layout slightly for the text. I also added credits at
the bottom. Credits are usually un readable unless you go up close to the
cover. Looking at my cover now, you can’t tell what they say. I have also
added. I have included Producer, Staring, Casting By, Editor etc. I chose
to do this as it is important for film critics. It can also boost the films
reputation. I have added my Production companies logo TIME ZONE. I
print screened this from the ident I produced. It stands out for reviewer's
to judge and know. I created this all on Photoshop, I made sure I had
folders for the text so it didn’t get confusing.

16. TAG LINE
Many film posters also included a tag line. I chose to create one as well, I wanted to to
relate more the film and give them an idea of what happens and the basic narrative.
Such as the cover to the left is down below the title. I too have included my slogan
there: HE CAN RUN BUT CAN HE HIDE? It has come from the catch phrase ‘you can
run but can you hide?’. It related to my trailer as he is running away from something
which isn’t expressed. However in stead of in capitals I put the text in italics and small
case. I duplicated the layers in Photoshop. This makes the text stronger and brighter.
When you look at the poster the text isn't clear. I didn’t want this as firstly, it would
overlap onto his white forehead and it makes the audience want to come closer to the
poser and be intrigued as to what it says.

17. DATE OF WEBSITE
RELEASE I have also added a
website. This will be
used for the films
I have added a date of
popularity and have
release, this will be when
more information on it.
the film is in cinemas. I
Research on posters are
chose end of august as it
showing that websites
means the film will be in
are included.
cinemas for 2 months and
then released before 21st
December 2012. HASHTAG
Due to the increase of popularity with social networking sites, I wanted to also
include that theme on my poster. It is a great use of advertising. I have chosen
to include a ‘hash tag’ on my poster. Hash tags are used on twitter, for users to
tweet a tweet about something and hash tag it in for other users to see. Such as
hash tagging ‘#2112’ means everyone's results will show when you click on that
link. Audiences who see the hash tag can read reviews or what film critics have
to say about the film by using Twitter.

18. Main actors
Main image for
of the main promotion
charactor
Release date
Title of film
Sub title/ Website
TAG LINE My
production Credits Hash tag for
company Twitter

19. In conclusion, I based my poster around CHLOE. I
really liked the image style and wanted to represent
that in my own way and editing the image
differently. The whole layout of that cover stood out
to me. It was so simple yet worked really well. I used
SUPER 8’s cover, by keeping the same font
throughout the cover. The font I chose is also used
on the trailer, it is a simple font which isn’t too
boring and gives a stamp on the film as it hasn’t
been used for a trailer before. I put the image in
black and white, I did this as I wanted the image to
catch peoples eyes and as Adam is looking into the
camera with sharp contrasted eyes I think it will do
the job I intended for it to do. I chose to add in my
own aspects, such as the hash tag which is sued for
popular social networking site TWITTER. I haven't
seen this on many films however it will become a lot
more popular as it is good cheap advertising as long
as the film gets good reviews. I included all my own
conventions on the trailer, such as my own
production logo, own character names, title ideas
and ideas to the final cover.