Finished Poster

Photoshop Tutorials

One of the obstacles that I have encountered during my media A2 coursework is that I have no experience with editing software such as Photoshop which I will be using to design my film poster for my short film. I therefore decide to look at a number of tutorials online to understand what I need to do in order to make a good film poster.

Iconic Fantasy Film Posters

After looking at medieval film posters I decided to look at fantasy film posters to compare. The first film/television series I decided to look at poster wise was Game of Thrones. The posters for the series have changed since the beginning of the series with the first ever season's poster being Ned Stark sat on the Iron Throne. Now the posters appeal to the viewers favourite characters or favourite houses. For example, the poster of Daenerys Targaryen has been filtered to look like flames hinting to her character's role not only as the Mother of Dragons but also to House Targaryen with it's sigil being a red three-headed dragon. The house motto "Fire and Blood" can also be seen in the quote that is written on the poster. I like the idea of having a quote of the character next to them on the poster because it links to the character and hooks the viewers because the audience will want to know what will happen to the character. This can be seen in this example as Daenerys is on a quest to bring the Seven Kingdoms back under Targaryen rule as it had been previously before Robert's Rebellion. The quote "I will take what is mine with fire and blood" shows her character's development from the timid girl under her brother's control to the queen she now must become having become her own person.

I also looked at posters for The Shannara Chronicles and surprisingly found myself drawn towards the darker shade of poster (left) instead of the more popular bright one (right). This supports my discovery  on my previous post that fantasy and historic films are normally coloured in shades of grey and blue. Personally I found the one of the left to be a bit overcrowded with five characters (Wil, Amberle, Allanon, Eretria, Eventine) all shown although I liked the colour scheme. However in the second poster on the right I found that the colour scheme was far too bright for the series due to it's dark themes. I did like the simplicity of only showing the three main characters instead of cramming the characters onto one poster as seen with the poster on the left.

With my final film I chose to look at I decided to chose three posters (mainly because I couldn't decide which one to not use). I like the two final posters (middle and right) with the singular characters on them. The posters are simple and present the characters well through their positions and actions: Jane (middle) is looking back as if she is unsure and is presented as feminine although she is wearing armour and Loki is presented as cunning or mischievous (like his character) having been shown as an escapee prisoner of Asgard. I prefer the poster of Jane in regard to my own poster that I must design as it simple yet effective and doesn't look crowded unlike the one with Loki which seems busy with the background of Loki's prison cell. I also chose the poster on the far left as it sums the poster up without looking too crowded plus I liked the colour scheme of greys and blues.

Iconic Historic Film Posters

As part of my coursework I also have to create a film poster for my film. Therefore I decided to look at iconic film posters from the fantasy genre. Firstly I decided to look at a selection of posters based off medieval legends due to the medieval themes in my short film. I decided to firstly look at the posters from the television series Vikings. I like the simplicity of the poster of the Vikings symbol as it is the series symbol submerged under water which links to the key themes of the vikings setting sail to discover the world. The design of the symbol being entirely made out of blood is also very interesting and follows the continuous theme of battle and war throughout the series. I also like the design of the symbol as the runes combined in the symbol mean family life, growth and life, brotherhood, technology and ship building, violence and the marks of conflict . This subtle collaboration of themes throughout the series is very clever and I like this idea. I decided to look at a different poster from the same season of Vikings to compare. I chose one of the singular character posters which is often a stereotypical idea of both television shows and films to produce a collection of posters with singular characters portrayed on them. The poster I chose to look at continues the theme of blood and conflict with the character of Bjorn striding through bloodstained tides carrying a spear and shield. 

I then looked at the poster to the Ridley Scott film 'Robin Hood' starring Cate Blanchett and Russell Crowe. Unlike television series a film poster seems to portray just the main character and therefore makes the audience focus solely on that character. Something that I noticed with both the 'Robin Hood' poster and the 'Vikings' poster of the characters is that the colour scheme is very cold as it is full of greys and blues. Noticeably both posters also have the character breaking the fourth wall and looking directly into the camera. The character of Robin Hood is shown looking directly into the camera as though he is aiming to shoot the audience with the arrow knocked onto the bow whilst the poster of Bjorn from Vikings has him looking directly into the camera as he emerges from crimson water. Therefore it is recognisable that both films seem to focus on the conflict within the film/television show.