Construction: Poster

Once we were done with our short film, we starting researching posters and analysed their codes and conventions in order to understand the basic layout of the poster and how its conventions attract the audience towards the media text it is promoting. When reviewing the conventions, I had the basic idea about how our poster will be designed. However, we required a very effective image to give a poster effect to it. For this purpose, Dua merged two images that she had shot during the shooting procedure. When taken votes on which one well-suited the layout of a poster, this image was chosen for the poster while the other image featuring Surraya was used for the 'main details' in the movie review page. 

When shooting with Surraya, the image was to give away a poverty-stricken child's emotions so as to inter-link the film with the poster and hence was deliberately shot under sombre but white lighting. The expressions of Surraya were also directed according to the mood that the image was to set. However, when laying it out in a poster, it just didn't sync so well. 

This image gave the poster a very modest look but it didn't hold enough power to provoke the audience. Hence, it was just too serene for something that is meant to attract the immediate attention of the audience. Contrary to the first image, the second images which were to be amalgamated into one were shot during the shooting process and low-key lighting as were used for the film was used, in order to create a relationship between the film and its poster. This image represented the concepts of hope, faith and struggle all in one image as the flickering candle signifies struggle, the hands encircling  it signifies faith while the low candle light itself conotates hope. Hence, presenting the main ideology behind our film to the audience. The image that this image was merged in with was of burning wood which looked like a real treat to the eye in the technological world, that we are living in.

Image 1

Image 2

Now that we had the images, we could easily decide upon our poster’s colour palette which was definitely going to be in contrast or combination with the image. Our title, we had decided very early on during the short film planning, would use the same font throughout the three texts to inter-link them. Next in line, came the formulation of a catchy tagline which we chose upon by amalgamating the poster’s analysis and the short films’ narrative and came up with the tagline; despair, hope, struggle. Secondary to this tagline came its connection with the short film as it stated –‘for a better tomorrow’ and that too in green to signify the colours relativity with the films’  local audience. Now that we had all the raw material that was to be edited in order to obtain a final product including the main image, colour palette, tagline and the title, all that was left was the usage of a conventional poster layout for the execution of the data available. So we began researching posters for the placement of taglines, casting details, titles and image in a poster and not only this but also the ideal page size required for the making of a poster on. It was quite interesting to find out through this research that the page size for a magazine cover and a poster differed. While a magazine cover is on a page of 8 by 10 inches, a poster is created on the dimensions of an A3 page. We came across a major trend in the usage of main images in posters to look at the audience directly in the eye, almost like as if forming some kind of relationship with them. The casting is placed on the very top of the poster, if it is not very extensive while casting details, if lengthy, are placed at the very end of the page. The title is usually very emboldened and large so as to highlight the title of the media text as a title is what rounds up its entire content.

Now, that we had all the information that was required, we began by placing the colour palette in the background and added boxes to the work space with guide lines to ensure efficiency and neatness. Having done this, we then added the image to the poster and began placing titles, taglines and casting information as per the conventional codes and conventions of media text. However, our poster still lacked something as its look and feel continued to look boring. When we consulted our Media teacher for views on this, he asked us to make a sparky effect in the background with a paint brush to represent the fast-paced times, this country is coming to and how it is effecting the under-privileged as they get robbed off their rights. When we added the required effect to this poster, it finally looked like something successful and meant for the audience.

 

                                       
                                                                        
                                    


                                   

When playing around with the placement of text in our poster, I realised the significance of placement of text as I re-developed the texts placement and made it look something like this. When I took feedback on this poster, however, I was asked to change the placement of the tag line in the poster and improve the versatility of colours. Hence, when this poster was  re-edited, we finally had a product that was approved by all.

First attempt

Final product