The Finished Movie Poster

Okay, well, I've done the movie poster. I think it turned out pretty good.

The poster was heavily influenced by the "Pulp Fiction" poster;

It's easy to see the similarities between the two, from the lettering, colours, and general feel of the posters. However, there are a few differences. Even the titles are vaguely similar, although this was genuinely a coincidence rather than a conscious decision. The colours in my poster, for instance, are far brighter than those in the Pulp Fiction poster, which have been faded slightly in order to give the impression of a front cover of a magazine (amplified by the inclusion of the "10c" below the title to the right of the poster). The Pulp Fiction poster also goes further with the idea of a worn piece of paper on the right, with creases and tears far more obvious than on mine - the only reason I used the "ripped paper" look was to give a clear division between the main picture and the title of the film. I do think, however, that I may have made it a little too transparent, making it difficult to see. If I did the poster again, pretty much the only thing I'd do is make this effect easier to see.

The title of the film is also below the characters, rather than at the top. I did this so that the human eye is drawn to the top of the poster and then looks down, hopefully seeing the title of the film last. I did this so that the tagline - "When you play with fire, you get burned" - is the first thing seen on the poster. The fact that one of the characters is then placed slightly in front of the tagline makes the viewer then look down, drawing them to the characters in the poster. The names of the actors involved in the production are on top of the main character, meaning that the viewer will see them straight after seeing the main character, before being led downwards further, seeing the "winner of over 30 awards", and finally the title "Playing with Fire". The inclusion of the Director's name to the bottom on the far right is so that it is the last thing the person sees - it's the least important thing, but is still necessary to include on the poster, perhaps attracting fans of the director's previous works, but not alienating members of the public who aren't familiar with them.

The reason I laid the poster out this way was so that the experience of seeing the poster was akin to watching another trailer - the information the viewer needs to know is spread out around the poster, with the image of the main characters and the setting making up the majority of the space available, and the tagline acting as the dialogue. It is also an unconventional poster, with clear divisions, contrasting colour pallettes and two main characters rather than one central character being put on show.

The main image is actually made up of four different images - one of Farai, one of Josh, one of the London skyline, and another of a body of water the same colour as the water in the London skyline picture. The two characters were slightly tilted towards each other to give the impression that they're both converging on the camera, rather than standing still. I chose an image of Farai that had a little more movement than the other photos, and one of Josh with no real movement at all, to make the two characters seem more individual, rather than having them both in similar positions and therefore seeming like a team, or friends - something that isn't in the film. However, the inclusion of both of them means that the viewer has to ask themselves whether or not they're friends, enemies, or simply don't know one another. This intrigue, I hope, would cause them to perhaps seek further information, by either watching the trailer, or simply going to watch the film.

If this doesn't work, the fact that they're both holding guns will give the average viewer an idea of what the film is about. Other than the clear connections to Pulp Fiction, the guns, the suits, and the London skyline all indicate a crime / action film set in the UK.

Speaking of which - the London skyline, with the houses of parliament clearly seen in the background, means that any casual observer instantly knows where the film is set. The reason I used two images for the background was simple - the London skyline that I liked was too small, and I needed another one behind them to complete the illusion that they were standing in front of the Thames - here's what the backgrounds looked like without the characters and title in front of them;

The blue stripe was necessary due to a few pixels of difference between the two images - rather than move the other components around to compromise, I instead decided to just colour it blue and leave it as it was. Hopefully, due to the characters and the text overlays, the fact that I use two different images will be overlooked completely by any casual observers.

The colours in the background image are in complete contrast to the text overlays, and the colours of the other components of the image. This creates a striking look, completely different to the usual colours used by contemporary film posters, and therefore hopefully eye-catching and intriguing.

Thinking of how the trailer challenges social norms, the fact that the two characters are clearly British-based teenagers or young adults holding guns seems to indicate that they're obviously hardened London criminals, but the fact that they're dressed in suits and seem to have a bit more class than your average shoplifter also gives the poster an air of mystery about it. Harkening back to Pulp Fiction, the resemblance to the characters of Jules Winnfield and Vincent Vega are very clear - both duos consist of both a black man and a white man, both wearing similar suits, both being criminals, and both wielding guns. Whilst there are a few differences, the resemblance to the two most well-known and well-liked characters in the film would also serve to attract the desired audience, as well as anyone who have heard or know anything about the two characters, even without having seen the film. Whilst not so much the main characters in Pulp Fiction itself, they are still integral to the plot, and are widely regarded as the best characters in the film, mainly due to the comic relief they provide throughout an otherwise violent, serious film, involving drug overdoses, robbery, rape, and murder.



Jules Winnfield and Vincent Vega