Pre-Production Unit: Designing The Poster

One of the things I decided I wanted to so when thinking of items to include in my pre-production package was a poster. 

I designed the poster for the major class project ‘Just Sayin’ earlier this year. For this I used photoshop and really got interested in this aspect of production. This is why i’ve decided I wanted to design one for this project too. I felt that I needed to have something eye catching that would get people interested in the idea. I also wanted to advertise Different Perspectives by showcasing the shows tone and style through the poster. I also knew that I needed something to add for my book cover.

I was already in the midst of choosing my actors when I decided to create a poster which would feature Lawrence in the role of Elliott. I knew that he would be perfect for the role because he had the type of look I had in mind when I was creating the character. When I wanted to talk to him about the role he unfortunately wasn’t at the studios but I sent him a Facebook message and he got back straight away.

He agreed and when we met up at the studios the next day I asked if he wouldn’t mind his likeness being used for the book and received his permission for the role. I talked with our resident Technician at UCA, Fergus Moloney to see whether he would be able to help with the equipment necessary to take the poster.

After this I sought and received filming permission for filming with Laura, and received filming space in Production Room 1. 

However..

It turned out that the lighting wasn’t very good in the room, mainly because you couldn’t have the levels of it, which didn't allow for a good contrast. I talked about this with Fergus and after explaining the idea I showed him the concept artwork that Bethany has made up to show him what I was after. We both agreed that if it was a more cinematic, noir poster I was after, we would need a different room. So I received permission to set up in the lecture room instead, which was not only much spacier but had a much better contrast in terms of the lighting.

The lighting in the lecture room turned out better
than expected.

Using this room had a good payoff because of the improved lighting and it allowed for a greater level of atmosphere. After everything had been set up and I took some test shots I called in Lawrence and we got to work on trying to find the perfect image for the show’s poster.

Lawrence seemed to instinctively know what I was looking for which made the shoot very easy and thanks to Fergus’s suggestions beforehand I knew exactly how I wanted it to turn out. This made it very easy to get the pictures I wanted. 

After choosing from a few select images it was simply a matter of fixing any inconsistencies with the image and working on the post-production lighting effects. I wanted the title to have a simplicity to it and let the image speak for itself. Otherwise I feared that it would become far too cluttered and take away from its starkness. 

However I am mostly delighted with the results that I have come up with and hopefully it conveys a lot about the style and tone of Different Perspectives to those who come across it.