Movie Poster

Part of my film opening takes place in a press junket interview with the main character promoting his new film. To make the scene feel more realistic, I decided to create a poster for the movie that the main character is promoting. The film titled "Fatal Risk" is a cheesy, stereotypical action movie with an equally cheesy poster. To make sure I made an accurate film poster for the time I researched multiple film posters from the 80s time period and analyzed the common techniques used throughout the examples. 

Examples:

The Terminator was an action film released in 1984 and became one of the most famous action films from that decade. The poster for this film captures the gritty action genre that dominated the 80s through its use of striking red in the lettering and across the subject. The use of red is eye-catching and fits well with the tone that it is trying to convey. With this in mind, I decided to use red as the main color of the poster.

This poster comes from the 1986 film, Cobra, starring Sylvester Stallone as the main character. Similar to the Terminator poster, this film poster's central focus and subject is the main character, who takes up most of the space in the poster. I used this element in my own poster, with the main character being right in the center of the poster. This poster also includes a red color scheme, this time with a gradient in the background. For my poster, I took some inspiration from the background and included a gradient in the back.

This movie poster is from the film "Die Hard" and was released in 1988. A common technique shown throughout these posters, is the inclusion of a cheesy tagline usually written in white and lowercase, while the title is in all capital letters and red. I took inspiration from this technique and included it into my own poster, which helped to make a truly convincing poster that seems like it could be from the 80s. The use of red and capital letters in the title really pop out to viewers and are iconic to the action film genre, especially in the 80s.

Result:

After compiling elements from the different poster examples, I was able to create a realistic depiction of what an action movie poster from the 80s would look like. I included a mainly red and blue color scheme like the examples and even included a cheesy tagline. Manuel, one of the members in my group, is the main character in both the opening and this fictional film, so it was essential that he was the main focus of the poster. The poster took much more time than it should've, mainly because I had a lot of trouble cutting Manuel out of the picture he sent me. The picture he sent was slightly low quality and getting a detailed cut out of his hair was a nightmare, but I was able to solve the problem and in the end it worked out.

Junkie Junket

A large part of our film opening will center around the main character arriving at an interview/press junket and showing his signs of addiction and conflict. To sell this scene, not only will it require good shots and lighting, but also good set design. After discussion, we have decided the character will be a famous actor doing an interview for an upcoming film and his signs of addiction come up and cause an awkward encounter with the interviewer. Although we at first thought of doing a late night show type interview, a smaller one on one interview would be much easier to film and design. The scene would mostly consist of two people sitting across from each other in a room. To get the most accurate depiction of an 80s interview, I researched several examples of 80s interviews to get an idea of how an interview would look from that time.

In this interview from 1987, Robert Downey Jr. sits down with ET after his rise to fame in movies like Less Than Zero and The Pickup Artist. The interview is set outside with the interviewer sitting directly across from Downey. This shows the possibility of using outdoor sets rather than an indoor one. The format of the interview also shows that we could use over the shoulder shots to show the dialogue between the interviewer and actor.

This interview with Jack Nicholson from 1982 takes a different approach and goes indoors rather than outdoors. The set design is extremely simple with just a beige curtain behind the interviewer and Nicholson. The whole design doesn't take up much space so we could use this technique in our production to film in almost any room. We could experiment with different curtain colors to illustrate certain moods and manipulate light in the set to also get this effect.

To pull this off, my group and I are thinking of ordering large curtains or bed sheets to act as the background of the set. The set will be in one of our garages so we cant leave any spaces where you would see the garage. We would also try and give the illusion of a large production with a camera crew and lighting figures. The only thing we are having a lot of trouble with is the search for good seats for the interview. Almost any armchair will work but would look much better if they are both the same. This could pose a large problem since chairs are very expensive, making buying a chair out of the question. To solve this problem we will probably ask our friends to borrow their chairs if none of us can get any chairs.

Leg Warmer Decade

More progress has been made with our film opening and we have decided to make the film take place during the 80s, which provides accuracy as there was a large cocaine epidemic in the 80s and it will allow for an interesting art direction through costume and set design. The 80s was full of interesting clothing movements that could be shown with the different characters in the opening. Along with this, the decade included many bright and unique color schemes and patterns that can be used in the costumes and set design.

For the clothing, there are countless fashion trends from the 80s, both great and not to great looking, that can make their way into the film. One of the largest trends, denim saw a huge rise in popularity with people wearing dad jeans and even pairing it with a jean jacket to double down on the denim. Casual clothing was the big thing during this decade with famous actors and musicians opting for a crew-neck t-shirt under an oversized suit jacket rather than a button-up.

Carrying over the popularity of punk from the 60s and 70s into the 80s, leather jackets were a popular trend that showcased an edgy bad boy vibe that could work especially well with the addict character. At the moment, we are not sure what the main character is famous for, but he will most likely be either a musician or an actor, so the costume may vary slightly depending the route we go with. A casual suit paired with a printed t-shirt may work well for an actor, while the punk leather jacket paired with jeans could work well for a rebellious musician addict.

Often associated with fashion trends, the 80s brought an incredibly unique movement with color based around bright neon colors and patterns. Pastels and neon colors dominated the 80s and made their way into t-shirts, dress shirts, and even decor. The use of these bright colors can bring a striking contrast between the dark themes and tone given from the characters addiction and conflicts. The colors would also provide a very eye-catching element to the opening that will bring people in visually and get them to be more interested in the story. 

Another aspect the use of this time frame for the film opening provides, is the draw of nostalgia for the audience who may have lived through this decade. Recent TV shows and films like Stranger Things have proven that the nostalgia from the 80s can be a driving force for interest in a production, with the costumes and references in Stranger Things giving the show an interesting aspect that differentiates itself from other shows. Not only is this show to work with people who lived through the 80s, but also with those who were born after who can still appreciate the art direction and almost share a sense of nostalgia. 

Sources:

Williamson, Lauren. “1980s Fashion: 10 80s Fashion Trends for Men.” Men's Health, 18 Apr. 2019, www.menshealth.com.au/80s-fashion-trends-for-men.

Brewer, Taylah. “80s Fashion for Men (How to Get the 1980's Style).” The Trend Spotter, 28 Aug. 2019, www.thetrendspotter.net/80s-fashion-men/.

Pieces of a Puzzle

Now that we have decided a general route for the film, I have began thinking about different specific story lines and conflicts that could make for an interesting opening. After discussion with my group, we have come up with the idea to make this character study about the life of a famous figure who succumbs to an addiction that sends him into a downward spiral. Addiction is not an easy topic and must be handled with care. Research is vital to convey a believable and insightful performance of an addict that will capture the life of an addict accurately. In my film opening we are thinking of telling the story of a cocaine addict, so the research will mainly focus on cocaine.

To produce an authentic performance I researched symptoms of cocaine use that can be recreated through makeup and acting. Symptoms include overconfidence, over-excitement, paranoia, runny nose, sniffling, mood swings, and depression. All these factors can be explored in the opening or at least alluded to. Depression can be a driving factor of the film, providing many opportunities for deep and complex analysis of the characters emotions. Also, the over confidence and over-excitement can be conveyed through acting and quick edits giving a frantic feeling. This acting will provide many interesting possibilities for interactions with other characters.

Several symptom of cocaine use

Although, these large themes and actions are very important for conveying a realistic portrayal of an addict, small details bring all the elements together to really create a believable performance. The main character can do small actions like sniff and clean their nose while acting frantic and moving quickly. The paranoia and mood swing aspects of cocaine addiction can also make for interesting changes in the characters behavior and actions. When the character is feeling paranoid the actor can act quickly, look around, and maybe cause conflicts with other characters. The mood swings could very quickly change the actions of the character and change them from happy and confident to sad and angry, a difficult performance for the actor. All these small actions give incredible insight into the characters emotions and how their addiction affects them and others around them.


Sources:

“Cocaine Symptoms and Warning Signs - Addiction Center.” AddictionCenter, www.addictioncenter.com/drugs/cocaine/symptoms-signs/.

American Addiction Centers Editorial Staff. “Cocaine Abuse Symptoms, Signs and Addiction Treatment.” DrugAbuse.com, 21 June 2019, drugabuse.com/cocaine/.

Laying Foundations

After discussion, my group and I have finally made progress on a more specific story and we have decided to create a character study and tragedy. Character studies are stories in which the conflict is not focused on physical troubles, but character development through emotions, thoughts, and how they react to outside conflict. The drama genre works especially well when it focuses on characters and their emotions to drive a story. Examples include Nightcrawler and Taxi Driver which focus almost exclusively on the main character and the conflicts they face. I believe a character study type film opening could open doors for a suspenseful and intense tone and the use of interesting editing techniques. To better learn how to make a successful character study I researched some films that deal with this type of focus.

American Psycho: This film delves into the life of a wealthy businessman, Patrick Bateman, and his secret psychopathic alter ego. This film provides a great example for a character study as it shows a thrilling character study that keeps the attention of the audience well through its story of the main character. Bateman slowly begins to go crazier as the story continues and ends him in serious problems, a factor I would like to include/allude to in the film opening. Character studies like this film make sure to convey the complex inner emotions and thoughts of the character to give audiences an insight to the character and gives the film a very interesting aspect. 

Joker: Similar to American Psycho, Joker follows the downward spiral of the main character, Arthur Fleck, into his insane alter ego. This film gives the greatest insight to Arthur's character whenever he interacts with other characters, showing his true nature and inner desires. This technique can be used in my film opening as a source of conflict for our main character, as they interact with another person and a conflict between them arises and allows the main character to open up and show their personality. Joker does an excellent job at communicating the inner workings of the characters through facial expressions and music, factors I especially want to focus on. If I were able to pull off these techniques, it would enhance the film opening to another level.

Sources:

“American Psycho.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 14 Apr. 2000, www.imdb.com/title/tt0144084/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0.

“Joker.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 1 Oct. 2019, www.imdb.com/title/tt7286456/?ref_=ttls_li_tt.

The Drama!

After finally deciding the genre as drama, my group and I can now move into researching examples to help us along the start of this project. The drama genre is very versatile, with characters having a wide variety of conflicts often ranging from conflicts with themselves, others, and their environment. There are countless examples of great drama films with amazing openings and here are just a couple I used to get ideas.

Example One: The Shape of Water
This film opening comes from a Best Picture winning film that shows some of the best parts of a traditional drama film while also showing the versatility of the drama genre. The stunning underwater visuals automatically capture the viewers attention, a very important part of a film opening that I am trying to focus on in my own opening. Of course, effects on the level of this film are impossible for my group, but the idea of grabbing the attention of the audience with interesting visuals and colors remains. The use narration provides a glimpse into the tone of the story as well as parts of the story including love and a monster. This use of narration provides an example of a technique that I could use in my own opening to set up parts of the story and to further grab the audiences attention.

Example Two: Dunkirk
This film opening comes from the historical drama Dunkirk and almost immediately puts you in the middle of a gun fight to grab the attention of the audience. The use of text provides historical context and gives the audience a better idea of what is going on. I could use this technique in y film opening to quickly provide the audience with context behind the story instead of having to film it all for the opening. This example gives me a good idea of how to build suspense through the use of music and imagery especially with the wide open spaces.

Example Three: Baby Driver
In this example, the first half of the opening almost fully relies on the use of music and sound effects to create an interesting film opening. This shows me the importance of audio in a film opening and it will surely be a large element to consider when I am making my opening. The example then goes into a fast paced car chase that makes use of quick editing paired with the fast song. This shows me the importance of editing in the film opening process and how much of an impact the editing can have on a film. For this scene the fast paced editing helped to grab attention, a large focus of my film opening, but can also be used in different ways other than a fast paced car scene. With the versatility of the drama genre I have a large selection of unique techniques at my disposal.

The Beginning Struggle

My group and I have been tasked with creating an original fiction film opening and I'm confident we will do a good job, but not without a lot of hard work. Over the past couple of days, we have been preparing for our film opening project by discussing different ideas and stories. The most important step in this process is to decide on the genre that we will be focusing on for this film. Several different ideas for a genre have been thrown out ranging from crime to even a dark comedy. This part of the process has proven to be more difficult than any of us thought and has taken a long period of time.

We meet in person to discuss ideas further, but found it very difficult to agree on a single idea or genre. After meeting in person we continued to talk in a group chat and we began to brainstorm more complex stories that could span across several genres. To narrow it down, my group and I decided to settle on the drama genre as it is an extremely versatile genre with plenty of sources for research.

With the genre finally decided we could discuss more specific stories and themes. I had ideas to incorporate suspense elements that could even cross into suspenseful horror, but I decided to step back more towards more complex drama story lines. I still hope to include elements of suspense as well as deep themes and symbols to create a visually pleasing and complex film for this project.

Music Marketing Project

For this project, my group and I created a fictional up and coming alternative rock/art rock band named Echo Park that makes use of several elements and trends seen in other alternative bands. Alternative as a genre is a popular form of rock music that aims to separate itself from the mainstream and be something unique. For example, our band Echo Park establishes its distinction from the mainstream by using deep meanings through symbols and interesting imagery that begs to be explored and dissected.

Image from the "15 Step" music video making use of symbolism through color

Alternative bands like Foster the People and Vampire Weekend share similar marketing trends and these trends are evident throughout many other alternative bands. Both of these bands make use of social media like to connect with their target audiences which mostly range from 19-21+. Because of this, Echo Park makes use of the social media trend through Instagram, YouTube, and its own website. The website is another common trend in almost every genre but can be seen especially with alternative bands like Vampire Weekend, who use their website to promote merchandise, music, and events. Taking some inspiration from them, the Echo Park website immediately opens to show the home page with a picture promoting the new "15 Step" single and the accompanying music video which both can be accessed from the website.

Home page of the Echo Park website 

Another common trend with alternative bands is the use of iconic and eye-catching imagery that draws in audiences. From posters to album covers, bands like Foster the people use interesting illustrations to peak the interest of fans. Color plays a large role in this method, with color establishing the overall tone of a band and giving viewers a hint at how the bands music may sound like. Cool colors may evoke a darker, mysterious, and moody tone while warmer colors evoke a happier, playful, and energetic tone. Foster the people uses bright warm colors like reds and oranges accompanied by illustrations to catch the eye of viewers and attract an audience who may be more interested in the energetic, happy feeling that the colors evoke. Echo Park plays with this technique in the website which uses dark and cool colors to evoke a mysterious and dark tone that attracts people who visit the site to learn more about the band and their music.

Example of an illustration on the Foster the People Website

Using our research, my group took inspiration from alternative bands to create a unique brand to set our band apart. A common trend in alternative bands is to try to deviate from the mainstream, which our band tried to achieve through its themes and imagery. This is where colors factor in again and help to establish a sense of the overall feeling of the band. Through the music video and website, our band makes use of dark colors and themes to give a mysterious and complex feeling to the band. The story throughout the video is dark and serious, but leaves room for viewers to think and dissect the themes and symbolism in the video alluding to themes of escapism, anti-establishment, and self fulfillment. Our band plays with these topics to peak the interest of our audience of young adults who can likely relate to the themes in the video. Although the subject matter is serious, our band presents these themes with an odd yet playful persona, seen mostly through the posts on the official Instagram and the pictures on the website. This persona appeals to our audience by showing viewers that the members of the band have personalities and humor while still trying to present a deep message.

About the band section of website with a playful picture

A number of products were made for the band and expanded on the band's unique and eye-catching imagery. An album and single cover where created for the fictional future album and the newly released song "15 Step" by the band. The album and single covers use simple and clean imagery to attract viewers and establish the tone of the music. The artwork can be repeated on vinyl covers, cds, and cassettes to further increase the amount of people who see the work. The wide variety of physical copies of the music also allows more people to gain access to our bands music.

Album cover of vinyl for sale on the website

Alongside the artwork and copies of the music, more merchandise was created to further spread the word about the band. Shirts displaying the sun image as well as the hills from the album/single covers are sold on the band's website and work as walking advertisements, as people may notice someone who wears the merchandise, which could lead them to discover the band's music. A poster featuring an altered version of the album cover is also sold on the website and acts similarly in spreading the band's artwork to attract fans with interesting imagery.

Shirt for sale on the website

Through research and trial and error, this project has taught me much about production and marketing with music videos and campaigns. The production of the music video taught me that it is especially important to recognize your target audience and develop a well made yet interesting story. Only with interesting visuals and storytelling in our video can our band hope to attract people to listen to our music. Much of the project relied on research and it taught me not only valuable lessons about genre conventions, but also the importance research plays in developing a good marketing campaign and music video. Research of the alternative genre gave me and my group clear guidelines for what is expected of a music video from this type of band and common techniques used in marketing campaigns for similar bands. Knowing our audience influenced us to use more complex themes and symbols that would much better relate to the target audience of young adults rather than other genres like pop which could include a younger target audience that may not understand or relate enough to the topics presented in the video. My knowledge of the music industry and its increasing reliance on social media definitely was a driving factor for the majority of the marketing campaign. A large part of the marketing depends upon social media especially Instagram to attract fans and it follows with the trends not only in the alternative genre, but in the music industry as a whole. Through the use of research and the knowledge gained from our production, I believe my group and I were able to create a unique music video that keeps the curiosity of viewers and a successful marketing campaign that attracts the target audience well enough to have the band succeed.

Echo Park group photo