Poster Inspirations

This week we have begun to plan our movie poster and how we want it to be a visual representation of our poster. This means mirroring essential visual elements and motifs of the film, including the ticking of the clock (the concept of time) and dark shades and colours to emphasise the thriller aspect.

The first and main inspirations come from the posters below which gave us the idea for the poster having the image of the clock on the wall which is vital to the story as the ticking sound is a major and consistent motif. However in the poster, the plastic covering over the clock's face is cracked or broken like in the Spilt movie poster. Similarly to in the Maniac poster, the title character's face, with a blank and suspenseful expression, is reflected and on our poster his face will be reflected on the clock's shattered face. Not only does the broken clock screen show how emotionally unstable the character is, it also brings a slight hint of danger and raises the questions of: how did the clock break? did he smash it in a fit of rage, perhaps after the film ends? These could be possible scenarios that happen after the film ends which will be left open ended. Editing for this idea shouldn't be too difficult, with a simple blending or overlay of the character's face onto the broken clock (this would be too difficult to shoot with him physically stand infant of the camera) An example of this is the poster for Law Abiding Citizen in which Gerard Butler's face is placed over the main image, but blended smoothly.

Colour Scheme
The colour scheme throughout the film is one of dark, muted tones of blacks, white, greys etc. These colours are usually associated with thrillers (as shown in the posters above).


When researching thriller posters, I came across the poster for the 2017 film Dismissed. This poster visually stood out which is what we want for our poster. I was impressed by the cleanness and sharpness of the poster, which blends dark colours into pale, metallic blue which is unique and eye-catching. This gave us inspiration for a new poster idea which similarly features only the protagonist's face with the inclusion of a key colour, maybe red to fit in with the romantic element as well as the sense of danger. This would be a better representation of the film's unique genre combination, however the other idea incorporates more things seen in the actual film, which makes it more relevant. The harsh front light sharpens the character's facial features and emphasises the use of shadowing as his hair and body blend smoothly into the dark background. This unnatural colour of the light highlighting the right side of his face is unsettling to the audience, giving them an indication there is something unnatural to this character.