Well obviously. But I'm talking 'togetherness' thematically, not literally - and as you say it is perfectly possible to put together a composite that evokes that sense. This poster doesn't, for me. YMMV.
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You are welcome to promote here, but members are also welcome to reply with their opinions.
DETOURS feature poster
- Thread starter mlesemann
- Start date
Well obviously. But I'm talking 'togetherness' thematically, not literally - and as you say it is perfectly possible to put together a composite that evokes that sense. This poster doesn't, for me. YMMV.
The trailer looks GREAT! (just watched)
I wish the poster told me more of that story somehow. Just my opinion. I don't get father-daughter roadtrip from it, it does looks a bit awkward, thought they were getting "randy" in the front seat by how close they are and his devilish grin so didn't even see father-daughter drama, I got relationship offbeat comedy.
In the trailer there's a side shot in the car. He's holding a camcorder filming her as she drives. This tells a better story to me. She is not smiling in it, but again, this could be a composite or special shoot.
I also like the shots on the pier. A shot of them walking on the pier, also good.
Hope this helps!
But the trailer is fantastic. Good stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQO-ucdsXbA
I wish the poster told me more of that story somehow. Just my opinion. I don't get father-daughter roadtrip from it, it does looks a bit awkward, thought they were getting "randy" in the front seat by how close they are and his devilish grin so didn't even see father-daughter drama, I got relationship offbeat comedy.
In the trailer there's a side shot in the car. He's holding a camcorder filming her as she drives. This tells a better story to me. She is not smiling in it, but again, this could be a composite or special shoot.
I also like the shots on the pier. A shot of them walking on the pier, also good.
Hope this helps!
But the trailer is fantastic. Good stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQO-ucdsXbA
Thanks to everyone for their comments - and fyi Cracker Funk made that trailer for us 
We struggled for months with the issue of what the poster should look like - at its heart, it's a road-trip movie, and there was a lot of discussion on how to show that. There was also a lot of discussion of how one shows a father/daughter relationship in a poster, given that she is an adult.
We had the opportunity to screen the movie for a number of successful indie producers - I'm not going to name names, but they're people who have been involved with some of the most successful indies of the past 15 years. Their feedback was that the only thing that mattered was to have a poster that would get people interested enough to click on the trailer, and a trailer that would interest people in watching the movie. Whether or not the movie was "accurately" portrayed was irrelevant. And several of these producers were involved with ultimately choosing this image.
Did we make the right choice? Ask me in a year and I might be able to give you an answer
We struggled for months with the issue of what the poster should look like - at its heart, it's a road-trip movie, and there was a lot of discussion on how to show that. There was also a lot of discussion of how one shows a father/daughter relationship in a poster, given that she is an adult.
We had the opportunity to screen the movie for a number of successful indie producers - I'm not going to name names, but they're people who have been involved with some of the most successful indies of the past 15 years. Their feedback was that the only thing that mattered was to have a poster that would get people interested enough to click on the trailer, and a trailer that would interest people in watching the movie. Whether or not the movie was "accurately" portrayed was irrelevant. And several of these producers were involved with ultimately choosing this image.
Did we make the right choice? Ask me in a year and I might be able to give you an answer
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We talked about that too - and decided that, given how many people watch on their phones these days, it would be annoyingly small and ultimately useless. The guy who designed the poster spent many hours checking out the thumbnails of the posters on Amazon etc to see what did and didn't work.
As soon as people click on the poster, it will take them to the page with the cast list and a very brief synopsis (just a couple of sentences). So at that point they'll know more far more than we can convey in a tiny blurb.
This was my reasoning for suggesting a single arrow, although I understand why you have two.
Is there any way to do market testing.. like send a version of each to 25 different people and have them rate how much they want to see the movie based on the poster. how did you arrive at your decision to go with two?
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IDK why I'm a pain about this sort of thing, i think it's because I started programming computers at age 12. I spent so many formative years in front of a compiler, hammering out any logic errors.
When I brought up one arrow you said "It's meant to suggest the confusion felt by the characters in the movie, so we like it this way." but your later post states " the only thing that mattered was to have a poster that would get people interested enough to click on the trailer" and I believe these two statements are in opposition of one another.
I'm sorry if that was annoying, I had some kind of compulsion to get it out of my system.
When I brought up one arrow you said "It's meant to suggest the confusion felt by the characters in the movie, so we like it this way." but your later post states " the only thing that mattered was to have a poster that would get people interested enough to click on the trailer" and I believe these two statements are in opposition of one another.
I'm sorry if that was annoying, I had some kind of compulsion to get it out of my system.
Both statements are true - I'm not sure why you see them as opposed to each other, except for the fact that it wouldn't get YOU to click on the trailer. We would not have chosen any design - no matter how much we liked it - if we didn't think it would attract people to click and watch the trailer.
Of course it won't get everyone to click and watch the trailer. And some who watch the trailer won't like the trailer. And some will like the trailer and not like the movie. That's just the way it goes.
Of course it won't get everyone to click and watch the trailer. And some who watch the trailer won't like the trailer. And some will like the trailer and not like the movie. That's just the way it goes.
Did we make the right choice? Ask me in a year and I might be able to give you an answer
Best of luck
Aww, thanks! I had a lot of great material to work with.
Hey y'all, I don't know that a promotion thread is the best place to critique an artist's work. There are other threads for that. By the time an artist is promoting it, they've received all the critiiques they want.
We gotta support each other.!
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We're all just trying to help in our own way, I don't think supporting each other is being a bunch of spineless yes men. What good does that do anyone?
When iron sharpens iron there are sparks and heat but the blades get sharper.
I don't think you're going to get many direct customers on this forum either.
But I'll be sharing a link on facebook once the film is available
When iron sharpens iron there are sparks and heat but the blades get sharper.
I don't think you're going to get many direct customers on this forum either.
But I'll be sharing a link on facebook once the film is available
I just found out that DETOURS will be released on Amazon Prime in the US and the UK next Friday November 25 - that's the day after American Thanksgiving, so a good time for people to curl up on the couch and watch it
FYI Prime members will be able to watch for free; rental will be $2.99 in SD and $3.99 in HD for non-members.
I'll post the link when I have it.
FYI Prime members will be able to watch for free; rental will be $2.99 in SD and $3.99 in HD for non-members.
I'll post the link when I have it.
cant wait to watch it, was there a rough estimate for budget ? would be interested to see with all those face how much something like this was likely to cost.
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