Need your feedback on poster!

justinisfilming

justinisfilming

Hey guys and gals!

I need to know what you guys think about a poster that I made. Simplicity was my goal doing this.

Here's the poster:

zXnPQl.jpg


Also, did it bother you guys that you don't see the old man in the poster?
 
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I'm also in agreement with removing (or giving less prominence to) the names at top, and adjusting the title + your name.

But this poster looks really nice, man. Great job!
 
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Hm I don't know. I kinda like having the main actors on top since that's how normal movie posters do it. Now of course they're not "stars" but you know what, I didn't pay them, but they worked their butts off for this film so I think they deserved it. :)
 
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justinisfilming said:
Hm I don't know. I kinda like having the main actors on top since that's how normal movie posters do it. Now of course they're not "stars" but you know what, I didn't pay them, but they worked their butts off for this film so I think they deserved it. :)
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well, that's a good way to look at it. I'm all for it, then... the actors'll get a nice warm feeling when they see their names up there, and it helps them for future gigs (if they're going professional)


And I like it better now that it has some contrast to it
 
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What I got from the poster:

- indie and/or art-house
- drama
- something to do with a baby/young child

Which led me to think:
indie low-key drama about a woman not coping with motherhood (be it financially or whatever) and arguing with some bloke (most likely child's/her father) until the audience has found out all their problems via the dialogue.

Personally, I'm really not a fan of dramas. I may be way off with the assumption, but you asked about the poster and I told you, so if you've made a sci-fi, this poster's not doing its job.

Also, it was mentioned already about the actors' names...
Where I agree with the film's title being raised somewhat to give more space between the text and picture (it would definitely be an improvement), keeping the two players' names shows a sense of pride in what they've achieved.
Stars or not, for dramas, it's all about the performances, and without their names I'd fancy whoever was in it hadn't put in good ones.

Hopefully this was helpful.
 
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I like the photo and the pastel colours. Something bugs me about the choice of font. Maybe just a personal preference thing but I would feel like I hadn't found the right one.

Also the positioning of THE LION wording on the right under THE OLD MAN AND is a bit unfinished to me. I would play with AND and maybe use lower case or '&'.
 
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Justin, I just wanna cast my vote that your graphic design skills are bloody amazing. The photo's good. The orientation of the text is good. Choice of font and all that, spot on. For people who are recommending a bigger or smaller title or removal of names, I think they may be trying to fix something that doesn't necessarily need much fixing. They could be absolutely right but I just want you to know that I think your original layout is fab.

I made a joke earlier about adding the blood, and, yes, I was awfully sarcastic when I wrote that, but I actually was creeping up on a wee bit of a point. I think the one thing your poster needs is a story. You've got this stuffed toy, right? Bloody genius. But it's the combination of that stuffed toy with another element that's going to make the story. You don't have that other element, though.

Sit back and ask yourself what's the story of your poster as it is now? And then ask yourself what would be the ideal story of your poster? I don't think your actual movie is quite represented yet. I think you need another element. So what would that other element be?

Possible Stupid Ideas From Me
  • An old man's hand reaching down
  • a harpoon stuck in the wall in the background slightly out of focus
  • The shadow of an old man on the back wall
  • a puddle of ocean water underneath the lion
  • a lipstick smudge of a woman's kiss on his cheek


I'm sure all of my suggestions are dead wrong for your movie, but you see where I'm going with the ideas? You see how they're meaningless on their own but in juxtaposition with the lion, their identify makes a very strong statement? A good poster tells a story. Your design is superb. And actually the entire poster is great as it is. But I bet your audience will really grow if the poster were to make us deduce something more substantial about your content.
 
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VivaChiba said:
What I got from the poster:

- indie and/or art-house
- drama
- something to do with a baby/young child

Which led me to think:
indie low-key drama about a woman not coping with motherhood (be it financially or whatever) and arguing with some bloke (most likely child's/her father) until the audience has found out all their problems via the dialogue.

Personally, I'm really not a fan of dramas. I may be way off with the assumption, but you asked about the poster and I told you, so if you've made a sci-fi, this poster's not doing its job.

Also, it was mentioned already about the actors' names...
Where I agree with the film's title being raised somewhat to give more space between the text and picture (it would definitely be an improvement), keeping the two players' names shows a sense of pride in what they've achieved.
Stars or not, for dramas, it's all about the performances, and without their names I'd fancy whoever was in it hadn't put in good ones.

Hopefully this was helpful.
Click to expand...

You are very close!! You'll see how close you are when you get the chance to watch the film.

And don't worry, it's not a sci-fi film. :)
 
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VivaChiba said:
What I got from the poster:

- indie and/or art-house
- drama
- something to do with a baby/young child

Which led me to think:
indie low-key drama about a woman not coping with motherhood (be it financially or whatever) and arguing with some bloke (most likely child's/her father) until the audience has found out all their problems via the dialogue.

Personally, I'm really not a fan of dramas. I may be way off with the assumption, but you asked about the poster and I told you, so if you've made a sci-fi, this poster's not doing its job.

Also, it was mentioned already about the actors' names...
Where I agree with the film's title being raised somewhat to give more space between the text and picture (it would definitely be an improvement), keeping the two players' names shows a sense of pride in what they've achieved.
Stars or not, for dramas, it's all about the performances, and without their names I'd fancy whoever was in it hadn't put in good ones.

Hopefully this was helpful.
Click to expand...



He has a trailer on the site somewhere. It's about an old man visiting his son, who he used to entertain with an old lion puppet
 
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MarkKnightRises said:
Justin, I just wanna cast my vote that your graphic design skills are bloody amazing. The photo's good. The orientation of the text is good. Choice of font and all that, spot on. For people who are recommending a bigger or smaller title or removal of names, I think they may be trying to fix something that doesn't necessarily need much fixing. They could be absolutely right but I just want you to know that I think your original layout is fab.

I made a joke earlier about adding the blood, and, yes, I was awfully sarcastic when I wrote that, but I actually was creeping up on a wee bit of a point. I think the one thing your poster needs is a story. You've got this stuffed toy, right? Bloody genius. But it's the combination of that stuffed toy with another element that's going to make the story. You don't have that other element, though.

Sit back and ask yourself what's the story of your poster as it is now? And then ask yourself what would be the ideal story of your poster? I don't think your actual movie is quite represented yet. I think you need another element. So what would that other element be?

Possible Stupid Ideas From Me
  • An old man's hand reaching down
  • a harpoon stuck in the wall in the background slightly out of focus
  • The shadow of an old man on the back wall
  • a puddle of ocean water underneath the lion
  • a lipstick smudge of a woman's kiss on his cheek


I'm sure all of my suggestions are dead wrong for your movie, but you see where I'm going with the ideas? You see how they're meaningless on their own but in juxtaposition with the lion, their identify makes a very strong statement? A good poster tells a story. Your design is superb. And actually the entire poster is great as it is. But I bet your audience will really grow if the poster were to make us deduce something more substantial about your content.
Click to expand...

First off, thanks for the kind words. I'm really not a graphic designer, at all, so hearing those make me feel very good.

Anyway, you got some great ideas! It's funny, I was gonna do a picture of the lion with the arm of the old man while he was putting it down on the floor. But for some reason, I just didn't like the quality of it since it was only a screengrab from the film. But I'll definitely give it a try when I have the time.

Oh and I think that this poster tells the whole story in my opinion. Hm. I don't wanna comment on why I chose what I chose because it seems like whatever the director says, everyone sticks with it. It takes the fun out of everyone watching the film. The audience needs to do some thinking too you know? ;)

P.S. I typed probably a good sentence or two on why I only wanted the lion in the poster, but I realized that I was contradicting myself when I said I don't wanna comment on why I chose what I chose. hehe

Thanks!!
 
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dr stilly said:
I like the photo and the pastel colours. Something bugs me about the choice of font. Maybe just a personal preference thing but I would feel like I hadn't found the right one.

Also the positioning of THE LION wording on the right under THE OLD MAN AND is a bit unfinished to me. I would play with AND and maybe use lower case or '&'.
Click to expand...

Noted. Thank you for your feedback!
 
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Suggestion for your poster

I like the idea of your poster but I have a bit of a suggestion. The lion puppet that your story revolves around is aged. The fact that the old man is not on the poster, I don't think, would matter as much if you made the lion puppet look a bit older, itself. I think it may convey a stronger message of aging if the lion puppet looks as old, as the old man himself.

-B
 
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B_Lavoie said:
I like the idea of your poster but I have a bit of a suggestion. The lion puppet that your story revolves around is aged. The fact that the old man is not on the poster, I don't think, would matter as much if you made the lion puppet look a bit older, itself. I think it may convey a stronger message of aging if the lion puppet looks as old, as the old man himself.

-B
Click to expand...

I mean the lion being all beat up and stuff shows that it's been used for a long time now.
 
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Personally, I really liked the original, desaturated, image. I particularly like the left justification of the title and the actors' names. I would raise the level of the title in relation to the header, but leave a margin equal to 1 1/2 times the height of the font of the actors' names. You could use an ampersand in place of the "and" in the title, but I wouldn't. I like the formality of the word being spelled out. What really draws me into the image is the tufts of stuffing escaping the seams of the lion. It makes me want to find out how the lion got damaged. When the image was desaturated, the lion read as older and more used. The boosted color makes it look too new to my eye. You also might want to adjust the white balance of your base image. You could also desharpen the image slightly to give a somewhat surreal feel to the poster. Be very careful with the desharpening though, it's very easy to make the image too soft.
 
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