poster mock-ups?

L

LittleEarthquakes

I've heard a lot (here and over at 1000dollarfilm) about the importance of poster mock-ups and I would like to do one for both as a way to get feedback and as something to put on the website I will eventually be making. My question though is...

how does one go about creating their mock-up when they haven't yet come up with the funds to start production thus leaving you to make this mock-up withoutactually having your cast to use on your poster?

I have an idea of my poster but this will use 2 of the characters
 
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If you don't have the cast photos already you'd have to get creative... but depending on the genre and subject matter of your film, not showing cast might well be a stronger image.

A good example of this is the poster for Alien...

alien.jpg
 
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The purpose of the poster mock up is to achieve a number of things. One of which is to do so market research... however, the other reason is to see if you can sell the concept behind your film with an image and about twelve words of text.

Now in the case of your project, where you are going to sell it on the strength of the two names involved... well, I'd do two things. Firstly, I'd do a mock up which included the names you want to use... and use that purely for market research... because actually you're testing whether the names you've picked are bankable.

Then, I'd do another poster to test whether you can sell the film purely on its concept... even if there are no names involved. This is a much harder process, because it really makes you think about what your film is really about... and about whether the idea itself really is as compelling as you thought.

In the end, this process will lead to a better end result... because if you can sell the idea without needing your stars on the poster, then when you add them in later, the film becomes stronger, rather than just relying on names to make sales.

(Oh, and AJ, I haven't forgotten your PM question... it's been a hectic week and I wanted to make sure I had time to give you a considered answer)
 
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Thank you Will and Clive! I'm still kind of at a loss for how to go about making the mock up, but you have both given me some ideas.

I like the idea of making one with the name and one without the name (I may be looking for a second name in a smaller part but on the poster would be my two main characters only one of which would be a name)...perhaps I could take photos with deep shaddows on faces so that we see the idea of the pictures without fully showing the face of who wont end up on the poster? If I was any kind of sketching artist at all I could mock it that way but a stick figure is a stretch for me. lol

(thank you clive..I will be looking forward to it)
 
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squirrelposterrough.jpg


I had this rough poster made to promote a screenplay still being written.
No cast pictures, no names and not even the right title. Just done to
gage reaction.


I found a distributor based on the poster. Okay, and the fact that I have made
other movies for them..... But still, they liked it.
 
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Hey Rik... I'd rent that movie... reminds me of a pitch I once developed, based on a wildlife program; the TV show showed how monkeys in Papua New Guinea had evolved to the point where they were making and using spears to kill bush babies for food.

So, being a film maker I wondered, what would happen if a huge pack of monkeys decide to go urban... and started killing people with whatever came to hand?

Basically "The Birds", but with monkeys

The only problem is, I could never nail the title: I mean film about killer bees, you call it "The Swarm"... film about killer birds... "The birds"... film about killer monkeys... (I think you can see what the problem was! LOL)
 
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