Research Timetable
Title List:
EPK and Software Research
Historical and Cultural Research
Inspiration & Influences Research
Camera & Lighting Techniques
After showing my presentation to my supervisor, he thought it was best for me to continue my project as an EPK (Electronic Press Kit) instead of a 'Film Campaign, as an EPK offers more range in visual ideas and concepts to market my narrative through, e.g stills from the 'film', posters, ads, etc. As I will now be taking on this feedback, I have decided to research into EPKs to see how I can create my own and what ways I can make it authentic to the story I am trying to tell.
Source, Article - https://www.elevatemybrand.com/blog-and-press/epk-what-it-means-and-how-to-make-one
Harvard Reference - [ANONYMOUS]. (2015). EPK: What It Means and How to Make One. Elevate My Brand.
The article began by stating how an EPK IS, "pre-packaged set of promotional materials of a person, company, or organisation distributed to members of the media for promotional use". The article continued by breakdown the different parts of what an EPK can be made of, explaining the following:
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Your pictures: usually two to three head shots and promo shots.
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Short biography/description: a biography of you product, make it short and simple.
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Press coverage: if the product is being taken on by press, give evidence of this.
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Contact information: e.g links to social media and websites etc.
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Quotes from people about your work: if you're just starting out gather quotes from mentors, professors, peers, avoid family or friends.
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Gif info or portfolio: provide links to professional work e.g audio clips, photos of work, written snippets etc.
Overall this source was beneficial to me as it gave me a clearer insight as to what an EPK typically contains and the ways in which I can improve it e.g by ensuring I gather quotes from mentors/professors instead of families and friends, which I believe is a useful point to take into account when thinking about the feedback presentation of my EPK. However, the article was quite vague in the fact that it lacked much discussion of devising an EPK for media product advertising.
Source, Article - https://www.filmsourcing.com/epk-create-electronic-press-kit-film/
Harvard Reference - [ANONYMOUS]. (2020). Electronic Press Kit Tutorial - FREE Templates for Film. FilmSourcing.
In the beginning of this article it quoted the Director of Edinburgh Short Film Festival, Paul Bruce who stated how, "A bad EPK tells you almost nothing about the film and everything about the people involved in making it." I found this quote insightful as it made me motivated to ensure I constantly represent the narrative of my film through the content in my EPK, instead of focusing on all the promotional quotes and people involved. I should be able to avoid this issue as my film is not technically being 'made' therefore the director, writers etc. will be fictional, which gives me more time to focus on my representation of the story through the visuals. The article also stated how when you're making a EPK you must "paint a picture of the success your production will have". I found this quote useful as it reiterated and assured me that my EPK must focus mainly on my film's visuals through still shots, ads etc. to execute the succession of the 'film'. This article also spoke upon the 'basic requirements' of an EPK and listed the following:
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Teaser / Trailer
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Film poster
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Synopsis (short, medium, long)
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Format information
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Cast / crew bios
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Contact details
Lastly, the article gave download links to EPK examples/templates. This would have been very helpful however I was denied access to most of the PDF links and websites which prevented me from utilising the sources.
Source, Article - https://www.lightsfilmschool.com/blog/why-and-how-to-make-film-press-kit-afy
Harvard Reference - Lauren McGrail. (2021). Why You Need to Make a Press Kit for Your Film. Lights Film School.
In this article the author stated how the 'press' in Electronic Press Kit means "any print materials that may get in front of a potential audience e.g posters, film schedules, brochures etc." The author continued by explaining how "press kits are, at their core, a logically streamlined way to get information to a lot of people". I found these statements informative as they clarified the exact meaning of 'press' within this type of media product and how it applies to audience theory. The author also emphasised the importance that "film hype is not earned. It is manufactured by you". I felt this quote was refreshing as it gave me a new perspective upon marketing a film and reminded me how the advertisement in EPK has to reflect the narrative well in order for my project to be successful. The author also recommend to get feedback on your EPK, I will be doing this throughout by having my supervisor check my work every week and add their improvements. The author also created bullet points of what to include in an EPK which were the following:
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Synopses of the film in varying lengths
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Bios of the film’s major creative players (writer, director, producers, etc.)
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Bios of the film’s actors
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A fact sheet that outlines key facts such as where the film was shot, how long the production was, how long the finished film is, credits, etc.
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High-resolution stills from the film
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High-resolution production stills (behind-the-scenes photos of the film getting made)
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Artists’ statements, often from the director sharing why they made the film, what the inspiration was, what they’re particularly proud of, what they hope to communicate with the finished work, etc.
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Contact information for who to contact for an interview or if they have questions
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Other documents you may think would be interesting to the press (and public)
Lastly, the article said to "make sure the press kit is easy to navigate". I will take this advice into account and ensure I plan the structure and layout of my EPK to ensure my audience understand the scope of my film concept, designs etc. Overall this article was quite useful as it pointed out key information to take into account when promoting an EPK and how it is vital to entice your audience in order for it to be successful.
EPK Examples - Magnolia Pictures
Source, Webpage - http://www.magpictures.com/presskits.aspx
Harvard Reference - [ANONYMOUS]. (N/A). Magnolia:: Press Kits. Magnolia Pictures.
After looking through the EPK examples on the Magnolia pictures website shown below, I have been inspired to focus more on creating still images for my project. This is because I believe they work very effectively in conveying the narrative of the films through the EPK and act as almost tasters for the audience, drawing them in. I also admired the simple layout of these EPKs, they simply broke down certain scenes within the images, credited the directors/writers, then concluded with a poster to show their final product of their marketing for the film. I also liked how these EPKs look like storyboards, I found this structural design immerses the audience in the film concept without revealing too much either. I will look back through these EPK examples when planning my own to draw influence from and act as a template.
EPK and Software Research
Source, Article - https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-creating-an-epk-with-free-template-samples/
Harvard Reference - AJ Unitas. (2017). 'The Ultimate Guide to creating an EPK'. Studio Binder.
In this article, the author broke down the stages of creating an Electronic Press Kit and gave advice on how to make it concise and interesting. One of the important points the author raised was how it was vital to include the following in an EPK:
- Film poster
- Cast biography
- Key crew biography
- Synopsis
- Logline
- Contact details
- Full credits
Reflecting upon my research into EPKs so far, all of them emphasise including these elements in an EPK. In order for me to utilise this research I will be devising a drafted EPK which consists of the previously listed practises, in order for me to develop my project before I delve into production and create the final piece.
Another informative point which the author mentioned was "less is often more" when discussing the plot of your film. Reflecting upon this, I have decided that for my EPK I am going to write a one page synopsis broken down into three main acts to clearly show the development of the story but also making it condensed.
Lastly, the author recommended to include some form of praise and reward which the film has received. For my project, I will try and gather quotes from peers, mentors etc. about their opinion on my film concept and use it in my EPK to give evidence of audience response and reward. Overall, this article was somewhat helpful as it discussed relevant information on the structure of a synopsis and gave me clarity in choosing my form of description, although most of the information it gave I already knew from looking at other sources on the subject. However it did give an EPK example which helped me see a new perspective upon how I could approach or style my press kit.
The EPK example is shown in the slideshow below:
Source, Article - https://festagent.com/en/articles/effective-press-kit
Harvard Reference - Ekaterina Rusakovich. (2017). How To Make Press Kit For the Film. Festagent.
After reading through this article it reiterated the previous points and advice I have discussed above, such as synopsis, credits, biographies etc. However, this article was helpful because it broke down a 'title card' and helped me understand more about the convections used when creating one, such as including contact information of the studio, producer etc. and adding the names of key members, lead roles etc. which I was unaware need to be included in a title card, and now for my EPK I will ensure I include those credits in the title card.
This article was also useful because it explained how you must discuss the following when creating a crew/actor biography:
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About experience in previous projects. For example: “The operator before the shooting of our film worked as an assistant for Alisher Hamidhojaev” or “The editing director collaborated with Linda on the video clip “Hang Me Up”.
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About rewards that may have already been won at festivals.
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About educational institutions. If you are a first-time filmmaker and you absolutely do not know what to write in the resume. Do not forget to specify the names of the masters of the course, if we are talking about cinema. Briefly tell about what you did before you decided to become a director.
These bullet points were useful, particularly the last one as it mentioned what to include in a first-time filmmaker's biography (which for this project is myself). This point has been useful in giving me an insight into how I should create and credit myself as the main creative in my biography. The author also discussed informative points on the 'photos' section in an EPK and they listed types of photography you can include, such as 'shots of the key films scenes', 'images from the shooting'. For my EPK, now knowing this information, I will ensure to include still mages of scenes to give more context and depth to my project ad execute the vision of the film more.
The article also stated that in an EPK you must include 'technical information', which they broke down:
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shooting format (35 mm, 16 mm, digital),
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aspect ratio (16x9, 4x3),
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audio format (5.1, stereo),
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length,
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the original language of the film.
Understanding the technical information is very useful for me as I can now include these technical aspects of my 'film' in my EPK, which evidences my thinking in the cinematographic specifics and duration of my film. Another important point the article raised was explaining the different ways in which I can create my press kit, the programs they recommended were, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and CorelDRAW. I have access to both Photoshop and Illustrator and will look into CorelDRAW to give me more options in utilising more programs for my press kit. Lastly, the article stated how "The standard for the press kit is a file in pdf format", this has reassured me to download my final drafted press kit as a PDF and upload it on my blog when I am finished to give it more of a professional execution. The article also explained how it is important to take into account that "most of the monitors existing in our time are horizontal in orientation", therefore I should be creating my press kit in a horizontal layout to give it a more realistic look.
Overall, this source was incredibly useful as it allowed me to gain more perspective upon the ways I can introduce myself within my biography for the EPK, develop the visual context too through still images from a 'scene' and understand the convectional film details and design layout options of my EPK, which all round will help me achieve a higher standard and quality electronic press kit for this project.
Planning my EPK Design
After reflecting upon the various ways in which I can layout my EPK, I have decided to create a list which consists of all the elements that will make up my press kit. I believe breaking down my EPK into sections will allow me to develop my ideas and clearly plan my initial draft. I have also decided to create my EPK on the software called InDesign, as I would like to advance my skills in using InDesign and it has also been recommended by my researched sources shown above, as an effective piece of software to use when creating an EPK.
1. The cover of my EPK will be a landscape poster of my the film (Hippocampus)
2. The next slide of my EPK will feature a promo shot, title of the film, running time, aspect ratio and duration.
3. The next slide of my EPK will feature a promo shot, log line and synopsis.
4. The next slide of my EPK will feature credits of the actors and director.
5. The next slide will feature two film posters (landscape) and a praise from the audience (quoted).
In total my EPK will feature three film posters and two promo shots. In order for me to create a rough draft of my EPK, I will have to research into using the software InDesign and once I have gathered a basic understanding of using it I will create my drafted EPK to execute and evidence my initial layout of ideas visually.
InDesign Research for EPK Layout
Source, Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVW8AF2TMnw
Harvard Reference - Danksy. (2018). Get Started with 10 Beginner Tips for InDesign. Dansky Youtube Channel.
As I have no experience in using InDesign, I thought it would be best to learn the basics of the software by watching tutorials. The tutorial I have linked above was very helpful in clarifying the basic uses of organising text, layout and proportions which will be useful in drafting my EPK. The narrator of the video broke down the basics of InDesign in 10 steps, I have noted down them in the following order:
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Enable or disable auto-hyphenation: command a - using text tool - select all text - select window - select type and tables - select paragraphs - uncheck 'hyphenate' - successful completion of removing hyphenate.
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Changing the text case format: type - change case - given options e.g uppercase, lower etc.
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Working with text and object containers: switch between highlighting text and container by using square tool next to text symbol.
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Drop shadow and object effects: shape tool - swatches - object - effects - options showing drop shadow effects.
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Creating and editing tables: type tool - table - insert - elect table - table options or call options.
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Previewing pages with bled, margins and slug: click w - select either the box symbol with one line or two boxes inside one another - shows or hide manual preview of page.
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Scaling images proportionally: file - place - shift or command - scales image // scale x and y percentage - changes scale of image.
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Cropping images: direct selection tool - hand tool - scale x and y percentage - crops image.
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Fitting content to a frame: right click - fitting - fit content to frame/fit frame to content.
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Display performance modes: object - display performance - speeds up rendering.
Overall, this tutorial was very useful as it taught me the foundations of designing on InDesign, giving me more confidence in understanding the software and how I can apply these new skills into my EPK draft. The most useful tip which I drew from the tutorial, was learning how to scale the images, this was because InDesigns layout is different form the previous softwares I have used before on the Adobe Suite and understanding this basic but vital skill will benefit me hugely in crafting my EPK as I can now manipulate my images/poster sizes and their placement.
EPK Draft - Initial design ideas
[Select images to enlarge]
Drafted EPK Includes:
- Coverage
- Synopsis
- Logline
- Cast and crew
- Three promo shots (shown throughout slides)
- Two poster designs (I will create these drafted designs later on into my research)
For my EPK Draft, I photographed my actor for 'promo shots'. Although this will not be the official promotional shots for my EPK, they helped give more visual style to this drafted one. I have not included my poster covers yet as I will be creating them further on into my project and wanted to focus on learning the basics of InDesign for my EPK practise/draft. Overall, making this was helpful in allowing me to understand how to play with text, pages and scales when using InDesign. I reflected upon the ten steps in the tutorial throughout making this draft, which turned out to be even more useful than I initially expected.
EPK and Timetable progression
To reflect upon my progression towards the completion of my project, I have decided to briefly discuss the most useful parts of my research which have helped me develop my skillset towards crafting my electronic press kit. I have also shown what stage I am at in terms of timetable/deadlines.
In terms of my timetable, I have successfully completed my tasks for this week's research in time with my deadline. My research into EPKs and reflecting upon the different layout options helped me vastly, this is because it gave me the chance to roughly craft my own drafted EPK through looking at layout options. This beginning part of my research has helped me further my project because I have laid the foundations of my press kit which I can build from and evolve throughout my future research into graphic design, designers, effects etc. I can also carry my new hard skills in InDesign with me when I begin to develop my final draft of my press kit.
Historical and Cultural Research
Source, Essay - https://uxdesign.cc/a-brief-history-of-graphic-design-90eb5e1b5632
Harvard Reference - Monica Galvan. (2020). A brief history of Graphic Design. Medium/UX Collective.
To broaden my knowledge on the evolution of graphic design and how it has been revolutionised over the years, I have researched into the historical and cultural influences to give me a deeper scope into the craft I will be delving into for this project.
In the beginning of this essay, the author stated how "graphic designers take visual context like illustrations or photography and combine them with typography to communicate a message" which I felt perfectly summarised the art form. The author then continued by breaking down graphic design through its historical birthing, stating how 'early visual communication' is how "historians trace the origins of graphic deign to early cave paintings from 38,000 BC. and how it allowed the people to communicate from one generation to another." The author then explored how 'visual language' arose in history which evolved graphic design through the representation of the alphabet, credited by the Sumerians for writing in C.3300 to 3000 BC. The author then discussed the ways in which the 'invention of printing' progressed graphic deign further, as in the early 6th century CE. the Chinese would use woodblock, or relief printing to "stamp designs on clothes to paper", and in 1040 "Bi Sheng invented the first technique for printing with markable type". The author moved on by stating how the 'Industrial Revolution' from 1760 to 1840 impacted graphic design as it was in this period when a manufacturer processor, the 'lithography' was invented, the author explained how this was a "method of printing that involves inking your deign into a stone or metal surface and transferring it to a sheet of paper. - Eventually, this led to chromolithography - simply lithography with colour". The author then explained how the 'first graphic design agency' was formed, known as 'The Weiner Werkstätte' (translated as Vienna Workshop). The agency was established by painter Koloman Moser, architect Josef Hoffman and patron Fritz Waerndorfer. The author explained how this agency "brought together architects, artists and designers working in ceramics, fashion, silver, furniture and graphic arts".
The author then explored seven 'key movements' in history which influenced graphic design to become the art form it is today. The first being 'Art Noveau' - 'New Art' which emerged in West Europe and United States during the 1880s to world war one. The author stated that Art Nouveau was a "deliberate attempt to abandon the historical styles of the 19th century" and that the designs were typically "organic symmetrical line work". The author then moved onto the second movement, introducing the 'Bauhaus', explaining how it was an "influential art and design movement that began in 1919 in Weimar, Germany". The author stated how "Bauhaus design incorporated minimalism geometric shapes and simple typography". Moving on from this period, the author then discussed 'Art Deco', being the third movement which began "as a celebration in Paris in 1925". The author said how "Art Deco uses simple shapes, stylised and geometric ornamentation and elaborate use of expensive materials, both natural and synthetic". The next movement the author explored is known as the 'Swiss Design'. The style arose in the Netherlands, Russia and Germany in the 1920s and became popularised during the 1950s in Switzerland. The author described the movement as "logical, modular grid systems which provided a structured framework toiling different elements" and was "minimal in nature". The author next explored the fifth movement known as 'Pop Art' which started in Britain and America in the 1950s and 60s. Pop Art started as a revolutionary approach to "art, cultural and traditional views on what art should be", the author stated how it was "bold, graphic printmaking". After this movement came 'Postmodernism', this as the author put it was a "reaction against modernism" adding that it "embraced complex and often contradicted layers of meaning". Postmodernism used "vibrant colours and abstract type" and an example of a post modernism graphic artist which the author mentioned was April Grieman, she became famous for her innovated typography during the 1970s. Lastly, we reach the seventh movement known as the 'Digital Age', this movement digitised tools and revolutionised graphic design, leading to the creation of the software Photoshop which launched in the 1990s, this software gave more opportunity to wider audiences who wanted to create graphic designs digitally. To conclude, each of these movements impacted one another and allowed for more expansion, experimentation and growth within the art form, and have opened the doors to future generations who want to express themselves and work through graphic design.
The slideshow below executes images from each of the seven graphic design movements:
After reflecting upon the graphic design essay I researched above, I now have more knowledge on how the art form has evolved over the years and the ways in which my graphic design inspirations styles were influenced by the different movements and the similarities they carry from those periods, within their work.
Overall, the essay was very useful as it educated me more on the historical and contextual understanding of graphic design and the ways in which it has expanded over the years. I have been particularly inspired by the Swiss and Postmodernism movements as I feel their styles explore emotional expression through simplicity and abstractness. After looking into these unique movements I decided to sketch some visual concepts for my EPK that frame a similar aesthetic and layout.
Swiss Design - Rough draft
As I previously mentioned, I was inspired by the 'Swiss Design' Movement and wanted to experiment with the simplistic and abstract style it obtains. To explore this style I made a rough drafted poster design by downloading images from the internet and edited them on the software Photoshop using the mask and opacity tools. Creating this rough design allowed me to expand the new ways in which I could reflect the narrative of my film through the visuals.
For this draft I first searched on 'DaFonts.com' for a bold text which emulated the 'swiss' typography shown in that movement, I then downloaded an image of an elder man looking sorrowful in a black and white filter, as this depicted the protagonist as an elder man. The black and white filter helped capture the swiss design by giving it simple frame but one with lots of emotional weight. I then downloaded an image of a page from a book which I masked and lowered the opacity of to make it fade into the background, this allowed me to reference that the protagonist is a writer and a theme of the film is literature. Overall, I quite liked the outcome of this design and will definitely utilise the swiss design movement as a inspiration when making the visual frames for my EPK.
Postmodern Rough Draft
For this draft I wanted to use a landscape layout as I felt it would help me experiment with proportions and framing of my typography, graphics etc. I firstly downloaded an image of an elderly man looking heavy in thought in a harsh brown colouring. I then masked images of a broken mirror and abstract tape across the subject's eyes in Photoshop. I felt these added elements helped capture the postmodern style whilst also reflecting the dramatic tone of my film. Lastly, I added a scratched typography font to match the cracked mirror backdrop, as I felt this gave the design a more gritty and harsh feel, mimicking the theme of old memories/dates which is prevalent in my film's narrative. Overall, I found making this draft allowed me to explore new ways of approaching the postmodern style and allowed me to try out designing in a landscape format. When comparing the swiss and postmodern styles I prefer the swiss design as I like the simplicity because it gives the audience more time to appreciate the details and breakdown the visuals meaning.
Attending the BFI Future Film Festival
To understand the marketing of short films online, I attended the BFI Future Film Festival which was held virtually. The festival showcased a handful of short films, each one featured a poster/promo shot cover and synopsis. I found looking into the way short films are presented online to audiences would help me with my EPK, as I can analyse the way these short films were targeted to their audiences and how effective their marketing was by hearing the audiences response. After speaking to some attendees of the festival (via instagram message) I found people my age thought the festival was very enjoyable and educational, this proved to me that the marketing of the films presented in the festival were effective in drawing in their young audience members attention, and that the films they screened were also accessible for people's different tastes, this was evidenced through the genre categories the audiences could choose from.
After attending the festival and gathering feedback from fellow attendees, I have been reassured to include promo shots in my EPK. I also now know I need to ensure I specify the genre of my film in my EPK as it is important when relating it to my target audience. Lastly, after looking at the short films synopsis, I need mine to be less detailed as in my previous draft I gave away too much of the narrative and need to abbreviate it in order for my film to not be spoiled but still be intriguing.
Inspirations & Influences
Gibbs' Reflective Cycle - Reflecting upon research
For my more practical based research I am going to be using the 'Gibbs Reflective Cycle' to evaluate my work. This is an effective technique when applied to research as it allows me to breakdown my work into six parts: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan. By utilising the Gibbs' Reflective Cycle I am able to give a fill scope of my development and show how it applies to my current progression of my project.
Steve Reeves - Art Director
One of the graphic designers I have been inspired by is Steve Reeves. I find Reeves film posters effective in portraying the tone and emotional weight of the films through his framing, lighting and use of colour/lack of colour. Reeves Manchester by the Sea poster I found very inspiring as he desaturated the blue tones which helped reflect the bleak and empty emotions the protagonist feels throughout the film, therefore conveying to the audience that the film will deal with a character's mental struggle, fitting it into the drama genre. This is an effective use of colour psychology and helps target the film to those who admire the drama genre. Reeves editing of colour has given me the idea to experiment with desaturation and cool toned blues/greys for my film posters, as I believe it will help emphasise the melancholy atmosphere of my film and also convey the drama genre it fits into, as both these elements will be key when directing my posters to my target audience. In the same poster, Reeves frames two main characters together, with their expressions distressed, standing near the sea in winter (the weather is shown through the characters costumes). All of the mise-en-scene and framing of the characters helps convey the setting of the film, whilst also depicting the narrative to be a family drama that deals with confrontational relationships. Reeves framing and mise-en-scene in this poster is inspiring to me as each piece encompasses the heavy emotional tone of the film. For my film poster I have been inspired by Reeves framing of his characters and colouring. I would like to mimic the cold tone blues and sorrowful framing of my protagonist's expression alike Reeves, as this will help me experiment with his graphic design style. I can also focus on the portrayal of my character emotional weight to my audience, much like how Reeves did for his poster on Manchester by the Sea.
Historical & Cultural influence
Reflecting upon Steve Reeves graphic design style, it is evident his work has been hugely inspired by the 'Swiss design' movement, this is shown through the simplicity of his designs and the ways in which he creates space between his subjects and typography, allowing the audience to digest the image with little editing and focusing on the emotional tone of the still images he uses.
Source, Tutorial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrqtKouR1jU
Harvard Reference - Layer Life. (2018). Cinematic Colour Grade for Movie Look Effect. Photoshop Tutorial Layer Life.
AIM: Create Colour Grade inspired by Steve Reeves
To explore Reeves graphic design style, I researched Photoshop colour grade tutorials on Youtube, as I wanted to depict a similar blue toned, naturalistic colour grade seen in Reeves posters and also expand my skills using Photoshop. I came across a tutorial which captured a 'cinematic look' similar to Reeves and decided to recreate the effect on one of my own photographs of my actor and design it into a rough poster. I chose to do this because I believe exploring different graphic styles will allow me to develop my designing skills for my own posters and I can draw from my influences.
I created the gallery below which evidences my breakdown of the tutorial and features screenshots of my progress to show the stages of me creating the colour grade. Overall, I believe the colour grade was effective in capturing a similar style to Reeves 'Manchester by The Sea' poster and thought it was effective in depicting my film's dramatic/realism tone. However, I do believe the colour grade was slightly too intense for my liking and dominated the visual too much. This has taught me that when I make my final poster designs I will edit and explore different colour grades until I am satisfied with the outcome. When reflecting upon the tutorial, it was very useful in educating me more on using Photoshop as I had never worked with channel mixer, curve or gradient layers before, and has given me more understanding in using the software and confidence in colour grading, which I will carry with me when develop my designs for my EPK. To conclude, I believe Reeves simplistic graphic design style will work effectively as an influence to draw from when making my designs and this tutorial gave me the opportunity to explore his style in a subtle yet useful way.
How I created the effect:
[Select images to enlarge]
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Comparison
To compare my design to Steve Reeves 'Manchester by The Sea' poster, the framing of my character is much closer and more intimate than Reeves. However, I do feel my design conveys a sense of suffering and internal conflict through my character's distressed expression, much like how Reeves presents his characters uptight and closed off body language.
The main difference I believe there is between my design and Reeves is the colour grade and coloured title. My colour grade has a much warmer saturation, I would like to slightly improve my colour grade by decreasing the tint of my colour grade to give it a more naturalistic look, alike Reeves. Lastly, I believe another smaller difference between my design and Reeves is the colour of my title. I feel the light teal I chose is distracting and does not blend into the mise-en-scene successfully. To improve upon my interpreted design of Reeves 'Manchester by The Sea' poster, I have made a second design (shown below) which features a less warmer colour grade and an improved light blue title which I felt merged better with the mise-en-scene.
Inspiration
Design one
Design two
Gibbs's Reflective Cycle - Steve Reeves Inspiration
Describe: For my inspiration and influences research I looked into the graphic designer Steve Reeves. I found his work to be unique and attractive because of his simplistic and naturalistic style which depicts drama genre films effectively and portrays emotional tones well. I decided to create my own poster inspired by Reeves 'Manchester by The Sea' poster as it conveyed a similar emotional weight to my film and I liked the light blue shades/lighting in his design. When creating my own version, I photographed my actor in deep thought to try capture the heavy tone of my film and show the audience main character. I then began editing my image by finding a Photoshop tutorial on Youtube which allowed me to create a similar colour grade to the one shown in Reeves poster, I also used the same font Reeves used too. In my second version I adjusted the colour grade and colour of my title ever so slightly, as I felt they were too intense and conflicted the 'Reeves' style I wanted to achieve.
Feelings: I thought choosing Reeves as an inspiration for this part of my research was very helpful as I was able to tackle his style through learning new colour grading skills in Photoshop. I also found creating the poster to be enjoyable as I was able to both learn new ways of framing my actor whilst also developing my editing skills.
Evaluation: The process of creating the poster design taught me how to direct my actor through the photography. My editing process gave me the chance to learn new colour grade on Photoshop through the using the gradient layer, channel mixer layer etc. Overall this research gave me the chance to broaden my experience in interpreting graphic design techniques and style, which will vastly improve my visual designs for my EPK.
Analysis: Utilising Photoshop as an editing software to colour grade on is useful as it offers many techniques and skills in approaching graphic design. The reason I know it is such an effective software is because I have used it before in previous projects and trust continuing to use it for my project will greatly benefit the progression of my design skills and outcome of my EPK. I also shot the photograph used in the poster on my iPhone 10, this an effective device to shoot on as the camera quality is HD and there are light editing tools I can use whilst photographing which allow me to change the white balance, making it a successful device to use when capturing the visuals for this project. The reason I know it is an effective device to use when doing photography is because I have used it previous on other projects and has ways put out good quality. However, if I am able to for this project I would like to utilise a DSLR camera which my college may be able to offer (depending upon the COVID-19 rules).
Conclusion: I learned that using the software Photoshop is a useful editing program to colour grade photographs on. I also learnt that my iPhone 10 is an effective device to photograph on too. Lastly, I know Steve Reeves graphic design style works effectively as an influence, as experimenting with his techniques allowed me to convey more of the emotional weight of my film's narrative through a simplistic and stripped back poster design.
Action plan: I will incorporate Steve Reeves style into my poster designs as it helped conveyed my narrative effectively. I will also utilise Photoshop as a software to practise colour grading on and constantly develop my skills using it by experimenting with different gradient layers, channel mixer settings etc. Finally, I will use my iPhone 10 for photographs as a backup if I am unable to use a DSLR camera from my college.
Alfred Stieglitz - Photographer
Alfred Stieglitz is an inspiring photographer to me because of the way he utilises natural light and uses a sepia colouring, which gives his photographs a sense of timelessness. The particular photograph I have shown on the right captures his skill of framing light behind his subjects. I was inspired by his lighting technique and want to re create a similar shot for one of the 'still photographs' in my EPK, as I feel framing the subject in front of the light creates a ethereal shadow, which for my film could be reflective of my protagonist's fate, being his death. I would also like to experiment on Photoshop with colour grading and create a sepia grade to depict a nostalgic atmosphere, as this colouring would be perfect when referencing my protagonist's nostalgic journey in writing about his past.
Historical & Cultural influence
After researching into Alfred Stieglitz, I learnt he was part of the 'Modernist' movement during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This movement consisted of many artists who celebrated individualism and experimentation through art, whilst also combining symbolism and formalism into their work too.
Source, Tutorial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdMv18GmTy8
Harvard Reference - Pixovert. (2017). Make Sepia Tone Photographs Digitally in Photoshop CC 2018. Pixovert Youtube Channel.
AIM: Create sepia effect inspired by Alfred Stieglitz
To explore Alfred Stieglitz's graphic style, I decided to practise his technique of using natural light and sepia tones. I asked my friend to be a model and edited a sepia colouring with a grain effect on Photoshop. I learnt how to create these effects by following the tutorial linked above. I believe creating the sepia effect was helpful in teaching me new colour techniques on Photoshop. However, I did not like the sepia tone their settings offered and in the end readjusted the settings to my own liking. I created the slideshow below with screenshots to evidence the steps I followed in order to making the colour grade. When reflecting upon the tutorial I found it to be quite useful as it educated me on a new technique in colour grading, particularly sepia tones. I believe incorporating Stieglitz's photographic and sepia coloured style into my EPK promo shots will be effective in portraying my narrative through a unique and meaningful photographic style, as I believe these effects help capture the melancholic and nostalgic feeling I want my film to reflect.
How I created the effect:
[Select images to enlarge]
Designs and Evaluation
Inspiration
Design one
Design two
Comparison
To compare my first design to Alfred Stieglitz's photograph, the framing of my subject/model is positioned at a further distance and there is more focus of both the whole landscape in my image, whereas in Alfred Stieglitz's photograph it is solely focused on his model's expression. Another difference between my image and Alfred Stieglitz's is the softness of the lighting, as I digitally added the sepia colour grade to my image, I harshened the natural backlight which I believe looks poor and becomes distracting. Unlike Alfred Stieglitz's who's image has a soft focus of light which acts as a warmth purple toned veil behind his model. A similarity between my design and Alfred Stieglitz's is the models expressions, both are seen to be deep in thought and almost emotionally guarded at the same time, creating a sense of isolation and disconnect in the atmosphere.
I have decided to create a second design with an improved sepia grade that features more similarities between Alfred Stieglitz's photograph. I feel my second design utilises the natural light more as it creeps past the model without dominating the shot. I also believe the colour grade looks more accurate to Alfred Stiegltiz's, this is because I adjusted my original colour grade used in my first design, changing the hue to a more purplish yellow, adding a stronger vignette and removing the grain, instead replacing it with a soft glow/clarity. My second design frames my actor more intimately, this was effective in enhancing the emotion of the image by making the viewer focus solely on the actor's melancholy expression. I felt capturing the same intensity and close frame seen in Alfred Stieglitz's photograph worked well and reflected the depressive, dramatic tone of my film. After creating my second design, I have decided to use this same shot type and sepia colouring as one of the promo shots for my EPK, however I will re grade and shoot the photograph in production to improve the visual.
Gibbs' Reflective Cycle - Alfred Stieglitz Inspiration
Describe: For my inspiration and influences research I looked into the photographer Alfred Stieglitz. I found his work to be enticing as he framed photographs in natural light with heavy sepia colourings. I was inspired by his photography style and wanted to explore shooting in natural light and making sepia colour grades through tutorials online. I began my first design by photographing one of my peers in the early afternoon to capture them in the daylight. I then edited the image by following a tutorial which guided me on how to use the sepia colour layers in Photoshop. To create my second design I photographed my father and then edited the image on Photoshop, I copy and pasted my previous colour grade settings from my first design into my second, then adjusted the settings until I was satisfied with their outcome.
Feelings: I thought choosing Alfred Stieglitz as an inspiration for this part of my research was useful as it gave me the chance to explore photographing subjects in natural light and I was also able to broaden my knowledge in using the sepia colour grading tools in Photoshop which I had never explore before. As I created my second design I felt more comfortable using the colour grade settings.
Evaluation: The process of creating both shots for my two designs (inspired by Stieglitz) was useful as I was able to develop my photography skills, this is because his work made me realise that I prefer framing in natural light as I feel it gives the photos a sense of nostalgia which artificial light can struggle to do. Lastly, the editing process gave me the chance to explore creating a sepia grade digitally and has reassured me that Stieglitz's photograph style will be a continuous influence throughout my project as I will reflect upon his work when making my own.
Analysis: Utilising Photoshop as an editing software to create the sepia grade was useful as the grading tools were laid out simply and clearly, making it easy for me to understand. The reason I know Photoshop is a useful program to use when colour grading is because I have used it before to colour grade images on other projects. I also have always found that my skills are evolving through watching tutorials on Youtube that teach me new ways of editing images in Photoshop. Photographing on my iPhone 10 was an effective device to shoot on, especially for my first image as I photographed it using the 'portrait' effect offered in the settings. This effect automatically decreased the aperture in my camera and focused solely on my actor, this decision improved the picture as this setting gave off a similar style to Alfred Stieglitz's photograph because he also framed his actor in a low aperture.
Conclusion: I learned that using the 'portrait' effect in the iPhone 10 camera lowers the aperture and focuses sharply on subjects/actors. I also learnt how to create a sepia colour grade in Photoshop. Lastly, I know Alfred Stieglitz's photography style works well as an influence for me because it allows me to understand the importance of framing in natural light when creating a sepia grade, as I now know the organic shades and tones impacts the outcome of the grade.
Action plan: I will incorporate Alfred Stieglitz's photography style into the promo shots for my EPK as I liked the sepia colour grade seen in his work and felt drawing from his work helped me expose more of the melancholic/dramatic tone of my film which I want my visuals to reflect to my audience. I will use Photoshop to colour grade my promo shots and posters for this project as it is an effective and reliable software which helped broaden my hard skills. I will try to photograph some promo shots/poster images on my iPhone 10 using the 'portrait' effect' as I felt it was a successful camera setting which helped mirror Alfred Stieglitz's style.
Saul Bass - Graphic Designer
Saul Bass is probably the most famous graphic designer that has ever lived and his illustrated minimalist style has hugely inspired me for this project. Bass's film poster for 'The Shining' was inspiring to me because he cleverly and subtly symbolised the film's narrative by framing a hidden mysterious face inside the text, who sternly glares at the audience which foreshadows the film's dark and wicked tone, hinting directly towards an evil character who the audience will be confronted with, as seen through the audience's direct contact with the face in the poster. These elements have inspired me to experiment with hidden messages within my poster. For example I could manipulate my audience's placement of sight by having certain buildings of Cambridge all form the shape of a clock, however I would ensure the buildings would be visually hard to see unless the audience look closely. This technique of having a clock be created through buildings would effectively symbolise my narrative (alike The Shining Poster) as the clock represents the protagonist's loss of memory and the buildings represent the setting of which the protagonist lives in throughout his life and how his the foundation of his memories are set in the streets of Cambridge.
Saul Bass's 'The Shining' poster also inspired because his use of colour theory was effective in portraying the films narrative, as the intense yellow background reflects the intimidating power the protagonist puts upon the other characters in the film. Also Bass's stylised rigid font effectively mirrors the sharp symmetry shown in the film's cinematography. These two elements Saul Bass used in his poster were very inspiring to me and have made me want to experiment with textures and how I can convey my film's dramatic and heavy style through the shape and structure of my text and the colouring of my background, to ensure each piece connects to the emotional element of the story.
Historical & Cultural influence
Reflecting upon Saul Basses graphic design style, I believe he has been inspired by the 'Art Deco' movement, this is because his designs frequently depict bold, vibrant and enticing typography, illustrations, images etc. which are simple in layout yet hold richness in symbolism and genre, all of which were seen commonly in the Art Deco movement. Contextually this movement would have been dominant in the graphic design period Bass was working in (1940-60s) as his work came after the movement which arose in the 1920s.
Source, Tutorial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_5ojTDVVSc
Harvard Reference - Nobu Design. (2019). 3D Blend Text Effect in Adobe Illustrator. Nobu Design Youtube Channel
AIM: Create typography effect inspired by Saul Bass
To explore Basses graphic style, I am going to create a poster similar in to his 'The Shining' poster by having my film's narrative be symbolised in the typography. I want the texture of my font to be fluid and unstructured, this is to reflect my protagonist's mental vulnerability and as the title is hippocampus, it symbolises the shirking part of that brain, which happens to Alzheimer victims. I'm also going to experiment with having a black background to see if it helps reflect the drama genre of the film and symbolise the theme of death (as the colour is sometimes connotations to that theme). To create this draft poster design inspired by Basses work, I researched into text effect tutorials on Youtube and came across one which depicted a 3D text effect that I felt would work for my design (tutorial is linked above).
This particular tutorial required me to edit on Adobe Illustrator, which was beneficial as it helped broaden my skills within text formatting using Illustrator. Out of all the tutorials I have followed this one was the most laborious as there were many stages. I created the text on Illustrator and edited it slightly on Photoshop to add the printed pages layer between the letters. I found this tutorial clear in its presentation and it taught me new skills like learning how to create a mesh effect, edit the colours of each layer and manipulate the rotations of singular letters using the direct selection tool. However, I thought the outcome of the effect looked slightly amateur and I have decided not to utilise this text style or Basses graphic style, this is because I feel it neither will work in representing the heavy and drama feel of my film that I want to depict in the visuals of my EPK. The slideshow below are an accumulation of screenshots and step by step notes I took while making the effect to evidence my progression throughout following the tutorial.
How I created the effect:
[Select images to enlarge]
Designs and Evaluation
Inspiration
My design
Comparison
To compare my design to my inspiration, being Saul Basses 'The Shining' poster. I feel the main similarity between my poster and his is the use of colour theory and symbolism. For example, Saul Basses poster has a peering creepy facing that is tucked away inside the text, making the text almost like a cage. This reflects the ominous and 'hidden monster' inside the protagonist seen in the film. The colour theory of yellow in his poster symbolises madness and betrayal, which again subtly reflects the dark behaviour seen in the film. My poster uses colour theory through the use of mixture of greys and blacks which represents the dramatic tone of the film and subtly reference the theme of death as it is clouded around the text. The image of a book faded inside the text symbolises the protagonist's love of writing, and having it hidden inside the less dark part of the text reflects how it's his only escape (as the light grey in my design represents the feeling of freedom). The difference between my poster and Saul Basses is the structure and font of the typography. Bass uses a harsh, rigid design which captures the symmetrical cinematographic style of the film. My text is more fluid and almost smoke like, I wanted my text to look less structured than Basses design as my film deals with the theme of memory-loss and I thought it would be a subtle yet effective way of referencing the dissociating atmosphere my protagonist would feel in my film, as the audience are shown everything through his perspective. Overall, I wanted my design to draw from Saul Basses work in a less 'literal' way and instead I took the symbolic aspects of his work in order for me to truly relate it to my story, to not copy or replace, but be inspired. As I feel with my previous designs, they have felt more replicated then influenced.
Gibbs' Reflective Cycle - Saul Bass Inspiration
Describe: For my inspiration and influences research I looked into the graphic designer Saul Bass. I found his distinct geometric symbolic style to be enticing and thought exploring his style would allow me to be more experimental in constructing test design visuals for my EPK. I used Saul Basses 'The Shining' poster as an inspiration to draw from and searched on Youtube for typography effects which I could create that had an abstract look, much like Basses. After I found a tutorial I began to create the text effect on the program Illustrator. The tutorial taught me lots of new skills such as understanding how to use the envelope distort, expand, reverse spine etc. Learning these skills are particularly useful for me to know as I can utilise them when making my final designs for my EPK. After creating the typography on Illustrator, I felt it was lacking texture and decided to blend an image of a page from a book and I edited this in Photoshop using the overlay effects. Adding this extra layer made my visual look more symbolic, as the page shown in my typography relates the themes of literature and subtly hints towards the protagonist's connection to storytelling seen in the film. Much like how Saul Bass made a creepy face glaring through his text, which symbolised the ominous figure seen in 'The Shining'.
Feelings: I thought choosing Saul Bass as an inspiration for this part of my research was beneficial as his work allowed me to explore more abstract styles and play around with typography in a way I haven't explored before. I also believe analysing his style has given me more drive to include detailed symbolism through my visuals. Reflecting upon the typography tutorial I followed, I feel it will be useful for me to utilise Illustrator as a program to practise and test creating fonts on, this is because I liked the vast tool and effects it offers and feel it would grant me more development in my graphic designs skills for my EPK.
Evaluation: The process of creating this design inspired by Saul Basses 'The Shining' poster allowed me to develop my knowledge in using Illustrator, this is because if it wasn't for his abstract typography that influenced me, I would have never found or utilised the tutorial I followed as a source for this part of my research. Following the tutorial gave me the chance to understand ways of manipulating text through rotations, textures and colours, all of which will help me develop my graphic deign skills when designing my final posters and promo shots for my EPK. Utilising Saul Bass as an inspirations source also allowed me to appreciate the importance of symbolism in the details of an image and colour.
Analysis: Utilising Illustrator as an editing software to create this typography effect was helpful as it taught me new skills in transforming the text through every aspect e.g the spine, fill and stoke, colour, expansiveness and shape. The reason I know Illustrator is an effective program to use is because I have used it to create basic characters, landscapes etc. before in previous projects. Although I have a small understanding of the software, my experience gives me confidence that it is a reliable software to utilise when graphic designing.
Conclusion: I learned that using Illustrator is an effective program to utilise when designing typography, as it offers many different transform and experimental tools, which help broaden the range of typography effects I could create. I also learnt that Saul Basses graphic design style works quite well as an influence as I have now been exposed to a more symbolic and unique ways of devising text. However, I do not believe I will continue to use Basses work as an inspiration, this is because I feel his style does not quite work in representing my film's tone, but researching his work did give me more options in thinking about how I can approach typography for my designs and include symbolism.
Action plan: I will use Illustrator as a program to help me create and experiment with typography designs and effects for my posters which will be featured in my EPK. I will also explore more tutorials on typography to develop and expand my skills in manipulating text and crafting new ways of symbolising my film's narrative through my text.
Akiko Stehrenberger - Graphic Designer // Illustrator
Akiko Stehrenberger is a very inspiring graphic designer to me because of her simplistic style. I love the ways she uses harsh tones and illustrates onto images, giving them an authenticity and richness. An example of a film poster that she created which was inspiring to me is 'Funny Games'. The reason I found this particular poster inspiring is because I like how the light sits on only one side of the actor's face, in contrast to the rest which merges into the darkness, capturing a cold and harsh feeling. For my ads I would like to depict a similar lighting set up and have been inspired by Akiko Stehrenberger's work to experiment with using light in one direction, as I feel it is symbolic for many themes e.g life and death, change etc. and could work effectively when portraying my film as I can show my character becoming submerged by worry and time, which could be reflected through the dark background. I could also add textures and overlays into the darkness such as time stamps, dates etc. to symbolise the theme of time in my narrative. Another way in which Akiko Stehrenberger's poster inspired me was the use of grain. After looking at this poster I believe adding a grain effect to both my posters and ads will allow me to give them more of a 'film' look.
Historical & Cultural influence
Reflecting upon Akiko Stehrenberger's graphic design style, I believe her work is heavily inspired by both the 'Swiss design' movement and the 'Digital age', as her designs combine the simplicity and structurally rigidness shown in both movements. Stehrenberger's typography seems to be inspired by the Swiss design movement as she utilises space between her subjects and typography, focusing on the emotion conveyed in the images/illustrations. Stehrenberger's editing of colour grades, grains and lighting emulate the feeling of an artificial world/atmosphere, which evidences her inspiration from the 'Digital Age' movement.
Source, Tutorial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHF8_OY6Mw4
Harvard Reference - Spoon Graphics. (2017). Photoshop Tutorial: Airbrushed Film Poster Style Photo Effect. Spoon Graphics Youtube Channel.
AIM: Create airbrush effect inspired by Saul Bass
To explore Akiko Stehrenberger's graphic style, I am going to create a poster design similar to Stehrenberger's 'Funny Games' poster. I want to photograph my model/actor in an exposed natural light but also capture darkened shadows surrounding them, as I feel this will symbolise the concept of 'nature's fate' as the looming thought of death and illness weigh upon the character. I want my poster to be like Stehrenberger's by creating a grain and airbrush filter on my image, as I feel this depicts the dramatic tone of my film whilst also utilising Stehrenberger's technique. To create this poster draft inspired by Stehrenberger work, I followed the tutorial linked above which taught me how to create an airbrush effect on Photoshop. I felt the preview of the tutorial captured the desired effect I wanted to create for my poster design and looked similar to Stehrenberger's style too.
To document my creation of this effect I decided to screen record me making it as I felt this way I could me evidence my work in a more visually format instead of using screenshots. The tutorial I used to create this airbrush effect was very easy to follow and had clear instructions. However, the image the tutorial edited was shot in an enclosed space pace with harsh lighting, in comparison to my first image I used in design one which was shot in natural light in an outdoor setting. This had a huge impact on the outcome of my effect as certain adjustments of colours, grains etc. the tutorial had me follow gave my image a different appearance to the example I was replicating. As you can see in my 'creating the designs' video for my first attempt, I faced some technical issues on Photoshop as my canvas was too large for me to be able to export a certain setting, but eventually I overcame it with the help of a google search. After I created my first design, I felt very disappointed with the outcome and thought the only way I could improve my work was to create a second design using an image with similar lighting to the example shown in the tutorial. To make this second design I imported a close up image I photographed, this image symbolically references the young version of the protagonist in his youth and shows how everything is through his perspective with the focus on his eye. I imported the image into Photoshop and then screen recorded me re-following the tutorial and making the effect. As you can see in the recording I adjusted some of the settings at the end to reduce the brightness/exposure of my image. I also used a simple font for the title which was inspired by the font Akiko Stehrenberger used in her poster, as I felt this gave my design a more naturalistic tone.
How I created the effect:
[Two videos & comparison images]
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Designs and Evaluation
Inspiration
Design one
Design two
Overall, I prefer the outcome of the second design and believe it depicted the desired airbrush effect I was looking to create, whilst also have representation of the narrative by referencing the protagonist in his youth. After making this second design, it has inspired me to include a young version of the protagonist in my promo shots and posters, as I feel it not only reflects how the film deals with the themes memories and time but also gives me more opportunity to utilise more actors in my project, and luckily the same peer I used in the second design has already offered to help me with my project.
Comparison
To compare my first design to my inspiration (Akiko Stehrenberger's 'Funny Games' poster), I believe it is very poorly executed and does not draw from my inspiration in the slightest. My design focuses on the harsh green shades from the backdrop setting which surrounds my subject/actor, whereas in Akiko Stehrenberger's design she uses a black background that intensifies the focus on the character's expression. I believe if I followed the same framing technique to Akiko Stehrenberger's design, my poster would convey more meaning as I could depict the emotive tone of my film through my protagonist's expression. My first design also has less grain and more colour contrast than Akiko Stehrenberger's design, I believe these difference weren't successful and feel I should have created a similar artificial filter to Stehrenberger's because it could have given my poster a more stylised and professional look.
To compare my second design to my inspiration (Akiko Stehrenberger's 'Funny Games' poster), I believe it is a much better take on Stehrenberger's style as it features a similar artificial texture and also highlights the emotion of the character through the intense framing of his eye, much like how Akiko Stehrenberger's focuses solely on the protagonist's expression. Although my second design has a more enhanced shade of colouring to Stehrenberger's design, I do believe it works in my favour as it gives my poster a more nostalgic and dramatic feel which is fitting in conveying the tone of my film. In contrast to Stehrenberger's colouring which conveys a more cold and dark tone.
Gibbs' Reflective Cycle - Akiko Stehrenberger Inspiration
Describe: For my inspiration and influences research I looked into the graphic designer Akiko Stehrenberger. I found her experimental textured style to be very interesting, unique and believed it would give me the chance to explore an abstract graphic design style for my practise posters. I used Akiko Stehrenberger's 'Funny Games' poster as inspiration and then searched on YouTube for a tutorial which created a similar painted/illustrated effect seen in Stehrenberger's design and edited images from my gallery which I shot as practise stills. For both versions of my poster mock ups I used the program Photoshop and screen recorded my process to evidence my progression. As I followed the tutorial I faced technical difficulties (as seen in the video) for example, I struggled to add certain effects due to the size of my canvas and in the end had to make its format a smaller size. The first version of my mockup was unsuccessful in my desired effect and I decided I wanted to recreate it using a different image to compare. In the end, I found that the second image worked best ad the tutorial's 'airbrush' effect is successful when using close up images/shots.
Feelings: I thought choosing Akiko Stehrenberger as my inspiration for this part of my research was helpful in giving me the chance to explore an 'airbrush' effect and test to see if I want to utilise it when approaching my final designs. After reflecting upon my two designs when drawing from Akiko Stehrenberger's work, I feel it is best I do not continue to use her work as inspiration anymore. This is because I do not feel it fits the naturalistic aesthetic I want my designs to convey of my film. However, experimenting with her style and making the effect gave me the chance to utilise the close up shot of my peer in my second design, who now going forward will be the younger version of my protagonist. Lastly, I feel the tutorial I followed was only useful in parts, as I realised when making my second design that a close framed, well lit image was the most important piece to encounter when creating the 'airbrush' effect, and even then, I still had to adjust the setting of the effect to ensure they were visible on my image.
Evaluation: The process of creating this design inspired by Akiko Stehrenberger's 'Funny Games' poster allowed me to develop my knowledge in using Photoshop, as I learnt how to use filter effects, add layers using 'merge visible' etc. Without being inspired by Akiko Stehrenberger's work I would have never researched or utilised the 'airbrush' tutorial on Youtube and only used it because I saw the similarities of her style within the effect. By then following the tutorial, I learnt (when making my second visual) the importance of experimenting with the settings of my effect, in order to help me develop the visual to my liking. After evaluating my two designs inspired by Stehrenberger's style, I know I want include a younger version of the protagonist in my poster designs and have decided to not use Akiko Stehrenberger as a further influencer when crafting my final designs for my EPK.
Analysis: Following the tutorial and utilising Photoshop as an editing software to create this 'airbrush' effect was helpful as it taught me new hard skills such as exploring the 'filter gallery' and learning how to use the stylise and artistic tool to digitally add the brush stroke. I now I know Photoshop is very effective in manipulating the texture of images, however for these designs I was not fully satisfied with their outcome, although the second design was improved. Exploring this effect has given me more trust in using Photoshop as understanding the basics of using the filter gallery could help me when creating my own colour grade for my final designs.
Conclusion: I have concluded this research by not continuing to utilise Akiko Stehrenberger as an inspiration, as I feel her graphic design style is too harsh in terms of the textures she incorporates into her designs and I felt exploring and testing this technique ended up drawing away from the naturalistic tone I want my visuals to convey in my EPK. However, I will still utilise the hard skills I have gained through looking at her work and will take this new found knowledge on when approaching my final designs, as they may be beneficial crafting a new filter, grade etc. Lastly, I also learnt through making my second design that including a younger version of my protagonist in my posters and promo shots will be useful in conveying more of the themes and narrative of my film within my EPK.
Action plan: I will carry my new hard skills with me throughout the post-production of this project and will ensure to incorporate a younger version of my protagonist in my designs. I will also continue to utilise Photoshop as a program to add filters and grades to my posters/promo shots.
EPK and Timetable progression
In terms of my timetable, I have successfully completed my tasks for this week's research in time with my deadline. Although, it was probably my most challenging week yet, due to the vast research I had to cover. My research into the historical and cultural background behind graphic design has been very beneficial in allowing me to understand the different movements that make up the foundation of what the art form is today. The main part of this research which helped me progress towards my EPK was testing the Swiss movement style, as I now know I want to continue to incorporate it into the poster designs of my press kit and to do this I will reflect back on the Swiss graphic style when sketching my final designs. The research I did into the graphic designers and experimenting with their styles was equally beneficial as I was able to explore and develop new skills in Photoshop and Illustrator which I will carry with me when approaching my final designs for my EPK. I have also been able to develop my new ideas for my designs (as described in detail in my reflections) too, which all helps pull towards the progression of my project.
Camera & Lighting Techniques
In order for me to prepare for the production of my EPK, I have researched into camera and lighting techniques as it is vital for me to have a good understanding of using both an iPhone and DSLR camera, as these are the two pieces of photography equipment I can use for this project. I must learn how I can utilise them to my advantage when framing my visuals, as it is also important for me to ensure my promo shots and posters featured in my EPK are to a professional standard and convey the narrative, genre and tone of my film successfully. This research will allow me to be more organised in my planning when composing the final visuals for my press kit as I will have gained a clear understanding of how I can approach the framing, lighting, composition and mise-en-scene of my shots.
Source, Video Essay - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VArISvUuyr0
Harvard Reference - Jamie Windsor. (2020). 8 Important Composition Tips for Better Photos. Jamie Windsor YouTube Channel.
The video essay above broke down composing a photograph into eight stages. The first was "get your position right", the narrator expanded upon his point by stating how "once you've composed your shot, stop and evaluate everything in the frame". This is important for both my promo shots and posters as I will have to ensure everything in the frame is positioned the way I want it to be, in order for me to do this I will have to make sure I take test shots and practise my framing skills to develop my positioning within my photography. The narrator also recommended to experiment with "landscape format for a more natural feel", this is a useful tip for me to learn as I want my film to capture a more naturalistic tone and will have to ensure I practise using a landscape format as well as portrait for my promo shots and posters to see which ways it impact the style of my shots. The next stage the narrator stated was to "use your phone". The narrator exclaimed how it is important to first frame your shot using your phone to test the positioning of light, objects etc. then shoot on your camera, as this allows you to reflect upon what setting to adjust your camera to before taking the shot.
The next stage the narrator explained was to "beware the rule of thirds", he it is vital to "think about your shot as a whole" and that commonly the rule of thirds is misused, stating how "I see when the rule of thirds is used with too much empty space on one side of the image" he felt this can create an "unbalance". The narrator followed on by stating how you need to "look for where the areas of contrast are - where the darker tones are" and "consider composition rules". This was important for me to understand, as I now know to analyse the ways in which I can utilise composition convections correctly without misusing their purpose. One of the composition rules the narrator recommended was trying the 'dynamic symmetry' composition, after hearing his advice I will research more into this rule and learn how I can incorporate it into my photography for my EPK. To finalise this third stage, the narrator pointed out the importance of "not using these (composition rules) all the time - learn them but be mindful about how you use them". I will take his advice into account when following the composition rules and try to not focus solely on the convections.
To simply break down the rule of thirds, the left image below evidences how you apply the rule to images and its psychological impact on the observes eyes. The image in the right shows a diagram of the dynamic symmetry composition which the author mentioned was effective when looking at composition techniques for lighting in photography.
The next stage the narrator stated was called "blur your eyes", he continued by explaining how it helps allow you to see "abstract colour and form" - "contrast and saturation". I found this point to be very useful as I had never tried this technique before and believe it will be very useful when eyeing up a shot and examining the lighting.The fifth stage the narrator stated was to "think conceptually as well as aesthetically", he explained how you should question "what do you want your audience to feel?" and "what do you want your viewers to think about your shot?". I found this point to be insightful as I need to remind myself to focus on the effect of the shots too and constantly question the ways in which the lighting, framing and mise-en-scene portray the genre, tone and narrative of my film. The next stage the narrator stated was "keep it simple", he explained how "everything in the frame should be relevant" and "part of the story". As I previously mentioned, this stage will be hugely beneficial when taking into the thought and decision behind my shots. The next stage the narrator stated "watch the edges", he continued by stating how you should "keep the frame clean" and not cut off parts of the subject. I believe this point is one of the most useful ones as I want to make sure I frame my subjects without cropping their face/costume unless it is an artistic decision, if I want to change the framing/cropping of my shots I will simply edit them in post-production. The eight and final stage the narrator concluded with was "work in post". The narrator exclaimed how you should "test shots (in post-production) by flipping the image into a mirrored view, filtered colours etc." This point follows on from my previous discussion about editing my images in post, and the benefits of creating space around your subject to give you more range when editing your image in post. Lastly, the narrator concluded by saying how "the more you crop in post, the better you become at judging composition in camera". I found this statement to be insightful as I had never connected editing images in post with improving my own composition of framing of an image, this has reassured me that cropping and editing my images will better my skills in framing/composing a shot.
Overall, I found this source to be very useful, this is because it not only covered tips on how to technically improve my shots through editing, composition techniques, analysing the light, contrast, saturation etc. but it also pointed out the importance of the contextual meaning behind the image. I believe the video essay gave me more understanding into how I can thoughtfully and logically approach the photography for my EPK, by ensuring I plan and devise the lighting, framing, composition and mise-en-scene, making sure each part symbolically and literally reflects the narrative of my film.
Source, Article - https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/film-lighting-techniques/
Harvard Reference - Aj Detisch. (2020). 5 Best Film Lighting Techniques: Filmmaker's Guide to a Cinematic Look. Studio Binder.
The article linked above detailed how to light a scene 'cinematically' by breaking down different lighting techniques and approaches into six sections. The first section being 'types of cinematic lighting', the author began by stating how it is important to remember think about "whose perspective are we seeing the scene through, and how much light they should be able to see." As the narrative of my film is told through the perspective of my protagonist (Nic Alcott), I will ensure the images used in the promo shots and posters are reflective of his mentality, to do this I will use symbolism through the lighting and include colour theory. The author then continued by explaining how he believes it is important to show "which emotions are being expressed through the harshness of the light, or its colour. Each of these decisions are then realised technically by planning and executing lighting setups to create the desired effect, but the cinematographer must dream up what these effects will be before setting up any lighting equipment." I found this statement to be very insightful, this is because I never though to plan the colour of the lighting before shooting. I will now sketch/plan the colour of light and lighting in general for my shots and will use my research into colour theory to connect the themes and genre of my film to the lighting captured in my promo shots and posters.
The second section the article showed was 'basic three point lighting'. To understand this lighting technique, the author explained how it consist firstly of a key light which is a "light that registers most prominently in your frame", the second is a fill light which fills in the "shadows of your frame" and lastly the back light which "gives an edge light to the rear portion of your subject, often the backlight shoots down from a higher angle". After the author broke down what the three point lighting consists of, they stated how in order to achieve this look "your film lighting equipment needs to face your subject from three directions: front, back and side". Now I understand the three point lighting technique, I will try to utilise it when preparing for production, through practise I will be able to see if this technique is effective in capturing a cinematic look for my promo shots and posters. In order to create this setup I will have to use light sources such as LEDs, lamps etc.
I have put an example of 'three point lighting' used in a promo shot for the series 'Peaky Blinders' and have shown a diagram of the setup which includes the different names used to title each particular light.
Three Point Lighting test
The two images below are of my three point lighting test shots:
After understanding the 'three point lighting' technique, I decided to test it using a small LED light and two lightbulb sources. To reflect upon my test I have used the Gibbs Reflective cycle:
Describe: I tested out the three point lighting theory at home in the evening, this is because the natural light would have dominated the light sources I had if I shot in the daytime. To create this technique, I used an LED small light as the back light and then used two lightbulbs sources which acted as the key and fill lights. The LED small light I loaned from my college and I used a yellow gel filter which it came with to give the light source a more natural look.
Feelings: I feel this lighting technique was incredibly unsuccessful, this is because I could only control the direction of the LED, which limited me in terms of positioning the direction of the light. I also found the light sources did not compliment each other, as the LED was more of a white light (even after I added the gel filter) and the lightbulbs had a yellow tinge to them, which made an evident contrast across my subject's face.
Evaluation: The process of using the three point lighting technique was not effective and I do not feel confident in utilising this lighting setup again, this is due to the artificial look which this setup gave my images. For the shots used in my EPK, I want them to create a more naturalistic feel instead of capturing intense harsh light. I believe that if I were to repeat this test, I would change the lightbulb sources for the fill and key lights and replace them with lamps instead, as this would allow me to position the key and fill lights where I want them to be, and change their intensity. However, I am unable to do as I have no access to lamps in my home.
Analysis: Utilising the three point lighting technique was effective in allowing me to explore and test now ways of approaching lighting for my project and how I can experiment with the layout of lights and their positioning. Utilising the LED light source for this test was helpful in the fact that I was able to control it in terms of its dimness and positioning. I also learnt that when using an LED you have to shoot in the evening, in order for me to remove any chance of natural light coming into the image, as this would have overpowered the LED source.
Conclusion/Action plan: To conclude, I have decided to mainly use natural light for the promo shots/poster images that will be featured in my EPK as I will not be continuing to use the three point lighting technique because I found it was not suitable due to its harshness and lack of naturalism.
The third section which the article covered was 'soft film lighting'. The author explained how when approaching lighting, "the harshness or softness of light concerns how large a light source is, and how it affects shadows on your subject". The author then expanded upon this point by describing two types of lighting, the first being 'higher key light', this is an effect created by "heightening the key light and using fill lights". This effect also balances light from one object to another, this is known as lighting ratio. The author also stated how higher key light "keeps the lighting bright and balanced in your frame, creating no shadow". For the lighting in my promo shots and posters, I will ensure to adopt this effect/technique as I prefer the 'softer' look and believe it will best convey the naturalistic atmosphere of my film. The author then discussed the second type of soft lighting know as 'diffused overhead lighting', this is a "soften light source with diffusion materials like gels or Chinese lanterns to reduce shadows". I believe this lighting effect will also be suitable to utilise for my promo shots and posters as I have access to LED lights which have gel filters. By using a gel filter, I can symbolically convey the drama genre of my series by depicting a warm soft lighting for some of my shots.
The fourth section which the article covered was 'hard film lighting', the author explained how to create this light effect you use a 'kicker light with soft fill', this is created when a "back light hits the side of your subject's face". The author stated how you also need to use a 'low key light', this "minimises, or eliminates the fill light". Understanding how to create both a soft and hard light is important for my project, as it gives me the opportunity to expand upon the ways in which I can setup my shot and convey certain tones, themes and genres through my lighting.
The image below shows the different between soft and hard lighting.
Hard Lighting test
The images below are of my hard lighting test shots and the right bottom image is of the LED light source I used:
After understanding how to create hard lighting, I decided to test this technique and evaluated my experiment using the Gibbs Reflective Cycle:
Describe: I tested out a 'hard lighting' effect using an LED light source with a warm toned yellow gel filter, these were loaned out to me from my college and I photographed using a DSLR camera which I also loaned out from my college. One of my peers helped position the lighting while I directed my model and before setting up we closed all the blinds in the classroom we were shooting in, to exclude any exterior light as this helped intensify the LED light source.
Feelings: I feel this lighting effect didn't go well, I struggled to reduce the intensity of the LED by lowering the exposure on the dial and also lowered the white balance on the camera, however, this did not seem to do much and the light was still too overpowering. Eventually we got one shot (the far left image above) which I felt was somewhat created my desired 'hard lighting effect', as it casted a shadow across the left side of my model's face whilst also having balanced warm tone on the right side.
Evaluation: The process of creating this lighting effect was challenging, I feel the outcome of the effect looks too artificial and doesn't capture the naturalistic feel and tone I want my promo shots and posters to convey. I have come to the conclusion through this test that I want to mainly use practical and natural light for the photography in my EPK. This is because I prefer the outcome of these lighting effects and believe they depict the style of my film better than the hard lighting.
Analysis: Utilising an LED light source for this test was helpful as it taught me more the importance of positioning light and how setting up your location in preparation for the lighting is vital. For this project, if we did not have access to blinds which covered the windows, the LED light would not be visible in the shot and instead would be replaced by sunlight/natural light.
Conclusion: I learnt that using an LED is a useful piece of lighting equipment and in order to utilise it I must shoot in a dark room or at night time. I also learnt that it is important for me to prep the room/location I am shooting in before I begin production, as the window, lights etc. may effect the outcome of the shot.
Action plan: As I already said I am going to use practical and natural lighting for the production of my project.
The fifth section the article covered was 'motivated lighting', this is also known as 'practical set lighting'. This setup consist of using "existing lamps and light sockets". For my project I will be using this lighting effect as I want to utilise as many light sources in my home as I can, in order for me to be resourceful and save on money. The sixth and final section of this article covered 'natural film lighting', the author described stated how this "refers to modifying the light that is already available to you at your location." I have already mentioned previously in my research that I will be using natural lighting for some of my shots as I feel it helps capture the naturalistic and simplistic style I want my shots to have. In pre-production I will ensure to note the lighting of the morning, afternoon and evening to evaluate when is the best time of day to photograph in.
The image shown below from the film Se7en, executes 'practical set lighting' perfectly as the sea of lamps light the whole scene.
EPK and Timetable progression
In terms of my timetable, I have successfully completed my tasks for this week's research in time with my deadline.
The research went smoothly as the article source I utilised was very beneficial in educating me on different lighting set ups. Understanding the proper lighting sources/types allowed me to practically test taking shots using the new techniques I learnt and decide which ones I want to utilise for this project (which turned out to be natural and practical lighting). This research helped me progress one step closer to starting my EPK, as I now know what lighting I will need for the production shots which will be created into promo shots and poster designs that will be featured and incorporated into my press kit.
Font Test
One crucial part of research I forgot to include into my timetable was my test using different font types on Photoshop. I wanted to test these font types out before I began the production of my visual designs and EPK in order for me to know what ones work in representing my film concept's title. I also want the same font to be used in the written description parts of my press kit as that way the posters and EPK will be consist in their design and visual style.Testing these fonts was helpful as I picked from an array of fonts on Photoshop, chose four I liked and then evaluated them using the 'Hippocampus' film title.
