Artist Copy: Scott Campbell

I interpreted a piece by the illustrator Scott C to get a grip of using alternate styles. I found that I enjoyed using watercolour, even though I wasn't particularly skilled at doing so. I think next time I use this method, I should paint bigger.

The larger robot is pretty cute.

Sketch Load 1: Submarines, Scuba Divers, and HMS Haycocks

A sheet of simple sketches, most referenced with photographs, of Sea-based stuff. I'm not particularly pleased with the scuba divers, but I am very pleased with the yellow Robot, the Navy sub and the ship, HMS Haycocks. It was interesting to sketch in this quickfire way - and fun.

These were done using the Pen tool in FireAlpaca, using a Wacom Bamboo graphics tablet.

Case Study 2

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Case Study: Matilda poster – Jersey Films/Tristar

Personal Response

The Yellow is what hit me first about this poster – it’s very bright, almost like a warning sign. But what breaks away from the Yellow is the four characters shown to the left, and the large, red title. The personalities of the characters are shown very well through their posing and expression; The Teacher is shown looming overhead, with a creepy look on her face, the adoptee Mom looks shouty and angry, the adoptee Dad looks confused and surprised, if also a little aggrivated and finally Matilda looks confident and happy, if even a big smug. The way the characters are put together is a comical portrayal of their positions in the films plot, Matilda being the centre of attention and the Teacher being a looming, disturbing threat – the look on her face is really unnerving. The floating cake is really bewildering, but it is an indication to the film’s plot so it’s welcome.

Form

Yellow is clearly the main colour here. I’m not sure why – There’s no reason which can be gathered from the film itself or the people displayed on the poster, but it does a very good job of drawing attention to the poster. The red also does a good job of drawing attention to itself, and also compliments the Yellow quite nicely. The collaboration of the characters, and the emotion they show, are both good introductory factors to who they are and their roles in the film. Matilda taking centre stage in this setup makes it clear that the name in the title belongs to her, and the looming Teacher is obviously displayed as the villain. Landscape format of the poster I feel makes the poster seem larger than a standard, portrait sized poster, as the content is more dispersed across the sheet. Displaying the names of famous actors (that I’ve never heard of) across the top of the page would likely draw more of an audience to the Film – those who’d like to see these actors’ performances. The inclusion of the cast list is also important in keeping the Film Poster a Film Poster.

Content and Context

The poster advertises ‘Matilda’ an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book of the same name, concerning a young girl who joins a school run by a battleaxe of a teacher, but somehow discovers she has the power of telekinesis and saves the day. The poster advertises a lot of these aspects of the plot pretty well. For example, the floating cake, for example, shows Matilda’s magical ability. And of course the expressions and poses of the characters reflect their moods and personas in the film very accurately. The title ‘Matilda’ is very simple, but portrays the largest aspect of the film – Matilda herself. The inclusion of a Credit Block and the names of Actors establish that this is a film production being advertises.

Process

The four characters shown appear to have been photographed separately, and put together using some sort of digital means – it may not have been Photoshop, due to the date this film was released (1996), but may have been an earlier program. This is clear due to the positioning of each of them, and also the different lighting the adoptee Mom and Dad are treated with. The title may have been written using traditional methods and edited using computer software to  give it a more vector-like aesthetic. The rest of the text looks as if it is typed in a custom font for the poster, as all the lettering other than the title shares a very similar look.

Case Study 1

Case Study: The Simpsons Movie announcement poster – 20^th Century Fox

Personal Response

What is striking about this poster is that, although extremely simplistic, it’s content is instantly recognisable – Homer Simpson, one of the main characters from the Simpsons franchise takes centre stage. It needn’t be flashy or complex to strike a gaze, as anybody who has seen and enjoys the TV series this character stars in will recognise Homer and instantly look to the poster. The knowledge of this character also strikes a sense of humour in the poster – Homer is eating a Donut, and grease marks where the ‘O’ should be in ‘Movie’ indicate the origin of said Donut. The Yellow/White gradient in the background of the poster is a hint towards both the colouring of Homer, and also the trait of The Simpsons where Caucasian characters are coloured with Yellow skin. This gradient is also very subtle, bringing out Homer and making him the centre of attention. The line work on Homer helps this. I feel that, all though simple, this poster is very effective at bringing attention to the fact that there’s a Simpsons Movie, and also delivers some humour very well too. That, and the illustration of Homer is nicely done.

Form

There are two strongly prominent colours on the poster; Yellow and White, which are the colours of the illustration of Homer, and also hint towards that Yellow skin factor of the whole Simpsons franchise. As these are most common on the poster, the introduction of Browns and Pinks in the Donut and Homer’s mouth provides contrast from the rest of the poster, and draw attention to the humorous aspect of the piece. The style Homer is drawn in is instantly recognisable, as it is the style of Matt Groening, the creator of the franchise. The thick lines really bring out Homer and draw a lot of attention to him, and help to aid the simplicity aspect of the poster. As a Film Poster, it’s all around very effective at advertising the film, although being an announcement poster, a lot of information is not provided (age rating, cast). This said, one piece of information stands out – a release date – which likely adds a level of excitement to the viewer. The Composition all centres around Homer, making him the predominant item and main focus of attention.

Context and Content

The poster advertises ‘The Simpsons Movie’, the first feature length film in the Simpsons franchise. And that’s about all the information it gives, other that a release date – but that’s the beauty of it, as it needn’t say more than ‘THE SIMPSONS MOVE, JULY 27’ to draw both attention and gather some high expectations. The appearance of Homer and his activity in the Poster (eating a Donut – on of his favourites), are both key to setting the mood of the film – satire and humour. The poster keeps within the conventions common amongst pieces like this, although it being an announcement poster, it does leave information such as the cast and age rating out. If this wasn’t an announcement poster, this would seem too vague, but the idea of an announcement poster is to be vague, so as to gather some excitement for further information, or maybe just for the film itself.

Process

The process used is very, very clean. It is very clear that this is performed digitally, as there seems to be no real mistakes present – no wiggly lines, no mistakes in shading, prim and proper fonts, etc. The text ‘M_VIE’ appears to have a stroke and bevel added to it using tools found in Photoshop or Fireworks, due to a constant size of the Bevel and Strokes on the lettering. Homer however seems to be produced using drawing tools such as Illustrator or Photoshop, as although his lines are curved and have decreasing size in their ends, again there seems to be no real fault or loss of intensity in any colour or tone and also the curves seem way too perfect to be done by hand. The grease mark however is very accurate to a real grease mark a Donut would likely leave on a sheet of paper, which leads me to believe that maybe that’s exactly what it is, or at least what it was. The person who made this poster may have simply scanned in a grease mark a real donut left on a sheet of paper, and used Photoshop to edit it for use in the poster. Either that, or the grease mark has been replicated using Digital brushes.

Film Posters: Conventions

The conventions of Film Posters! More examples can be seen on my Film Posters Pinterest board, accessible from the tab at the top of the blog~

Pinterest

I have started three Pinterest boards relevant to my work. Links to them can be found at the top of this Blog.

This board is a collection of various pieces of artwork or images that inspire me to create. This may include vector art, poster art that strikes as nostalgic with me or photographs of interesting environments.

20,000 Leagues (Nicknamed in reference to the film 20,000 Leagues under the Sea) is a Board featuring images of underwater miscallena, including submarines, boats and reefs. The Submarines collected here will help me design my own subarine later on.

30th Century Faux (Nicknamed in parody of 20th Century Fox) is a collection of Movie posters with similar moods that I want to portray in my work. There are also posters that parody the Film poster format that strike some nostalgia with me.

Exam Ideas: Notes

I gathered three pieces of A5 paper, and jotted down words of places/things that seemed covert and hidden. I then noted down four different artefacts for each sheet, that could be produced within their themes.

I have chosen to produce the first idea on the underwater sheet: The poster for the fictional film, Leagues.