VISC 520 Junior & Studio Course | Project 1 | Project 2 | Project 3 | Resources
Cult Film Poster Project Warm-up
You will design a poster for a cult film.
Poster Format:
11/17, three colors max plus paper color, printed on RISO
Requirements:
Digital and hand collage, minimum three photographic elements. Additional hand drawn/vector imagery allowed.
Schedule:
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Tuesday January 22nd
Begin research. Watch 3 films by Tuesday, January 29.
- review film list, begin contextual & visual research
- identify at least 10 films, watch trailers & find existing collateral
For Thursday, January 24 (NEXT CLASS), please prepare the following:
Individual Studio Blog
Set up your personal blog for VISC 304. You will post your research assignment to your blog, and share the address with me on Thursday, January 24 for credit.
You will share & discuss your research with the rest of class on 1/29.
Pinterest Account
Set up a Pinterest account.
Kanopy Account (www.kanopy.com)
Kanopy is a film resource that is free and available to you as a KU student. Kanopy has a huge number of art house films, including the Criterion Collection. Sign up using your KU credentials, and you’ll have unlimited monthly movies available.
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Thursday January 24th
Demo day
- Blogs/pinterest due
- Continue research. Begin ideation and sketches
Cult Film Research: Due Tuesday January 29
1. What is a cult film? How is it defined?
2. From the list provided, identify a minimum of 10 potential cult or genre films to work with. Watch the trailers, read the reviews. Pick movies that you’d be excited to work with.
12 Monkeys
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai
Alphaville
The American Astronaut
American Movie
An American Werewolf in London
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
Attack the Block
Beastmaster
Beyond the Black Rainbow
The Big Lebowski
Big Trouble in Little China
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey
Blade Runner
Black Stallion
Brazil
Brick
Brigsby Bear
Cabin in the Woods
Cars that Ate Paris
Cloak & Dagger
The Dark Crystal
Dark Star
Donnie Darko
Dredd
Duel
Dune
Drive
Eraserhead
Escape from New York
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai
Alphaville
The American Astronaut
American Movie
An American Werewolf in London
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
Attack the Block
Beastmaster
Beyond the Black Rainbow
The Big Lebowski
Big Trouble in Little China
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey
Blade Runner
Black Stallion
Brazil
Brick
Brigsby Bear
Cabin in the Woods
Cars that Ate Paris
Cloak & Dagger
The Dark Crystal
Dark Star
Donnie Darko
Dredd
Duel
Dune
Drive
Eraserhead
Escape from New York
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Flash Gordon
Fletch
The Fly (Cronenberg, 1986)
Ghostbusters
Ghost Dog
Gleaming the Cube
The Goonies
Gremlins
Groundhog Day
Hackers
Hairspray
Harold and Maude
Heathers
Highlander
Hot Rod
Idiocracy
Labyrinth
La Jetee
Last Starfighter
Looper
The Lost Boys
Mad Max/The Road Warrior
The Monster Squad
Moon
Night of the Creeps
Office Space
Phantasm
Pitch Black
Playtime
Predator
Princess Bride
Rad
Raising Arizona
Repo Man
RoboCop
Rushmore
Fletch
The Fly (Cronenberg, 1986)
Ghostbusters
Ghost Dog
Gleaming the Cube
The Goonies
Gremlins
Groundhog Day
Hackers
Hairspray
Harold and Maude
Heathers
Highlander
Hot Rod
Idiocracy
Labyrinth
La Jetee
Last Starfighter
Looper
The Lost Boys
Mad Max/The Road Warrior
The Monster Squad
Moon
Night of the Creeps
Office Space
Phantasm
Pitch Black
Playtime
Predator
Princess Bride
Rad
Raising Arizona
Repo Man
RoboCop
Rushmore
Scanners
Scott Pilgrim VS the World
Shaun of the Dead
Six String Samurai
Sorcerer
Spaceballs
Speed Racer (2008)
Strange Brew
Streets of Fire
They Live
The Thing
THX 1138
Time Bandits
Tremors
Tron
Two Lane Blacktop
Warriors
What We Do in the Shadows
The Wraith
Liberty Hall Recommendations
Altered States
The American Astronaut
Beaver Trilogy
Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Mister Lonely
Rubber
Suspiria (Argento, 1977)
Wild Zero
Wolf Cop
Scott Pilgrim VS the World
Shaun of the Dead
Six String Samurai
Sorcerer
Spaceballs
Speed Racer (2008)
Strange Brew
Streets of Fire
They Live
The Thing
THX 1138
Time Bandits
Tremors
Tron
Two Lane Blacktop
Warriors
What We Do in the Shadows
The Wraith
Liberty Hall Recommendations
Altered States
The American Astronaut
Beaver Trilogy
Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Mister Lonely
Rubber
Suspiria (Argento, 1977)
Wild Zero
Wolf Cop
3. From those 10 films, pick THREE cult films, and watch them before Tuesday, January 29.
For EACH film, answer the following, and post to your blog:
— Film name, director, date of release, link to trailer
— What are the primary theme(s) of the film?
— What are iconic elements from the film? This elements may be characters, action or dramatic scenes, dialogue, objects, etc. Make a list of these as you go.
— What posters/promotional materials have been made for this film?
4. For ONE film that you watch, write a 300 word review. — post to your blog
5. Have fun with this. Pick films that interest YOU, that have the potential for a unique and compelling visual solution.
Poster Research
Research examples of poster design. Include film posters, as well as posters in general, and pick a nice selection to share.
— Find a minimum of twenty examples of posters. What is the concept? How are the images made? How is the poster printed? Be sure to include the designers, studios, etc. that created the poster.
— Find at least five examples that utilize unique and conceptual imagery, halftones and a limited color palette
— Find at least five examples of type dominant posters
— Find at least five examples of image dominant posters
— Find at least five additional examples of any well designed poster
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Tuesday January 29th
Individual research presentations & class discussion.
Inclass:
Make a quick pdf to present the following:
- Pick some of the most interesting posters you found to show us cool stuff
- Tell us what movie or movie(s) you are designing a poster for or deciding between
- Pick some existing posters of your film(s) to share for precedent
- Create a list of Key words/Themes/big ideas for your film (10-15 words)
For example...here are my words for the film, A River Runs Through It
Water
Rocks
Montana
Rocks
Montana
Family
Waterfall
God, Man & Nature
Waterfall
God, Man & Nature
Love
Fly fishing
Bittersweet
Addiction
Fly fishing
Bittersweet
Addiction
Grace
Wabi Sabi
Grief
Wabi Sabi
Grief
Homework:
2-3 short statements that express your film(s) with initial sketches. Work 11x17.
Examples: A man trapped in a robot’s body (Robocop), River as metaphor for the arc of one’s life and family story (River Runs Through It), A band of misfits look for treasure and find friends/purpose (Goonies), Boy uses bike as a tool to overcome the odds, unite a town and showing people what true passion really means (RAD-the movie).
Bring in Imagery and Typeset the title of your film printed out to cut up/play with in class. Bring in scissors, exacto, glue, tape, markers, crayons, textures, paper, magazines, paint, etc. to explore making and mark making.
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Thursday January 31st
Image making workshop & in-studio work session.
Homework:
Based on feedback and making session refine concept pitch and sketches.
Print all this out :) and pin up when you get to class.
1. Have 2-3 concepts to present for your film.
Some of you are doing multiple movies or a series for the same film
(go above and beyond. this is a pretty fun/easy project and it could be fun to highlight multiple characters or event in the same film on different posters)
2. Draw or work on the computer...make these tight enough so these read well and they communicate. If you draw, scan in so it is 11x17-ish and big enough to see. You need the folks from Liberty Hall to be able to visualize what it is you want to do. Don't be so loose, rough or vague that it takes a ton of explaining.
3. Have concept statements for each. Printed out separately or on the poster mockup.
2. For each have 2 versions for each concept (a type dominant one and an image dominant one). So you should have 4-6 poster sketches/mockups.
3. Use moodboards (as many as you need) to communicate the look and feel of how you want to execute the final poster (type and image, texture, illustration style, etc).
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Tuesday February 5th
Pin up/Present work to Liberty Hall folks.
Homework:
Refinements based on feedback.
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Thursday February 7th
Work in progress crit
Homework:
Based on feedback create 3 versions of your poster. Full size. Full color.
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Tuesday February 12th
Review 3 posters. Full-size. Full-color.
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Thursday February 14th
Studio work session and RISO/file testing. For those done could start printing!
Start Project 2
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Tuesday February 19th
Final edition due! Upload final pdf of poster on the server.