Design Practice 1 : Alternative Movie Poster Brief

I have been given the task of creating an alternative movie poster for a given Bruce Willis film, 'Live Free or Die Hard'. This brief is very exciting for me as a film and poster lover. The first step I am taking is to research existing alternative movie posters, and also to look into the original pieces for this film.

Works that I liked:

 I really enjoyed this piece thanks to the way the type and image flows together in an almost symbiotic way. The hair is illustrated very intricately which I like, however at a short glace or from a distance the information which is being communicated is lost.

 I really like the imagery and hierarchy used in this poster. The tonal contrast of the main 'FASCISMO' type draws the eye in first and establishes a theme, which then allows the eye to deviate to the intricacy of the imagery created in an ASCII art style.

 Here, I like the way the crazy and seemingly unordered illustrations and characters are bound by an invisible grid. I do think however colour could have been utilized for the stock to make the poster a little more interesting and communicative.

 Here I find the type layout very interesting. It's very unorthodox and requires almost deciphering but I think that is quite cool since there is no cluttering caused by it and draws in your attention thanks to people's need to understand things. 

 Here I looked into work that uses halftones since if I am to utilize photography in my posters I will have to also use them. I feel that because there is a  visible pattern created by halftones, you must be very careful when applying text, colour and other imagery, as the work can become cluttered and overpowering very quickly.Here I think again the hierarchy is perfect. The expression on Sarcozy's face with the corporate feel of blackwhite set a serious tone, with the coloured type catching your attention next to deliver context.


My Next Step:
I then watched the film, making notes of key plot points, quotes and imagery. I also started to think about the personality of the film, looking at how the film makes you feel. All of these things can then come together and be utilized in my poster. looking at existing artwork for Live Free or Die Hard also helped generate ideas, however they were extremely generic for an action film.

Large image of the protagonist looking serious, bold contrasting text and an orange glow which simulates fire/heat/destruction are all pretty standard when it comes to action films. I wanted to stay away from this sort of design. I also wanted to keep Bruce Willis out of my poster except for the cast for a couple of reasons. The first being that Die Hard is such a well known franchise that people already know he is the star, and second I wanted to try and keep as far away from cliche designs as possible.

Idea Generation:
I began by sketching out ideas on paper and writing small notes on what I could design.