Movie Poster Creation
For this project, I created a movie poster for a completely fictional movie titled, “The Thunderbolt Murders,” a mystery that takes place in Thunderbolt Valley, where an amusement park is nestled in the middle of a mountain range. When creating this poster, I incorporated many different elements to create dimension, contrast and balance while also using typography and color theory to grab the viewer’s eye.
I tried to incorporated contrast by fading elements in the background and keeping the elements in the foreground at full brightness. One of the main elements in the front is the Thunderbolt roller coaster, hence, the name of my movie is “The Thunderbolt Murders.” In addition to the roller coaster, the name of the town where my movie takes place is Thunderbolt Valley. For dimension, I layered elements so that in the far background there are darkened clouds, in front of the clouds are mountains, and in front of the mountains is the amusement park and boardwalk.
For typography, I found a font that included letters with fingerprint backgrounds. The font is called Powder finger. I chose this font because it looks like it should belong with a mystery. The colors I chose for the title were gray and red, with the word “Murder” appearing in red. When I typed the title of the movie, I implemented a curve so that the lettering mimics the roller coaster and the mountains. The bend creates motion. I also created balance by lining up my elements and not having a lot of negative space.
This looks like a movie that would keep me on my toes. Just by looking at the poster, I get clues about the plot, the setting, and who the main characters are (based on the credits).
My eyes first glance at the wooden planks on the boardwalk, then I look up at the park toward the tall rollercoaster that says, “Thunderbolt.” I then read the main title, “The Thunderbolt Murders.”
I then notice the depth of your poster. Since the main title is in front of the mountains, I glance at them next. I then note that it is nighttime, which is a common trope in murder noir.
The dark color of the mountains, night sky, and clouds offer a dark and mysterious color pallet that plays perfectly with your theme. I also love the red in “murders,” as it matches the red in the Thunderbolt sign at the entrance of the park. These colors are very visually pleasing to look at.
The only mystery in the poster is the main characters. I know who plays them by looking at the ending credits, but I can’t see them in the poster. Adding one or two characters would have added more depth to the poster, but by not having them there, it suggests that the setting is more important.
I need some more mystery movies in my life! Great job, I would definitely see this movie.