Postcard Research

 Hello blog viewers. As a key part of this project I'm undertaking involves a print component, specifically creating a post card for our short film, today I'll be researching some do's and dont's when it comes to making one.

THE FRONT:

This short film is a thriller and revolves around a girl who shows people an image of what she claims to be a portrait of god, although no one, including the protagonist, can ever see anything besides a black void. However, one day things start appearing for her out of the darkness. I don't know if its super clear from my picture but if you look close, you can literally see the figure she starts to see later on. While it's a pretty terrifying visual that would likely intrigue an audience, especially with the consistent color scheme and bold font, it pretty much just gives the whole twist away which I'm not a huge fan of. There's a visual later on in the film of what happens after her whole encounter with the lord which I think is equally visually engaging, but also creates even more curiosity cause we don't know what the heck we're looking at. One thing I can definitely take from this post card however is the use of a concise, consistent color scheme and stylized font.

I have quite a similar issue with this one. After doing some research, I stumbled across a short film which astonishingly has the same central conflict as mine, a custodian forced to hide a body after someone slips and dies. I thought this would be a golden opportunity to get some inspiration, but I'm honestly not a huge fan of this postcard. One, I think the font is uninteresting and is hard to read against the white background. And two, it gives the entire conflict away before someone receiving the postcard even starts watching the film.

 

Therefore, the front of the postcard for my short film should make sure to find an engaging visual that leads to the central conflict and creates mystery but doesn't literally spoil the entire plot. Additionally, I should find a way to make the color scheme concise, only sticking to 2 or 3 colors with a font that matches the visual style.

This album cover for Soothsayer by the guitarist Buckethead has a cool visual of the outline of a body that I think would work well with my project. Setting it in a school setting with a wet floor sign in the background would make it clear that someone died but wouldn't completely spoil who, how, why, or when.

THE BACK:

After searching tirelessly online I unfortunately have faced difficulty in trying to find postcard examples with a front and back, but nonetheless, I have familiarized myself with the conventions and will likely use a more comedic visual on the back to create the dichotomy between thriller and comedy that my short film holds.

This template shows me the necessary info to have in a way clearly presentable way to the audience, including contact information, location, and showtimes. There's also the really cool idea of a QR code allowing for a private viewing with a password which is something I can take into account.