Movie Poster RedesignI have always loved movies and the visuals associated with some of the classic sci-fi films that have come out over the years that inspired me to work in the creative industries.
In recent years there has been some amazing fan inspired 'redesigns' of classic movie posters through companies such as Mondo and Vice Press. I wanted to try something in a similar vein for three movies I've enjoyed over the years but also investigate what’s currently possible with AI imagery. I wanted to try AI mostly out of curiosity; With all the discussions about its impact on the creative industries recently, it reminds me of when I first joined a design studio as a junior art worker and within a few month the first Apple computer arrived in the studio. Certainly across Glasgow’s design community there was a fear for all the jobs that would be lost. And they were as the industry experienced a huge restructure over the following years as computers replaced multiple roles in design and print companies. The pros and cons of AI art are still unfolding, but Pandoras box has been opened for this technology and it won’t be going back in the box, as the arrival of computers in the design industry proved. Of course the bigger issue with AI is where are the images coming from? If AI generated images are based on thousands of artworks lifted from the internet without permission, who actually owns it and who is getting paid for its use? Some AI companies are beginning to explore one time licence fee’s for images used to train AI and some are looking at royalty payments for AI work based on an artist style. As the technology evolves AI will have to demonstrate more transparency in how it creates its images and pays the creators of the orginal images used to train its AI. Poster Redesigns https://merrygoroundmagazine.com/r-i-p-mondo-the-best-mondo-posters-of-all-time/ https://vice-press.com/collections/archive-posters-prints-collectibles AI https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2023/12/30/ai-generated-art-was-a-mistake-and-heres-why/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg5vjqdm1ypo https://russellsapalmer.medium.com/artists-rights-c655b79402bb https://qz.com/how-should-creators-be-compensated-for-their-work-train-1850932454 Blade Runner (1982), directed by Ridley Scott, is a sci-fi film based on Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, the story is set in a dystopian 2019 Los Angeles. It follows Rick Deckard, a weary cop tasked with tracking down rogue replicants—bio-engineered humans created by the Tyrell Corporation to serve in off-world colonies.
Movie trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eogpIG53Cis
How was it created: The overall mood of the three posters needed to reflect the dark, oppressive visuals of the original film. I began by selecting a range of images featuring the three main characters I wanted to focus on, then experimented with various prompts to generate a suitable illustrated visual style using Sora, part of ChatGPT. While the final outputs were promising, they weren’t perfect. AI image generation can be quite unpredictable and for all three images, I moved into Photoshop to merge and resize various parts. Capturing actors expression was particularly difficult. Once I had the base images, I refined the details further using Procreate on an iPad. It has a wide range of brushes and painting tools which helped me fine-tune features and better match the actors' likenesses or edit details in clothing or backgrounds. After completing the three images, I brought them into Illustrator. I researched the film’s digital display graphics seen on signage, vehicles, and computer screens to create three distinct line styles for the posters. Finally, I added the film’s logo and credits to give the designs an authentic movie poster feel. For a first attempt this has been an interesting challenge. I don’t think I could have achieved the final results without my existing experience in Photoshop and Procreate though that may reflect my limited knowledge of prompt writing more than anything else. Logan's Run (1976), directed by Michael Anderson and starring Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Richard Jordan, and others, the film is based on the 1967 novel Logan's Run by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. The screenplay, by David Zelag Goodman, presents a future society run by a master AI that appears utopian but is actually dystopian, where people are killed at age 30 to control population and resources. The story follows Logan 5, a "Sandman" who enforces this rule, until he becomes a target himself. Movie trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USADM5Gk9Gs
How was it created: Watching the movie now, you have to remember this was released just before Star Wars: A New Hope arrives in 1977 which would have a huge effect on the visuals of SciFi movies at the time. Although I always liked the Sandman’s distinctive uniforms and initially thought that would be a good focus for the poster with more research, I realised the seen were the city’s AI interrogates the main character and its use of holograms in the seen was much more interesting and with supporting infographics would also allow me to explain the crystals colour coding noted further down.
The main image for the poster was created by rendering some detailed AI shots of the lead actor Michael York (I used Sora AI to sharpen up a selection of promotional shots from 1976 which were very low res due to the technology at the time) and then placed them into Illustrator to use the trace image tool, but running it with a low pass to create a stepped visual to symbolise the ripple of the hologram image from the movie (shown in the close up shot above). The supporting graphics on the poster refer to the changing colour of the crystal embedded in a citizen's palm which indicates their age and impending death. The crystal starts as clear, then turns yellow, then green, and finally red, signifying that the individual is nearing their 30th birthday, or "Lastday". At this point, the crystal blinks red and black, and then turns completely black, marking the time for citizens to report to the "Carousel" for "renewal" (execution). The number on the characters names are not age related but linked to their generation or batch. The font for the main title is Neulis Neue but with some slight adjusting to match a font linked to the AI that runs the city shown in the film. And finally, the Egyptian symbol, ‘ankh’, is used to represent the concept of life in the movie and is a key identifier for a hidden group of people known as 'Runners' who are seeking Sanctuary and a way to live past the age of 30. In the movie Logan 5’s age is changed by the cities AI so he can hunt down runners outside the dome and Jessice 6 is too young for renewal but follows the main character hence on the info graphic only shows Logan 5’s line as red and black. You might also spot Francis 7 life line in the poster is longer than Logan 5's, and this is a reference to the books back story for this character that notes he is 42 and has disguised his true age using plastic surgery and changing the colour code for the crystal in his hand. Highlander (1986), directed by Russell Mulcahy from a screenplay by Gregory Widen, Peter Bellwood, and Larry Ferguson. Connor MacLeod is born in the Scottish Highlands in the 16th century. After being mortally wounded by the murderous Kurgan in battle, he makes a seemingly miraculous recovery and is banished from his village under suspicion of witchcraft. Five years later, MacLeod is found by swordsman Ramírez, who trains him in swordplay and explains that they and others were born immortal, invincible unless beheaded. Immortals wage a secret war, fighting each other until the last few remaining will meet at the Gathering to fight for the Prize. In 1985, the Gathering is finally happening in New York City, and MacLeod must ensure that the Prize is not won by the Kurgan. Movie trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omOZyLmNMJs
Highlander and all related characters and imagery are the property of their respective rights holders Highlander Productions Limited. This work is unofficial and not affiliated with or endorsed by the original creators or rights holders. This poster design is an original artistic interpretation as a fan-made tribute and the work is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or licensed by the rights holders.
How was it created: After watching the movie I decided it would be good to show the start and end of the journey for the main character, Connor Maclead. I also wanted to place him at Eilean Donan Castle which is used as the ancestral castle for the Maclead family in the movie.
For the first poster set in 1536 I experimented with various prompts to generate an illustration that would fit in historically with the visual style of the time using Sora AI. Getting the layout of the poster to work with AI prompts proved challenging and after a number of variations I started to realise it would be easier to achieve the outcome by creating multiple images for different sections of the image and then bring them all together in Photoshop. The 1985 poster had to show visual influences to the imagery from the late 80’s and again a lot of work went into finding the correct prompts to create a New York street at night while hinting at the Kurgan in the distance who has hunted Connor through the years. |
