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Star Wars Interactive Poster Project

BATH SPA UNIVERSITY

Dissertation: Creative Industry Project

YEAR

2022

Throughout my dissertation I found that contemporary film posters have become formulaic with industries using the same composition (celebrity pyramid) and art style (real images photoshopped) within the large majority of their posters, using the case study of Star Wars to study this change. This has resulted in audiences become less engaged with posters and many wanting posters to go back to the traditional poster style seen around the 1970’s.

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Therefore, with my academic conclusions asking the question of whether nostalgia impacts the success of posters, with ‘old school’ artwork and style having and greater positive result. As well as questioning how the future of posters as a promotional medium will change. This project will aim to recreate the sequel trilogy posters which many Star Wars fans saw as uninspired, using the style of traditional posters such as the original Star Wars trilogy. As well as this, I then aim to explore how this can be pushed into contemporary society, adding moving elements to the posters which would make them stand out

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FInal Assessment Grade: 80/100 (1st)

Target Audience:

When identifying the target audience for Star Wars, research shows Star Wars has a very wide and diverse audience with statistics showing that many believe that Star Wars is for everyone. 

 

Therefore, due to this the promotional material needs to appeal to all audience members, making sure that it doesn’t isolate any part of thefanbase.

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Rey-

•are mostly female

•likely to work in non-profit and government industries

•tend to have salaries of $100-150 thousand

Finn-

•are younger compared to other character's audiences

•tend to earn low incomes ($0-50 thousand)

•tend to work in military and manufacturing industries

Kylo Ren-

•are older compared to followers of the other new characters

•tend to be male

•are most likely to work in media or internet industries

Han Solo-

•younger than the other legacy characters' followers

•have the lowest salaries ($0-50 thousand)

•are most likely to work in retail or construction

Princess Leia- 

•are typically over 45 years old

•tend to work in software

•highest among female fans. appeal

Luke Skywalker-

•tend to be male and middle-aged

•earn higher salaries compared to other fans ($100-150 thousand)

•are most likely to work in business

Through this research into the individual target audiences of each character it can be seen that carefully selecting the characters is  important when creating the promotional materials. Using characters such as Rey and Kylo Ren together would allow me to appeal to two different audiences at the same time, therefore maximizing the audience.

Fans Opinions on Posters:

Star Wars: A New Hope-

•Like the use of the black background with Darth Vader part of the background.

•Inclusion of small elements such as the X-Wings and TIE fighters.

•The fact that the characters look like they have been painted and not real images.

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Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back-

•Like the paint strokes used in the background of this poster.

•Composition of character helps tell the story of the film  (relationship of Han and Leia).

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Star Wars: Return of the Jedi-

•Composition in the bottom left becomes a little complicated.

•Use of Darth Vader in the background again works really well.

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Star Wars: The Force Awakens-

•Good pin point with Ray and catches your eye.

•Over complicated with too much going on.

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi-

•Confusing as they have put the hero in the background instead of villain.

•Really good colour  palette and use of paint strokes which reflects the Empire Strikes Back poster.

•Again, to much going on in the middle section.

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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker-

•Use of the white boarder which reflects the original poster.

•Good use of a action piece at the bottom which helps tell the story.

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Moodboards:

Star Wars Fan Posters-

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70's Film Posters-

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Poster Design Development:

Feedback from Target Audience-

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•Positive feedback on the idea of having one large element that connects the three posters.

•Also like the idea of having Kylo Ren's story arch hinted at through his position on the poster. 

•However, they were against that use  of the original actors on the poster due to it taking away from the new characters, as well as potentially spoiling storylines.

Final Poster Designs:

Star Wars: The Force Awakens-

Star Wars: The Last Jedi-

Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker-

Reflection:

 Looking back at the media making process as well as the academic conclusions from my written dissertation, this project has effectively shown how a unique art style inspired by traditional posters can still be achieved through the use of contemporary digital software. Also, with the large pools of talent large companies such as Art Machine have at their disposal, these art styles can be re-created even more accurately with artists using their own unique art styles. By hiring artists to hand design posters, we are also able to get around potential issues of copyright with certain images having intellectual property issues. However, if these promotional film posters were created by the distribution companies themselves, they would not have any problems with copyright as the images would be their own.

 

When it comes to the contemporary twist on these posters with the addition of moving elements, I have shown that adding these elements is achievable even on a basic level. With more time, resources and skill, these elements can be perfected and improved upon, giving industries and audiences a new form of promotional material that that can break the barrier between print and digital promotion. Therefore, the example of this style of poster seen here is just the start, with the combination of still and moving elements on posters being able to be adjusted to any theme/ genre inside and outside of the film industry.

 

Therefore, looking into my own future I will use these ideas and techniques within my own side business of RH-Illustrate, helping he hone and perfect the promotional technique. As well as using it in my own business, I will also bring the idea to future employers making my skill set stand out from other potential candidates.

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