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A DAVID FINCHER FILM FESTIVAL GR_612_OL1: MS: Integrated Communications
HEAD CASE
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BUILDING A FESTIVAL
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[BREAKING
THROUGH[ IDEATION
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DAVID FINCHER
CHOOSING A DIRECTOR The Right Fit
“Whats your favorite movie?” and “Who is your all time favorite director?” Two questions I am asked quite a bit. While thinking about the directors I love and the films I watch it seemed difficult at first to pick that one I could devote my time to. Guy Ritchie is a director on the up and up. His work continues to capture the attention of many. Oliver Stone who is a brilliant director brings his own stories and experiences to his films. Stone, a veteran director, has a raw unfiltered style that taps into the real. In the end I chose David Fincher for his ability to throw his audience in to the seat along side the actor making you travel down the road towards self awareness.
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GUY RITCHIE
OLIVER STONE
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DESIGN BRIEF The Foundation
DIRECTOR BIO Director. Born on May 10, 1962, in Denver, Colorado. Known for his image-driven and often
(1983) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). He eventually moved
dark films, David Fincher is one of the most innovative and meticulous directors working
on to making commercials, earning a reputation for his edgy work. One of his most
today. He developed a love for film at an early age and started making movies after getting
notable projects was a public service announcement for the American Cancer Society
a Super 8 camera for his eighth birthday. His father was a writer and his mother was
that featured a fetus smoking. Working with the likes of Madonna, Don Henley,
a mental health nurse.
Aerosmith, and many others, Fincher became a successful director of music videos.
Growing up in Marin County, Fincher had some exposure to the film industry. He and his
He also helped found Propaganda Films in the mid-1980s.
friends watched as George Lucas filmed American Graffiti (1973) in the area, and Fincher
On the big screen, Fincher made his directorial debut with Alien3 (1992). The sci-fi action
even lived a few doors down from the famed director. After high school, Fincher worked
film was a personal and professional disappointment. Starring Sigourney Weaver, the
for Korty Films where he worked on the animated film Twice Upon a Time (1983). He then
film was the third installment of the successful series, but the project was experiencing
joined the staff of Lucas’s special effects company, Industrial Light and Magic.
problems before Fincher even signed on as director. Fincher told Entertainment Weekly
At Industrial Light and Magic, Fincher worked on the box office hits Return of the Jedi
in 1997 that he learned from the experience, “never to shoot a movie without a script,
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and the more money you have the more trouble you’re likely to run into.”
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FILMOGRAPHY ALIENS 3 [1992]
PANIC ROOM [2002]
SE7EN [1995]
ZODIAC [2004]
THE GAME [1997]
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON [2008]
FIGHT CLUB [1999]
THE SOCIAL NETWORK [2010]
THREADS PSYCHOSES
PARANOID
PURPOSE
VIOLENT
OBLIVIOUS
AWAKENING
SOLITUDE
RESURGENCE
TITLE POSSIBILITIES PROJECT RESURRECTION
MENTAL REVIVAL
OBLIVION
BRUTAL RISING
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CRAZY. SANE. CRAZY
SELF PSYCHOSES
HELLO MY NAME IS...
TITLE POSSIBILITIES David Fincher’s passion is making the movie that sends a loud and clear message that is often raw and uncensored. He says the best movies are the ones that leave a scar. The audience consists of not only the film noir fans, but all those who travel through their lives blindly unaware of the life they could be leading. Fincher means to enlighten his audience while slapping them in the face and stepping on their feet.
THE DATE & LOCATION The Festival will be December 29, 30, & 31. The Festival will be held at The Saenger Theatre at 801 N. Rampart St., New Orleans, LA 70130. Just as the thread that runs through Fincher’s films of rebuilding one’s self the Saenger is currently under construction, much like the city of New Orleans is on the rise post Katrina.
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FILM SELECTION Inside Fincher’s Head
With Fincher three movies stood out in my mind, SE7EN, THE GAME & FIGHT CLUB. I
In deciding upon these I had to eliminate some very good films that Fincher had created.
realized early on that these three had a common connection of mental disorder and trying
I wanted to focus on the films that brought out the darker side of mental state. The side
to communicate a message of awakening. Each movie had its own method of delivering
that was used to hit over the head and wake you up as an audience.
the message, but in the end each one left a mark upon you.
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David Fincher’s list of films grows each year. He is quickly becoming one of the most popular director’s of his time. I have come to know and really appreciate his style and direction as I have done this project.
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TITLE IDEATION The Road to “Head Case�
After watching each of the movies four or five times and taking down notes I found the common that worked well. The thread dealt with mental disorders that focused around key characters. Though each psychoses varied in type and function, it was there nonetheless. Also there was this running idea of waking people up and showing them the light.
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I developed a list of words that had a core connection with the movies. Once the list was put together I began plugging away at titles. It was a series of mixing and matching the right combination based upon the dominant thread.
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THE LOGO IDEATION A Face to a Name
When Head Case was chosen I had to find the right look for the logo. Through the sketching phase I developed a number of approaches. From literal to vague I created a range of ideas that could potentially capture the feel of the festival name. After many refinements I finally found the logo I was looking for. The final logo I feel truly captures the name Head Case.
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A DAVID FINCHER FILM FESTIVAL
The brackets are squeezing the already tall and condensed typeface League Gothic. The distressed element adds to the mental state of what a head case actually is. The rough and slight rotation suggests that the person is off and has a certain form of psychoses.
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[FINDING
CRAZY[ DESIGNING
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“Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.” Helvetica Neue Medium Condensed (Body Copy)
TYPE RESEARCH The Right Face
Starting at the beginning with the I played with the right typeface that could showcase the name properly. I felt that a tall condensed Typeface could play nicely with the squeezing brackets. Initially I used Portishead Dummy, but it felt too condensed. Once I found League Gothic I was able to easily fill the space I needed and accomplish the look I was going for.
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“Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.” League Gothic (Headers)
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"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum."
Portishead Dummy (Headers) Unsuccessful
Minion Pro (Body Copy) Unsuccessful
In terms of body copy I found that minion pro did not compliment League Gothic properly when it came to the festival. I began to look a for a serif typeface that could act as the body copy face that would also compliment the headers.
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PHOTOGRAPHY In & Out of Focus
I wanted my photography to set a tone while also capturing Fincher’s style. In the three particular films I chose the characters seem to wade in and out of clear thought. My photography had both clear and blurry moments that I felt captured the thread of my films.
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ELEMENTS OF CRAZY Bringing Character
Thinking and talking about psychotic behavior brings the brain to mind. I thought a lot about showing the brain and what areas are affected by the variety of psychoses in the films. The brain was used on the psychoses cards that I would be handed out at the festival.
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The medical forms were another approach in implementing the patient history aspect. The element was used in overlay form for the photography in the catalog and other key spots. I wanted to tie image and crazy together as the films did.
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TEXTURES Capturing the Feel
In all of the films Fincher uses dark wet environments to convey a certain message to his audience. While grabbing my texture shots I had to keep thinking about the shots from the films and look for the dark and deeply textured areas.
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[WAKING
UP[
FINAL PRODUCTION
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THE CATALOG Welcome to Fincherland
The catalog is the mainstay in the project. It has all the elements both in and externally. I transfused the type elements with my photography and the movie stills to create the final product. The grid was constant and yet allowed for change from section to section. I played with space by making the type feed of the imagery and vice versa.
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As you look through the spreads I pulled you can see the range I was able to work with in terms of layout. The catalog though very dense in texture has a good rhythm for going from dark and heavy to the lighter spreads.
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THE POSTER Shout it Out Loud
The idea for the poster was bringing the three films together in a way that best connected them. I had a number of ideas that involved texture and photography playing the background character. In the end the poster I landed upon had a perfect balance of background foreground. The poster is divided into for quadrants and things are happening at the interesting points in an interesting way.
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THE ADVERTISEMENTS
Scream it Out Loud
I wanted to place the advertisements in places I knew would get attention. The spots I chose were high traffic areas near the Saenger Theatre. When designing them I ran with the thread I had created by bring in movie stills from the three films. I was important to build a variety in them by having similar, but different elements.
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COLLECTER DVDs Capturing the Feel
I was excited about bringing the system I created to design the packaging for the DVDs. I wanted authenticity and yet a unique look. I once again brought in different movie stills, but I also brought other elements of crazy. My slip case though not shown in here will house the individual DVD cases, goes on a “Special Edition Black� version.
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THE TRAILER
A Homage to Fincher
The Head Case Trailer is a homage to David Fincher and his amazing filmmaking. I took certain elements from all three films and integrated them into one piece. We focused on the mental and physical aspects of the characters from his movies. All this came together to form our story.
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The trailer challenges the viewer to imagine an everyday battle happening inside of his head. While one man dangles clues for the good and bad version of himself he in the end takes control. The audience must step outside “the box� to understand the piece.
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THE TICKETS
I’ll Take Two
I bounced around a number of ideas for tickets. In trying to keep with the medical psychoses approach I landed upon the patient medical id bracelets used in hospitals. The bracelets contain different patients names and general patient information. They are housed in the custom made pouches that fit the dimensions of the bands.
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WEB SITE
Head Case Online
Bringing Fincherland on to the web was a bit of a challenge, but after looking through the catalog and taking the similar approach I began applying the concepts to this medium. Image over type removed the layering confusion. In the beginning I had type literally sitting on the image and it caused the type to be illegible. Remodeling the web site brought a sense of order and balance to the spread.
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The layout has a top bottom balance that allows your eye to move from one half to the next with ease. Each page has a shot from the movies or trailer which really brings the viewer into the festival.
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IDENTITY SYSTEMS Finding a Face
The business system was kept simple in form. I wanted to use the brackets for the business card in a unique way. I played with a square format allowing the brackets squeeze the type in the same way it worked for the logo.
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As for the letter head I wanted to bring the medical aesthetic to this piece by using the white background and the dark distressed lines to frame the message.
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POCKET SCHEDULE Have Your Own
The pocket schedule is a mere reflection of the festival. It gives the detailed information that any festival goer needs to get from one event to the next. I included dates, times, places, who will be there and location. I used the medical grid element to frame the schedule in an very ordered “Fincher� way.
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The reverse side was a return to the photography I took for the project reiterating that idea of in and out of focus. Crazy. Sane. Crazy. Also placed on the back is the festival logo as a friendly reminder.
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