Poster for feature film DRAWING WITH CHALK

chapelgrovefilms said:
So have you changed the name of the film to "The Turnback"???
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:happy:

Well this may be confusing too... The band's (my band) that did all of the music for the soundtrack is called 'The Turnback'. We've decided to keep the album titled 'Drawn in Chalk' with the band name on the cover since this is our debut cd. Indie reviewers will be more apt to review an album by a band than a soundtrack album (even though all of the music is by one band). I know this is confusing but in the grand scheme of things, this makes sense. :happy:

As far as the film title. I think you are over thinking it (which is a good thing; I do the same things myself). Think of your goal as a filmmaker. You have a goal to go from point A to point B and you 'draw' out your steps to get to point B. Of course life intervenes and redirects you to point A.2, then A.3 (you temporarily erase the straight line to point B and redraw it from your new point). I definitely do not want to get you more confused, but it does make sense.

Also, there is a pivoltal scene where the best friend (Uncle Matt) has a conversation with the protagonist's young son about drawing what you love (hence the 'sometimes your life is drawn out for you'). This may seem convoluted, but trust me it works.

I hope you get a chance to see the film (and if you are in the NY area around March 25th) come to our opening week and I'll buy you some popcorn so you can kick back and watch the film and see if it all comes together for you.

I really want this film to make people think and I'm glad it does :)

And thanks again David! I loved the idea for the cover and it works great as the album cover.

Todd
 
I get what you're saying. But to me, the purpose of both the title and the poster are to get people to want to watch the movie. Not to be something that people will appreciate after they've watched the movie. Ideally they would do both, but first and foremost the title and poster are marketing tools. You keep saying that if I watch the movie, then I'll better understand the concepts of the title and poster. That seems backwards to me. If the title, the poster, the tag lines and the trailer don't make me want to watch the movie, then what good are they?
 
chapelgrovefilms said:
I get what you're saying. But to me, the purpose of both the title and the poster are to get people to want to watch the movie. Not to be something that people will appreciate after they've watched the movie. Ideally they would do both, but first and foremost the title and poster are marketing tools. You keep saying that if I watch the movie, then I'll better understand the concepts of the title and poster. That seems backwards to me. If the title, the poster, the tag lines and the trailer don't make me want to watch the movie, then what good are they?
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I get what you are saying too. HOWEVER, many have seen the film BECAUSE of the title and the trailer. To each their own. Hell, at almost every Q&A we've had, we've had comments about the title and how we came up with it and people have even bought t-shirts with the film title on it. Some people liked it. Now I could change the name of the film to the "Kick Ass Rock and Roll Story" but would that make the film better or attract a different audience? I'm happy with the title and the tag line. The trailer is going to be recut and no worries if you don't want to see the film because of those elements.

Yes all of those things are marketing tools and we know how important marketing is (just like throwing in a B star and use his/her name just to get people to take notice). How many low budget films put ALL the money into a kick ass poster/cover art just cover the fact that they have a bad film? I don't expect everyone to agree with me and if someone won't see a film because of the title of the film then they probably wouldn't appreciate the depth the film has to offer anyway. That isn't a comment directed to you (again, I love opinions and am happy to debate). I changed the poster because it lacked an element in the film: the music. Some people will appreciate the title and the film, others won't. It's impossible to please everyone.

Thanks again for the comments :)
 
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Fair enough.

But you say "... if someone won't see a film because of the title of the film then they probably wouldn't appreciate the depth the film has to offer anyway." This isn't about that. Say there's a killer zombie movie. If it's titled "A Love Affair in Venice", with very little other marketing, two things are going to happen. The die-hard zombie movie audience isn't going to see it because its title sounds like a chick-flick love story. On the other hand, fans of chick-flick love stories will go -- and they'll hate it. So yes, there are people who won't see the film if the title conveys the image of something starkly different from what the film is actually about.

When I first saw this thread, I have to admit -- the title "Drawing With Chalk" didn't interest me. And the original poster was somewhat interesting because it conveyed a little bit of emotional content, but it really didn't tell me anything about the story. I had no idea it was a movie about music. Adding the guitar did help with that. But overall there was nothing there that compelled an interest in the movie to me.

People who've seen the movie like it, and that's great. I just worry that the title and poster aren't effective at getting a broad audience to see the movie. Maybe I'm wrong.

At any rate, congratulations!
 
chapelgrovefilms said:
Fair enough.

But you say "... if someone won't see a film because of the title of the film then they probably wouldn't appreciate the depth the film has to offer anyway." This isn't about that. Say there's a killer zombie movie. If it's titled "A Love Affair in Venice", with very little other marketing, two things are going to happen. The die-hard zombie movie audience isn't going to see it because its title sounds like a chick-flick love story. On the other hand, fans of chick-flick love stories will go -- and they'll hate it. So yes, there are people who won't see the film if the title conveys the image of something starkly different from what the film is actually about.

When I first saw this thread, I have to admit -- the title "Drawing With Chalk" didn't interest me. And the original poster was somewhat interesting because it conveyed a little bit of emotional content, but it really didn't tell me anything about the story. I had no idea it was a movie about music. Adding the guitar did help with that. But overall there was nothing there that compelled an interest in the movie to me.

People who've seen the movie like it, and that's great. I just worry that the title and poster aren't effective at getting a broad audience to see the movie. Maybe I'm wrong.

At any rate, congratulations!
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Even though your example is extreme, I see your point. The reason I changed the guitar is that the poster ONLY conveyed the concept of the title while ignoring the element of music. I think a musician would find the new poster of interest though they may have overlooked or not given thought about the previous poster (despite the title).

Guess we'll see ;)
 
I'd like too see something more simple

The man and boy amongst a white background

And the Title a little bigger and grabbing my attention
 
chapelgrovefilms said:
I was wondering why the OP didn't just put a guitar in the background of that shot, leaning against the wall of the house.
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I had thought of that idea too. Who knows... if a distributor picks up the film they may/will impose their own ideas on the poster.
 
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