Which One, Dammit?
Here are four non-finalized versions of Reid Rosefelt‘s one-sheet for Turn Me On Dammit! (New Yorker, 3.30). He’s asking HE readers to rate them in order of preference plus offer up any comments that might occur. The line illustration is by Kelly Lasserre. Three of the color treatments are by Ron Ramsland of New Yorker Films; one is by Rosefelt.
“As you can see the poster is not in any stretch of the imagination in Saul Bass territory,” Rosefelt writes. “Along the way I had to make compromises and one of them was that the girl in the ad had to resemble Helene Bergsholm, the star of the film.
I have bigger individual versions which I’ll post later.
Here’s my Palm Springs Film Festival review of the film. And here’s a rave from anomalousmaterial.com’s Nick Prigge, and an excerpt:
“It might seem strange that a film featuring a fairly gratuitous moment of, uh, (brief) full frontal nudity when considering its most essential plot point is a male counterpart of our 15 year old female protagonist taking out his, uh, ‘dick’ and pointing it at her is more subtle, thoughtful and genuine than just about any teen sex comedy of any nationality with no (brief) full frontal nudity of any kind that I’ve come across but that’s the truth. It’s one of the best films of 2011.
“It’s not unlike Mean Girls in the way that it displays how quickly and brutally these high-schooled aged ladies can turn against one another and how one little white lie can transform a life. What it doesn’t do, though, is make these rather harsh story complications an excuse for comedic setpieces and exaggerated characters. There is funny to be seen and heard, to be sure, plenty of it, but what could have been crass is just honest.”
2-4-1-3
2,1,4,3. I’d also like to see 2 with a solid white background like 4.
2 – A simple color palette, easy on the eyes.
3 – The black background is nice. Like the red behind “Dammit!” – the others could use something similar.
1 – Too plain. Blonde is better.
4 – Too harsh. And the red lipstick is distracting.
2 is indeed the best.
In the spirit of elitist film festival snobs, I will say I hate all of them and I resent even the suggestion I would lower myself to comment. Besides, they’re movie posters. Where’s the orange and blue?
Actually, I kind of like the off-white in #2. #1 is too monochrome, and the other two are too loud.
2 is the correct answer.
I actually like 1 and 4 the best. The yellow hair color looks a little insipid to me in 2 and 3, but works with the blue and red in 4. Don’t like the purple in 3 at all. Definitely leaning towards 4 – think the blue and white is the best color for the top, has a slight Godard vibe to it.
2-3-1-4. 2 is bold but not too busy. I like the black background of 3, but the purple shirt fucks up the balance.
2 by a wide margin
2 then 4
2
2-3-4-1
WOW, I told myself to make a choice before I read anyone else’s, and yup, number 2 was the best. Something about it just pops out.
#1 is too fuzzy. #4 looks like she’s in the Greek Navy. #3 **could** work if the shirt wasn’t purple.
But #2 is solid all around. Dig the faded yellow-ish newsprint background too.
#2 is the best, then 1,3 and 4.
But actually think the best look would be red lettering, daffodil background, daffodil skin and blue striped shirt. The black and red shirt on the daffodil background is a little aggressive compared to the girls other attributes, and the black lettering is not aggressive enough for the provocative title.
Also, by making the main colors of the girl daffodil and blue it kind of makes an homage to the I Am Curious films.
tag it and bag it: #2
This is the kind of post only a true tire-changer can enjoy.
Dos
4-2-1-3
bottom right
2, 1, 4, 3.
I like them all, though. Cool image.
Amazingly, I also vote for 2. Clean and simple. I like 1, but it’s a little too plain and monochromatic. 3 and 4 introduce too many competing colors.
I was going to say, he’s a brave man, dipping his work into this shark tank. But so far everyone’s well behaved and no one has taken a bite.
I also thought 2, but when you look at them one at a time, the first one starts to prevail. The near complete lack of color is more in keeping with the minimalist spirit of the design itself.
3-2-1-4
What about one with an orange background? /trolling
Well, looks like I’m way out voted, but I’ll throw my 2 cents in.
#4 – I like the way the blue and red contrast, and it makes both the title and girl stand out on their own. (Would like to see the title in black though)
#2 – Calming, in a way. Very natural coloring, like it’s a stylized photograph. Just a bit boring for teen sex comedy.
#1 – Similar to #2, but just too plain to really grab your attention
#4 – While eye-catching, the purple and black seem to clash, and the red highlight of “Dammit!”, just doesn’t seem right. And I’ve never seen white text that I liked.
Go with any of these choices and you can re-title the poster “Why Don’t We Go See The Artist Again, Dammit?”.
But seriously, if you have to commit marketing seppuku, go with blonde hair, red lettering, no lipstick for chrissakes, wad it all up and hire TWO five year olds to make your next movie poster.