KEY ART + MOTION POSTER
I had the opportunity to create a chaotic mob style Key Art for Dark Harvest, a horror film released in October 2023. David Slade, the director, requested this particular Key Art to be transformed into a Motion Poster.

Objective

We were briefed by the marketing team to discuss the direction of the key art for the horror film "Dark Harvest," directed by David Slade, scheduled for release on October 13, 2023. I received a marketing strategy and creative brief outlining the target audience, color tones, emotions, key talents, and visual storytelling elements. Initially, we had no legal parameters, which were later introduced, restricting the display of masks worn by key talent.

Challenge

I was tasked with conceptualizing and developing key art that aligned with the creative brief and adhered to potential legal restrictions. My goal was to create visually impactful, chaotic mob-style key art that captured the essence of the horror film and resonated with the intended audience. Throughout the process I presented my work to the marketing strategy team, stakeholders and filmmakers, incorporating their feedback to ensure the final key art met all requirements.

Involvement

• Proactive Planning: Conducted research on the horror genre, analyzed comparative titles, brainstormed concept layouts and gathered necessary details from the brief. Anticipating potential legal constraints, I selected and saved unit photography that could comply with future requirements.

• Design Execution: Developed chaotic mob-style key art featuring angry teenage kids in masks on Halloween night, along with the four key talents armed and ready to hunt for Saw-Tooth Jack, facing the audience. The design included dark, ominous tones to effectively elevate the horror essence. Upon receiving legal restrictions, I adapted the key art by changing the positioning of the four key talents from facing the audience to being backlit and facing the mob.

• Presentation: Presented the finalized key art to the marketing strategy team, stakeholders, and filmmakers. Although David Slade and the filmmakers loved my key art, the marketing team opted for the runner-up design due to concerns about the details being lost when viewed on streaming platforms. In response, I proposed leveraging the key art for social strategy touchpoints, emphasizing how a motion poster would effectively capture and engage the audience's attention, as well as retain stakeholders' trust.

Enhancements

To further enhance visibility and engagement, I created a 7-second motion poster using the chaotic mob-style key art. This motion poster was developed in various formats, including 1:1, 4:6, and 9:16, to ensure optimal performance across different social media platforms.

Results

The key art and motion poster achieved significant positive results, generating over 95k impressions, over 46k views, and hundreds of likes on social platforms. This strategy effectively leveraged the influence of director David Slade and contributed to the film's overall marketing strategy, showcasing adaptability, creativity and alignment with stakeholder preferences while enhancing the film's online presence.