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[ 71 ]Look at it this way. When a house is built, it
starts with an architect who creates the origi-
nal concept, followed by someone who builds
that design, and finally someone comes in at the
end to paint and landscape to make the final
house presentable. In entertainment design,
such as a movie poster, the concept is presented
by the art director, a designer creates the initial
concept, and then the finisher adds the final
effects. There’s even an entire industry built
around designers who only do finishing effects.
You know those posters you see in theaters?
That’s the result of a long process of concept
and approval at numerous levels until it reaches
the finisher, and even then it goes through the
wringer a few more times before you have the
final movie poster.
Fortunately, most of us aren’t designing
feature film posters (though some of us would
like to), nor do we have to endure a drawn-out
review process; however, we can take advantage
of some of the techniques that finishers use to add
pizzazz to our own work. It just might be the thing
that makes the difference in getting that next job.
(Trust me, because this has happened to me.)
So, in this article, we’ll explore some finishing
effects I developed over the years that owe their
existence to other effects I learned from other
designers. Once you understand how an effect
works, you can play around with other ways to
use it, which leads to discovering a whole new
world of effects. I encourage you to experiment
with the following tips to come up with your own
effects. So enough chitchat; let’s get into it!If you’re curious
to see some incredible
finishing work, visit
BLT Communications,
one of the premiere
agencies for feature
film design. Check out
their site and you’ll see
a lot of work done for
some of the biggest
feature films ever. I visit
this site often to see what’s
new, and to get inspired.Real-World
Ex amples