ADAVID FINCHERFILM FESTIVAL

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GR_612_OL1: MS: Integrated Communications

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BREAKINGTHROUGH

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IDEATION

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CHOOSING A DIRECTORThe 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.

DAVID FINCHER

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GUY RITCHIE OLIVER STONE

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DESIGN BRIEFThe Foundation

Director. Born on May 10, 1962, in Denver, Colorado. Known for his image-driven and often

dark films, David Fincher is one of the most innovative and meticulous directors working

today. He developed a love for film at an early age and started making movies after getting

a Super 8 camera for his eighth birthday. His father was a writer and his mother was

a mental health nurse.

Growing up in Marin County, Fincher had some exposure to the film industry. He and his

friends watched as George Lucas filmed American Graffiti (1973) in the area, and Fincher

even lived a few doors down from the famed director. After high school, Fincher worked

for Korty Films where he worked on the animated film Twice Upon a Time (1983). He then

joined the staff of Lucas’s special effects company, Industrial Light and Magic.

At Industrial Light and Magic, Fincher worked on the box office hits Return of the Jedi

DIRECTOR BIO

(1983) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). He eventually moved

on to making commercials, earning a reputation for his edgy work. One of his most

notable projects was a public service announcement for the American Cancer Society

that featured a fetus smoking. Working with the likes of Madonna, Don Henley,

Aerosmith, and many others, Fincher became a successful director of music videos.

He also helped found Propaganda Films in the mid-1980s.

On the big screen, Fincher made his directorial debut with Alien3 (1992). The sci-fi action

film was a personal and professional disappointment. Starring Sigourney Weaver, the

film was the third installment of the successful series, but the project was experiencing

problems before Fincher even signed on as director. Fincher told Entertainment Weekly

in 1997 that he learned from the experience, “never to shoot a movie without a script,

and the more money you have the more trouble you’re likely to run into.”

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ALIENS 3 [1992]

FILMOGRAPHY

SE7EN [1995]

THE GAME [1997]

FIGHT CLUB [1999]

PANIC ROOM [2002]

ZODIAC [2004]

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON [2008]

THE SOCIAL NETWORK [2010]

THREADS

PSYCHOSES

PURPOSE

OBLIVIOUS

SOLITUDE

PARANOID

VIOLENT

AWAKENING

RESURGENCE

TITLE POSSIBILITIES

PROJECT RESURRECTION

OBLIVION

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SELF PSYCHOSES

MENTAL REVIVAL

BRUTAL RISING

CRAZY. SANE. CRAZY

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 SELECTIONInside Fincher’s Head

With Fincher three movies stood out in my mind, SE7EN, THE GAME & FIGHT CLUB. I

realized early on that these three had a common connection of mental disorder and trying

to communicate a message of awakening. Each movie had its own method of delivering

the message, but in the end each one left a mark upon you.

In deciding upon these I had to eliminate some very good films that Fincher had created.

I wanted to focus on the films that brought out the darker side of mental state. The side

that was used to hit over the head and wake you up as an audience.

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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 IDEATIONThe 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 IDEATIONA 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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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.

ADAVID FINCHERFILM FESTIVAL

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FINDINGCRAZY

[ [DESIGNING

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TYPE RESEARCHThe Right Face

“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)

“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)

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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Portishead Dummy(Headers) Unsuccessful

"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."

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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PHOTOGRAPHYIn & 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 CRAZYBringing 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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TEXTURESCapturing 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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[ [FINAL PRODUCTION

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THE CATALOGWelcome 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 POSTERShout 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 ADVERTISEMENTSScream 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 DVDsCapturing 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 TRAILERA 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 TICKETSI’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 SITEHead 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 SYSTEMSFinding 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 SCHEDULEHave 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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