When local filmmaker Kira Sipler asked me to contribute to her movie, they were in the very beginning phase of the project. I got to read the script and Immediately started coming up with visual ideas. I had a strong image of headlights shining though a persons legs, with wet concrete, and rays of light blinding the viewer. Kazuo Mayeda took some photos and I used them to make the teaser, which they used to generate interest at the beginning of their process. Here it is:
Then they filmed the movie and sent over a directors cut which helped generate more ideas for the poster design.
The two main characters have a lot of dialogue while they are driving. Since they are driver and passenger of a car, at first I thought I would have a symmetrical view of the two of them equally in the car since the story is about what goes on between them. Then it evolved to her looking at him through the side mirror, standing behind in the street, which gave a very interesting diagonal shape between the characters, instead of equal, one next to each other. This is one of our many early sketches:
Then an exciting thing happened where the idea morphed into his silhouette being big and behind the whole car, and her looking back at him through center rear view mirror. (I originally had the rear view mirror included, but took it out in the end, because I thought it cluttered up the design, and hopefully the viewers could tell that she was looking at the rear view mirror, without actually seeing the mirror itself.)
I wanted her hands, like fists, to be visibly gripping the steering wheel, and the look in her eye to be intense and also determined. His silhouette is a little blurred out, and large to reflect that she sees him as a looming force in her life. It is also flat because her relationship with him is going from being tangled up in him, and all the details, to something more clear cut, and defined. Here's the final poster art:
The main focus of the poster is her face, and what is going on with her which reflects what happens in the movie. Much of the story is about how she changes inside. So there is a lot to see on her face as she considers her future by looking in her past (by looking in the mirror).
Most of the movie is shot at night, so I chose dark colors and settled on monochromatic blues, with only a few glowing highlights. Also keeping the white title “blind spot” in the middle, echo the glowing headlights in the dark theme.
If you are curious about the film, They have a Facebook Page for more info.