Jeff Finley » Design for Film

Catfish with Falcon Wings DVD Packaging

Jeff Finley — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 03:51:37 +0000

Two of my favorite up and coming directors are Jason LaRay Keener and his filmmaking partner Jeremiah Ledbetter. Together they run the studio Reining Nails and make verité style shorts. They have amazing titles like The Man with Apple Shaped Boxing Gloves” and Hail Cracking Cobra Eggs. They took four of those shorts and made what they call a “film EP” called Catfish with Falcon Wings. The total running time for the DVD is a quick 25 minutes and leaves you wanting much more. I know I’m eagerly awaiting when these two make a feature.

I met Jason on the Harmony Korine message boards where he posted his first short 2 years ago. I instantly recognized the loads of potential and I offered to support his cause by doing the DVD art for him. He and I worked together and this is what we came up with. If you like Harmony Korine films like Gummo or Julien Donkey Boy, you will like Catfish With Falcon Wings. I would also say that Jason and Jeremiah are influenced by neo-realism from directors like Werner Herzog, John Cassavetes, and even some mumblecore. Film director Todd Rohal who directed The Guatemalan Handshake even offers commentary on the DVD which is very cool.

Their filmmaking is done with a very DIY spirit, which I admire. In fact I’m in the early stages of planning a DIY art, music, and film fest in Cleveland in 2010 and they will surely be invited.

Oh yeah, buy the DVD! It’s worth it.

Cedar Lee Theatre – Cult Film Series Poster

Jeff Finley — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:02:00 +0000

Go Media was hired to do the official art for the Cedar Lee Cult Film series. Cedar Lee is Cleveland’s hippest indie and art house film theater, located in Cleveland Heights. The Cult Film Series happens every year and they’re know for showing some of the best “worst” movies of all time. In this particular case the wonderfully bad A.P.E. in 3D was supposed to be the focal point of the poster.

If you haven’t heard of this, check out the awesome clips on YouTube. This was my concept. I like how it came out, however David approved a different concept from my colleague Chris Comella which was very deserving. My idea was to create a throwback vintage 70s horror/thriller poster. It features fire, sharks, and of course the ape. All symbols from the movie. The sharks overhead also resemble helicopters which are also part of the movie.

Here are some detail shots:

Other Concepts

Here are some other concepts. The purple one was the final approved poster done by Chris Comella. Below that is Oliver Barrett’s simple, iconic take on the film.

Of Urgency & Pressure – Film Poster

Jeff Finley — Fri, 15 May 2009 18:20:34 +0000

The other night I had one of those new Mountain Dew Throwbacks with dinner and was completely wired for the next 5 hours. During that time I found the mojo to jump on my computer and experiment with some fake film posters to add to my portfolio. As you know, I’ve been wanting to get into film posters for several years now. I’m slowly but surely going to achieve this goal! Here’s one of the two that I finished.

The copy on the poster is simply dummy text. I made up the film and the cast and credits are nothing more than friends or coworkers at Go Media. The photo was something I found off Deviant Art. One of my favorite sites for stock photos. Thanks to ~bobbistock for the stock photo! It really helped me create the gritty drama look I was going for.

This kind of film would be something reminiscent of a dark Mike Leigh film or maybe even Michael Haneke’s Funny Games. I absolutely love the poster for the remake of Funny Games starring Naomi Watts. That’s where I got my inspiration to make this poster if you hadn’t noticed! I also added a few film festival awards for good measure. That usually gives off a good impression that this is a film worth seeing.

Original Photo

(courtesy of ~bobbistock)

As you can see from the stock photo below, I took a pretty ordinary photo and transformed it into something raw, honest, and hard-hitting. That’s one thing I am always concerned with as a designer, is not having good quality photography. The key elements for me are one, the photo needs to convey a genuine emotion; and two, it needs to be high res, clear, and clean. It wasn’t already treated with any effects, which I like. The original photo was pretty emotional, so that’s what I was looking for.