Final Video Sequence / Sting / Trailer

Oppression Film festival Sting from James Kilby on Vimeo.
Watch in HD! Full length video to be shown as a trailer / sting at independent cinemas and on film4 plus at the festival before each film plays.

Final and Alt Poster

Ident / Video Ad Poster

Looped video to be displayed as short web advertising and on the London underground digital ad spaces. Watch in 720p HD!

Web Banners

London takes digital advertising underground

The London underground is a perfect place to advertise the video ad/poster for the festival with its repetitive advertising.

Reminds me of Children of men...

Alt Draft version

Conclusion

In this project I have referenced a wide range of influences that encompass the themes and tones of the films I have chosen that represent the subject of ‘Oppression’ in British dystopia.

For the visual identity I wanted something that was strikingly bold and simple which would symbolize the idea of oppression. The first symbol that came to mind was ‘the eye’ I was struggling at first because I thought maybe it was maybe too obvious. However after re-watching my chosen films I realized it was obvious choice for a reason as it is a recurrent symbol for each of the films especially ‘1984’ and ‘A Clock Work Orange’. I thought if I used the eye in a different way, steered away from emulating too much certain clichés like ‘OBEY’ and Russian constructivism for example; it would be the perfect icon for the film festival. I looked at other symbols like the triangle/pyramid but thought it’s been overdone linked to the Illuminati/freemasons and didn’t fit the films I’ve chosen as well as the eye does. The All Seeing Eye is a symbol of a higher power i.e. a God or Government and secret societies (free masons / Illuminati) I have used it to emphasise oppressive governments. 

The type is intentionally set and squashed at the bottom to emphasise the oppressiveness, with the dots in the O's to form the iconography of an eye. I also chose repetition of the poster which creates a moodier striking effect with the shapes it creates. 

In this video Sting/Trailer I tried to hark back at to old era but with a modern twist, looking at many vintage title sequences and trailers from the likes of Saul Bass (Vertigo) and Pablo Ferro (Dr Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange) and a few newer ones like the experimental ‘Enter the Void’. I felt this was suitable for the theme and films I have chosen many of which are classics from British cinema. I wanted to apply the aesthetics of my poster and visual identity to the video, I kept the palette black and white with strong bold typographic in fluorescent red/pink. The video uses the symbolism of the eye throughout, the intent is for the eye to be intimidating and oppressing to the viewer staring and jittering through the fires flames. The flames represent the various elements from the films and theme, like the burning of literature in Fahrenheit 451 and revolution element in V for Vendetta and Children of Men. I chose to use the iconic music of A Clockwork Orange 'Funeral of a queen mary' as it
fits in perfectly after trying some moody ambient / electronic music like Burial, Mogwai,Four Tet etc... which didn't work as well as I hoped. 

I also chose to shorten and loop a version of the video to create a more instant and quick ads to be shown on the web and on the london underground etc... where it is placed in the background of the physical and digital world to be observe and to observe the general public.

The target audience for the festival would be for the more serious film buffs than the general public and with the adult and controversial themes being played in the films it would have to be a mature crowd.