Attack the Block - Alternative Poster

    During an interview conducted by Vice to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Attack the Block, director Joe Cornish was asked about what the biggest influences were on the film. In response to the question, Cornish said that one of the films that influenced him most was John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13. In learning this I decided to base the movie poster for Attack the Block on the original movie poster for Assault on Precinct 13.

    When analyzing the original Assualt on Precinct 13 poster we can see Napoleon Wilson's character, Darwin Joston, standing over the city as a back-lit silhouette. He possesses distinctive red highlights to outline his figure and some features while still remaining mostly hidden to add an element of mystery. Additionally, the poster includes the title as well as the director's name saying "A John Carpenter Film." The strong contrast of the colors present in the background with the silhouette of Wilson's character automatically draws the eyes to his figure. Additionally, by positioning him over an entire city it expresses the power and importance his character possesses. 

    When it came time to make my rendition of the movie poster I first got a full-frontal photo of Moses (shown below). I cut him out and placed him on the blank background. I cut out about a third of the background from the original Assualt on Precinct 13 poster and then used Photoshop's "generative fill" feature to have it cover the entire background. The final aspect of the basic layout was getting a picture of a council estate and cutting out the sky, so the red background would appear to be the sky - as it did in the Assualt on Precinct 13 poster.

    Once the basic layout was complete I had to edit lighting/color. Firstly I used the "camera raw filter" to kick up clarity, texture, and contrast on both the photo of Moses and the photo of the council estate. Kicking up those three elements exaggerates shadows and darkens the photo overall, thus better resembling the original poster. From there I made separate gradient maps which make the photo appear in only the colors that I selected - black and red. From there I added a clipping layer on the photo of Moses to add the fog/smoke around the area where his legs meet the horizon. Additionally, I added white and yellow clouds in the back to resemble the original poster. The final element of the poster was adding the title and director's name. After some research, I discovered the font used in the original Assualt on Precinct 13 poster was called "GunPlay." I then downloaded it from dafont.com and used it to type "ATTACK THE BLOCK." Additionally, using the Dharma Gothic font I typed "A JOE CORNISH FILM."

    Much the same way Attack the Block was an homage to the movie(s) that inspired the director, I wanted to make my poster an homage as well. Using images from Attack the Block while mixing them with color palettes and general layout ideas from the Assualt on Precinct 13 poster, this revised poster does a good job emphasizing the importance and power that Moses possesses - especially within the setting. Portraying him as a silhouette also emphasizes his portrayal in the film as a shadowy "vigilante" with a complicated motive and story.