THE LIGHT PRINCESS

THE ASK

Design a movie poster for the upcoming feature film, The Light Princess, based on the 1984 Scottish fairy tale by George Macdonald. The film version is considered “multi-genre” as it contains elements of comedy, musical, horror, and action. You are provided raw image assets as well as text/copy to complete the design. Choose a specific genre to market your film which will inform your design approach in order to effectively sell the film to specific audiences.

THE APPROACH

This poster markets to the musical genre. Musical movie posters typically depict a theatrical production where they either feature the main character or focal group as well as exhibit forms of drama or theatre in their posters such as singing, dancing, or musical instruments. The poster is centered on the protagonist, the Princess, and features her singing. The position of her mouth could also indicate laugher, a common occurrence due to her lightness. Her body position could be interpreted as moving or dancing. The Light Princess fairy tale is a story is about balance, connecting to nature and about personal growth. Using the communication goal, ‘life is a balance between gravity and levity’ to represent the fundamental message of the fairy tale - this poster represents the juxtaposition between gravity and levity, light and heavy, happy and sad, comedy and drama. The water line divides the poster to represent this and dissects the protagonist illustrating the conflict she faces and the duality of meanings within the story. The top half is dedicated to representing the air and her ‘natural’ ability to be light. The castle that contains her and the clouds and kites that she muses she soars with. The lake in comparison claims her bottom half and symbolizes both her lack gravity outside of the water and the gravity she gains while under it. It represents the weight of herself both physically and mentally. Her hands further symbolizes this. The hand under the water pulls and moves with her, as if she is pushing downwards. Her top hand glides through the water, light and unencumbered. Her body position faces forwards embracing her journey and she faces away from the ‘spotlight’ highlighting a dramatic emotional moment and the fundamental meaning behind the fairytale and story of the Light Princess.