Monday 23 January 2012

'Little White Lies' Brief

My current project is very exciting. I am designing a cover illustration for the film magazine Little White Lies to enter into the competition. My design will be a portrait of Nina Seyers, the main character of Black Swan.
So far my research has involved re-watching the film, making notes on the atmosphere, themes and looking closely at Nina's character; attributes that may be relevant to the design. I've also watched and read various interviews that offer others' insights into the film and Nina. Natalie Portman's own words have been particularly useful:
"Nina starts out as this childlike woman, trying to please her mother, trying to please her ballet director and fit exactly into the standards of this world that’s prescribed to her. Finally she finds that perfection only lies in pleasing herself." 
-Telegraph interview, January 23rd 2012 
I've also been paying attention to the existing covers shown on the digital archive of the Little White Lies site. After a brief look it seems clear that the preferred style is quite graphic looking. Some of the examples had more of a hand-drawn feel though, but often mixed with digital imagery, such as The Life Aquatic Issue, where Bill Murray's face appears hand drawn in a sketchy style, combined with bold, colourful graphic clothing.
Another I was drawn to was the Drive issue, which would appear to be a very simple, yet skillfully painted watercolour.

I'm trying not to focus too much on existing film posters and magazine covers on Black Swan, as there is so much imagery already available, I'd like mine to be as unique as I can manage! At the moment I'm continuing to immerse myself in as much research as I can relating to the film and character, as well as beginning to do some drawings. Here is my first attempt at a sketch of her:

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