Movie poster / branding for ‘I Saw The Devil’

The first in what I hope will become something of a series of film posters, the thought of creating one for Kim Jee-woon’s latest film I Saw The Devil came to me before I saw LaBoca’s impressive work for Black Swan.

The original posters do little than proclaim lead Choi Min-sik’s return to Korean cinema after nearly a 5-year gap, but I wanted to create a far more iconic series of posters – imagining how the film could be advertised in the UK when it’s released in May this year by Optimum Releasing.

(Imagined yes, but if Optimum comes knocking…?)

My first idea, used in variant 2, plays with the different ways the name can be interpreted, and exactly who the devil really is. The reflection idea itself is undoubtedly influenced by the very last scene in the final episode of Twin Peaks.

Variant 1, on the other hand, take the original Korean poster image, but gives it a grittier, more memorable appearance. The cheeky third variant is quite an obvious riff, turning the reflection theme fully on the viewer. (Had to be done, though?)

Initially I’d played with the idea of grunging up the title itself with the cracked/broken glass theme to become a logo of sorts. But that seemed to simplistic an interpretation of the film’s themes, however grisly they may be. Gotham Light was more of an accident, but one which stuck, and feels far more sophisticated.

(Trust me, I really don’t want to use Gotham all the time!)

It’s a damn fine film too, see what I’ve got to say here.