The Forest is Red

I recently worked with film maker David Jakubovic on a poster for his upcoming feature "The Forest is Red". After several emails, a brief description of the design ("Maybe a dog barking?" "Don't forget the red rainbow!" etc,) and a viewing of several minutes of the movie the project was on its way.

The New York cityscape is an important part of the story. The main character hears voices and deals with a lot of internal conflict and this definitely affects how he views the world. I wanted to express that in subtle silhouettes and distortion. I imagined jigsaw pieces of buildings being forced together but in completely logical ways. Escher landscapes.

David mentioned the psychological aspects of the main character and the importance of the NY cityscape and I wanted to be faithful to that, considering NY is my home/ love/ curse. Tall skyscrapers, decrepit buildings, bright diners, corner stores... there was a lot that I wanted to fit in the NY scenery. I tried to incorporate buildings or places from my usual NY landscape, just enough to feel like I could have visited any of these locations.

The final image was a mix of the last two thumbnails.

This is the end result! I've yet to see the film, but I can't wait.

--Ray