My rule is: if there is a nice poster for the film which has a good, prominent picture of the boy or boys in the movie, then I'll generally use that. Otherwise, I make my own profile image. I think I'm better at it now than when I started. A lot of them I'm not really very pleased about, but it's too much like hard work to replace them. However, some of them I'm actually rather proud of! Here are a few of the Profile images I've created which I think turned out quite well:
Most recent one - "La Carnada". Simple, split image, using the caps that Damien supplied (I monkeyed around with the lower image to brighten it a little).
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) "100 Days Before the Command". I love this film! Made from screencaps from the movie, again I very much brightened the lower picture. I like the fact that they are all looking towards the viewer. The boy (in fact, an angel) seems to be either getting into bed or getting out of it, in a sparsely furnished bedroom...
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)"It Couldn't Happen Here". Another film I love, even though everyone else hates it! Straightforward split image, using screencaps.
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)"The Silver Chair" This was me trying out something new. I found two images and then arranged them on a black background. The lettering was supposed to be silver, as in the Silver Chair of the title - but is a tad too dark, maybe.
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)"Heart of the Country" - well, I thought I'd complete Christian Bale's page. I found some caps of the opening titles of this miniseries on a website (though no caps from the series itself - the website was only interested in the titles!). I 'restored' the richness of the colours it would have had on transmission (the screencap was clearly from an old VHS recording, slightly faded), and added the little pic of Bale from the series.
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)"Tenderness of the Wolves". Two screencaps. The font and colour of lettering was chosen to suggest the 1920s with a touch of decadence. I really like this one!
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) "Sparrows". Rather nice screencap of Monty O'Grady.
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)"Strıta" Oh, gosh, I'm so proud of this one. Perfect image from film suggestive of danger, and then, below the titles, an extraordinary Icelandic landscape from the film (which I tinted slightly on the top left to make an even more 'lowering' sky).
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) "Fauve" Screencap, with lettering designed to be roughly 'skin-coloured', to go with the boy's back, though I don't think I got it quite right! Still reasonably effective, though.
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)"Crime School" - wonderful movie. Absurdly homoerotic - Hollywood knew what people wanted! I like the font I chose for this, italicised for added drama. Oh, and Bobby Jordan always looked lovely.
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)"Dogwood" Well, the boy looks so cheerful, it had to be this image.
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) "Just Add Water" My own poster image is far better than any of the official advertising - tsk! I love the old lady's face!
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) "Stig of the Dump", the original (and best) miniseries. Strange one, this. Now, I meant to make a banner with Stig on it, but once I created this as a preliminary, I thought it was such a pleasant, pastoral image, redolant of a lost England, that I decided to just stick with it. That's Grant Ashley Warnock as Barney, but you wouldn't know it, since he's looking away from us at the English countryside.
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) "When Every Day Was the Fourth of July" - which has a very anachronistic subplot element in it, making it quite unrealistic!
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) "Clockwise" That's Chip Sweeney as the Headmaster's son at the top, by the way. Handsome lad!
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) "Threads" My masterpiece! There's a scene where Ruth is walking through the rubble of the post-holocaust city and sees various characters, including this boy screaming for his mum. This is just a corner of a screencap, just as the boy is about to exit the frame, and the smoke momentarily clears to show his face. It reminds me of Edvard Munch's 'The Scream' - what could be more appropriate?
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) "The Father Thing" Good action shot in near-darkness, suggestive of flight and danger.
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) "The Cull" Yes, this worked well, The top picture is designed to convey the bleakness of the setting. The boy is just visible in the dim light of the lamp in the lower picture.
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) "Nits" Jonathan Mason's first film. Quite proud of this composition.
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) Continued in part 2..