In the flurry of news releases I'm suddenly receiving, one caught  my eye:

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SILENT HILL Poster Contest Winner Unveiled

Chuck Waite's Design for Movie's Official Poster Was Selected by Fans From Over 2000 Entries

CULVER CITY, Calif., Feb. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony's TriStar Pictures today announced Chuck Waite of El Cerrito, California has won the competition to design the official poster for the highly anticipated SILENT HILL, set for release nationwide in theatres on April 21, 2006.

(Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060122/NYSU017-a )

The winning poster, which can be seen on the film's website WelcometoSilentHill.com, will be on display in theaters across the country prior to release of the film.  Waite will also receive a cash prize of $2500.

TriStar kicked off its poster contest on December 5, 2005 by inviting fans and amateur artists to design the official poster for the movie.  Participants were able to download creative elements from the film in order to create their own SILENT HILL posters.  More than 185,000 fans cast their votes for one of 2050 poster designs submitted during the first phase of the competition.  The five finalists were revealed on January 22 with fans again going online to vote for the winner.  Waite's design received over 32,000 votes during the final voting period.

The eerie and deserted ghost town of SILENT HILL draws a young mother desperate to find a cure for her only child's illness.  Unable to accept the doctor's diagnosis that her daughter should be permanently institutionalized for psychiatric care, Rose (Radha Mitchell) flees with her child, heading for the abandoned town in search of answers -- and ignoring the protests of her husband (Sean Bean).  It's soon clear this place is unlike anywhere she's ever been.  It's smothered by fog, inhabited by a variety of strange beings and periodically overcome by a living Darkness that literally transforms everything it touches.  As Rose searches for her little girl, she begins to learn the history of the strange town and realizes that her daughter is just a pawn in a larger game.

SILENT HILL is directed by Christophe Gans, written by Roger Avary and produced by Samuel Hadida and Don Carmody.  Executive producers are Andrew Mason and Victor Hadida.
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I think the poster captures the ambience of the game perfectly. The thing that freaked me out most about the games was all the bloody fog, combined with the sparse music and the echoing of your steps that enhanced the lonely, deserted feeling. And the screaming of the monsters, of course.

I hate the f---ing sign. It almost ruins the poster.

They should've gone with either the sign or the title at the bottom, I think.  Having both on there is just silly and redundant.

Yeah, I totally agree with Joe on this. No need for two titles. On its own, I actually have no problem with the sign.

I think these 'poster contests' are a strange, if clever, concept - rather than actually paying a professional designer, they spend $2500 as prize money and get more ideas than they could ever want.

Edit: Wow, the Slither people have taken that a step further. Over at http://www.creature-corner.com/ there is a competetion to create a whole tv spot for the movie. It shouldn't be long before they start holding competitions to direct and produce movies...

Yeah I totally agree, things are quickly becoming the wikipedia of mass marketing!  Why pay one professional a lot of money, when you can have hundreds, maybe thousands of people strive to do the same thing for pocket change?  Glad I don't work in the show-biz industry, that's for sure!

cheers,

-avatar!

I hate the f---ing poster. It totally ruins the poster itself... and the game.

;-)