Poster designed by Chargefield for the movie 7 Beats Per Minute

By John Godfrey RGD, Creative Director, Chargefield for The National Film Board of Canada

Submitted as a part of an RGD Certification Application.

Context

In this documentary, freediving champion Jessea Lu nearly died during a world-record attempt. In this documentary, she revisits the site of her near-death, facing past traumas and struggling back to life. The poster needed to highlight the film's focus on the human condition, while also differentiating itself from other popular diving films.

Design methodology

Research revealed that there are a lot of diving movie posters that feature a human figure in a sea of blue. It makes sense; below the sea is a vast void, and the tiny human helps accentuate that and elevate the drama. I designed various concepts which explored ways to differentiate the poster visually by implementing different design motifs or unusual colors.

Working with a still that emerged as an early favorite of Jessea in the fetal position underwater, there were many iterations in color and graphic devices that attempted to communicate the human element. I quickly learned that a simple color change could skew the perceived genre to horror or sci—fi fairly quickly!

Results

Using a combination of blues with isolated warm tones allowed me to further accentuate the fetal position with a womb-like circle that doubles as a sun, while also communicating the emphasis on the human element. This, in turn, helped differentiate the poster from other films in the genre, as well as arranging the film's calligraphic title in a unique placement around Jessea's central figure.

The poster accompanied the film's world premiere at the 2024 SXSW Film & TV Festival, where posters from all 41 film & TV selections are eligible for the poster design prize. I'm proud to say, we won the juries award!

From the jury

The poster’s design effortlessly captivated us, skillfully balancing mysterious calmness with unconventional composition choices. From the strategic use of empty spaces to the non-traditional placement of the title and billing block, every decision contributed to an aesthetically pleasing and thought-provoking visual narrative

Interesting research insight

This is an insight from watching the film itself, but the mental aspect of so many sports movies and documentaries never really clicked with me until I watched 7 Beats Per Minute. I truly understood, that when Jessea was deep below the sea, physically prepared to do this, the state of your mind is deeply critical to your performance as an athlete.