Exploring the Key Visual Elements of the Official Poster for FEELING: A Motion Picture

Top Left Panel: The Symbolic Vinyl Record

I chose this shot for the first panel because the vinyl record symbolizes the significant role that music will play throughout the film. This particular shot comes from a heartfelt scene where the record player’s presence profoundly impacts the blossoming relationship between our lead characters. It’s one of only two scenes that neither I nor anyone else on the production team have posted BTS from—you’ll catch a hint the scene in the trailer.

The Thriller Vinyl is actually on the record player here. I’m a little crazy, you see, in the film’s director’s cut, Human Nature will play on the player during this scene, so on set, I ensured the needle was indeed on the correct ring of the vinyl for where “Human Nature” actually is.

I also loved the subtle detail of the out-of-focus couch in the background, hinting at key moments that unfold while our leads are seated there.

Top Right Panel: An Unscripted Moment of Connection

*Bento and Élysée lighting a joint overlooking the Harlem Skyline*

Originally, I planned to use a shot recreating the concept art directly for this panel, but I decided instead to pull from a real, in-camera moment that our talent organically came up with.

In the script, Bento doesn’t help Élysée light the joint, he doesn’t add that additional shield from the wind. However, our actors—I’m not sure who suggested it, but I think it was a mutual idea—proposed having Bento assist Élysée. This small gesture added an intimate touch to the scene. There were several moments like this where their improvisation elevated the material beyond anything I could have anticipated. Perfect casting, honestly. The moment I saw their profiles on Backstage, I knew they were Bento and Élysée.

And just look at that beautiful bokeh behind them!😍

This is also the longest scene in Feeling. It’s THE scene in many ways—the one I’ve used to convey the film’s concept from the beginning. Because of its significance, it deserves a place on the poster in some form. More on that next.

Bottom Panel: Capturing the Soul of FEELING

Bento & Élysée sitting atop her front stoop.

Lastly, the bottom panel, which takes up the majority of the poster with REASON!

I originally planned for this panel to feature the park scene, but I didn’t want the film to be solely represented by the characters smoking weed. As I mentioned, that scene is the scene in terms of how I’ve marketed the film conceptually, but there are two scenes after it that are equally powerful. Ultimately, Feeling is about a genuine connection blossoming between two young people. What better way to capture that than showing them sitting on a front stoop, smiling into each other’s eyes?

Ahhh, Bento & Élysée—my babies. Seeing Bakary and Essence in costume for the first time was such a surreal experience. Scene 10, in particular, left me feeling incredibly emotional.

It was really important to me that we see the characters’ attire and their faces clearly, especially given how some might view the activity they’re engaging in—issues around race and perception come into play here. Plus, I did happen to cast two incredibly attractive Black actors in these lead roles, and I gotta show them off! 💚🧡

Comic Book Influence and Aesthetic Choices

The FEELING logo, pairing COURIER NEW with JACK ARMSTRONG

You’ll note that the poster is reminiscent of a comic book page. And that’s because, honestly, I never envisioned Feeling through the lens of film during its conception. I always knew it would be a film, but in my mind, I pictured Bento and Élysée within a comic book aesthetic. A lot of the concepts for Feeling actually came to me during my 16 theatrical viewings of Across the Spider-Verse. I would tell AI to draw like a comic book or like a manga. When working with my concept artist, @rodrigocardoso.art, I even sent him art from Mark Bagley’s Ultimate Spider-Man as reference material.

The logo has gone through a few revisions, but I’ve consistently used the JACK ARMSTRONG font for “FEELING,” paired with Courier New for “Hilton Goode Presents” and “a motion picture.” I also used JACK ARMSTRONG for “on the night of Élysée Jackson’s 23rd birthday.” It’s a bold, comic book-style font—reminiscent of Comic Sans—that’s always been intended as a visual clue to the realm I envisioned for the film.

Courier New, the standard screenplay font, represents the film medium. By containing JACK ARMSTRONG (symbolizing the exaggerated, vibrant reality of a comic) within Courier New (representing the structure of film), I wanted to blend the two: to make a film that’s told through a comic book style lens.

The Story Behind Élysée’s Name and Pronunciation

A Comic Book Like Bubble with film’s tagline

Her name was never pronounced like this on set BTW.

I threw the accent marks on Elysee to give it a touch of Caribbean flair one day in the screenplay and just kept it 😂

Though, it does bring the name audibly closer to the source inspriation for Élysée, “VIDEL”, a character from Akira Toriyama’s series “DRAGON BALL”. Élysée’s original name was "Elvida," initially a more direct nod to Videl from Dragon Ball Z, but it never quite felt right. The name then evolved to "Ellie," inspired by another favorite character of mine from The Last of Us. Eventually, I settled on "Élysée" to give the character a more personal feel. The accent marks in "Élysée" add a subtle phonetic resemblance to Videl’s Japanese pronunciation, "Bederu" (ビーデル). In Japanese, Videl becomes "Bederu" because Japanese phonetics often replace "V" sounds with "B" and "L" sounds with "R," creating a soft, flowing quality. "Élysée" mirrors this gentle rhythm, with its rounded, vowel-rich syllables producing a similarly light, melodic sound. This similarity in tone makes Élysée feel like a natural evolution of the original idea.

Originally, her last name was Johnson, but I changed it to Jackson. Not only did I feel it had a better flow, but at the time of writing the film, I was deeply influenced by my admiration for Michael Jackson’s work, which also contributed to the choice.

FEELING is a Tale...

And like all tales, it needs a hook.

The original tagline for Feeling was “since you came, I feel like lovin’ again,” a lyric from Diana Ross’s song Lovin’, Livin’ and Givin’. That song, from her album Ross, was initially a major influence on the film. However, I later chose MJ’s Thriller for the director’s cut; as the most famous album of all time, Thriller brings an instant sense of recognition for audiences.

Back to the tagline, though—“since you came, I feel like lovin’ again” truly captures an underlying theme for both the characters and the audience, especially for Élysée. It’s about the courage to open up to love again, despite past experiences that may have shut you off from it. The theme revolves around the transformative potential of letting someone in, and I hope that idea resonates with audiences.

The new tag line is “On the night of Elysee Jackson’s 23rd birthday” because i wanted the films tagline to have its absolute own identity. FEELING is a just a tale exploring that theme of love. it needed its own identity, its own hook, and this, this is simply a tale of what happened on the night of Elysee Jackson’s 23rd birthday, revolving around the theme of letting someone in.

I like tales. I aim to be a teller of tales. With what occurs in the film, I’m not only confident that this is a unique one, but an engaging one.

-TOOTLES

FEELING POSTER BREAKDOWN