Poster Design

After Choosing the image we would use as our poster, using photoshop, I began to edit the brightness, colour and contrast of the photo to ensure it could be easily seen as the photo was taken in a dark location:

I then inserted the title/logo of our film into the top of the image, and added a Vignette to the title to make it blend in more with the poster:

I then added the details of the film, including the release date, tag line, who was involved in it and production crew. I used the same font on the tag line that was used in the screen caps in the trailer to ensure consistency. I also used a compact font for the production and crew details to be able to fit in all the information without taking up all of the poster:

Finally, using 'GreatPhotoPro', I edited the colour and brightness and applied various different colour effects to the poster to make all the text, logos and images 'blend' in more. This will make all the elements of the poster appear as a whole. The final result in seen below:

Poster Design 1

We had a number of different ideas for our poster but agreed it must include a shot of the factory or inside, one of the victims and a shot of the villain but making sure his face is not shown.

We narrowed down the photos we captured to 4 where 2 showed a silhouette/shadow of the villain and 2 others showed a hand:

These are the 4 photos unedited:

The 4 images all included a shot of the factory, the victim and a partial shot of the villain. The 2nd and 4th images however were shot in the day, which made the poster seem less scary and took away some of the conventions of a horror poster (dark, scary etc.)

The shot of the villain as well made him appear less threatening.

I then narrowed it down to 3 images, added the title and edited the image:

Poster Final

Poster Ideas.

Initial ideas for the movie poster.

 

As a requirement for the course we need to do a movie poster. Looking at films similar to ours such as Grave Encounters, Rec and Paranormal Activity. The main convention for a poster for these types of hand held films is to have one of the protagonists, in the shot with a camera or camera effect also to represent the type of film it is. Also the main supernatural being will be in the shot reflecting Strausse's binary opposition with the representation of good vs evil.

Many of our ideas comprise of all three of these factors and use our excellent location to represent the isolation of our characters.
Some of our ideas.

Rough idea #1

Rough idea #2 inspired by TFL adverts

 

Tag Lines Research

Tag Lines

Most movie posters have a tag line which is used to create a memorable phrase which people can relate to the film. A really good tagline will be become embedded in modern popular culture like "Be afraid. Be very afraid" from The Fly and also "A long time ago, in a galaxy, far, far away..." from Star Wars.
We are researching horror movie tag lines to see what the most effective one are and also what makes them effective.

"Heads will roll..." Sleepy Hollow. This is a good tag line as it is simple and direct. It sums up the type of the movie it is, and give some definitive detail in what to expect from Sleepy Hollow e.g decapitation.

"Who will survive and what will be left of them?" Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This is an effective tagline as it uses a rhetorical question, which poses a question the viewer has to answer...by watching the film.

“On March 11, 2008 the government sealed off an apartment complex in Los Angeles. The residents were never seen again. No details. No witnesses. No evidence. Until now.” Quarantine. Quarantine is a similar film to ours with victims recording their story. Therefore looking at their poster and tagline will enable us to look at conventions of these types of films. This tagline is unusaly long and very detailed but this is to go with the theme it is a real life story. The short snappy sentences add tension to the tag line also adding drama.

"The rules are simple you break them, you die..." Carriers. This film tag line is simple and effective with a good use of ellipsis to let the viewers mind wander and ponder the film. Although it doesn't give an idea of the film plot so could belong to another film.

"Ten years again, the Ukrainian government let tourists visit the area surrounding Chernobyl. They said it was safe... it wasn't." Chernobyl Diaries. Like Quarantine this tagline plays on the idea the film is based in true events. It's very long so doesn't capture the audiences imagination although it does reinforce the "true story" idea. Again this film is similar to the genre of which we are filming and is a great tag line to take inspiration from.

"Fear is just a word. Reality is much worse." Grave Encounters 2. This tag line is effective due to the short snappy sentences which people can quote. The film is similar to ours in the way that it's based on a group of people filming themselves. However the tagline doesnt give much of the plot away and is quite vague.

In summary, we will have to create a short, snappy tagline which is relatable to our plot and genre of film.

Poster Ideas

 

After looking through various posters, we have concluded that the majority of the posters share certain features. One being that they show where the film is set or a setting from within the film, but they all focus on the victim and/or the villain.



The Grave Encounters posters shows one of the victims sitting in a corridor of the psychiatric hospital. The camera next to him shows that he is part of a film crew, therefore showing the audience why they have gone inside the hospital.
An outline of the villain can be seen in the background and the victim is looking away from it. The audience can see the villain but the victim cannot.












In the Paranormal Activity poster, it shows one of the bedrooms, where the majority of the film is set.
The Paranormal Activity 3 poster uses the same principal as Grave Encounters. It shows 2 of the victims and a faint shadow/outline of the villain. 
Again, the victim cannot see the villain but the audience can.












Our Poster will include a shot from either inside or outside the factory with the main focus being on one of the explorers/victims. They will be holding a camera to represent the cameraman to show why they have gone inside. 
A shot of a villain, either a shadow or a hand etc. will also be in the shot but the main aspect will be that the victim cannot see the villain.

The Pact- Poster Deconstruction

• Tag line- "Are you alone in your house?" rhetorical question, playing on everyone's underlying fear of not being safe in their house, house not home, interesting. Reflects the horror genre.
• Quotes from the critics promote the film- pick catchy quotes to grab attention in bold white font. People who the quotes are from in smaller text, less important the who than the what.
• Tag line and quotes sandwich the picture which isn't entirely the focus, unusual.
• Picture takes up an equal third of the poster. Supernatural, confuses viewer is the person evil or a victim- trapped/suffocating in the paper. Anonymous person, could be anyone-the viewer? Old fashioned wallpaper, bronze colour sepia. Homely?
• Typography- The Pact- All in capitals and white text, Pact in bold, almost glowing, supernatural, light in the dark.
• Colour scheme- Black and white with the bronze in the middle. Lots of shadows reinforcing danger and genre of horror. As it's do to with a house, its creates a ominous feeling.

The Eye -Poster Deconstruction

• Genre of thriller/horror.
• Colour scheme of brown, beige and white. Links to the colour of the eye (more amber), unnatural occurance? Sepia effect only colour is the eye, draws audience in. Colour drained from everywhere else.
• Main pull of the film Jessica Alba, central above the films name- big America star. Female convention.
• Unusually no tag line.
• "The Eye"- Eye in bold, draws focus of the picture as well linking to the picture.
• Picture of the eye coming out of the hand-possession? Someone/thing inside her. Eye is called gateway to the soul, which she doesnt have. Clear links to the genre. Makes reader squeamish, don't usually touch your eye, unusual and sensitive image.
  

The Devil Inside- Poster Deconstruction

• Genre of horror/ thriller reinforced by colour scheme and scary nun.
• Colour scheme of deep red, crimson, dark creates a better juxtaposition between the text and pictures with the dark background. shows evil, danger and sinister nature of the film. Traditional gothic colours; black, white, red.
• Picture of nun main focus draws in viewer reflects movie genre. The eyes are glazed creating an enigma, possessed, supernatural?
• Tag line "No soul is safe" like the nun who is holy isn't safe. Use of alliteration. "Soul" links to religious image of the nun.
• Typography- Old fashioned gothic text, backward D- reflection and mirrors and unnatural. White text with flecks of black, infecting the goodness. Looks scratched again unnatural

Typography: Horror Deconstructions

The genre within our trailer is horror and so hence our typography must be related to the conventions of the genre and also link in with the message of our film. Below are examples of different typographies in different horror posters.

Orphan

The title of the film "orphan" looks like it is written in chalk and written like a child. You can relate chalk to teachers asking children to write with it in class and also the writing of the title doesn't look like a convention font, it looks written. You also see the writing of "orphan" being very jagged with part of the title being in lowercase letters and the other half  in capital letters - this could show how there is something mentally wrong with the child and we see this within the film.We see the colour white used within the poster, this could show the convention of purity and angelic. Normally this a convention of a child but the poster wants to confuse the audience and in the film end up showing that Esther subverts this stereotype. 

The Amityville Horror

In this typography, we see the colour red used within the poster - this is a classic colour used within horror films. Although this is a simple font used and is very doable, there is a very big emphasis on the Y within the title and shows it is a big symbol. We see the end of the Y is like blood dripping down the title onto the next message of "based on the true story" which shows the clash between good and evil. This typography shows that a simple font can be used but with an emphasis on one of the little things within the title can be very effective and can be one of the first things the audience sees when looking at the poster.

The Pact

In this typography we see all the letters spread apart, this is effective as it gives more of a shadow effect. Again a simple font is used but the word "PACT" is in bold. This shows how it may link towards the message of the film and also links to the picture in the poster. When doing our typography, we should always link our font to our plot but again not give away too much. The colours used in the poster is white/beige. White is a convention colour used in horror films but beige is not normally a colour you would associate with the genre of horror - this could link in with the plot of the film. 

Barricade
In this poster we see here how the typography very much links towards the story of the film and only really effective in this sort of film which means its original. The font used in the poster is written onto a window and is realistic because people do that in real life. The colours used within the film shows very clinical and modern colours of the genre of horror. This poster is a really good example of how to make your typography really look original and link towards the story of the film. Yet realistically, this typography would be quite difficult to make and as it isn't a very big aspect of our poster, we're better off using a simple font but emphasising it in a way to make it still look effective. 



The Thing
In this poster, we see the main aspect of the poster being the typography. Here we see a simple font which takes up the majority of the poster but it is also a font we would not normally see on a horror film (more for adventure). The colour used is white but what makes this typography original is that there is a picture inside the typography. This is a excellent way to show the concept of the film and also show how it makes the poster really effective. Again, it could be doable but whether or not the poster overall could look exciting enough is another question to answer, maybe we are better off sticking to a separate typography and picture. 

Orphan- Poster Deconstruction

• Genre of horror/thriller
• Tag line "There's something wrong with Esther." Draws you're eye upwards from the title. Adds enigma. White text, innocence, contrasts childlike innocence and purity when shes the antagonist. "Can you keep a secret?"- smaller text, draws you in. Deep red, not blood red, unusual but links to genre still.
• "Orphan" mixture of upper and lower case like childs handwriting. Like being scratched or srcibbled. Modern horror convention of children being frightening.
• Clinical colour scheme of green, blue and grey. Linking to ultra modern horror genre.
• Child with direct, haunting stare. Light casts shadow on her eyes, defining the dark v light idea. Colour of her eyes are also very dark, possibly black. Stereotypical little girl, bunches, peter pan collar.

Seven- Poster Deconstruction

Poster Deconstruction

 

 

• Genre of thriller/horror.
• Orange, yellow, brown colour scheme. Almost like rust- unusual. Fiery colours epresenting hell and danger? Unnaturally bright, warped conception of reality.
• Typography – ‘seven’ is handwritten/scribbled. Insight into the deranged mind of a psychopath? White text – considers holy or morally justified. Juxtaposition of innocence and good. Stands out from a distance on the poster.
• List of the Seven Deadly Sins in the middle of the poster, main focus of the film. Crossed off, like a serial killer-target/ check list. Red line- slasher. Precise order of them like a tally chart.
• Tag line "Seven deadly sins. Seven ways to die." Catchy, gives away enough of the plot. Play on words,repetition with a small change. Small font, to divert the eye.
• Actors names symmetrical on either side of poster, major attraction, world famous actors. Way of promotion.
• Two main  protagonists, facing away, different ideas, had to join forces. Blur in the middle-join?

The Hills have Eyes Poster

·         Teaser Poster

·         Target audience: Young teenagers to adults

·         Overall colour of poster is warm and ‘dusty orange’ and is associated with the hot desert of New Mexico where the film is set

·         The orange/reds are associated with the horror genre,

·         Clear title shows the name of the film,

·         ‘The lucky ones die first’,

·         Hand very close to face and eyes, makes audience feel anxious and distressed

·         Clear font showing when the film is released, important information is always clear and concise,

·         Evenly spread images, no central images, makes you look around the poster more,

Chernobyl Diaries Poster

·         Main Theatrical Poster

·         Clever use of special effects and Photoshop to enhance the contrast in the clouds and shape them to a ‘nuclear activity’ symbol; Symbol also describes some of the plot of the film and what is involved in it,

·         Establishing shot of Chernobyl, shows where the movie is set,

·         Nuclear symbol is ‘hanging’ over Chernobyl and shows how it ‘infected’ the area,

·         Large font and clear typeface, shows the title of the film clearly and easily,

·         Release date shown in red and stands out from rest of writing

Grave Encounters Poster

·         Main Theatrical Poster

·         Young Teenagers to Adults is target audience: character pictured in poster is of that age

·         Green Hue over entire poster, shows enigma and a alluring colour for young teenagers

·         Clear typeography

·         View of long corridor, shows the key setting of the film and what we are to expect,

·         Use of green is subverts expectations, horror posters usually use dark reds, green may represent the abnormality or mutations of the people they find in the mental asylum,

·         Ghostly figure in distance is positioned in the middle of the poster to make him more noticeable,

·         The word ‘FOUND’ is slightly more bold than the rest of the font to show that they did not just discover the truth of what they were looking for but they came face to face with it

Session 9 Poster

Typography - font is block writing and smudged - shows horror genre as it is unusual, also shows a shadow which can create an illusion within the film.

Tagline - "fear is a place" relates to the audience - makes it relative and frightening. The tagline is small enough for the audience to look closer into the poster (i.e. longer than 1/2 a second).

Image - background of the location & possibly the main antagonist/protagonist in the poster. Both images are very relatable towards our film trailer. The character looks bewildered and intimidated by the scene and this supports the tagline.

Colours - everything has been masked by shade of red/orange within the poster to show fear and danger within the location.

Children of Men poster

Typography – “children of men” – spray painted on in bold font, white = pure but the typography being sprayed = relates to graffiti = crime and vandalism, also shows symbolic & political messages. Red = danger, emergency.

Genre – sci-fi, says: “set in the year 2027” i.e. in the future.

Tagline – “The year 2027: The last days of the human race, no child has been born for 18 years, he must protect our only hope” – capitalized words make it appear as one of the important features of the poster but small enough to make sure the audience look more into the poster.

Image – presume it’s the main character; glass shattered to look like a teardrop so it could show there’s a mix of action and not just a sad story of “there are no children left in the world”. Eye with foetus inside, clever as not only does it symbolise the sadness of infertility but could also show the hope/miracle of when someone is pregnant. 

Positioning of elements – here, the typography part is to the left whilst the picture is to the right, not everything in the centre which would make the audience look for more than half a second towards the poster.

Target Audience – not clear, set in year 2027 = could be for more of a young audience but social & political issues such as immigration and terrorism which could suit a more older audience. So a very wide range of target audience, 15-44 shows a good range of audience. 

28 Days later Poster Deconstruction

Amityville Horror Poster Decostruction

Poster Deconstruction



One of the films we focused on was Amityville Horror (2005) due to the fact it focused on a great location and a house. This was relevant as we were hoping to get a great location.

•  Orangey, Red coloured font, stands out straight away. The “Y”’s tail almost seems to be on fire like a devils tail as it is directly behind the figure?
• Tag line “Based on the true story”, tries to convince the viewer. Interesting use of word “the” instead of “a” as though it’s specific, more factual?
• Positioning of the title forces viewer to follow the trail of light to see the figure then to look up at the house.
• Green, grey and beige colour scheme. All looks faded no strong colours, blurred. Old photos from “the true story”
• Very faded subtle news clippings giving idea of movie “says he was possessed”
• “Katch em & Kill em” handwritten like a mantra or game. Expect colour to be red of blood but still grey scale. “K” sounds, harsh, violent.

I Am Legend Poster Deconstruction