This is the magazine cover I created using photoshop. I found the font used for the logo on www.1001fonts.com and thought it had a suitable style. Making the Magazine Cover 1
After recieving audience feedback, I decided to update the title on the magazine, as Your Time Is Up is more suited towards a tagline. I also updated the logo, so it is more ghostly and mysterious and is consistant with my poster.
I decided that the best designs contain a single figure and a simple colour scheme. To emulate this, I decided to use the lighting effects which I have previously experimented. I cast a model to wear the mask which will appear in the film and used a high birdy with red gel combined with a bright light from behind to create this image:
Using Photoshop, I removed the background, leaving a simple image of just the figure. I then added the cast information and the title to the picture. To make the image stylish and similar to the illustrated designs of early film posters, I decided to add a paintbrush effect. This is the resulting image.
After recieving audience feedback, a common complaint was that the title YOUR TIME IS UP was more suited towards a tagline. Also, the text was too small. In my final draft I edited the size of the canvas to make room for the text, rather than put it on top of the image. This is also an acceptable size of film posters. The film's new title is THE HUNTED. Another complaint was that it was not clear that this was a horror film, as it could also be a sci fi. Although I disagree, I do understand how this can be misconceived. I did think that the mask and the red light would be enough, but now it is too late in post production for me to add a knife to the character. Instead I used the photoshop effect of motion blur to create a more ghostly film logo, while increasing the quality of the font.
Before producing a poster of my own, it would be a wise idea to do some research.
Here are different examples of horror film posters.
The very title of this film, 100 Days of Night, shows the setting in the title, as night time is when a lot of horror films are set (darkness = unknown). This poster has a simplistic two colour scheme of black and red. These two colours cause us to instantly think of danger or blood, which is effective because these are two instantly recognisable common features in Horror films. The Poster shows a man screaming in pain and dark blood splatter, causing us to expect violence in this film. The overall look is very stylised, possibly because it is based on a comic book. Despite this, I think this is a very effective poster.
This poster is for the 1996 film 'Scream'. This poster has a more retro feel to it, as it is in black and white and simply shows a girl's shocked expression. We could feel disturbed as the extreme close up can be considered intrusive. The monochrome colours show that she is very pale, possibly from the shock, and could remind the viewer of a ghost. There is a hand to her mouth, which raises the question, is the hand there because she is shocked or is it someone elses hand? This poster also has much more text than usual, giving us more story. However, the reference to 'Scary Movies' could mean that this film is either a Satire or takes place in a less fictional world. The logo of the film features a sharp knife shape on the 'M', which is representative of the knife murders that take place in the film. The unconclusive picture itself allows the audience to come to their own conclusions and suggests a lot of possibilities.
This poster is for the 2007 horror film 'Shrooms'. The main colour scheme of this poster is dark blue, black and white, which is again a common setting for horror films. The full moon in the background is also associated with the genre, as is the skull shape which it makes with the mushrooms, which suggests they lead to death. The films logo is smuged, which could relate to the effect taking the mushrooms may lead to. Most of these posters have a face in it and a simple colour scheme, two elements I will use in my poster.
To help with the production of my Projects I have decided to create my own production company. This will allow me to attribute all my work to a single company, meaning better organisation. It will also sound more professional and aspirational than simply using my own name.
I decided to call the company McLeod Pictures. I created a business card template which I could use to give to actors or anyone involved in the creation of my teaser trailer.
The logo was also created using photoshop, as seen on the business card.
In preperation for the film, I attended a lighting workshop. We experimented with the different types of lighting.
here we used a birdie with orange lighting in a low angle shot. The low angle makes the girl look lonely or secluded. The Orange light may make the impression of desolate or dry scenery.
This picture uses the lighting to make a shadow of a cage over the face. This could be useful in a horror film because it can also give the impression that someone is about to attack him.
This is a shot of a villain in a horror film. There is a light behind him and a red light shining upwards. The red represents danger and the light behind is to highlight an outline. I think this is very appropriate to the horror genre and I will use this in my work.
Teasers are short trailers to advertise films, video games or television shows. Unlike regular trailers, they are very short in length, usually 30 to 90 seconds, hence why they are called 'teasers'. They also are likely to be shown long before the product it is advertising is released in order to raise awareness.
Here are some examples of Teaser Trailers
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
This is a short trailer for the 1974 B Movie the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Unlike the other trailers I have studied here, this film does not use the convention of on screen text, with the exception of the title. It instead uses a voice over which uses phrases such as "the most horrifying motion picture I have ever seen". It shows shots of dead bodies with a camera like noise, giving it an almost documentary style feel. The shots shown day feature shots of a terrified woman screaming and being thrown to the ground, with loud noises in between. There is also a horror film cliche of the full moon. We also see action shots, such the woman jumping out of the window and being handled by a large man. towards the end of the trailer we see a low angled shot of the large man weilding a chainsaw, making us see from the victim's perspective.
This is a graph from IMDB.com of the average votes from different age groups on a scale of 1 to 10. The highest approval rating came from females under 18. However, we can see that less females in total have watched the film, but the younger viewers enjoy it more. This makes sense, as the protagonists seen in the trailer appear to be young as well, so it's possible that the film was designed for a younger audience.
28 days later http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb1OXb0pFFQ&feature=related
This trailer is 1 minute 30 seconds long. It shows text seperating different clips from the film. The font for the text used looks damaged and we can hear screaming and a siren. This suggests violence or war, some sort of epidemic. We then see a fast POV shot with green and red lighting, which suggests infection and danger. Thunderclaps can be heard between shots, which is common in horror films. Another cut shows a scene with flickering lights showing the shilouettes of fast moving figures in the background, which will surprise us and cause panic. White text above a black background describes the plot details, with words such as "INFECTION", "Day 8, EPIDEMIC", "DAY 15, EVACUATION", the latter of which has a police siren. We then see the films title, "28 Days Later" and a change to bright colours as we see a man arise from a hospital bed. Unlike the previous scenes shown, this has bright lighting, suggesting that he is the hero. He then walks into a completely empty London, suggesting a post apocolyptic world. we then see the main title, with red demonic eyes followed by a "Days are numbered" slogan. Finally we see the word "SOON" with a quick scream sound, shocking us.
REC 2
This is a very minimilistic trailer. It contains only one POV shot from a man walking up the stairs, looking at the blood, with another man infront of him. We can tell that they are most likely to be a team investigating the area. We then hear a scream and the screen shakes and goes black. We can tell that this is a suspense horror film
The Dark Knight
This trailer is different from most teasers because it shows no footage from the film at all, just quotes from the characters. Instead, we see an animation of the Batman logo crumbling, until a joker card is shot at the audience. This is very simplistic and would appeal to the pre existing fanbase of the film because they know what to expect. This is not useful for my film because I do not have a pre existing audience.
Drag Me To Hell
Drag me to Hell was Sam Raimi's return to the horror genre after his SpiderMan films. This is a more traditional trailer than the other 3 here as it shows different clips from the film, rather than one scene. It begins with a loud noise with the film companies logos, followed by eerie percussive music. The music also features a high pitched shreak like noises, which disturbs us. The first thing we see is a shot of a seance, complete with chanting from the participants and dark lighting. We see fast moving shadows in the background and a shot of a shandelere shaking. There is an attractive blonde girl shown in distress who is likely to be the main character. We see spiritualistic imagery, such as a crusifix, creatures and demon sillouetes. In between these clips we are shown favourable film reviews in black text on a dirty white surface. Towards the end of the trailer, the music and shots speed up until we here the quote "burn in hell for eternity", followed by the girl becoming engulfed in flame, screaming. We are giving a final shot of a screaming woman, shocking the audience. A narrator then announces the films title and release dates. This trailer has a good structure and pace for a horror trailer. Although it uses computer effects which I am not capable of replicating, I believe that this is an excellent example of a horror trailer.
This film, like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, appealed mainly to people in the younger agegroup.
A disruption of normality. However, this is to be expected with most films.
To shock or disgust us. This is usually what the entire film revolves around as a major plot device, such as the games in Saw or the Scientist's experiment in A Human Centipede.
To raise anticipation or suspence
Horror films sometimes feature a muted colour pallete. This sets a gritty dark mood. Sleepy Hollow is a film that uses a blue tint throughout. To compensate for this, the blood used during the filming had an orange colour, which under colour change, appears dark red.
Often Horror films use unsettling music. Horror films from
Other films use established popular music in a different context, such as how the soundtrack to An American Werewolf in London uses songs with Moon in the title. This adds a twist and can create a bigger disturbance because of the clash, e.g, how the happy song Blue Moon was used during the famous transformation scene created irony, similar to how in A Clockwork Orange, Alex DeLarge sings Singing in the Rain during the rape scene.
An Absense of Authority figures is a common feature, such as how the Sherrif in a Texas Chainsaw Massacre or the Police in Hostel all seem to be involved in the murders. Sometimes films are set in desolate locations, such as the Shining set in a mountain hotel and Cabin Fever takes place in a Cabin in the woods. In the latter film, the characters phones had no signals, making them unable to call for help. In 28 Days Later, when the protagonists arrive in Manchester following an army radio call, the soldiers, who we expect to be authority figures, turn out to be immature rapists.
