Lewis Tonge

All images are my own.

I made this poster so that it can be displayed on the side of a bus. Lots of people take public transport around the city, and the bus travels all around which means it is likely that many people will see this poster whilst out. Since you will probably only see the bus passing briefly, I made sure to put all relevant information – movie name, release date, and an interesting image which links to the movie.

Because this poster is situated on a stationary object, unlike the last one which is placed upon a moving vehicle, I am able to place more information, such as the production credits and a tagline. I’ve also kept the important information, but now passers-by can take more time to look at the poster. The photograph is eye-catching and has a sense of shock value, which will grab attention and force viewers to acknowledge the poster – which will lead them to the information, and generate interest.

For the sequel poster, the advertisement is within a busy shopping centre. When walking through, it will appear as if we are behind the killer, who is looking at us through the knife’s reflection. The feeling of being watched is typically unsettling and most people find it slightly uncomfortable, so this will create an atmosphere of what to expect from this movie – attracting horror fans. The main villain is also prevalent and recognisable due to his scar, which is likely to attract fans of the first movie to go and watch this one.

To form more of a conceptual advertisement, I designed a minimalistic bilboard poster for Envy. I used the vintage sepia-tone brown and placed the movies logo and release date in either corner. I made a cracked glass effect, which links to the movies theme of vanity and self-obsession turned deadly. Although simple, this poster instinctively creates curiosity within the viewer to find out more. It is unusual and makes you double take at the shattered effect. The result is that viewers will search the movie up to find out more information, and a buzz will be created.

This advertisement is meant to be more immersive for the viewer. When approaching the elevator, you see the doors covered in blood, which straight away piques a mixture curiosity and fear. When the doors open, we see the movie poster on the back wall, and more blood on the side walls. The reasoning for this is because it pushes the boundaries of regular advertisements and creates shock and excitement, which will get people talking about the film.

This is the second poster for The Intruder. This poster shows a huge keyhole with an eye looking through, which creates the sense of being watched and intrusion. The placement of the poster is right near these huge windows, which furthers the themes of intrusion and invasion of privacy. Because of the huge scale of the advertisement, which is on a busy street, viewers will be drawn to look at it, and will be more likely to inquire about the film, wanting to find out more.

Envy:

For this movie, I have created a regular poster, and a bus advertisement. The movie is about vanity and how jealousy can push someone to extremes. I added a vintage sepia filter to the image for a creepy haunting feel, and added texture to make the photo look like an old photograph. For a creepier feel, I obscured the girls face to look scratched out, adding a sense of mystery. For the title, I have manipulated the text to look like shattered glass, linking to the theme of mirrors and vanity.

I have also added quotes to all posters and taglines, as well as production information and credits. This is to fill the composition and to make the posters feel more realistic.

SLICE:

SLICE is a slasher horror film. To show this, I took images of a knife with fake blood dripping and close up images of the killer with a cut on his cheek. I added a red filter to create drama and a more intense appearance. The title has been ‘sliced through’ and is skewed to add personality. I used the curve of the knife to add the tagline and kept the first poster quite minimal. In both posters, we don’t see a full view of the killer, which adds mystery and fear of the unknown, raising the stakes and intensifying the designs.

SLICE 2:

SLICE 2 is a sequel to SLICE. It is a continuation of the first film and has similar concepts. I kept many elements the same to show that it is a sequel and to create continuity between the posters. This time, we see the back of the killer, with a portion of his face reflected in the knife. By showing more of the killer here, it shows how we have learnt more about him and some of the mystery is slightly reduced, but still there.

The Intruder:

This is a horror thriller about an intruder within someone’s home. For the first poster, I used an image of the intruder at the top of the stairs, stood threateningly with a red light cast behind him to create a silhouette and a more intimidating look. The stair railings almost look like weapons and also lead us in towards the intruder. I blended the dark areas out and filled the negative space with the title and a key illustration. The tagline reads on either side of the figure to create symmetry and balance.

For the final poster, I used a close up photo of the intruder masked onto a keyhole illustration, so it looks like he is spying through into the house. I added a halftone effect and made the image red for a vintage effect similar to iconic posters such as The Shining, which uses similar effects to create something unsettling and intrusive. I didn’t include the key as I felt the keyhole was strong enough on its own.

To help create an understanding of the presentation and branding of Silver Scream, I have made guidelines which describe things such as fonts and colours which are to be used when designing movie posters and other materials for part of the campaign. The guidelines have been designed to reflect the company by using blood dripping imagery and dark, horror style colours and the company logo.

Movie titles should use Impact. The titles can be manipulated to add personality and to link with the themes of the movie in order to enhance the design. I chose impact since it is very bold and as the name would suggest, impacting, which would fit within the realm of horror due to it being dramatic and almost quite intimidating, instilling a sense of fear and precaution in the viewer.

For paragraph text like credits or sub headings, I chose DIN Condensed Bold. I chose this because it is more thin and doesn’t compete with the more heavy title font. Because of how tall and narrow the font is, it creates a cramped and slightly uncomfortable feeling when looking at it. I have specified that the paragraph text must never be larger in size than the title, because the title text is more important than other text on the design, so it should always be the largest in size.

The final slide describes which colours are to be used. I have specified that the colours must not be neon or pastel rainbow colours, but instead need to be more muted and darker colours which are associated with horror. Colours such as blood red, greens, oranges, black and white are favoured, since they’re more grungy and dim. Rainbow colours would look confusing and strange, which is why I wouldn’t use them in my designs.

For my project, I am creating a campaign for a series of horror movie posters, produced by Silver Scream Productions. The campaign is aimed at horror and film fans alike, of all ages and genders.

For the company logo, I have designed a logomark of a screaming mouth. The idea comes from the name ‘Silver Scream’ – which plays on the film term ‘silver screen’, and ‘scream’ – which is commonly associated with horror.

“Logos and branding are so important. In a big part of the world, people cannot read French or English–but are great in remembering signs.” (Lagerfeld, K)

Expanding on this point, a logos main function is to identify what something is, and to be memorable. By using such imagery, it is clear that the logo is linked to horror or fear. The quirky design also makes it stick and easier to recognise.

The logo itself is quite simplified. I held back on finer details since the logo would need to be clear at any size, big or small, and adding minute details may obscure the logo at smaller sizes and won’t be very clear anyways. To avoid the logo being too simplified and flat, I used a range of tones to add shadows and highlights so that the design is more lively and fun.

I had the idea of replacing the teeth with the name of the company. To do this, I made each word into a ‘set of teeth’, warping the text to fit the contours of where the teeth would typically be. The warping of the text also creates movement, as there are areas in which one letter seems to swell, and another seems to recess. The shakiness is reminiscent to how ones voice may shake and quiver when screaming, or even the way that one may tremble physically when feeling fear, which ties back in to the themes of horror.

References:

DeJong, J (2021) DVD’s stacked atop each other [photograph]. Available online: https://twitter.com/snailstampede/status/1346891606260129800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1346891606260129800%7Ctwgr%5E2080d7a7520aa7a15429b99d7ed8290f24942382%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmelmagazine.com%2Fen-us%2Fstory%2Ffamily-video-vs-blockbuster. [Accessed: 01.01.2023]

Dougherty, S (Unknown) Film Company Logos [Photograph]. Available online: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/570409109032386186/ [Accessed: 01.01.2023]

Lagerfeld, K (2009) Karl Lagerfeld, Global Aphorist [Article]. Available online: https://www.wired.com/2009/07/karl-lagerfeld-global-aphorist/ [Accessed: 01.01.2023]