Poster Construction

Background

 I decided to go for colours that related and demonstrated the horror genre well. Red is a very emotionally intense colour which enhances human metabolism, which makes it such a good colour for the horror genre, it stands out bold. Red gives the idea of blood, gore, frightened, danger and fire. Black indicates darkness, fear of the unknown, death and mystery. Black is very common in horror films and advertisement. It usually has a negative connotation and is very aggressive. 
 To stop my poster being too dark and dull, i have added in a little yellow to intensify my skull. I picked yellow as it is a very bright colour but still taking into consideration it is a horror poster. It can indicate sickness, cowardice, discord, and jealousy.

1. I started out with painting my background red in which i could build on. From here i was able to form the skull from the red that was already there with yellow to break it down a little bit. I then went onto using black to trace round the shape of my skull which makes it the main focus of my poster. I went ahead by adding eyes, a nose and a jaw which i just used black to product gaps for teeth. So it wasn't so sharp, i used the blur tool to soften it. 
2. For the bottom of the poster, i took a photo of a tree and its branches to give the illusion of smoke or cracks. 

Adding characters

I wanted to have the characters on the front of the poster so the audience can be introduced to the main characters in the film. Also it is a popular convention to have the characters in the centre.

1. To cut out the photo I used the lasso tool, and feathered it on 15. I cut them out individually so I could create the composition of an inverted 'V'. This is the centre person being at a higher point than the other two. I think it was a good proposal to make, due to the drama queen being centre of attention, linking her to her stereotype. All three characters have a direct address with the camera to give a sense of power and connection with the audience.

Adding Text

1. After adding the characters, it was time to put some text on to it. I started off with the title 'Cursed' in the font 'Cheap Fire' as this imagery of fire was significant. I thought my colour theme of  red orange and yellow gave off a fiery feel and contrasted well with the font I used. I used the same font on my poster as my magazine in order to cross media branding. This can create a brand for the film being advertised and can be recognised by audiences instantly.
2. To increase the audiences attention I decided to add a tag line. I came up with "Once you're in there's no way out". I thought it combined well with my plot considering they are trapped inside a house. It presents a feeling of fear and instantly the audience can tell the genre is Horror. There is nothing formal about the language register used with this. I correctly questioned the audience to come and see this film without creating a formal written piece.
3. A main convention of a film poster is to have the release date. I decided it was a good idea to have the release date in October as this is when Halloween is.
4. Overall the layout of my poster is well balanced with the title and image being the same width, yet differ in size. The font image ratio used is allowing the characters image to dominate the title by covering half of the poster.

1. At the very bottom of the poster I have the directors name, producers name, and the editors names. I have seen this on very popular posters. The 'credits' consist of the company name which is '214 Productions', the script writers name and who they collaborated with. I have also added the two production logos for '214 Productions' to balance out both bottom corners.
2. The importance of the productions logos was important for advertisement. Not only does it feed the audience with the production name, it advertises the company for future development in the film industry. For example Pixar and Warner Bros are famously known for creating blockbuster movies and gaining a mass of good reputation through this. This is what I was trying to achieve when adding the two production logos. This makes it look more professional when comparing it to existing products.

Fonts 

For my title, I used the font 'Cheap Fire'. I thought this looked like it had a fiery theme and fitted well with the colour themes and layout. It isn't too plain compared to some fonts such as Ariel and it really brings the poster to life with its design.



I downloaded the font 'Grave Digger' also, however when I tried it on my poster it didn't go with a horror theme. It didn't give off the impression it was advertising a horror film, it looked much more ancient on the design.