Creating the typography

When making the typography, the first thing I had to do was find a base font that I wanted to start working from.  From our past research we decided on the font Bloody impact.

To create the typography I will be using Adobe Photoshop. After creating a background layer and colouring it black, I added an additional adjustment layer to add the text to invert the colour.  







I then edited this text layer by adding adjustment layers to add drop shadows, inner shadows, bevel and emboss, stroke and gradient overlay following the colour scheme of gold and blue.






I then added a duplicate text layer just below the original text layer which created the effect of a whole text shadow.

By cutting out the text and making the background transparent, the typography was therefore transferable to our 3 media products.

Editing of the poster

Editing process

• We had a variety of ideas for our film poster.
• In order to choose the best one, we decided to produce our ideas as a poster individually to see which one would have the biggest impact.
• Our first idea was very simplistic, which involved the use of a main image of all protagonists in the middle of a plain black background.
• We achieved this idea by using Adobe Photoshop and an online photo editor called 'iPiccy.com'.
• Using Adobe Photoshop, we cut around each individual protagonist and layered each cut image onto one large white background.
• We then changed the britghtness, contrast and colour by using 'iPiccy.com'. We also 'vignette' this photo so that it faded into the black background behind the image.

• Our second idea was to further cut the individual character images into close up shots so that we can only see their facial expressions, which we thought would build tension amogst the audience.
• We then places the cut images onto a landscae black background.
• We took inspiration from an 'X-Men' film poster, shown below.
• Again, we used the online photo editor 'iPiccy.com' in order to place the images onto the black background.

 

• We then came across another idea, in which we used Adobe Photoshop again to produce.  This time, we wanted to see what our poster would be like if it was at the same format as the X-Men poster itself. 
• We used blue light beams to separate each individual character close up while slightly altering the typography to match the theme. 
• However, we came to the conclusion that the theme gave a futuristic feel and did not suit our action-thriller genre, therefore, we did not use this idea as our final piece.

X-Men film poster

• Our final decision was made when we decided to remove the blue light beams, and stuck to simplicity as we have noticed simplicity in many other action-thriller film posters. 
• We continued with the dark background which suits our film genre. 

Final film poster

Typography

I have been looking at different posters to see which typography is best suited for our Akeldama. I have been looking at exiting posters for similar themed films to see how they have continued the theme in the typography and have tried using similar fonts to them.

The writing on the poster for The experiment' is based on army stencilling. 'Death Race' uses a font more based on that found in racing video games but still has be worn away to resemble an old stencilled sign. 

 This is a solid stencilled font. 

The bottom font it more directly based on army stencilling.

This is also a solid font that we were first considering, as it looks gritty and distorted. However, this is more suitable for a horror/sci-fi genre rather than a thriller, therefore, we are not going to be using this font.

Tagline research

This is the poster for Death Race (2008) and underneath the title is shown the Tagline 'Get ready for a killer ride'. This is a pun on the idea of the film being a race in which everyone want to be the last one alive. The film is an action film and this tagline relates well as it shows that this is a film based entirely around racing cars as already shown in the images and hinted at by the title. 

Gamer (2009) had the tagline 'Who's playing you?'. This relates well to the idea of the film as the main characters are fighting for control of there own bodies. It is a twist on the idea of someone 'playing you' as in being used or lied to as well the use of 'being played' in terms of someone hiding who they really are form you. The use of a question makes the viewer think longer about the poster and therefore the film. 

'Everyone has a breaking point' was the tagline for the 2010 film 'The experiment'. The idea of having a 'breaking point' relates to the idea of 'a mental breakdown', breaking out of being trapped and the idea that people are going to fight as they have reached their 'breaking point'. This tagline relates really well to the idea of the film but does tell us that the experiment is going to break down and so reveals the main part of the film a little. 

The film 'The bay' from 2012 used the tagline 'Panic feeds on fear'. This is a very unnerving tagline and relates very well to its horror genre. The image shows some sort of animal living inside a persons throat and so we can assume that the tagline is referring to the parasites feeding on the humans in the film as well as the fear people have of the parasites feeding the panic and chaos. The use of the word 'feeds' is used because, even though there is no mention of any parasites in the tagline or title, we immediately make the assumption that something is going to be eating the characters and shows that it is a horror film. 

'Hunt to kill' (2010) had the tagline 'survival of the baddest'. Although this is not necessarily a particularly clever or witty tagline it give the viewer a good idea of the genre and general plot of the film. The tagline here serves its purpose in that it shows us this is going to be a slightly 'over the top' action movie probably with some cheesy lines. 

Poster information

Conventions of a film poster:

• Title (to tell audience what the film is called i.e Akeldama)
• Tagline (appropriate for genre and film)
• Keep in genre (to let audience know what type of film it is, and to attract the target audience)
• Same typography (as the website and teaser trailer)
• Ratings (such as 5*, 4* etc.)
• Release date (to tell the audience when the film is going to be shown in cinemas)
• Main starring actors (to attract 'fans' attention and increase film popularity)
• Pictures relate to film (appropriate images)
• Golden rule (to allow the audiece to move their eyes aruond the whole poster to take in all info)
• Focal picture (to firstly attract the audiences attention. Eye-level)
• Info on production companies (to tell the audience who produced the film, and to increase popularity)
• Accurate use of language (approprate to the genre and film, and to allow all ages to be able to understand)
• Images are clear (so that audience can easily see the images, and relate to the film)

Potential photos to add to poster

 

• These are pictures we may add to our poster including all four extreme close ups of each other the characters eyes. This gives a sense of mystery and enigma towards the audience which is what we want to portray.

Film poster deconstruction: The last seven

The last seven film poster:

• Mise in scene: uses of weapons and guns connote violence and death, gives the characters an aggressive impression and adds to an idea of bravado and power that the protagonists have.
• Colour: the colours used are the typical reds and grey of  the thriller/action genre , use of such colours is effective in relaying the blood and gore involved in the film and it is likely we will use a similar colour scheme
• Layout- Meduim shots of the main protoganist's have been layered at the top and bottom of the left hand side of the poster, this has the effect of drawing the viewers attention to this side of the poster.
• On the other side of the poster is the title "THE LAST SEVEN" giving the name of the film and dragging the audiences attention to the other side of the poster, making the audience .
• The middle close up shot of a man, shouting seems very primitive  due to his intense facial expression; his mouth is open wide as if he is roaring or shouting, this dramatic image placed right next to the text "THE LAST SEVEN" makes it appear almost as if the man is shouting the title of the film, making the words emphasised and emotive.
• Also the faint text in the background, is written in typography which is small and slanted, suggesting a hand written note perhaps; this could be a possible hint to the plot of the film; it could be the letters of the men shown in the pictures?
• On the top right hand side of the poster, is a list of the actors names in bold white font, using the same colour pallete as that of the title, keeping continuity. It also exploits the convention of using well known actors names as a promotional device for a new film.
• The typography is slanted giving the impression of movement and speed, a possible reflection of the fast aced plot?
• There is red paint splatter staining the walls; the use of the colour bright red makes the image a little surreal as it is incredibly vibrant, unlike a natural blood red, but still hoasts the same connotations of violence, gore and injury which is constantly exploited in the thriller, horror, action and slasher genre.