Film magazine Initial Process

When making the film magazine, I knew I had to include all main characters since I only included Kerenza in the Film poster. Like many film magazines, I've seen those that included all main casts. I started off with the background of the church featured in one of the shots in the trailer: St Emmanuel's (like my film poster).

The photos of the main characters was inspired by another Horror film magazine featuring Daniel Radcliffe looking far in the distance in a thoughtful yet cautious emotion. I interpreted this image like he was looking at something never seen before hence the supernatural.

Similar to my poster, I wanted to bring the element of light into the film magazine. The light symbolises having to search for this supernatural activity and having to put light upon something they cannot identify. 

Say Your Prayers - Poster Draft process

I wanted the film poster to include the protagonist of Say Your Prayers as the people will recognise that she is important to the story. Since that she is a student, I thought of leaving her uniform along with a jacket which she uses as they film outside in the story's "winter cold". When taking initial pictures, she already owned a pair of round glasses which coincidently matched the character she portrayed conveying intelligence among the other two people.  The positioning of her head to the side looking down as if she is pondering a thought makes people question what she is thinking about. The lack of happiness shows that the situation she is in may not be the best yet she is thinking a way out of it.  I think the photo by itself tells a lot about who she is as a character; from the way she dresses, to the serious facial expression. This is why I chose the picture among others like one below when she doesn't wear a jacket which wouldn't match the main setting of student filming outside.

I decided to give the poster a setting to hint what kind of horror film this is - which includes the themes of religion and mystery. These were represented by the photo we took of St Emmanuels Church. However, the day and time we took this photo did not show what I planned it to be: grey clouds, trees with no leaves, dark shadows (not sunrays on the church). Through editing, I was able to turn the summer-like colours to a colder hue with a stormy sky and added branches from separate pictures onto the tree. I  designed this image of a horror setting to create an eerie atmosphere where churches, dried out trees and a cold, stormy-like weather all are common symbols of the horror film genre.

Main film poster sketch

Looking at horror film posters such as Final Destination, I liked the simplicity of an image of a skull broken into pieces. However, as Final Destination has built such an iconic franchise it is incomparable to a film such as Say Your Prayers. This is because my film has not yet established a fanbase in which a simple symbol like Final Destination's poster on my poster would not be as recognisable. Instead I wanted to feature the main characters or even just one character on the poster as a way of introducing thier personalities.

Film Poster Artist: Kyle Lambert

Kyle Lambert is a visual artist who produces stills, film and TV posters. His most recent film poster is on the Super 8 film about kids who discover a government cover whilst filming for a homemade movie.

The film poster attracts my attention to the detail drawn by the artist using only a computer software. The pictures shown were taken in person and the artist had to completely recreate the scenery and people. Position and size of the character's face on the poster I think is very purposeful in allowing the audience to recognise who is the main character and who are important to the story.

The colours used are very dark and mysterious due to maps and writings on the wall being quite concealed in the background. While this helps bring characters forward, I also think it helps with the atmosphere the film wants to create. The most noticeable aspect for me however, is the backlight that comes from the upper- middle of the poster with it's light rays spreading from a white to blue line across the main character's face. This light I think represents the discovery of a situation of object that has bewildered the main characters.

The technique and style of the artist overall allow me to be curious about the films he draws for all the while advertising the films theme well. I think this type of poster can be incorporated into the style of my film project as it follows the same mystery to discovery to terror plotline. Even if Super 8 is a mystery/action film, I think the poster could work well for a horror film as well due to the common theme of mystery.

Survey Monkey

Below are the results I got from a survey I shared on social media platforms regarding horror films.

Majority of people who answered my survey were females.

Most of these people were aged 16-19; close to the target audience of 16-30 years olds.

 People were fairly regular in consuming films of the horror genre. It was expected to have people watch films more often than when horror films out meaning many people had a great interest in films.

Many people liked the idea of a supernatural film with gothic second most popular followed by gore. I found out people liked a less extreme subgenre of horror than those with explicit clips like gore. Due to the age group, not many liked an animated horror film. One person never watched films so they could not chose an option except for other.

Most liked it when there was a twist in the ending of a horror film. I expected to see more liking an original plot however some have commented that an original plot sometimes meant to them a less popular style of film; some that might be eccentric.

Movie Magazine Analysis 2 - Woman in Black

Woman in Black was a Supernatural/Drama starring Daniel Radcliffe. The front cover of Diabolique magazine presents the era of the film very well by showing the main protagonist wearing 18th century clothing. However the background showing a British townhouse does not show much to entice the audience to watching the film. The movie is a ghost who haunts various characters usually in the house and the place could have looked more distressed and darker in colour.

The fonts made all capital letters make it uniform and stand out. The term "diabolique" is translated from French meaning diabolical. This is associated with demonic, wicked or cruel degrees of action.

Placing Daniel Radcliffe about half of the front cover grabs the public's eye because he is a well-known actor for the classic Harry Potter franchise. The sole image of him will make the audience want to see his latest projects therefor a great advertising technique for Woman in Black to sell.

Conforming to the stereotypical location for supernatural horror films, the cover is framed with dark shadows of trees somewhat adding a depth of mystery to the magazine. Referencing to the title of the film, Woman in Black's magazine cover has a faded shadow of a woman far behind the main character. The size of her compared to the rest of the cover is much smaller to possibly allow some time for people to notice her for an effect of surprise or that the face of the actor is all that's needed for the audience to watch the film.

Production Logos Mock Ups