Magazine Cover and Film Poster

Draft of Magazine Cover and Film Poster

To help with the actual making of my magazine cover and film poster, I drafted a draft copy of each to give me an idea of how I would like my magazine cover and film poster to possibly look like.

Magazine Cover Draft

This is the draft for my film poster. I hope to use a central image consisting of two images: one of the demented woman with a weapon in hand and another of the victim in the background tied to the chair, looking scared and struggling to escape. I also intend to use deep focus, making the demented woman stand out against the victim. The colours I hope to use are similar to the colours I would like to use on my magazine cover: dark blues, rich shades of red and blacks and browns. I feel that these colours will successfully portray the 'thriller' genre of our film trailer. Again, similar to my magazine cover, I intend to make the text on the film cover fit into the thriller theme by playing around with it, for example, I have turned the hyphen in 'un hinged' into a hammer - this will help portray our thriller genre as we have included a weapon, which suggests violence and also a hammer is fitting as this will possibly be the weapon we use in our film trailer. I will also use a billing block at the bottom of my film poster as this is a reoccurring aspect of a film poster and will ensure that my film poster looks professional.

Magazine Cover Draft

This is a draft of my magazine cover. I hope to include a central image of the demented woman from our trailer on the front of the magazine, as I feel this will be a appealing image and attract the target audience, especially as the woman is a main character and aspect of the trailer. I also hope to place text in the centre of the magazine cover, on top of the central image. I would also like to play with the text, by making parts of the text look like things to do with our 'thriller' genre, for example, I have made the top of the 'd' on 'un-hinged' look like a hammer. Many film magazines do this, for example, during my research, I looked at a copy of Total Film magazine which had the film Inception on the front cover, and the Total Film logo was made look like apart of the film. I also intend to use other typical aspects of a magazine cover, for example, pugs, plugs, left hand third, a masthead, etc. Colours I intend to use will be dark blues, browns, blacks and rich shades of red, which I hope will represent the 'thriller' genre of the trailer. 

The Total Film logo adapted for the film cover for Inception


Drafts on Photoshop

Possible Logo for my film

Above is the possible logo I may use for my film poster and also on my magazine cover. I have decided that the use of the colour red will be effective for the font as blood often represents blood, especially a red of this shade - this will help portray my genre of thriller/paranormal. I have also decided to write the title of the film in uppercase, as uppercase often suggests more urgency and importance, which could be related to danger, which again relates to my chosen genre. I have decided to use the shadow of a hammer shape as the hyphon in 'un-hinged' as it relates to our film trailer because the demented woman will use a hammer as her weapon. Also, the use of weapon relates to the the genre of thriller as weapons are associated with violence which is a common theme in thriller films. The shadow I have used to outline the text and the hammer is effective as it makes the text stand out more making it more eye-catching - also, the white shadow can be related to the theme of thriller/paranormal as 'shadows' and the colour white are associated with ghosts.

Possible magazine cover (without photos)

Above is the design of my possible magazine cover, but minus the photos. I intend to use a central image of the demented woman and have placed the other aspects of the magazine cover around where I picture the photo to be placed, which would be a full length shot in the centre of the page. I have used the logo for the Un-Hinged on the magazine cover as well as on the film poster as I feel it is important that the logo is reoccuring as this represents professionalism. My masthead for the magazine is simple, which allows the contents of the magazine cover, for example, our film logo, to stand out accordingly. On my magazine cover, I have included the usual aspects of a magazine for example, plugs and pugs and also a price and a barcode. I have also ensured that the colour scheme of my magazine matches un-hinged logo and have used colours that compliment it for example, all of the pugs and plugs match the logo as they are red, grey or white.

Process of Gathering Photos

Below are some of the photos we took to go on our magazine covers/film posters. Some photos also show the process of making us look like the characters in our trailer through the use of costume and make -up.

 We used a back combing effect on Emma's hair to make it bigger and wilder to make her appear demented.

We used water to smudge mascara and eyeliner around Emma's eyes to make her eyes look dark, making her appear tired and old.

We used purple eyeshadow and black eye pencil to make a bruise effect by smudging them into Emma's skin. We used the same effect below on my face, and also smudged eyeliner around my eyes to give the image of a black eye to show that the victim has been beaten by the demented woman.

Possible Photos for Posters/Magazine Covers

Final Individual Magazine Cover

This is my final magazine cover. I used the colours red, black, white and shades of grey as they are all related to our chosen genre of thriller/paranormal, especially the colour red as it is often symbolic ofn 'blood' which relates to violence - violence is a major aspect of our film trailer. My previous magazine cover had used a different film title, however, once my magazine was fully finished, I decided to change the film title to this more simple one as I thought it enhanced the professionalism of my magazine cover and also made the film title stand out more against the predominantly black background of the cover. I used the cut tool to add my central image onto my magazine cover, then edited the colour and the outline of the photo. I used a colour filter tool to make the photo appear slightly red, which again, relates to our genre whilst matching to the reoccuring colour theme of the magazine. I also used the liquify tool to go around the outside of the central image, pulling out parts of the edge of the photo to make it appear more distorted and weird, which relates to our thriller genre. One effect which I felt was very effective was the 'unsharp mask' tool, which makes the image look sharper and also enables you to change the contrast and colour of the photo. This improved my image as it made it more suitable to my genre of thriller by making it appear more stand out and scary. included many professional aspects of a magazine cover, for example, my use of plugs and pugs and also the fact that I have overlayed the central image so that it slightly overlaps the Masthead, which is a technique that many popular magazines use and I hoped that this would enhanced the professionalism of my magazine cover. Furthermore, I ensured that my plugs and pugs matched the colour scheme of my magazine cover, again to show the professionalism of the magazine and to also fit in with the thriller genre. An effect I think that really helped to enhance the effect of my central image is the use of shadow I have used around its outline. The black 'glow' makes the image stand out against the dark background, which is important as the photo is quite dark itself and it is vital that the photo stands out as it is portraying the main aspect of the film and advertising it to the readers of the magazine. I also feel that the use of shadow symbolises a 'ghostly' eerie feel, which again relates to our chosen genre. The glow also enhances the hammer, which is an important prop used in our film trailer as it portrays the theme of violence and danger, which advertises to the readers of the magazine that the film is scary, making them want to watch. Another case in which I have used the shadow effect is around my plug which says Exclusive, interviews and photos inside. Instead of a white or black shadow, I have used red which allows the plug to stand out, which is it's main purpose on a magazine cover. The colour red is also symbolic to our genre and gives the illusion of 'blood', which can be related to our thriller genre and also gives the illusion of the paranormal, which again, coinsides with our choice of genre. My magazine cover differs slightly to my previous draft, for example, I decided to change my film title font and layout and also changed the placement of my photo. This is due to my exploration of the program Photoshop, which enabled me to discover new interested effects which I feel improved my magazine cover's professionalism and also helped it to relate to the them. I have priced my magazine at £3.50 as I feel that this is a typical price for a film magazine, for example, Empire Magazine is £3.99.

Final Individual Film Posters

Above is my first Film poster for our film Un-Hinged. I decided to make the poster really simple and plain, as I feel that too many effects and text can make them appear unprofessional and also, the lack of aspects on the poster builds the suspense for the viewer of the poster, making them want to know what the film is about, which is the purpose of a film poster. I decided to use the same film title font and colour for my posters as my magazine cover, as this again, shows professionalism and makes the film appear important as it could have a recognisable 'logo'. I used a medium close up placed in the centre on my film poster as this immediatly makes the character (demented woman) appear intimdating and scary. I also found that many other film posters, such as The Orphan and Insidious used central images, which inclined me to also use a central image as those films are of a similar genre to our thriller genre. I used the cut tool to cut around the image and then placed it onto a dark grey background. I then used the shadow tool to outline the edge of the photo, which disguises any mistakes when using the cutting tool and also makes the image stand out slightly. The use of a black shadow effect also relates to our genre of thriller, as shadows are often associated with fear, which is a major aspect of our film. One effect I used was the unsharp mask tool, which significantly changed the image by making the demented woman's eyes appear darker and more outlined and stand out and also made her skin lighter which highlighted the bruises on her body. I also used this tool to lighten the image, making it appear shadow-like on the page. This relates to our genre, as it gives a ghostly, eerie illusion. I also used the pen tool to add red to the demented woman's eyes, which makes her appear more frightening. I also decided to slightly darken the colour of my film title, changing it from a slightly brighter red to a darker shade of red. This portrays the dark atmosphere of the genre and the film and also makes the text merge into the poster itself slightly, which could give the illusion of someone hiding, which relates to our genre. Although I have ensured that the text slightly blends into the background to portray this, I have also added a light grey shadow around the outline of the text as I feel this makes the film title stand out. This is important on a film poster, as they title of the film is a significant aspect. I also used the shadow effect as the light 'glow' gives the illusion of ghosts and relates to the paranormal genre. I also used the brush tool to add an effect through the film title, which makes it appear to have a scratched effect, giving the illusion of the attack of the demented woman. This 'scratch' effect also relates to our thriller genre, as it makes the text appear disoreinated and effected, which is similar to many texts used in projects of this genre.

This is my second film poster. I have used similar effects as my previous poster, however, I decided use a different photo with a different angle to see which I felt looked more effective. Similar to my previous poster, I used the unsharp mask tool on Photoshop, which made my photo stand out and appear more sharp. It also makes the bruises appear more defined and noticeable, which is effective as it makes the demented woman appear more battered and troubled. I also used the liquify tool to make the outside of the photo more jagged and sharp, which was useful to cover up any mistakes made when cutting around my photo. It also made the photo appear sharper which could make the demented woman appear more intimidating rather than using a soft blur around the edge which would create a softer atmosphere. I also used the pen tool to add red to the demented woman's eyes which makes her appear 'paranornal' and out of the ordinary, as it is not the norm to have red eyes. This further portrays her an intimidating and dangerous character, especially as the colour red can be associated with danger. Another effect I used was the outer glow around the edge of the photo. This relates to the paranormal genre of our film and and portrays the demented woman as eerie and as there is something odd about her. It also makes the photo stand out more, which is important as the image of the demented woman is the central image of the poster and gives the audience an idea of what the film will be about. I used the same 'un-hinged' title on both of my posters as I feel it was particulary effective and suited my genre of thriller/paranormal, for example, the use of colour. Red is a colour which is often associated with danger, therefore, it matched to our genre as danger is often a main aspect of thriller/paranormal films. Also, red is often related to 'blood' which is something linked with violence, which again is a key aspect of our film. On my title, I used a brush effect which gives a slashed effect across my text. This makes it look as if someone has slashed the title, which relates to our genre and also makes the title look less plain and a bit more interesting. In addition, I also ensured that my central image faded slightly into the dark background, by changing how transparent it is. This relates to our paranormal genre as it gives the illusion of ghosts, as they are often paler and fade into the background, therefore altering the transparency supports our genre.