The document describes the development of a horror film poster. The poster features the main character illuminated by a blue light from an open book. Photoshop was used to edit the original photo by darkening the background, eyes, and fingernails. Text elements were added including the film title above the book, the tagline above the character's head, and the release date below in blue to match the color scheme. A credit block at the bottom cites influences from other posters.

1. The development of my Horror
poster

2. The idea behind the image was to have the
book illuminate the characters face, I
created this effect by placing a light below
the book but not underneath it. This meant
that I could create a soft glow, but still light
up the characters face. As this is a main
character, their face is in the centre 3rd,
however not in the middle. I have chose to
leave a space in the middle for the title as
it is the most important piece of copy.
The expression on the characters face is a
fusion of emotionless psychopath and an
evil glare. I feel its important for the
characters eyes to look directly into the
camera lenses as the viewer need to feel
A book has been placed in the frame as although this is a feature in the and connection and need to be draw into
film it represents a story. As this is an object which occurs in the majority the story. The clothing used for the
of peoples life, the audience may begin to guess the significance of this character is black, this colour represent
particular one. As a result they are more likely to want to watch the film death and decay which I feel is relevant as
the poster is for a horror film. In addition
In fitting with the theme of blue, I used a
the black shows little about the character
blue light as lighting. This creates a
which is appealing to the audience as they
slower glow and isn’t as harsh as a white
will then want to watch the film to
light. In addition the blue if most obscure
understand the true personality of the
which the audience may link to a
character.
psychological horror.

3. The original photo wasn’t engaging nor did it
look professional. I used adobe Photoshop to
edit my image, first I black out the back ground
as the view could see a bed. This allows for
space for a credit box, in addition it improves
the over all appearance as the photo looks
darker which is once of the conventions of
horror. Apart from the background I also
edited the character face, I made her eyes a
sharper and brighter blue which stands out to
grab the audiences attention. Furthermore the
colour blue fits in with the colour scheme
which is effective as it creates consistency.
To create more definition in the characters
face I darkened her eye browns, this acts in
contrast to the light blue eyes which are
associated with innocent .
As previously stated, the black space in the middle of the image was for the title. Using Photoshop I layered text
on top of the image, I chose a similar style to text that it featured in the trailer to create a link between the two.
The font is simple and clear for the reader which makes it convenient, however the font could be considered part
of the images. The word deactivate is placed above the book and which in the bean on light, this shows the
audience that the opening of the book has caused the disruption. It appears that the word has risen out of the
book.
In the original image the
character had a blue nail, to
keep in fitting with the
characters personality I used
Photoshop to refill the finger
nail with black.

4. The tagline it placed above the characters
head, this is because the tagline is an
important piece of text. It sets the mood of
the whole trailer, also because the film is
psychological if felt appropriate to have the
tag line near the characters mind. The font
is the same as the title as they are linked,
however its in small caps because it isn’t
as important as the title of the film. The
colour pallet for Deactivate it black white
and blue, in order to keep this consistent
the tag line is the same colour as the
characters eyes, this creates further links
between the tag line and the rest of the
poster.
The next piece of copy to be added was ‘from the makers of Paranormal activity’ this is significantly
smaller that the heading, because its less important. The colour white was chose to match the heading
because both Paranormal activity and Deactivate are from the same makers. In addition is has been
placed closely to the heading because Paranormal is an extremely popular psychological horror, therefore
more people will want to come knowing that the film should be similar.

5. To make the title stand out and almost
look like it is floating, I added a drop down
shadow. It doesn’t deviate far away from
the title, but it can be seen easily which is
effective as the word looks like its floating
out of the book.
I added the date below the book, this is
because the date it important so it should
be close to the image. To enhance the
significance of the date, I increase it size
so it bigger then the text about
Paranormal activity however it doesn’t
take away from the title. The date has
been made blue to closely link it with the
film, the date and the tag line act like the
fame for all the important information.
In addition I added a credit box beneath the image, I looked at
other posters for inspiration as to what needs to be mentioned and
what doesn’t. two of the main influences were Attack the block and
Eagle. By looking at these I found out what needed to be
mentioned, In addition the Attack the block poster inspired the
website featured on my poster.
As seen previously the book contained both blue and orange, I used
Photoshop and the paint brush tool to colour in the orange section
with blue. This meant that the overall look is more professional and
the book fit in with the colour pallet.

6. To make the title stand out and almost
look like it is floating, I added a drop down
shadow. It doesn’t deviate far away from
the title, but it can be seen easily which is
effective as the word looks like its floating
out of the book.
I added the date below the book, this is
because the date it important so it should
be close to the image. To enhance the
significance of the date, I increase it size
so it bigger then the text about
Paranormal activity however it doesn’t
take away from the title. The date has
been made blue to closely link it with the
film, the date and the tag line act like the
fame for all the important information.
In addition I added a credit box beneath the image, I looked at
other posters for inspiration as to what needs to be mentioned and
what doesn’t. two of the main influences were Attack the block and
Eagle. By looking at these I found out what needed to be
mentioned, In addition the Attack the block poster inspired the
website featured on my poster.
As seen previously the book contained both blue and orange, I used
Photoshop and the paint brush tool to colour in the orange section
with blue. This meant that the overall look is more professional and
the book fit in with the colour pallet.