Horror Posters

The hills have eyes is an effective horror poster because it gives us a sense that someone is being watched. The arm is in the first hotspot which

makes our eyes drawn to the hand in which is touching someones face. The eyes of this person is looking upwards which draws our attention to the title. This horror poster makes me feel uneasy which is what makes it so effective.

This saw poster is particulary effective because it has a white background which means that we are more focused on the paradigms. At the top of the poster is a saw linking to the title 'saw' handing from the saw are teeth on wire. this connotes a great deal of torture thus making it horror. The title is in black and is in capitals, however the 'W' is in a different font which could represent the teeth on the saw along with the teeth hanging off the saw.

The uninvited is a very effective horror poster. The background/setting is obviously a forest due to the numerous tree. The poster is a window frame which makes the audiance feel on edge because of the fact that there is obviously a dark image of a person peering in yet you cannot see the face of this person. The title is placed in a hotspot which makes our attention drawn to it.

This is another powerful poster, this is because of the white background, which makes our attention drawn to the paradigms. In this case it is an open hand which has obviously been cut off becasue there is a pool of blood around the end of the wrist. There is also a joint which has smoke coming from it which covers two hotspots. The title 'the tripper' also links to the fact that drugs are invloved.

Thriller Posters

This is an effective thriller poster because of the dark background which makes the paradigms stand out. In this case the woman is the paradigm and she is reflected in what could be water. The title is completely centred which is effective because although it isn't placed in a hotspot, it is another important place which is looked upon. The woman's face is in an important hotspot and it is effective because she is looking slightly to her right and slightly downwards. It makes us, the audiance, think that she is looking at something important, which links back to the title that she could be looking at 'the life'.




'Quantum of Solace' is an effective thriller poster because we are looking at the two main characters on the poster. They look like they are in a desert which is an effective background because it shows they are in an unordinary place which effectively shows that they are on a mission somewhere. The man (James Bond) is slightly leading the way which shows that he has more power than the woman.

Crank is an effective film poster because of the man with a set of pliers in his mouth. the blurred image along with the jumpleads in this mans mouth shows that the film is about electricity which also links to the title and 'high voltage'. The audiance automatically generates the idea of this being a thriller genre because of this strong image.

What is a Thriller/Horror?

In generic terms the genre thriller is created by conventions.

A thriller is a ‘meta-genre’. It is difficult to pin down exactly what a thriller is because so many emotions and reactions are experienced.

There are many different types of thrillers for example there is espionage/spy, psychological, and supernatural/unknown.

A thriller relies on an intricate plot which creates fear, apprehension and suspense in hearts and minds of people watching.

A thriller plays on basic worries and infantile and repressed thoughts. These thoughts can be sexual, voyeuristic or violent.

A thriller achieves this by raising questions or enigma codes in the mind of the audience. Most thrillers have universal themes at their core - struggles over love, death or money. It is the struggle that often enthrals the spectator.

It is also done through a sense of delay when something does happen, there is a sense of relief from that tension. Thrillers are often sadomasochistic which means that the audience enjoys watching the director cause pain and suffering to the characters. Our pleasure is derived from their discomfort. However a thriller should also contain a certain element of ambivalence which means that the audience needs to feel sorry for the victim.

Thrillers must involve visceral, gut level feelings rather than sensitive, delicate emotions.

Horror films are movies that strive to draw out the emotions of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their plots frequently involve themes of death, the supernatural or mental illness. Many horror movies also include a central villain.

Preliminary Task Evaluation

For our preliminary task, the location we filmed in was the studio. This worked really well because we had professional lighting, a blue screen behind the window and the set was well suited to the script. I took and active role directing the location and angles of the camera. Tom Cunningham was behind the camera shooting the sequence.

For our preliminary task, we used a mix between light and dark and used mainly hard light. This was effective and important to our scene because the light bought out the set and the hard light enhances the characters stance and position. The dark lighting was use to portray a derelict room and built tension to fit with the script.

For the filming, we had to make sure that the camera was set up properly. We ran a colour bar and when needed, ensured that the tripod was at the right level for each shot. We moved the camera into different positions to make sure that we were filming the correct angle of the actors. We also made sure that the lighting equipment was not in the shot as this was not part of the script and when bright light hit the camera the rays blocked the actor’s faces.

We choose appropriate shots and angles of shots. First we filmed the wide shots, and then we filmed over the shoulder shots. We added in mid shots to see whether these worked better than close ups but we also shot close ups. We did this purely for the purpose of when come to edit, what would look better. For both the mid shots and the close ups we film Dan in high angle and Laura in low angle. We also filmed a hero shot of Dan. This is because it gave Dan a role of importance and dominance and Laura a role of innocence and vulnerability.

We filmed some ‘experimental shots’. These consisted of a close up of a door handle opening, a close up on Dan’s feet and extreme close up on a light switch and a bulb turning on. Also we added in a pan from right to left of Laura running from the light switch to the window. We filmed a Bird’s eye view of the whole scene. This was particularly effective of Laura looking very worried and nervous. Another effective extra shot we added in was a tilt of Laura’s feet upwards to her face.

We also conformed to the 180 degree rule and never crossed the line. Finally we used the appropriate terminology, such as ‘stand by’, action’ and ‘cut’ which were very helpful to make sure everyone onset knew what was happening.

In the editing of our preliminary task we had to cut down a lot of shots to found ones that fitted with our storyboard. We eventually did that and then it was just a matter of putting them together. We were introduced to Final Cut pro, which was what we did most of the editing, but before all of that we had to use a ‘checking in, checking out’ process using Final Cut Server, this was were all our filming was stored and also where it was saved when we had finished editing after each lesson. During the editing process we came to a flaw where we had to insert a background image of a city in the window, because we were shooting in the studio we had a clue screen behind the window so that when it came to doing it, it was an easier process to insert. The process was very interesting to take part in as it showed us that it usually takes more time to edit than it does to shoot. We had to get the timing right when the actors were speaking, between different shots, so this meant we had to cut some parts out in order to insert others.

Preliminary Task

Introduction To Photoshop

Our practical lesson about Photoshop consisted of learning the basics tools to be able to construct a poster. We learnt that the more we use Photoshop the better you become and you can’t just learn everything at once. We learnt how to use the drag tool, the spot healing tool this is used to cover any imperfections by taking pixels from around the area and copying them into the centre. The free transform tool, which changes the size of an image.

We also learnt about the clone tool, which copies an area which you can paste anywhere else on the page. The dodge and smudge tool, the blur tool which helps blend areas together, the burn tool which give the image or features on the images a reddish burnt effect and the sharpen tool, which sharpens edges.

Another thing which we were told about is layers and these are very important. Using layers are what help create a really good image. Layers are hard to grasp the understanding of at first and when having a problem with Photoshop, it is usually because you are on the wrong layer, but they are also very useful.

Lastly we learned about pixels. Pixels are what makes up a picture they are very, very tiny and the pixel size for a movie is 720 x 576.
Using these key skills which I have learnt, I have managed to create two posters for films, both of which I am very please with. Thanks Matt for our wonderful practical lessons!

Me at School

This is a photograph taken at school on languages day. I really like this photograph because the sky is really blue and the plants are really green. This is a low angle wide shot of me and I think it shows that I am layed back.