Typography Creation

In order to create the title for the film opening I had to do some research on different styles of typography in which we could use to develop ideas. When looking at the different styles I also looked at the video game typography from 'Slender Man'. This is a short game which is set in a woods where the main protagonist (the player) is isolated and in danger. Not only this, the player in ‘Slender Man’ being watched by the antagonist. This is a very similar scenario to our film opening and therefore I wanted to create a style of typography which is simple like the games style.

When recreating the text I had to use some extra equipment other than photoshop. In order to obtain the hand written effect I had to use a tablet and a ruler to allow me to create the text. This proved to be very difficult as the tablet is very sensitive to small movements, due to this issue I had to regularly start again.

First of all I opened a new document in photoshop which was 1000 pixels wide and 1000 pixels in height, once I had completed this I made the background of the document black using the paint tool. By doing this it conforms to common film titles as the text is usually lighter than the background.  

After I had done this I began to write, this proved very difficult as the ruler regally moved and the pen would not place in the same area. I had to go over each of the lines in the letters to gain the same effect as my inspiration. I also had to use a thin brush to get a better effect.

This allows me to change the style of paint
 brush I am using.

This shows the black background and the individual lines I had
to create.

When creating the letters I made them individually, this allowed me to make sure that each letter was correct and up to the standards in which I require. Not only this but it was also easier for me to create the letters larger and shrink them to an appropriate size then to make them larger and more pixelated or incorrect. When I was done with each of the letters I would add some dots around the letter to create a chalk like effect, this makes the letters more interesting. This is the first letter in which I made:



I used this same technique to complete the other letters, however when completed the title looked very plain. In order to improve the title I wanted to incorporate something that would link the title and the film opening together. Therefore I moved some of the letters to create different effects, I also made some very simple idea sheets that I could use to make the text better. This is one of the sheets for the ‘K’ and the ‘O’, I wanted to link the text to an idea of possession and summoning. When creating the final outcome I used the one on the top right.



This is the style in which I created, I also changed the ‘E’ as well and the ‘NIN’ to make the text connect to the idea of possession and summoning. Each of these letters conveys an idea of reflection as the ‘E’ reflects down for the word ‘THE’ in to the work ‘BECKONING’. The ‘NIN’ has the two ‘Ns’ reflecting across the ‘I’. These little extra details makes the text more interesting and allows it to connote the idea of horror within the film. I have also used the small dots around the text to make it look as if someone had hand written in with chalk instead of using technology. However, this is not the final out come of the text as I wish to develop it further by adding a slight static effect or another distorted copy of the text.

I copied the text that I had already completed and made it in to another layer, this allows me to work on it separately without disturbing the rest of the text. I then went in to layer styles to play with the different styles I could create. First I reduced the opacity as I did not want it to stand out in front of the main text. I then selected the Bevel and Emboss style on the left to change the structure and shading of the text. Once I was happy with the simple change in effect I also included an inner shadow which helped to blur the background text further. This is the final text.

Typography Deconstuction

Typography

Typography is very important within films, the style of the writing has to follow the style and mood of the film it which it will be appearing in. Some examples of this includes:


The Exorcist
The Exorcist is a film that was released on 16 March 1974 in the UK directed by William Friedkin and written by William Peter Blatty. The traditional style of the text contrasts the dark nature of the film, not only this however it portrays the time in which the film is set in as the San Serif is typically a traditional style of text. The colour of the text represents purity which contradicts with the dark force in the teenage girl who becomes possessed. Not only has this however the white text has been place in front of an image that has a large amount of darker colours and therefore making the title stood out further.

 

The Conjuring

The Conjuring is a film about paranormal investigators, this film was released on the 2^nd august 2013 in the UK and was directed by James Wan and written by Chad Hayes and Carey Hayes.

Once again this text is pure white in comparison to the dirty and dark background. The white text symbolises the innocence of the child in the rocking chair as she is very young. However the darker background contrasts with this suggesting that there are dark and evil things surrounding her. Not only this however as the writing is the only light colour on the image a sense of isolation is conveyed which could be foreseeing what will happen in the film. As this film was set in 1971 the text shown on the image perfectly portrays an older style of writing as it is San Serif font.

Paranormal Activity 3

Paranormal Activity is a film about two young sisters, Katie and Kristi, befriending an invisible entity who resides in their home. This film was released on the 21^st October 2011 in the UK, directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, written by Christopher Landon and Oren Peli.

This typography is different from the previous text that I have looked at before. Instead of the contrast between white and black this typography is focused more on darker colours, the black and the red. The type of text looks like text you would see on a camcorder, this could possibly give the audience an insight about the style the film is. This is further supported by the image above the text of a camera looking down on two beds, the image has the time and date at the bottom and there is a slight static fuzz over the image to show that it is a camera recording people.

The Woman in Black

The Woman in Black is about a young lawyer who travels to a remote village where he discovers the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman terrorizing the local people. This film was released on the 10^th February 2012 in the UK, directed by James Watkins and written by Susan Hill and Jane Goldman.

The typography is once again shown to be San Serif as this film is also set in the past, however the text seems to be slightly tea stained and is not pure white like previous text. This could imply that there is something different about this character or could portray something about the story line. The text is also slightly scrapped out and underlined in a thin white line in some areas. Though the text is not completely white the text has been placed over the darkest section of the image, as this area is black it makes the words stand out further.

 

Deconstruction of Film Titles - Bailey May

Deconstruction of film titles

Insidious

• The film title for Insidious is all in bold, sharp font to illustrate the sinister nature of the film.
• The letters are in a dark shadow and some in a small amount of light which conveys a strong connection to the narrative of the film with the evil antagonist in the film being found in sleep, which is represented by the letters in a dark shadow.
• Also the colour red is associated with danger and evil which is parallel to the films narrative.

 The Conjuring

• In the background of The Conjuring's film title there is an eerie,grey mist adding to the connotations of the evil demon surrounding and in a sense 'capturing' the victims.
• The colour of the text is black which stands out on the grey background illustrating how the sinister demon in the film is the overwhelming power in the film.
• Additionally the meaning of 'Conjuring' comes from 'conjure' which is to summon demons and evil spirits which reflects subtly the films the narrative.  

The Possession

• The word 'Possession' instantly signifies to the audience there is a supernatural element in the film.
• In the background it is dominated by the left sight in black and a little in the right in the light. This reflects how innocent beings are overcome by evil spirits, linking the name of the film 'The Possession'
• The font of the title is fairly plain but i has been edited with faded lines going through it and white blotches on a couple of letters. This epitomises the sinister nature of the evil spirit as it the titles effects suggest its breaking through and causing mayhem in our world inferred by the plain font symbolising our view of normality.

The Blair Witch Project

• Here the titles is plain with normal font having no effects and a boring besiege background. This may have been for purpose to not give away any of the films narrative as the other three have done.
• Although, the sign at the top, above 'Witch' suggests connotations of rituals and the sign in red implies the there is a danger surrounding the issue of the witch.
• Personally, i don't feel inspired by this film title and would consider adapting its plain style in nature.

Conclusion

All the film titles bar one use 'The' in the title which gives the film and individual aspect that what happened was unique and i find this effective and will use for the same effect. Moreover, i would like to not give away a lot of the films narrative through the title as 'The Possession' has done. 

A Nightmare On Elm Street 1984 - Typography Deconstruction

• Titles move upwards from off screen alongside a loud, uncomfortable soundtrack piece compromised from a deep, strong base note with higher pitched, oscillating string notes. The music has a slow tempo which increases gradually alongside the pitch until the titles fade out.

• Contrasting, bold colours which is a common convention of horror movies and features in other credits since like Insidious and The Conjuring. It is used to compare the mental and emotional states of the protagonist and could also be used to infer a change in these states over a period of time.
• The bright colours are difficult to look at for a long period of time which makes them effective when coupled with the music as it makes the audience uneasy. 
• A mix of typefaces and font sizes have also been used to make the audience uneasy. The curved, smooth lettering of "on elm street" oppose the jagged, uneven lettering of "nightmare" in order to put emphasis on the latter. This is effective as it makes the audience feel suspense before the movie has even started.
• Unfortunately, these titles were created in the late 1980's making them less easy to incorporate into our own work as the technology available has improved greatly. For this reason, we will incorporate only the key features e.g. colour palette, mixed typeface and sound into our work. 

TRUE LIES Production Company Practical

Using Photoshop, I have created a production company title image. Using monochrome colour schemes in titles is a convention of horror movies and is used in many major production company logos including Ghost House Pictures and Rogue Pictures.

A solid black background

With the secondary colour set to white go to Filter > Render > Clouds

Reduce opacity to 65%

Adjust the colour balance by selecting Layer2 > Layer Style > Blending Options > BlendII

Change the BlendII type to grey and split the left refinement arrow by clicking with Ctrl+1 and move it upwards to approximately 255. By doing this, the black balance increases proportionately to the white making the clouds more like vapour.

Add title in capital letters. I picked a serif font as it relates to my typography research for the horror genre.

Duplicate the all layers, flatten duplicates and name appropriately.



Create a glass smash effect in black on a new layer. Make sure the opening is aligned just over the right word on the screen. I found it more effective when both words were partially obscured.

 Apply Gaussian blur to the text and background main layer.

Select a radius of between 3 and 5 pixels. The greater the radius, the greater the words will be blurred.

 Create a link layer on the blurred layer

Using a black brush, draw over the areas that you do not wish to be blurred (this is the area in the glass smash where there is not glass) 

Make sure you use your glass smash layer as reference



Typography Practical

The basic start of my title

I used a scatter and size jitter effect on the brush which allowed me to accurately represent blood splatter

After playing round with the colours and opacity at this point, I created a "parchment" texture for the background. I also experimented with the font used but decided calligraphy was very old fashioned and does not match the themes present in our film.

By softening the edges of the font used in the sample, I removed all the hard edges present which made the resultant image less harsh and more accurate to the genre.

Again, I played around with colour schemes and made the text and blood splatter embossed in order to make them look 3D. This editing was very effective and our group decided that it matched the common conventions of horror movies but was not gory or overly complicated which could distract from the rest of our work. This simplicity is also representative of the basic plots and characters used within many horror movies though also suggests there is some underlying complexity which could create an issue later in the films narrative.

Overall, I think we will use the embossing effect in our title though the colour scheme may be made darker and the typeface be made into a script to look like handwriting. I think e should also change the background in order to add more depth into the title and possibly overlay the writing onto another image or a low opacity clip of our filming.

Practical: Typography Credits Experiment

Typography: Credits Experiment

We have a strong use of symbols throughout our film opening so we decided to use symbols to represent some letters in the credits. I experimented with the similar letters we had within our names.

I decided to experiment both on paper and Photoshop with the letters we had in common:

We all have an M or W in our names, and because there isn't many symbols that can be made into an M shape. The texture of this font style represents a child's drawing which I deconstructed in an earlier blog post. I think that this letter would look good during the titles as it has the connotations of child's drawings and etching into a surface.
The letter can also be flipped to create the W in Bethany's name.

There are some O's in our names, and it is an easy letter to change into a symbol. I used inspiration from the Deathly Hallows symbol (shown on the left). I think that the symbol I drew (on the right) is a good interpretation of the existing symbol and still incorporates children's drawings. I think it could be improved by making the markings more sketched and less accurate.  

Three of us have E's in our name, which means that we can make the letter a common factor to customise. The first letter (left) would be a good letter to use as it still resembles an E but is a different typeface to the rest of our letters. The letter looks slight scrawled which fits in to the etching effect. The middle letter also looks drawn/etched but is lower cased which may not fit into the credits as well as one in capitals, it may make it look strange and not effective. 

The third letter (right) is also a capital but it has sharp edges, this resembles an E better than the first but also looks to accurate to be scrawled, reducing the eerie effect. 

We all have multiple A's in our names which means that it will be a very used symbol. A is easy to manipulate into a symbol. I decided to use a star to represent a letter as it has references to the pentagram - a symbol enticing sinister forces. The drawing on the left is more likely to be read as an A, but as an improvement I would make it more accurate and in scale rather than having the width larger than the height.

 The drawing on the right is drawn better than the other but it may be harder to resemble an A. It resembles the Star of David, a symbol used in Judaism, also known as the Shield of David, expelling evil forces, the opposite of the pentagram. It would be best to use the other symbol to avoid confusion and to reduce the risk of it causing offence.

Evaluation

What went well:

• The symbols are simple and will look good in our typography used in the titles
• They are easy to draw and can therefore be easily re-done on a graphics tablet

Even better if:

• The symbols only cover some of the letters in our titles so we will need to choose the typography for the other letters used
• Some of the symbols only slightly resemble the letter i.e. the star and an A, so could cause confusion 

What Lies Beneath (2000) Typography Deconstruction

What we will incorporate into our own work:

• Using capital letters for the production companies and main opening credits like names
• High contrast between letters and background to make the text easier to read
• Distortion or manipulation of typeface