Magazine Cover Design Drafts

These are 3 drafted designs for a Magazine Front Cover featuring my film. All of them follow the conventions of a magazine cover.

 This design features an extreme close-up of the subject of the photograph. The proximity of the photograph would suggest that the article is entirely about the actress, as there is nothing (except what little of the costume you can see) that references the film in the photograph. This is not what I want from the cover.

This design focuses mainly on aspects of the film, rather than the actress. It is a long shot that would have a prominent background relevant to the film's setting. Although I do like this design, I want there to be connotations that the article will be partly about the film but mainly about the actress. Also, I feel that having puffs and plugs on both sides of the subjsect of the photograph will make the cover look messy.

This design features a mid-shot photograph which allows the reader to see most of the character's costume. Also in this design, the actress in holding an axe. Obviously, holding an axe will not be something that the actress is known for, so this references the film itself. However, she is looking directly at the camera, which will communicate that the article is mainly about her. I also feel that the design is not too crowded. I have decided to use this design for my final magazine cover.

Creating my Poster

Firstly, I isolated the two subjects using the 'Quick Selection Tool' and copy and pasted them into a layer of their own. This will allow me to edit the background without affecting the subjects.

Next, in order to make the world look more ruined and post apocalyptic, I wanted to 'smash' the window that can be clearly seen.

I used the 'Skew' transformation option to fit the broken glass image into the window space.

I then altered the blending mode to 'Overlay' and changed the opacity of the layer to 50%, this made the window look more in place in the scene.

However, the window was too sharp, and needed to be more out of focus as it is in the background. I used the Gaussian Blur tool to achieve the desired effect.

This is the finished smashed window effect.

Following this, I added more elements to the background to make the world look ruined. This includes papers at the character's feet, piles of rubbish, mould on walls and puddles in the pavement. This gives the impression that the street has been abandoned.

I wanted to make the poster more ominous, so I set out to add some fog. To do this, I used the Render Clouds tool.

This was the outcome of using the tool. The effect is too aggressive and does not look good.

To fix this, I changed the layer's blending mode to 'Multiply' and altered the opacity to 70%. This was much closer to the effect that I was looking for.

I then erased the bottom part of the clouds so that they appear to be in the background.

I used a small, soft brush to add shadows beneath the feet of the subjects, making it more convincing that they are standing on the papers.

I also used the Render Clouds effect on Abby's t-shirt to make it appear dirty and worn.

At this point I thought that the image as a whole was too bright, and did not give the 'bleak' impression that I desired. To fix this, I used the colour Variation Adjustment tool to make the shadows slightly darker and the highlights slightly lighter. I also altered the saturation of the image to make it less colourful. 

This was the effect of the colour variation.

I also wanted to make the picture look more rugged and give connotations of violence. To do this, I added two different scratched textures by changing the blending mode and opacity of each layer. I erased part of the texture around the subject's faces so that they can be seen more clearly

This is the result of adding the textures.

Finally, I added text to the poster. I textured the text by using the same technique as shown above. I also added subtle drop shadows to each piece of text to make it stand out more and be more legible.

Title & Date Design

These are some designs for the text on my poster. I experimented with different fonts and decided that the font 'Swiss911' was the most appropriate. I experimented with different positions and styles for the title and decided that the bottom right one was most appropriate. With regards to the dates, I decided on the one that uses '.'s as I feel it looks best.

Poster Photoshoot

 

These are some photographs that I took for my Poster, based on the design of draft design 1. Out of these slightly different shots, I prefer the 4th one, as the lighting and framing is good. I also think the facial expressions in this one are the strongest. Although I do think the 3rd picture looks dramatic, the overall quality of the 4th picture is better.

In the design, the character of Cass was holding a gun. I changed this for an axe as the photographs where taken in public at late morning, and holding a realistic looking gun in the middle of a public area may have been a bad idea. The axe, to me, also has more brutal connotations, which can communicate the film's violent nature.

I also took some photographs for the 2nd poster design I came up with (seen below), but I much preferred the fact that you could see the character's faces in the 1st design.

Poster Design Drafts

These are 3 drafted designs for my Film's Poster. All of them follow the convention of showing the film's title, the release date, prominent actor's names, and a large amount of credits.

The design of this first draft was heavily inspired by one of the posters for the film, 'The Road'. I drew from this poster as I felt it was an effective design that effectively communicates the genre and nature of the film. As my film is of a similar nature, it makes sense for me to draw inspiration from it. In this design, the genre is communicated through the run down and abandoned appearance of the street. This design aims to communicate character; with Cass standing slightly in front of Annie, holding a weapon, making her look more powerful and confident, and Annie standing further back, looking more worried, to communicate her character as being weaker. I have decided to use this design for my final poster.

This second design aims to create more of a sense of scope and adventure, and it also appears optimistic. Although I like the design, this is not what I want to communicate with my poster, as my film is more about the characters, rather than the action/scope of the world that they are in. 

This design also aims to create a sense of adventure, scope and a long journey. However, I do not much like this design, as having the film's title amongst the scenery seems to communicate a more light-hearted nature. As well as this, the poster does not communicate the bleak atmosphere that is prominent in my film.

Inspiration

There are a lot of tropes associated with post-apocalyptic fiction, and to an extent, I would like to follow these conventions, so that the film can be recognised as being a piece of post-apocalyptic fiction. However, it is not possible for me to follow all conventions, due to things like preference and budget.

Location

Locations are typically urban throughout all forms of post-apocalyptic fiction. This is likely due to the fact that it creates contrast, as urban zones would be populated before the apocalypse, so seeing them empty has a stronger effect. 

Desert-like or barren locations are also common. This is likely due to the fact that the desolate landscape has connotations of loss of life and absence of civilasation - two things that are prevalent in fictional post-apocalyptic worlds.

For my trailer, I will use both an urban location and a more barren location, these being a town centre and marshes by a river. I will also use normal houses for interior scenes, as this is a relatable, recognisable location.

Costume - Protagonists

 The costume of protagonists always seems to be relatively 'normal', meaning, similar to clothes that would be worn pre-apocalypse. This is likely due to the fact that this type of dress is what people are used to. This means audiences will likely empathise with the character more if they are wearing 'normal clothes'.


These clothes will often be tattered and rugged to an extent, as this implies the danger of the post-apocalyptic world, and conveys the difficulty of living in this setting. In addition, it makes the characters look like they can handle themselves a bit more, which is a desirable feature in protagonists.

Costume - Antagonists

The costume of antagonists generally differs. In the case of zombies, the costume will be similar to the protagonists, as it will be the 'normal' clothes that the infected person died in. However, the clothing will likely be bloodier and more damaged, as a zombie has no need to maintain it's clothing.

In the case of human antagonists (raiders, bandits, cannibals etc.) The clothing seems to be a bit more extravagant. The main goal of these antagonist's clothes seems to be to intimidate. This effect is achieved most simply by using masks. Masks hide the person's identity and make a person seem unpredictable, and also make it seem like they are hiding something.


In addition to masks, the threatening effect can also be achieved through armour. This can show that the person is expecting to get into a fight, which is not necessarily a desirable and positive feature. For additional intimidation, spikes and other jagged designs are effective.

In the case of my film, I am limited by budget. Although I would want the cannibals in my film to look as intimidating as the antagonist's in the bottom 3 pictures, due to budget limitations, it is not possible for me to include extravagant costumes. Because of this, I will aim to make them look similar to the cannibals from The Road (3rd picture). I will do my best to make them look as intimidating as possible.