Practical Task: Image Typography

For this Typography task, I decided to uses an image to fill the text rather than solid colour; I chose this to subvert common representations in horror films, whereby typical typography consists of the traditional 'Dripping' effect, with the standard red, white and black colours, as explored previously. For this film title, using the same name as decided originally, 'The Calling', I used an old Serif font from Microsoft fonts and used an image of black onyx eyes from possession, corresponding with the supernatural sub-genre of horror.

The Task:

 
Firstly, once the image was chosen from the internet, I saved it and imported into Photoshop. I then blurred out the image, aside from one of the images, using the Blur tool in the software. This drew the attention of the viewer to the one clear and focused eye, making it as though the character is looking at them, which ultimately creates a sense of realism for the audience. This creates a disorientated effect, which is representative of the mind-state of possessed victims in supernatural or paranormal films.

 
I then cropped the image to display the area of the face desired for the title itself, which is shown in the screenshot attached above. The image below shows the same picture of the eyes, however, imported into Microsoft PowerPoint. This was to overlay the desired text more easily and allow for the image to be featured on the inside of the text.

 

 
The Serif font that I chose resembled that of an old stamp, with the edges extending off the edges of the letters. I chose this font as this was common typography for old documents, such as Church records, commonly shown in possession and supernatural films, adhering to the genre chosen.

 
I then saved the PowerPoint slide as an image and imported it into Photoshop, whereby I cut out the remainder of the background which was not desired. Using the effects pop-up on the right hand side of the Photoshop window, I added effects to the text. Firstly, I added a glow in a soft grey to emphasise the outline of the image. The grey glow also represented the greyish haze of possessed characters or ghosts commonly depicted in such films.

 
I also added a drop shadow in black to visually re-create the feeling of being watched or followed, which is commonly shown in horror movies such as the supernatural genre. The 'echo' of the text also creates a disorientated effect, coinciding again with the chosen genre. Once completed, I then exported and saved the finished title as a JPEG image ready for use.

Attached below is the finished typography title: