2. Image.
By doing a photo shoot I was able to have a range
of images, so I could choose the most suitable
for promotional material for my horror film. By
taking a profile image like this I think really
works, which is why I chose this images to
develop further. The profile image is suitable as it
gives a connection between the audience and the
image as the model is looking down the
lens, hence, looking at the audience.
I believe that the image needs to be edited as at
the moment it doesn’t look professional and
nothing like an image for a magazine cover or
though it does have some elements for a
conventional horror image and magazine image.
Also by editing, it will mean that certain parts of
the image will be highlighted making it look
sharper and to a much higher quality looking
more professional.
3. Crop.
I wanted to crop down this image so that straight away
the main focus would be the face and the eyes. It is
typical of a magazine cover to have a profile image of a
character/person, and so by cropping it there isn’t as
much for the focus of the audience to change their focus
too apart from the main image. Also by having less body
in the image it takes away less of human like features
ready for further editing, the image will fit more into the
horror genre. Also further down the body you can see
more patches of the face paint again making it look less
realistic.
4. Brightness/Contrast.
By adjusting the contrast to +100 and
the brightness to +36 it makes the
face glow more disguising the fact that
it is white face paint. It also darkens
the make up around the eyes make
the white part and the pupils of the
eye stand out more making his face
look scary. Also by applying the
makeup on the cheeks, when using
this effect it enhances the cheek
bones giving a more chiseled effect to
the face and although having visible
cheekbones can be seen as a beauty
feature in this image it adds to the
effect of making the face look scarier.
The contrast and brightness effect also
makes the eyes look more hooded
which again makes it fit within the
horror genre.
5. Colour Balance - Midtones.
When adjusting the midtones to this image
it gives it a slight blue/purple effect, taking
the warmness away from the image. By
making it look colder the eyes are standing
out more and the darkness around them
enhances this. The stare becomes even
more of the main focus to the image and
makes a connection with the audience as it
is as if he is looking straight at the
audience/reader.
6. Colour Balance – Shadows
By adjusting the colourbalance of the
shadows it makes the image have even
more of a blue effect. This takes away
even more of the warmness from the
body making it look colder and almost
lifeless, which fits within the horror genre
and the film in which this character will be
placed in. The make-up around the eyes is
also starting to look less like make-up and
more like an effect of being lifeless or part
of the paranormal world.
7. Brightness/Contrast 2.
After all the adjustments I had made so far I
decided to go back to brightness and
contrast this was to sharpen the image and
to try to make the eyes look even more
hooded and darker making the eyeballs
actually stand out more, I believe this was
successful by reducing the brightness to -21.
Also during this stage it darkened the
background image making it look less like it is
taken in a room and more as if it is in the
darkness and in the night, this setting you
would stereotypically see a character like
this. Also by making the background darker it
lifts the image of the model making him
stand out and forward even more as the
contrast is greater between the facial colour
and the background.
8. Final Image.
To create the final image I used the
brush tool and the colour black to
make the whole background an even
colour so that the pattern on the
ceiling cannot be seen. Although the
film is filmed in a house environment
for the front cover of a magazine it
looks more professional for this to not
be seen. Again by making the
background completely black increases
the contrast between the model and
the background making it stand out
more and closening the impact of the
stare towards the audience/reader.
This image has become highly
appropriate for a magazine cover as it
draws in the attention of the reader
straight away and is also fairly simple
not making the magazine cover look
too full and cluttered.