Title Design

Horror film titles

 

Iconography - Images and symbols

The photos, images, short clips or full scenes used during the introduction are usually used to draw the viewer in and create interest from the start. If the first few clips of the film are really dull and boring, it may spoil the film and the viewer could loose interest quite quickly and lower their expectations for the rest of the film.  In horror films, the type of images appearing during the introduction consist of  clip or a sequence of images relating to the type of horror involved. It is important that the images relate to the film itself as if there is not connection then there is not much point having those images in the first place. The type of things used are often used in the film its self. In the titles for horror films, these images are also very important.

 

The symbols used in horror films and horror posters are also always relevant to the plot of the story. Sometimes the most recognisable symbol is that of someone screaming or the face of the 'monster' its self. When people see this type of imagery they automatically link it to horror. It also helps to make the film more appealing and interesting. If the photos were dull or did not suggest the theme of horror well enough then interest is taken away.  

 

Colour

 

Colour is another important feature of the title design. Horror films include gloom and darkness and the type of colours used are greys and black. Theses colours are used with in the title as well as through out the rest of the film. It starts the theme right from the very start. In the title design for horror, bright colours are never used. This is because bright colours are not associated with the theme of horror.

 

Typography

 

The type of text design used in horror titles (and any other title for any film) are also very important. They must relate to the theme because if they don't it makes the title look bad and unplanned. If the theme is horror the person designing the text to be used for the title would not be bubbly text but something more plain, maybe with one of the letters looking like it have blood dripping from it. But at the same time the text cannot be boring, if the text was boring then the title may not look as interesting and attention may be lost.

Bellow is an example of a good text design that could be used for a horror film.

 

 

Bellow is a poster for a horror film Scream, this is a good example to show the imagery, text and colours used to represent horror films. The colours are dark and the images relates to the film. The text also stands out and is quite a dramatic font.  

This is another poster for a different film. Once again, dark colours and dramatic text is used. This poster also shows the face of the monster unlike the poster for Scream which shows the face of a frightened person.    

 

Both posters relate well to the theme of horror.