Typography Deconstruction

Typography Deconstruction

I decided to look into the typography of existing horror films in which I thought was really effective. It is essential for a film to have recognisable lettering; it's like a logo for a business, it helps for branding but it also creates that instant recognition when someone sees it. Not only that, but it also gives the viewers a clue as to the content of the film (unless the font juxtaposes the title or plot of the film). Here are some examples I picked out. 

'The Conjuring' (created in 2013) is a supernatural horror. This typography I thought was effective because it's firstly serif lettering which gives the title and aged effect and makes it look old. It's also black lettering and is against a paper-coloured background which gives the impression that it was someone writing with black ink onto a piece of parchment. The lettering is all of the same height and size which makes it look neat and uniform, giving a sense of all-roundedness and organisation. The word 'THE' has been made smaller and placed on top which makes the word 'CONJURING' stand our more and makes it the main focus, grasping the audiences attention. 

'We Are What We Are' (created again in 2013) is a thriller. The lettering here is in a blood red and is serif again, but this time the serif letters subvert common conventions of thrillers because it's a fairly modern film so the ageing letters create some confusion as to the era it is set in. If you look closely, it's also quite spattery writing, like it's been written in blood and the contrast of the red to the white table cloth makes it seem like the table cloth has been ruined and stained. The way the words have been positioned also makes it easier for the viewers to read and interpret because the 'WE ARE' is on the top line and the 'WHAT WE ARE' is on the second line so having these two clauses in the sentence separated makes it more legible.  

'Warm Bodies' (created in 2013) is again in block capitals to make the text stand out from the image behind it. It's in white which makes it legible against a dark background and it also looks tatty around the edge and has bullet holes in. This immediately gives the audience a clue as to what the film is going to include and the sub genre of thriller is revealed. However, you then have the red love heart acting as a hole in one of the 3D letters and it juxtaposes the rest of the typography. It also lets the audience know of the hybrid sub genre of romance.

I picked 'The Complex' because it was placed vertically instead of horizontally like the rest of them. Alike 'We Are What We Are', this also looks like it is written in blood but in my opinion I think this example works better because the writing is fainter and not as perfect; it looks like someone's used their finger to paint the lettering on. It looks quite old because of the way the 'E' has been written as well.

Finally, I looked at 'Deliver Us From Evil' and this was my favourite one. I liked how they cleverly used the D and made it a lot bigger and so when the audience look at it, the word 'Evil' turns into 'Devil' again giving clues as to the genre. I also liked the way that they made it look like the beginning of a chapter of a bible with the enlarged first letter and taking into account the line from the Lord's prayer, this feature really compliments the title.