Phantasm Films

'Phantasm films' metaphorically was great for representing the plot and the idea behind seeing what does not really exist. I was inspired by Alfred Hitchcocks' opening title sequence to Vertigo - suggesting the eye leads to the mind and the manipulation of what we perceive in reality is due to our mind's influence. I decided to play in that idea to make a suitable production company ident logo. Firstly, I started drawing some template ideas on paper of an artistic eye that I could build an ident out of. Transferring it into Adobe Photoshop; I manipulated the image, experimenting with different tools on how to make it look like it is spiralling inwards. Using the brush tool I drew around the iris, cropping the rest of the eye out. I had used a burn tool to darken certain areas, then using a smudging tool that would result in a swirling effect. This creates a hazel/ brown colour that darkens as it goes inwards which I though worked well as being a manipulated iris working well with the theme that I was going for. I opened up the image in Adobe After Effects, to experiment with the animation of the ident. I came up with an idea or creating noise (a typical, fuzzy TV static effect) - to place the manipulated iris on top. This suggests the fuzzy and unclear mental state that my character will have. This production logo will therefore be likely to distribute films with a creepy, thriller genre like this that seems disturbing.

Finished Ident Logo

The 'noise' filter was inserted on After effects on a black composition. I then had the choice to what extent the noise would be present and how grainy it would seem. I placed the iris on top of the composition and set the blur effect to come into place; slowly making the iris come into focus whilst the noise moves in the background. To create the title of my company, I found a suitable simple yet with a pixelated edge to create the 'Phantasm films' titling. A pixelated font works well with the noise - building textures. I chose white to contrast and stand out from the noise - adding a blur tool that would sync with the iris; bringing in 'Phantasm' first, with films following just a few seconds later coming into focus. The ident sequence is only a total of 8 seconds, I will later add on (in Premiere pro) sounds of TV static - a strong fuzz to enhance the sequence.