Scary stories to tell in the dark- review

The movie takes place in 1960/70s America during Halloween; the main group of friends uncover the haunted book owned by haunted Sarah Bellows. The book starts adding new scary stories which come true. The main dilemma comes from trying to stop the stories and to try and save those who have been doomed by the tales written. Yet this movie seems grounded even with the darker and odder story with references to Nixon and the war.

Visual variety- the horror scenes take place in varied places, unlike other horror movies which feature one place where the scares take place, this movie has multiple settings. A haunted far at night, a school, a hospital, a police  station and a haunted house. These settings emphasise tension and never lose the scares unlike some movies. The production design is outstanding for this movie based on the books of the same name, the monster are very well realised from the illustrations from the books.

The actors in this movie are overall good- each bring a surprisingly good job to such little roles. Yet for some characters this comes at a cost as the main character seems to be written more at the cost of other characters. Yet this isn't the only acting in the movie with a physical performance of the Jangly man (the same performer who played Baba Yaga in Hellboy 2019). His lurking presence and constant twisting adds a sense of unease to an already scary character.

The movies use of camera shots are particularly effective in delivering the scares; my personal favourite uses of camera shots comes with the toe-less corpse under the bed. he camera mostly switches between two shots a POV which is used to significantly add tension and a close up of the character hiding under the bed which shows the horror as we know something isn't right ( the character just realizing the situation he is in).

Though this movie draws many similarities to Goosebumps- the movie at times does seem to have a lacklustre story with many lines being very typical of the horror genre. The movie like the books are unsuitable for children with many graphic scenes (the movie definitely deserves its 15 rating with many horror filled, tense scenes and truly disgusting visuals).

I would recommend this movie for those who are just starting to get in horror, similar to the books. The visuals and scares will definitely live up to the title of the movie. This surprise success of this movie has hopefully introduced people to the horror genre- a more adult Goosebumps.

photoshop process

The original images that I took.

International A4

Added background and text

Added image

I used Photoshop to create a lynx gold ad. Photoshop is an easy to use programmes which has asy to use software which is both good for beginners and professionals.
I opened the page on international A4 paper portrait.
For the images and the LYNX text i used the magnetic lasso tool which allowed me to separate the image from the rest of the picture.
I used the paint bucket to add the black background and used the gradient tool in the golden square in the background to fade from gold to black. This square also required the lass to get the shape of the gold logo( the indent in the bottom left corner).
For the text I added effects like satin and inner glow to make the text stand out from the background as they have a similar colour.

Summer project

Lynx Gold print newspaper ad plan

Lynx is a grooming brand aimed for a young male audience from 16 to 32 years old. Lynx is an international brand and well known across the world (either as Lynx or Axe). Lynx gold has the fragrance of oud wood and dark vanilla which stays with you all day. 

The ad will be similar to other deodorant ads with the bottle (shampoo and deodorant) in the centre of the page. Gold will be the main colour featured heavily in the background- same colour as the gold on the branding. The gold square on the bottle will be present. The Lynx gold title will be on the top of the page above the featured deodorant and shampoo. Lynx will be black and white and gold will be black and gold (same colour as the branding). The slogan will be based around gold “for a golden experience”. This plays upon gold connoting winning or being number one. 

This project will require only one person for editing and taking photos of the products.  

Resources required: 

•  Digital camera (iPhone) 
• Computer with editing software (photoshop) 
• Props (shampoo and deodorant) 

The advert will feature in the Metro as the Metro is a nationwide newspaper which is available for free on public transport (buses, trains, etc...) This means the ad has greater reach as anyone can pick up the paper and see the ad. This also widens the readership- young and old read the paper as it is free. 

Metro readership: 

Platform	Source	Measurement		Delivery	AVG
Print	PAMCo	Reach	Adults	2,483,000	Daily
			18-34	843,000	Daily
			35+	1,572,000	Daily

The metro will increase the target audience of the lynx ad as it consumed by a lot of people in ranging age groups. However lynx does target a younger demographic; the older readership of the newspaper may buy it for themselves or their children.  

The costings for the ad will be cheap (around £10) as all that is required is the two props- the shampoo and the deodorant. 

Poster design