Monday, August 3, 2009

I Walked With A Zombie

sg
After finishing up my Curse of the Cat People poster a few weeks ago, I immediately started to think what movie should be next on my "to do" list. Since I'm such a big fan of the films of producer Val Lewton, I thought why not stay in his ballpark and try my hand at another one of his films?

I Walked With A Zombie is one of Lewton's best films--creepy, moody, and odd, nothing in it is quite what it seems. The most famous scene in the movie is when the main character (Frances Dee) literally walks "with" a woman in a zombie-like state, escorting her through a windy, eerily-quiet section of woods, where they encounter a real zombie, Carrefour (Darby Jones).

As soon as I decided to do a poster for this movie, it was that scene I wanted dramatize. And for whatever reason, the first and only design I saw in my head was a two-paneled approach, the first featuring the women walking, the second being what they're about to see.

I also wanted a rough look, much rougher than usual style, so I pulled out my old tubes of paint and slapped down some globs of it, spreading it across the paper and then adding them to the backgrounds. Once I dropped them in, it gave me the exact look I was going for. Hallelujah!

After deciding to use the same typeface I used for Curse of the Cat People, the rest of it fell into place.

I don't think I'm going to get bogged down into doing posters for the entire Lewton horror series (I just can't get that excited about, say, The Ghost Ship or Isle of the Dead), but there are some others--including my all-time favorite Lewton movie--I'd like to have a go at, eventually...


3 comments:

Steve Spatucci said...

That's cool - I like the way your style blends into the style of this movie. The green/blue sky is especially cool - kind of a drybrush-ish technique (at least when it's shown small).

Did I ever point this one out to you - cool free Mac font, great for horror:
http://www.dafont.com/feast-of-flesh-bb.font

I still need to see the Val Lewton movies - I don't think I've seen any except maybe Cat People, and that was a long time ago.

rob! said...

Steve-

thanks for the kind words. that font is very cool, thanks for the link.

and yes, you need to see some more Lewton movies--they're methodical and seemingly slow, but since they're all around 70-75 mins they don't drag.

i don't think you need to see all of them, but i heartily endorse I Walked With A Zombie, The Body Snatcher, and especially--my favorite--The Seventh Victim.

Steve Spatucci said...

You're welcome and you're welcome. I do feel guilty about not seeing his stuff. I'll keep your recommended list handy. I like horror.