In this tutorial I’ll show you how to create a haunted castle movie poster in Photoshop using an array of good techniques. Learn adjustment layers, channel selections and text effects to create a cool poster.
how to create haunted castle movie poster using photoshop
Lets get started!
Step 1: Prepare the Document.
In Photoshop open a new document at 1000 x 1300 with resolution set to 300 dpi and using RGB color.
Place the image of the castle into the document and resize it. Place the image with the castle prominently in the centre and toward the bottom of the document like this:
Step 2: Cut Out the Sky
With the castle layer selected go to channels and find the channel with the most contrast which is the blue channel here. Duplicate this channel by dragging it to the new channel button just like you would a layer.
Go to Image > Adjustment > Levels. Bring the right slider along to 205 and the left slider to 210.This brings out the contrast of the castle against the sky so we can cut it out.
Grab a hard black brush and cover over the castle trees and moat with black. Then do the same with a white brush on the sky. If you need to make a selection around any left out bits do so and fill with the correct color.
Next Ctrl + click the blue copy channel to make a selection go back to you layers palette and hit Ctrl + shift + I to inverse then Ctrl + J to bring the castle and trees into a New Layer by Copy & Paste and rename the new layer castle.
Select the image of clouds by google images and place it in the image and resize it . Put this layer under the castle layer.
Step 4: Balancing the Poster
Add a color balance adjustment layer.
Set the midtone to + 70 giving the image a red tint.
Add a levels adjustment layer and change the midtone input to 0.80 .
Add a hue saturation adjustment layer and reduce the saturation to 21.
Step 5: The Eyes
download the face image by google images & place it in the document and cut the eyes out using the marquee tool. Select just the area around the eyes including the eyebrows and bridge of the nose but exclude the ears. Then hit ctrl shift and I to inverse the selection and delete.
Step 6: Making the Eyes Dramatic
We’ll now work on the eyes and make them more dramatic and other worldly so they fit in with the theme of the movie. Hold Ctrl and + Key to zoom in the image of the eyes so you can work on the pupil’s and eyeballs.
We’ll start by reducing the color, go to Image > Adjustments > Hue-Saturation and reduce the saturation to around -32.
Step 7: Eyes
If you need to and grab the Dodge Tool set to midtones and exposure set to 75 % then brighten around the pupil and the white of the eye. Bring out the color of the eyes and keep going until the eyes look more dramatic.
Step 7: Adding Colour to the Eyes
Then add a New Layer fill with a red color #da2411 and set to color burn with the Eraser Tool on soft round brush erase away the red on the castle and sky leaving the color only on the eyes like so.
Next grab the Burn Tool set to midtones with a 10 – 15 % exposure and darken a little around the eyes.
Step 8: Reducing Shine of Castle & Trees
Use the Burn Tool set to midtones and 70 – 80 % exposure to reduce the glare on the castle walls and spires. Cover all the areas where the sun is hitting the castle. Do the same for any shiny areas on trees.
Now my Image is looking like this:
Step 9: The Skull
Get the image of the skull from google images and resize it so it covers the bush this takes away a random looking element and adds drama.Set this layers blend mode to Lighter Color and the layer’s opacity to 55 %. Label the layer skull.
Step 10: The Starring Man
Get the image of a horror face from google images place it in the document now resize and place it on the left. Change the blend mode to Linear Light. Now reduce the opacity down to 75 % and you should have this.
Step 11: The Title Text
Choose the type tool and the font Decrepit (BRK) at size 20 type ‘THE HAUNTED CASTLE’. If you don’t have this font already download it from here. Place the text over the line where the eyes layer meets the cloud layer. Then to give the text some depth copy the text layer (ctrl + J ) and rasterise it reduce the opacity to 36 % and nudge it down and to the right 2 pixel .Place the copied layer below the original.
Step 14: The Credits Text
Create a box with the marquee tool to boom of the poster and fill this with a dark red I used #6f0303.Put this layers blend mode on Darken.
Add lettering with the Type Tool to make the image seem more like a film poster. Type the names in a larger font and the titles such as director in a smaller font. Then compress the whole group of text by highlighting it and reducing the horizontal scale in the character palette to around 44. I also added a small symbol in white. This all gives the text a movie poster feel.
You should end up with something similar to this:
Step 15: Adding More Text
Add ‘MASTERPIECE’ in Trajan pro with double quotation marks. Then use the shape tool to create 5 small 5 sided stars (create stars from Basic Shapes by using Shape Tool) in dark red with the name of a magazine you like. Then add academy award winner 2010 and place in the lower right hand side.
Step 16: Fill with Light
To lighten up the image add a new layer at the top and fill it with white, change the layer’s blend mode to Overlay. Reduce the opacity to 50% (Shortcut key is 5).
Step 16: Adding Some Red
Then add a gradient adjustment layer with the colors stops set from #a3060b to #f60c0c, linear and 90 degrees. Set the blending mode to Luminosity and reduce the opacity to 10%.
And you done it!
Here’s my final result:
I hope you learned something new and had fun.
Thank You!