A cabin in the woods, mysterious figures lurking in the darkness, a modern take on a classic genre... These were some of the ideas that FX approached us with when asking if we could pitch an idea for the graphics package of American Horror Story’s latest installment, titled 1984. The 80’s slasher-themed direction of this new season provided us with a starting point to create a variety of styleframes. 

 

Concept

 

We aimed to capture the atmosphere and colours of classic slasher films, while still keeping the overall style distinctively modern. By looking through a collection of iconic 80s films, we noticed recurrent visual elements, such as the use of dark silhouettes, shadows, and dramatic, directional lighting. We made use of reflective surfaces to reveal elements that would otherwise be hidden. One could think of these as a mirror or a window from which the protagonist glimpses his or her foe, referencing the tension and chase typical of the 80s horror genre. We avoided effects that would make the piece feel outdated, such as film grain effects or vintage colour filters.

 

Process 

 

From the start of the process, we branched off into 2 directions: Macro photography and 3D rendering. In both cases, we used the reflective surface of a knife as a central element. Using OctaneRender as our main rendering engine, we also created transparent materials which we combined with on-set photography to create imagery suggestive of a cabin window. These 2 elements allowed us to make use of effects such as blurriness, distortion and refraction while also featuring a thematically relevant objects throughout the various styleframes and effectively paying homage to these movies while retaining a graphic style that could be applied to a variety of potential deliverables.