Evaluation 1. In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products.

For A2 Media Studies Coursework we had to create a teaser trailer of any genre (horror and create 2 ancillary tasks to go with it ( film poster and magazine cover).

Horror Genre Conventions Settings- usually small communities/isolated places/dark streets/woods. Connotes isolation or being alone. Often places with dark history or abandoned houses/ insane asylums.

Technical code;1. Camerawork expressive and not natural- high/low angles connate fear and vulnerability.2. Handheld shots= make it difficult for the audience to see what was going on. It promotes the feeling of

terror and unknown.3. Disturbing sounds- ambient diegetic sounds like footsteps and non diegetic sounds like a heartbeat.

Builds tension 4. Close up shots of victims face can help audience identify with the character and feel the terror and fear

they are feeling too. 5. Editing- creates unsettling tension and suspense. If editing is slow then you know something is going to

jump out and scare you and fast paced editing creates tension and moves the story. Iconography • Dark colors like red and black links to evil blood and danger• Lighting non naturalistic. Low key lighting helps to create dark shadows and unfamiliar shapes in the

darkness.• Props help identify with the horror genre. Props in horror films are usually identified with the villain and

common objects are weapons. Chainsaws, knifes, etc.

Narrative Structure- always a hero, protagonist, a man or a ‘final girl’ of the film. Todorov’s narrative theory. It is usually the females who are the victims. Character types- it is typical for these charcters to be found in horror films- 1. Main protognonist- often hero or victim 2. Villian-often a monster, freak, alien or serial killer3. Stupid teenagers who always get killed4. Creepy children 5. Police officers6. Many more- Ghosts, zombies, stalkers, psychopaths.

Themes- • Good vs evil• Religion• Childhood issues• Revenge• Supernatural• Zombie apocalyse• Nightmares• Suicide• Sex=death

FILM POSTER CODES AND CONVENTIONSI firstly looked at the general conventions of any film posters then looked at ones specific to the horror genre.

Film posters are a form of promotion and can be used to promote the film in different places. Image- films posters always contain a main image that would catch the audiences eye. These can be stills from the film, character shots and they contain some type of iconography (an important aspect of genre you expect to see certain objects when we see a prticular genre). Title- nearly always have the films title on it, sometimes if the film is well known it doesn’t need a title. Directors, producers and actors- usually these are displayed espercially if the director is a big name such as Steven Spielberg.Quotes/ratings- film is shown to critics then promotion team recreate posters with positive reviews to draw people in.Dates and extra info- dates are necessary so they know when it comes and having the date creates ‘hype’ as you are awaiting this with anticipation.

Conventions for horror posters- here are some exisiting posters I looked at before creating my own.

The posters I looked at mainly followed the conventions of a film poster with one main image etc.

dark/dull colour scheme- many horror film posters uses dark colours to reflect the themes of the film, example= shadows and darkness are linked with fear and terror. Lack of colour could signify death. Red/ black color scheme- on many of the posters I looked at the main colours used were reb and black- red connates blood and this is usually a main giveway of horror and usually a ‘slasher horror’. Different colours can be used to signify a subgenre. It is sometimes common too to use white as a background for horror and usually this is put with red blood as it ha more impact when on a white background. The image- usually positioned in the middle of the page and in horror posters found that it was usually one isolated image of a character of something associated with horror surronded in blackness. Eye-catching title- most posters position their titles at the bottom of the page usually with just a few words. Most do this o catch the readers attention. Taglines- used to sell and provide context and will let the audience know if they didn’t already that is the horror genre by using a creepy line and style of writing.

1.Comparing my poster to existing products-

I FOLLOWED THE CONVENTIONS OF A HORROR POSTER TO MAKE SURE MY POSTER COULD BE IDENTIFIED AS ONE OF HORROR. 1. I USED THE BLACK AND DARK

COLOUR SCHEMES- black background and the red and white features stood out more on this background. I used red in the smoke to connate blood instead of putting a weapon or an actual dead person so this went against the usual conventions of a poster.

2. THE IMAGE- I USED AN IMAGE OF ONE OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS OF THE FILM BUT POSITIONED HER AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE RATHER THAN THE MIDDLE LIKE OTHER POSTERS. I did this because I wanted the vocal point to be the smoke but continues the red theme on the image by changing the color balance for her to appear red.

THE TITLE OF THE FILM- I PLACED THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE NOT AT THE BOTTOM AS MANY HORROR POSTER DO. THIS WAS TO GIVE THE ILLSUION THAT THE WORDS WERE COMING OUT OF THE SMOKE

THE TAGLINE- AS MY HORROR POSTER IS BASED AROUND THE SMOKE I WANTED THE TAGLINE TO CONTINUE THIS THEME. I feel it connotes the horror genre well as hell is always associated with horror.

STARS- I ALSO FOLLOWED THE CONVETION OF HAVING A SRATING ON THE POSTER INSTEAD OF WORDS I JUST USED 5 STARTS AS I DID NOT WANT MORE WORDS DISTRACTING FROM THE POSTER AND THE STARTS ARE EFFECTIVE ENOUGH TO TELL THE AUDIENCE THIS IS A MOVIE WORTH WATCHING.

HORROR POSTER- I felt I have stuck largely to the conventions of a typical horror poster for my own horror poster. I did not challenge these conventions, in my first draft I did want to challenge the color scheme of black and was using a white background with no blood on it but after looking at existing

media products I found it is easier to identify a poster as horror if it is actually following the same codes and conventions. I have changed the focus of poster from being one of the character which is usually the case in horror posters and put the smoke

effect in the center.

Horror Magazine Front cover

Previously in my blog I did an analysis of existing horror film magazine front covers. The main things I found were – 1. Majority of horror magazines uses red colour for mast head/ title of magazine

2. Images used on cover is usually character from the film, usually a close up of their fae with eyes towards camera.

I followed the same convention other magazine had with red colour used for the mast head I felt this would identiy the magazine as one of horror.

I tried to not use as much blood in the cover as my trailer is less bloody and more creepy so I thought white would be an appropriate colour to use also because it links with the white smoke used in my horror poster.

I stuck to the convention of using an image of a character from the film as the whole point of the magazine is to promote and advertise the film. I also stuck to the convention of using a close-up shot and I made the focus be on the eyes by bringing up the brightness after changing the image to black and white. I did not use an overly scary image I wanted it to look more like a ghost girl as this foreshadows the death of the character in the movie but the audience do not know what will happen to her.

Conventions of Film Magazine Covers Eye Catching• The front cover is what first draws attention to audiences, so it must do this well and capture the buyer’s interest. Masthead• Otherwise known as the name of the magazine, the masthead will be clear and impressive. House Style/Graphics• The house style is the colours and fonts commonly used throughout the magazine – most magazines tend to have a set colour scheme which helps to identify it.• Graphics are used to highlight special news or offersAdditional Information• Additional information such as the price, barcode and date are usually found together• They will be small as to not draw attention away from the main focus of the cover, but big enough to read Subheadings• Subheadings advertise the main features that can be found inside the magazine• Important parts of these headings may be in bold or a different colour to stand out7. Famous people• Most film magazines will have a famous icon or person on the cover, again to attract attention

Horror trailer-

Before making my horror trailer I researched the overall codes and conventions of a horror film to make sure elements of my trailer fitted the horror genre and horrors specific way of being filmed.

I also looked at other horror trailer as another source as watching a couple it is clear to see there are similarities in many horror films and trailer especially the ones with the same sub genres.

MY HORROR TRAILER CONVENTIONS USED; I followed a conventional narrative structure of a trailer- consists of an opening, build up, problem and events. An opening establishes the setting for the trailer and introduces the characters involved. The characters will come across a problem and there will be events shows the characters tries to overcome the problem. I had links to Todorov’s Narrative theory commonly seen in films in my trailer -

In my trailer to show the state of equilibrium ( everything is normal and seems to be good) I used the opening scenes to create this atmosphere of happiness and joking around. In my trailer there is shots of the two characters laughing and chatting away as they record a video for their YouTube channel. For this scene I kept the diegetic sound of them talking to give the impression everything is good.

Editing - To show the disruption of equilibrium I used various camera shots, angles and editing techniques to represent the fact everything had wrong for the characters. It is common in all film trailers/ horror films that as the disruption begins will become fast paced. In some cases the footage is slowed down for effect before something bad happened. I used both of these conventions .The use of music and voiceovers are effective for adding the tension as the problem unfolds. An example of this is the use of Levi Strauss Binary Opposition theory put to work in many media products. Before the disruption of equilibrium I edited the close up shot of ‘summers’ face to be bright and the next shot when trailer is slowed down as dark and the close up shot of the other character has a scary look to it as the lighting made her face look green. The audience can clearly tell that the fun is over for the girls as it went from being light and bright to being dark and creepy.

As it is only a teaser trailer and not the film I did not show the reinstatement of the equilibrium or a resolution of the problem. I left the trailer when there is recognition of the disruption and the audience see girls running around tying to get away from who ever is after them. I did this because in trailers you do not want to give away too much information, it leaves the audience wondering what is going to happen.

I have used the ‘found footage’ or shakey camera technique in my trailer which is becoming a conventional aspect

of horror trailers. After watching a few trailers I got this inspiration of films such as ‘Blair Witch Project, ‘Paranormal

Activity’ and ‘Cloverfield. I found it created a sense of panic in my trailer as you are essentially following the story with the

character rather than watching from a detached position. You get scraed with the character not watching them get scraed

which I think is more fun.

Blair Witch Project My trailer

Location Conventions- I stuck to conventions when using mis en scene in terms of typical locations used in horror trailers. When the trailer begins the footage is set in a house in on of the characters bedroom I did this because it makes the characters seem normal to the audience so they might relate to them more, also it gives the impression to the audience that everything is good because they are in the safety of their own home giving them a false sense of security.

When things start to go wrong the characters in my trailer are filmed in the woods in the middle of nowhere running about. The woods is a very typical location for horror films and examples include ‘Cabin in the woods’ and ‘The Blair Witch Project’. Many horror films are often set at night and I also followed this convention filming the scary scenes in the dark. It fits with Levi Strauss’ theory of binary opposition. Idea that things go bump in the night, a concept derived from peoples childhood fears of monsters under the bed etc.

Scary non digetic sound and music- Horror trailers use sound tracks to build sound and tenstion I fulfilled this as I used music downloaded from incompetch to build suspense. I cropped the clips of the sound and arranged it so it flowed at

the same time as my trailer. Some of the audio I extracted from one clip ad add to another one which creates enigma as when it was used you could hear the scream but cant actually see anone screaming. I also used non digetic sounds of a

heartbeat to give the trailer pace when it comes to an end.

Costume and clothing- The color worn by the villian in many horror trailers are usually black, dark clothing. In my trailer I

wanted to keep mystery to the killer and so only show him at the end of trailer in a series of flashes. I dressed him in black clothes and a hoody over his face so it is impossible to get a good look at

him. One convention I did go against the ‘male gaze theme’ in many horror trailers where woman are sexualized I put both the female characters in normal clothes that teenagers would wear

not in any tight clothing to sexualize them

Editing- conventionally in horror trailers the pace begins slowly to match the equilibirium, when it is disrupted the pace quickens and this creates a

unnerving atmosphere for the audience. I found most trailers used editing effects such as fades to black an insertion of texts inbetween scenes help

establish the story which is something I used. They were placed at key places like the transition from equilibrium to disequilibrium. I have used editing

effects such as ghost trailers on several occasions as I felt this fitted my trailer as it gave the effect of being on drugs.

Lighting- Lighting is extremely important in horror trailers and films. In many trailers it is mostly shown at night as darkness has conations of danger, fear and vulnerability. I wanted to use this convention in my trailer by using low key and ambient lighting.

Using pan or tracking shots of the setting increased tension as it prolongs the next shot and increases the isolation of the film setting. I sued this technique when the girls

first go into the woods.

Theory- Barthes enigma code- suggest that any media product makes the audience question something and intrigue the audience to draw them in. This enigma in horror films might be a murdered or the question of what is going to happen next. Through horror trailer conventions I have created enigma and therefore can apply this theory to my trailer.