EVALUATIONIN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA

PRODUCTS?

I WAS TOLD I NEEDED TO CREATE A PROMOTIONAL PACKAGE FOR A HORROR FILM, SO I KNEW I NEEDED TO CARRY OUT LOTS OF RESEARCH TO COLLECT THE COMMON CODES AND CONVENTIONS IN ORDER FOR MY PACKAGE TO BE PROFESSIONAL. I KNEW THAT COMMON CONVENTIONS WERE A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF CREATING A PIECE OF MEDIA TEXT BECAUSE I HAVE STUDIED MEDIA FOR MANY YEARS. I COLLECTED THE RESEARCH BY LOOKING AT CURRENT HORROR FILMS TRAILERS, POSTERS AND WEBSITES. THIS HELPED ME TO COLLECT A WIDE RANGE OF COMMON CONVENTIONS TO USE IN MY MEDIA PRODUCTS, OR OPPOSITELY CHALLENGE THEM. THIS IS A WAY OF MAKING IT CLEAR TO OUR TARGET AUDIENCE WHAT THE MEDIA PRODUCTS ARE TRYING TO CONVEY.

• MY GROUP AND I DECIDED TO RESEARCH A SUBGENRE OF HORROR THAT WOULD FIT OUR AUDIENCE FEEDBACK, SO WE LOOKED AT PSYCHOLOGICAL AND GORE, TO MAKE THE COMMON CONVENTIONS MORE SPECIFIC.

• LOOKING AT THESE SPECIFIC CONVENTIONS HELPED US TO FULFIL OUR TARGET AUDIENCE’S EXPECTATIONS.

• WE DID THIS BY COMPARING ALL THE TRAILERS POSTERS AND WEBSITES AND THEN PICKING OUT THE COMMON FEATURES BETWEEN THEM ALL.

IN THE POSTERS, MY GROUP AND I NOTICED THAT THEY ALL CONTAIN A LARGE PHOTO USUALLY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PAGE. I LOOKED AT SILENT

SCREAM, ONE MISSED CALL AND DEAD SILENCE WHICH ALL HAD THIS FEATURE. THE OTHER POSTER I LOOKED AT, NAMED ‘THE AMITYVILLE HORROR’ HAD A SMALLER PHOTO BUT THIS COULD BE BECAUSE THEY

WERE CHALLENGING THE COMMON CONVENTIONS.

I CHOSE TO FOLLOW THE COMMON CONVENTIONS IN MY POSTER BY USING A CLOSE UP SHOT OF THE ANTAGONIST. MY REASON FOR THIS WAS BECAUSE IT HIGHLIGHTS THE EVIL FACIAL EXPRESSION OF THE CHARACTER AND IT ALLOWS THE AUDIENCE TO SEE HIS FACE IN DETAIL. I ALSO FOLLOWED THE CONVENTIONS BY DECIDING TO GO WITH VERY DARK/LOW KEY LIGHTING. IN OTHER POSTERS I HAD LOOKED AT, THEY WERE MOSTLY DARK WITH A FOCUSED IMAGE IN THE MIDDLE. I USED THIS BECAUSE IT SETS THE TONE FOR THE FILM AND SINCE MY FILM IS BASED IN A GARAGE, GARAGES ARE USUALLY DULL SO THE LIGHTING FIT WELL.

I STUCK TO THE COMMON CODES AND CONVENTIONS IN MOST PARTS OF MY POSTER. I PLACED THE TAGLINE AT THE TOP CENTRE OF THE PAGE, WHICH I FOUND IN MANY OF THE POSTERS I HAD RESEARCHED. I PLACED THE TITLE UNDERNEATH THE MAIN PHOTO, AND THE CREDITS ALL AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE.

I CHALLENGED A CONVENTION BECAUSE I DECIDED NOT TO INCLUDE REVIEWS ON MY POSTER LIKE SOME OTHERS HAVE DONE. I FELT IT MAY CLUTTER UP THE PAGE AND START TO TAKE THE FOCUS AWAY FROM THE IMAGE SO I USED REVIEWS ON MY WEBSITE INSTEAD. I DECIDED NOT TO CHALLENGE TOO MANY CONVENTIONS ON MY POSTER BECAUSE I WANTED IT TO HAVE THE SAME EFFECT AS A PROFESSIONAL POSTER.

WHEN RESEARCHING FOR MY WEBSITE HOMEPAGE I LOOKED UP CURRENT WEBSITES PROMOTING HORROR FILMS. THE MAIN ONES I FOCUSED ON WERE ‘BLAIR WITCH PROJECT’ ‘DON’T BREATHE’ AND ‘LIGHTS OUT’

I FOUND THAT THE WEBSITES HAD VERY SIMILAR CONVENTIONS TO THE POSTERS. THEY INCLUDED A BI TITLE WHICH MADE THE NAME OF THE FILM VERY CLEAR. I INCLUDED THIS IN MY WEBSITE BY PUTTING THE NAME OF OUR FILM ‘THE VIEWING’’ AT HE TOP OF THE PAGE. THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT HAD A SOUNDTRACK THAT AUTOMATICALLY PLAYED WHEN THE SITE OPENED. I TOOK INSPIRATION AND SEARCHED THE INTERNET AND FOUND A SOUNDTRACK THAT I COULD USE ON MY OWN WEBSITE.

OTHER FEATURES INCLUDED A SOCIAL MEDIA BAR WHICH I INCLUDED ON MY WEBSITE TO ALLOW USERS TO GO TO THE DIFFERENT SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES FOR THEE FILM. THIS IS ANOTHER GOOD WAY OF PROMOTION BECAUSE IT ALLOWS THE AUDIENCE TO INTERACT MORE. I ALSO HAD A NAVIGATION BAR ON THEE LEFT SIDE OF MY WEBSITE WHICH WAS ON EVERY WEBSITE WHEN I DID MY RESEARCH. THIS MAKES IT CLEAR FOR THE USER TO GO TO PARTICULAR POINTS OF THE WEBSITE FOR INFORMATION. I PLACED THE SAME PHOTO THAT I USED IN MY POSTER, IN THE CENTRE OF THE PAGE SO IT IS EYE CATCHING AND SHOWS OFF THE MAIN CHARACTER. I PLACED MY TAGLINE AND REVIEWS ON THE PAGE ALSO AS IT IS IMPORTANT INFORMATION THAT WILL BE OF INTEREST TO THE READER AND WAS A COMMON CONVENTION OF ALL THE WEBSITES. I ALSO STUCK TO 3 MAIN COLOURS FOR MY COLOUR THEME AS THIS WAS A COMMON FEATURE THROUGHOUT THE WEBSITES. IT MAKES THE WEBSITE CLEAR TO READ AS TOO MANY COLOURS CAN MAKE IT SEEM MESSY.