“In what ways do your media products use, develop or

challenge forms and conventions of real life media products?”

MEDIA A2 LEVEL Evaluation Question:

WEBSITE TRAILER

POSTER

Research before handI analysed real horror trailers before going on to create ours. This helped a lot as it allowed me to identify the forms and conventions that often feature in a horror trailer:

-Slow start introduces the Characters and sets up an equilibrium.

- Includes an Antagonist and Protagonist.

- Antagonist is usually never seen in full during the trailer, this increases the mystery around the character and the film.

- Usually includes a turning point, after this, more and more horror ensues.

- Fast paced music towards end.

- Blood and Gore (some times depending on genre)

[One of the trailers I analysed was ‘You’re Next’ (see sound analysis video on blog). All Conventions listed above featured in the video. Due to the similarity between the basic plots of ‘You’re Next’ and the planned plot line of ours, it made it simple to transfer the conventions over by using ‘You’re Next’ as an example text.]

The use of close up scenes creates an intense situation. When using it for people’s faces, it allows the audience to only take in what the person’s expression is (nothing else to distract them)

Use of conventions and forms.

-Slow start introduces the Characters and sets up an equilibrium.

- Includes an Antagonist and Protagonist.

- Antagonist is usually never seen in full during the trailer, this increases the mystery around the character and the film.

- Usually includes a turning point, after this, more and more horror ensues.

- Fast paced music towards end.

- Blood and Gore (some times depending on genre)

The list we created from our research of existing trailers:

We identified these features to be key in a horror trailer, so tried to use these conventions through out our trailer to emphasise the horror genre.

-Slow start introduces the Characters and sets up an equilibrium. We showed this through filming the protagonist in an average day. You see her happily going up to bed and going on her phone.We used calm and relaxing music to suggest a serene environment.

Use of conventions and forms.

-Slow start introduces the Characters and sets up an equilibrium.

- Includes an Antagonist and Protagonist.

- Antagonist is usually never seen in full during the trailer, this increases the mystery around the character and the film.

- Usually includes a turning point, after this, more and more horror ensues.

- Fast paced music towards end.

- Blood and Gore (some times depending on genre)

The list we created from our research of existing trailers:

We identified these features to be key in a horror trailer, so tried to use these conventions through out our trailer to emphasise the horror genre.

-Includes antagonist and protagionistOur protagonist was a girl named Clara, we decided to make her roughly 18years old to fit in with the target audience (they may be able to relate to her.)The antagonist was ‘The Creeper’ an illusive character who remains faceless through out the trailer.

Use of conventions and forms.

-Slow start introduces the Characters and sets up an equilibrium.

- Includes an Antagonist and Protagonist.

- Antagonist is usually never seen in full during the trailer, this increases the mystery around the character and the film.

- Usually includes a turning point, after this, more and more horror ensues.

- Fast paced music towards end.

- Blood and Gore (some times depending on genre)

The list we created from our research of existing trailers:

We identified these features to be key in a horror trailer, so tried to use these conventions through out our trailer to emphasise the horror genre.

Antagonist is usually never seen in full during the trailerWe used this in our trailer with ‘The Creeper’ (antagonist) . You only ever hear his voice, and see his feet, hands and the back of him.

Use of conventions and forms.

-Slow start introduces the Characters and sets up an equilibrium.

- Includes an Antagonist and Protagonist.

- Antagonist is usually never seen in full during the trailer, this increases the mystery around the character and the film.

- Usually includes a turning point, after this, more and more horror ensues.

- Fast paced music towards end.

- Blood and Gore (some times depending on genre)

The list we created from our research of existing trailers:

We identified these features to be key in a horror trailer, so tried to use these conventions through out our trailer to emphasise the horror genre.

Usually includes a turning point, after this, more and more horror ensues.We thought this was a key feature to use in our horror trailer, it creates more excitement and gives the trailer a fast pace. The identifiable turning point in our horror trailer would be when Clara (the protagonist) walks out of view of the camera to reveal ‘The Creeper’ stood some distance away watching. Although arguably, there is a turning point earlier on in the video (when you see the creeper’s eye) but this isn’t as obvious.

Use of conventions and forms.

-Slow start introduces the Characters and sets up an equilibrium.

- Includes an Antagonist and Protagonist.

- Antagonist is usually never seen in full during the trailer, this increases the mystery around the character and the film.

- Usually includes a turning point, after this, more and more horror ensues.

- Fast paced music towards end.

- Blood and Gore (some times depending on genre)

The list we created from our research of existing trailers:

We identified these features to be key in a horror trailer, so tried to use these conventions through out our trailer to emphasise the horror genre.

- Fast paced music towards end.This coincided with the first (more subtle) turning point, where you see the Creeper’s eye watching Clara. The music suddenly switches to a more negative minor tone and a tense drum beat can be heard.

Use of conventions and forms.

-Slow start introduces the Characters and sets up an equilibrium.

- Includes an Antagonist and Protagonist.

- Antagonist is usually never seen in full during the trailer, this increases the mystery around the character and the film.

- Usually includes a turning point, after this, more and more horror ensues.

- Fast paced music towards end.

- Blood and Gore (some times depending on genre)

The list we created from our research of existing trailers:

We identified these features to be key in a horror trailer, so tried to use these conventions through out our trailer to emphasise the horror genre. - Blood and Gore- This convention was hard to recreate, as it was unpractical for us to find the props

needed. So we decided to suggest blood and gore rather than showing it. This could be seen as challenging the conventions (as we didn’t use blood and gore) or using the conventions (we showed violence). From the research I completed, it is evident that I simply used the convention, as all trailers I’ve looked at showed the weapon.

Challenging conventionsI found it hard to challenge the conventions . Mainly because they are conventions for a reason (they work). Being creative and innovative by changing the conventions can be a gamble, as the audience may not take it well, although you could argue, without challenging the conventions, development is ever made the horror genre. Upon reflection, I think if I were to do the project again, I might have used a male protagonist and female antagonist. This goes the normal conventions and fits with the changing world (where women are becoming more equal).

Developing conventionsOne convention that is common in a lot of horror products, is the unknown identity of the antagonist (You’re next, the villains have masks, sinister, the villain is more of an unknown presence.) We thought this would be a brilliant convention to develop.A main theme that is presented through my media products, is technology and the new modern fear: You have no idea who you could be talking to. This tied in well with the unidentified antagonist convention. We combined the two. Our antagonist had been talking to the protagonist online for a while, yet his identity remains unknown. We then developed this to fit in with the convention (through out the trailer, poster pictures and website pictures he remains faceless), this developed the traditional convention to fit with modern times, (through the combination with technology).