In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our trailer has used many horror conventions that real horror trailers use. Here I have shown nine freeze frames from our trailer and existing horror trailers, to compare the use of techniques on our trailer to others. (Click on the pictures to see them bigger) 

1. We have used a monster with a mask that classic films such as, 'Halloween' and 'Friday the 13th' have used. We used a mask as it creates uncertainy for the viewer because they don't know what the killer looks like, this creates mystery.

2. This shows a close up of a wounded victim, a key convention of horror is to show the gore close up so the audience see something they havent before and are shocked by the effect produced.

3. This shows people being tied up, we chose to emulate the scene in 'Eden lake', as it shocked and horrified us as we saw it so we wanted to achieve the same effect with our trailer.

4. This shows the protagonist in full focus with the monster in the background, so the audience feel threatened for the character and scared to see what will happen. We found this effect creepy and chilling so chose to include it in our trailer.

5. We decided to use hand-held camera to get a shakey feel, like in 'The blair witch project', as we found that it disorientates the audience and gives the feeling of chaos.

6. Extreme close ups are a key convention of the horror genre, so we decided to show an ecu of an eye as this is the part of the body that gives the most character and can give emotion easily.

7. We decided to 'get in the face' of the character. The close up seems uncomfortable and forced into the face, which makes the audience feel uncomfy to watch it. It also shows emotion on the characters face.

8. Another key convention of horror is low key lighting and weird angled lightings to make shadows and unusual images. Our trailer used low key lighting in the car, but a bar of light on her eyes to resemble being imprisoned behind bars from the killer and it also highlights her eyes which are important in this scene as they look at the mirror which sees the killer for the first time.

9.We used the camera technique of placing the camera on the floor next to a laying body. This created a weird angle which isn't conventional to normal films but works in the horror genre because it breaks the rules and looks creepy.

    Our trailer uses forms and conventions of real media products in many different ways. Official teaser trailers are usually between 60 - 90 seconds. Ours is just over 60 seconds, so this agrees with the usual convention of a teaser trailer. Our trailer does not provide a release date for the film and in most cases neither do real teaser trailers. This is because they may not know the date yet because it is early on in production and the release is normally announced during the theatrical trailer. The first sequence keeps continuity and is there to tell the initial story and stage the equillibrium within the story. After this is established we decide to show short shots that use horror conventions to tease the audience into wanting to see the film, which is a key convention of the teaser trailer. A theatrical trailer would give more of the plot away but I found that teaser trailers made more of a confusion to what was happpening and pose questions so that the audience would want to find out what happened and why them certain shots were used. However, I think that this anti-continuity approach to the second half of the trailer lacks in identification with the protagonist. The first sequence sets up identification with the progonist because we see her in a vulnerable situation, however, she rarely features in the second half and doesn't centre enough around the protagonist. The narrative is also an imprtant part of our teaser trailer. The first sequence is there to set up the initial plot line and make people guess what will happen. We also gave away details of the plot line within the intertitles. However, we chose to disclose what happens later in the film, who the other characters are and what happens to the protagonist in the end. We chose to do this because it makes the audience want to know what happens, which may result in them seeing the film at the cinema. If we were to show these details in the trailer then the audience wouldn't need to see the film to answer their questions.

Another convention of teaser trailers that we used was with the intertitles. In real trailers the intertitles are split up, so that the first line sets a normal situation up and then the second turns this around to make the whole sentence sound evil/sinister. In our case our first line is 'Beauty is only skin deep'. This gives plot information, as our victims are models, however, it isnt evil and is a common phrase used. The second line is 'A knife goes in deeper'. This second line makes the whole phrase sound evil and makes it more like horror, it is a play on words that gives clues to the killers motives for the killings and is extremely ambiguous. This use of intertitles carries the viewer along and 'spoon feeds' them information that helps them understand the basic themes and narrative of the movie.

    Our trailer also uses horror conventions that many real media products use. We chose that the antagonist should wear a mask as we found that this connoted horror, evil and something unknown and chilling because it provides a mystery to what he person is hiding. I also found that when light was on the mask it made interesting shadows which added to the disfigurement of the face. We used gory parts because blood connotes horror and we also found many horror trailers that used gore and blood to shock the audience, so this is why we attempted to do that. We used many angles that horror frequently uses. The very first shot of the car breaks the 180 degree rule but we decide to do this intentionally because frequently in horror the rules are broken as it gives the audience a sense of disorientation and something out of the ordinary. We used high angles over the dead bodies to show that they were inferior. We also used a shot on the dead body with the camera lying on the floor facing towards the body, this is a strange angle to see and creates a weird look.

     In the trailer, we use many extreme close ups and close ups because they are a key convention of horror. We have close ups of faces that are clearly in pain, this makes the audience feel uncomfortable and puts them into the viewpoint of the character and we as an audience empaphise with them. The extreme close ups give the audience confusion and makes them want to know why these certain shots have been used. It also provides detail to the character.We also have a shot that provides a good depth of field, a victim is tied to a tree and the killer appears behind her without her knowing. This gives the audience a sense of unease because we know that it is there and feel sympathy for the victim as we dont know what happens.

    We decided to use the shakey camera technique for our trailer when the protagonist is running away from the killer. This provides a sense of chaos and makes the viewer unsettled. The hand held camera is a convention of horror that is used frequently in real media products, like 'The Blair witch project'.

During the chase sequence we used a point of view shot from the monster as this is a common technique used in horror movies.

   

    Another convention of horror is the use of binary oppisites. In our trailer we have the fight of good and evil which shows the oppisition in the characters. In the camera sequence we have our characters in a model scenario and then these shots are juxtaposed with their dead bodies, this also shows the oppisites of themselves and can resemble a bigger theme to the film. This juxtaposition and oppisition is used frequently in horror movies and trailers, out trailer does this well as these shots shock the audience because the initial shot is innocent and then it is turned to death.

    The soundtrack of a horror trailer is effective when it creates build up and creates an eerie atmosphere. I think that our trailer does created an eerie and scary feel, however this is no sense of build up in the latter stages when the editing pace becomes quicker, This slow start matches the slow piano, so therefore the quick editing should be matched by fast paced music. I think that this makes the shocking images less shocking because they aren't emphasised by the music.

   This overall collaboration of conventions of the genre help market the film because the teaser trailer shows key conventions and signifiers of the genre so that the audience will know about the film and horror fans will know that this is a horror film instead of, for example, a thriller which can sometimes be confused.