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

From researching and analysing horror film trailers, horror film posters and front covers of film magazines, in depth, they have given me a better understanding of the conventions used within the horror genre. This helped me when initialising ideas for my own film trailer, poster and film magazine. I followed majority of these conventions however I did challenge some of them. An example of me following the conventions for my film trailer was that I produced a production company 'tag', which I created on Adobe photoshop. I created the logo in black and white, so that it had the same effect as the rest of the trailer, more spooky.

The storyline of my film trailer could be seen as a typical horror movie as it is a group of friends on a camping trip that turns nasty. For the storyline to be believable it is important that the characters fit in well with the plot, but at the same time, challenge the conventions. Therefore that is why we used typical characters like the 'dumb one, and the 'blonde one' however even though they were given these tags there were sometimes the complete opposite. This helped the audience to relate to the character's as they are typical of todays society.

The characters that I created for this film trailer were different to what you would usually find in a horror movie as I followed conventions when it came to their 'tags' however, when it came to how and when they died I challenged the conventions and did it differently. This was more obvious by the way that we used an all girl cast as usually the groups of friends in a horror movie are mixed, both boys and girls. By having an all girl cast the murderer was also female, which is very unlike a normal horror film as the villain is usually a man. As a group we believed that by having a female murderer, that it would attract a wider audience as it is different to other horror movies and they might like to see something different.
Focusing on the technical side of a typical horror film, my trailer has a variation of camera angles at different paces. I used a range of long, medium, close and extreme close shots throughout the trailer, the close ups and extreme close ups were used mainly when emphasising what was happening and to create tension within the audience. I used still tripod shots to focus directly on certain parts of the footage and also for tracking/panning shots, when filming the forest scenes I did not use a tripod as it would not have given the same affect, as if the young girls are being chased and murdered.

I also followed the Freytag's triangle theory when producing my film trailer, this is because it describes a film to have an equilibrium, a climax and then a fall of action. This is portrayed in my trailer as at the beginning of my storyline, everything is normal with a group of friends setting off on a camping trip, it is then there where my trailer meets its climax because one by one all of them are killed. Throughout this section in the trailer, the clips and shots get faster and more intense. Although I followed the conventions of Freytag's triangle, I also added in my own twist as towards the end of the trailer when people will think it is over, I added in one of the characters being dragged off the screen, screaming.

When all shots were put together I had to edit it in time with the music that we used, so that it all co-ordinated together and that it had a flow to it. This is important for keeping the audience interested in watching the rest of the trailer.
A lot of horror films persuade the viewers in believing that they are part of the film, this can be done through a lot of eye contact made looking into the camera. Therefore I did this quite a lot when trying to show the murderers evil side, and it also fits in with the title of the film 'An Eye For An Eye', as eyes keep looking into the camera, this also creates the horror like atmosphere. Although I did this I did not want to do it too much as it would become repetitive and tedious to the viewers which they could then begin to get bored and it would not have the same affect on the audience as it does only being done a few times.

I also challenged the conventions by adding in just captions instead of any dialogue as well. Each of the captions is in the same size and font, this is also a convention to a film trailer as it is important that they look like they all link together with the film.
As I did not want the audience to expect what was going to happen within the film just yet, i challenged the conventions by using an all girl cast and having a girl protagonist, this is unconventional to horror film as it usually both boys and girls within the cast.

Sound is essential to any trailer as the pace and volume of the sound reflects on the atmosphere created when wathing it. I used non-diegetic sound in my trailer, the soundtrack I used for my trailer is called 'Chainsaw horror'. The whole way through the trailer i kept the pace and volume of the music the same however, towards the end, I lowered the volume so that it was easier to cut off, without it being too sudden. It was then a good way of bringing in the emphasised scream that I added at the end when one of the female characters was being dragged off the screen.

The Film Poster -

When producing the film poster it was important that I had analysed and looked at many other exsisting posters as it is important to follow the conventions on something like a poster.
A poster is what is seen the most along side the trailer by the public and it was therefore important that the poster had an obvious link to the trailer and film its self. That is why I have included the picture of the eye as the core image on the poster. By adding the image of the girls to the middle of the eye on the poster its links it in with the image on the front of the film magazine.

Although the poster does not contain a busy image it is enough to attract the public, this is because it is just of an eye and it looks as if it is looking out to the person viewing it. However so that people know there is a group of girls within the film, I have added a faded image of the group of girls to the middle of the eye, this also leaves the viewers wondering whether it is to do with the girls being watched by somebody.

I have also followed conventions as at the bottom of the poster is a section that portrays the main charcter's names and the producer's names, this is seen in the majority of existing film posters. The layout for the poster is relatively simple with the image and then the text around it. This title is the largest font and is clearly set out, making it the main focus of the poster, with the release date and website smaller towards the bottom of the poster.
This is also shown in typical film posters, like the one below:

Magazine Front Cover -


When producing my magazine front cover, I had to follow all conventions to existing products from there being a main image and catchy tag-lines.
The colours that I used in the poster I carried on to use in the film magazine as it is then an obvious link to the film, therefore it is then clear to the viewers/audience that they are relate to the same film and this is important when trying to promote a new movie.
The red and white colours are bold and help the magazine to stand out. A magazine front cover has to be eye catching as somebody would not want to buy something that does not catch their eye after first seeing it.
I added the things that are found on all magazine front covers, like a barcode, issue number and a price, this is important as it is then easier this way for distrubution and for the paying customers.

The title of my film has been placed in the middle of the front cover so that it is clear to the buyer that that is the film that is being promoted inside the magazine, this is another reason for an eye catching image.