Natasha ManzellaA2 Media G324 –

Advanced Production

Question One: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge

forms and conventions of real media products

Before creating my practical projects I undertook a large amount of research into the horror genre and I learnt of the many conventions included in

horror posters and trailers. Therefore, when producing my media product I included these

conventions and also challenged a few.

From all the real horror media products the lighting they used was dull and dark which creates the horror like atmosphere. I used this in my trailer by filming in the dark; it meant that sight is restricted and therefore induces a fear of the unknown.

Another convention I used in my horror trailer was the typical horror like setting, in all the films I analysed they showed either a large new house like in ‘House at the End of the Street’, or a secluded location with hardly anyone around creating a sense of isolation. In my trailer, the setting I used was a wood in North London and a house in the middle of the wood. The house appeared to be surrounded by tree’s which in a sense showed it cut off from the rest of the world, this is a successful convention as it shows that no one can help the protagonist therefore making them more vulnerable.

A further convention I included in my trailer was typical horror iconography, my antagonist was holding a knife and she was covered in blood all immediately inducing fear and enigma strengthening the horror genre. Most horror trailers tend to include some form of a weapon such as the hammer in ‘House at the End of the Street’ as this creates the sense of danger which is why I thought it was essential to include something similar.

The antagonist is usually a male character as it shows his power over the protagonists but I chose to challenge this convention by using a little girl as the antagonist. I thought this would be effective as it is unexpected especially as youth connotes innocence, as well as this I dressed her in a plain white dress which also symbolizes innocence. This contrasts with the knife she is holding when we are first introduced to the girl and the dark makeup. I researched horror films that have previously used this technique such as ‘The Ring’ and ‘Orphan’ and I learnt that they tend to hang the hair over the face to hide some of the girls features which induces a fear of the unknown and it helps to create suspense.

The protagonist in horror films like mine tends to be mainly female as they are considered as vulnerable, naïve and weaker against the antagonist, this is why in my production all my characters are female. Furthermore, as females are considered to be dependent on a male by putting them without any male company increases their vulnerability but it also makes the audience care more for their wellbeing than they would a well-built man. However, I challenged this convention slightly by making my female characters confident and brave, so much so they are willing to travel to a secluded area and investigate a story from a film they previously watched (Silenced).

The shots that I used could be considered as unconventional as most horror films and trailers use a range of establishing shot, close – ups, mid shots and other types of shots but instead I used handheld shots. On the other hand, found footage films such as ‘Rec.’ and ‘Paranormal Activity’ are getting more recognition and they are now more popular so much so some consider it to be a horror sub-genre. This is also very common for low budget films as they do not require expensive camera equipment this factor also influenced my choice to use this style.

Another important convention I used in my trailer was the use of a jump scare, after I added the title and removed the tense music the audience begins to calm down, I then added an eerie scream and it shows a quick shot of the antagonist. This was unexpected and I discovered from my audience feedback that it was successful and impressionable which is what I wanted considering it is the last thing audience sees. Most trailers use this technique and I got my idea from the possession, it was a simple jump scare but creepy all the same mainly due to the music.

My music was another main feature that I tried to use to reflect typical horror conventions; I listened to many different trailers and concentrated on the music. All most always the music was deep and tense and the pace increased with the action as the trailer went on, furthermore I found that the music usually has no lyrics so the audience isn’t distracted from the action in the trailer. Therefore, for the music in my trailer I used YouTube to try and find tense music but it was extremely difficult to find a track that fit well with my narrative so I used final cut pro to create my own soundtrack by combining loads of different sounds (including the resident evil soundtrack)

I attempted to reflect the typography that I had seen in in a trailer I watched called ‘The Pact’ it was simple and plain but I think it worked affectively, so for my trailer I used a simple white text on a dark black background. I felt this also added suspense and didn’t give too much of the narrative away whilst keeping to the horror atmosphere.

And finally I tried to create enigma, which I realized was a horror convention. I did this by creating a camera bad T.V. effect which looks like the camera cut out just as the antagonist approaches the protagonist which creates enigma as the audience will question what has just happened. Furthermore, as the shots used are from a handheld camera it is almost like the audience is included in the trailer and these shots restrict their sight creating enigma.

When creating my magazine front cover I tried to include conventions I had seen in other real media projects, I added a puff ‘The World’s Biggest Movie Magazine’, a bar code, the date, the price and the magazine title (house style) ‘Empire’. By adding all these different features it made my final product look realistic and professional. I made date and price very small compared to the rest of the text on the magazine this is because it may discourage the audience when considering whether to buy the magazine or not therefore I want it to be the last thing they see.

I noticed that in all the horror magazines they featured someone from the film, so it was between the antagonist or the protagonist but after doing some research I thought that for a horror magazine front cover looks much more interesting if it was the antagonist. However, my antagonist is very young so it is unlikely she would be doing any interviews so I didn’t include and exclusives about the film on the cover. A convention of horror magazine front covers is the engaging direct eye contact, so I was sure to include this. I feel that it looks as if the antagonist is looking at the audience with piercing eyes tempting them to buy the magazine.

I added text and pictures around the outside of other upcoming films of similar genres that I chose to include in my magazine such as ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘Beautiful Creatures’. I added a ‘+’ to connote that in my magazine we are giving away a lot more than you would expect, I got this idea from The Watchmen issue and the Bond issue. By adding extra films it encourages people to purchase the magazine even if they are unsure of the film on the cover.

I made the title of my film ‘Silenced 2’ the biggest text on the page as it is the most important text but however I broke away from the horror conventions by using yellow for this font. This is because I wanted it to stand out and using dull colors would have caused it to blend in with the background. The picture I used was positioned so her face was in the center of the magazine as it should be the first thing the audience sees as it is the main focal point and the main selling point.

Having looked at many Empire magazine front covers I noticed that they position the title behind the head of the main character, this is because they are a well-established magazine and are confident that their readers will be able to identify the magazine even if part are covered. However, I did not follow this convention as I wanted my photo of the antagonist to be large which meant too much of the title would be covered so I positioned it on top of her head. Mine Real

When it came to producing my poster I kept to many conventions by keeping the background dark creating a fear of the unknown and the lighting was only highlighting the protagonists face. I added blood and a large gash on her forehead to make it look like she has been through hell, which will create enigma and encourage the audience to watch the film.

I chose to use the protagonist as the main character in the poster and her mouth is covered as if to link with the title of ‘Silenced’. I added the Facebook URL, credit block and tag line all to create authenticity.

I broke conventions as I chose to take out her eyes which tend to usually be giving direct eye contact with the audience. I did this as I thought it made the picture look scarier as the original picture didn’t look like she was scared.

Furthermore, I felt my poster was pretty busy with all the blood and textures so I wanted to keep the amount of text to a minimal so I chose not to include accolades and reviews.

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