CONVENTIONSJacob Brown

SOUND

Ideally I hope to use a small amount of dialogue so I do not give away the storyline too much and expose the secrecy of the antagonist. This is conventional as it makes the audience wonder and encourage them to watch the film.

I will use both diegetic and non-diegetic sound to make my film more conventional, I will use sounds such as screaming, creaky, creepy music. These are conventional and makes my product more horror like and scary.

CAMERAWORK

Such shots such as an establishing shot will be vital to my trailer as it signifies to the straight away the location of the scene and the location will give an initial response such as fear, dark, scare. This is conventional as it allows the audience the chance to see the location

I will use close ups as it shows the characters expressions the best, by doing this the audience will be able to react based on character response and emotion, this gives power to my trailer. Close-ups are conventional as we see them in key horror scenes to show emotion such as ‘Here’s Johnny’ (The Shining) and ‘Hannibal Lecter’ (Silence of the Lambs)

EDITING

In my trailer I will use fast-paced editing to increase tension and fear amongst the audience. This is conventional as it allows the audience to wonder and predict what's going to happen next while building tensions.

I will use cuts and fades to black and the end of select scenes, these will encourage the audience to watch the film itself as it leaves them on a cliff-hanger. This editing technique is conventional in horrors such as The Purge, Silence of the Lambs and Chernobyl Diaries as they reveal enough of the plot to encourage the audience but not enough to spoil the film.

MISE-EN-SCENE

The use of lighting in my trailer will be mainly low-key, this allows my trailer to seem dark and mysterious. By doing this you are showing danger which is conventional to a horror.

I will use props such as music boxes, rocking chairs, weapons. The music box is the key prop in the film as it connects the antagonist to the protagonist. It is also the association of the antagonist. This is conventional as creates fear when you hear the music and tension amongst the audience of when the antagonist is going to appear.

I have decided to use a rural bungalow as the main location for my horror film. This gives the house an abandoned and lost feel especially when the protagonist is alone. This is conventional as the audience will relate to the fear of the protagonist and recognise the creepiness of the property.

The costumes worn in the trailer range. The protagonist wears normal, everyday clothing. This is conventional as the audience will relate to the character and her costume. However, the antagonist wears an unconventional costume, this gives him a unique look and will help audiences to remember and fear him more as he looks more mysterious.

Example of low key lighting