In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions

of real media products?

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

My movie trailer ‘Deadly Obsession’ follows many examples of conventions and codes used in real media products. The horror sub-genre that I chose, itself is a convention of horror, which is horror-of-demonic. This sub-genre is one of the most known genres of horror, as to most people when they think of horror the words ‘supernatural’ and ‘exorcism’ automatically are thought of. Furthermore, at the beginning of my research I analysed horror films and discovered that most of the successful horror movies belong to this sub-genre, for example the movies ‘The ring’ and ‘The sixth sense. I also influenced by these movies, therefore using very similar costumes and themes.

Horror conventions that I used:

Mise-en-scene: Isolated place (park)Haunted houseDark atmosphereCostumes, hair & make up

Music & sounds:Suspense musicMusic matching characters movementsCamerawork & edits:Fast cutsOver the shoulder shotsTracking shots

Characters:Innocent child (victim)Demonic spirit

Icons: Blood Darkness

Themes:Good vs. Evil

The majority of my trailer is set in a house, this is a convention as many producers like to use a haunted house or someone being haunted in the house (eg. paranormal activity). Both of my characters were children which is quite unconventional, most horror movies usually have either an adult as the demonic spirit or as the victim. However due my inspiration from the movie ‘The sixth sense’ I wanted to focus on children, their vulnerable side (victim) and evil side (demonic spirit).

I used the scene of the dark and isolated park, as I thought this was a great way of connoting the victim’s innocence by playing outside. However the darkness and isolation creates a juxtaposition, which informs the audience that the innocent child may be surrounded by evil.

The costume, hair and make up is another convention that I followed as after watching the movie ‘The ring’ I was influenced by the way the spirit was shown. Her costume and hair created a terrifying atmosphere, therefore I felt like doing something similar would be perfect for my trailer and would represent the spirit suitably.

Mise- en- scene

Deadly Obsession

The Ring

Lighting is also essential in horror movies, therefore low key lighting and chiaroscuro is a convention of horror that I followed. Lighting is an essential part of a horror movie as the lighting can creates a freighting atmosphere and helps the audience to discover what genre my film is. Therefore I made sure my horror trailer was mainly shot in low-key lighting. I did this by either shooting at night or adjusting the colour levels on my camera. However shooting my trailer at night was successful because there was natural darker lighting.

Low key lighting-Deadly Obsession

Low key lighting-Deadly Obsession

Chiaroscuro-Deadly Obsession

Low key lighting- Friday the 13th

Chiaroscuro-Sinister

Theme The conventional theme that I followed in my movie trailer was ‘good vs. bad’, the young innocent girl being the good and the spirit being the bad. However in the beginning of my plan the premise that I developed was ‘what if ghosts behaved by jealous human beings?” this is quite unconventional as in most horror movies the ghosts/spirits are portrayed as instinctively evil. Therefore, my story-line is based on the fact that this evil spirit was initially good and wanted to be friends with the little girl, but due to rejection becomes evil. Hence the good and evil theme is still present on my trailer.

Icons

After watching the trailer for the movie ‘the shinning’ I was influenced by the use of blood and also because its one of the most used element in horror movies, therefore being a convention. Another icon is the darkness used in horror movies, as I previously said I believe darkness is extremely important as it promotes my genre.

Music and sound

All movies use either diegetic or non-diegetic or a combination of both, they are an important element of horror trailers because like lightning they create a frightening atmosphere and give a horror effect. The music/sound I have used in my trailer is non-diegetic therefore very typical for horror trailers because it starts very calm then it builds up to create tension. This was suitable as my trailer follows Todorov’s theory, therefore starts with equilibrium and as it moves to disequilibrium, the non-diegetic sound follows it. For example, the sound changes in the scene where the little girl is waking up, the change in sound informs the audience that something evil is around and about to take over and from there on different sounds are added causing an overlap .This shows how I have used conventions of horror trailers because all of the trailers in this genre have a dark soundtrack playing at some point through them.

Camera workMost of the camera movement that I done in my trailer were tracking shots, tilt and crab shots. The shot length used were mainly long shots, over the shoulder shots, medium shots, close ups, low shots, high angles and eye angles. I used these shots, camera movements and levels as they were frequently used in most trailer movies that I had previously analyzed. Therefore following conventions of horror movies mainly ‘sinister and the last exorcism part 2 , which I believed I used in a successful manner.

High angle

Deadly Obsession Sinister

Close up

Deadly Obsession The Last Exorcism (part 2)

Deadly Obsession

Crab shot & low shot Tilt

Edit Majority of the editing done in my trailer consists of fast cuts, this was done in all scenes where the ghost is being shown. Fast cuts were the most appropriate editing technique for the ghost, as it allowed me to create almost an illusion. Where in one shot the ghost is present then the next it disappears, this is done repeatedly and rapidly. I used this technique in varies scenes as I thought it was an effective way creating an intimating and spine-chilling atmosphere.

Another editing technique that I used thought-out the trailer was dissolve. This gradual transition was effective as it made the transition from one scene to another look smooth.

Invisible editing/seamless editing was also used in the scene corridor. This was the most suitable editing as it gave the scene a natural appearance. I wanted to show the audience the whole scene without speeding it up.

Characters

The protagonists are Lisa (the little girl) and Cassandra (the spirit), both played by the same person, Shaima Aksu. The reason why the protagonists had to be played by the same person is due to the fact that not many parents were comfortable with having their young daughter participating in a horror trailer. However, I enjoyed the idea of having one person playing two roles as this was challenging and a way of showing as well as developing my editing skills. I had to make sure that the audience would have a clear distinction between Lisa and Cassandra, therefore not confusing one character with another as this would lead into misinterpretation of my story-line.

I decided to have a child as the protagonist as I aforementioned that I was influenced by the movies ‘The sixth sense’ and ‘The ring’ because they had children as their protagonists. However, the way in which I have used a child as the victim and also as the villain is unconventional as most horror movies tend to have an adult playing either one of the roles. The gender and the age of the victim was also important. Firstly, the use of young children is often used in horror movies for being innocent therefore more fragile. This makes it more likely to use them as the victims and becoming possessed or hunted. Lastly, the stereotypical female victim is often used in horror movies for being the ‘weaker gender’, making them seem more vulnerable.

Film poster

Sinister Deadly obsession

Conventions I used for my film poster: Tagline DateMovie titleColoursMain imageCredits (including production company)

The film poster for the movie Sinister was my main inspiration as it contained most of the horror conventions. I used a similar coloured as it goes well with the old and cracked wall and also because it contrasts with the red used for the text. Furthermore, the clear background juxtaposes the red, as the red is commonly used in posters as it can symbolise blood and evil.

Magazine cover Conventions I used for my magazine cover:MastheadDate/priceColoursBarcode Main cover-line

Even though I followed many conventions such as the colour red for the masthead, in order to represent evil and to make a clear distinction between the masthead and the cover lines. However, the background of my magazine cover is lighter then most horror magazine covers, therefore breaking conventions. The reason to why I chose a lighter colour for my background is because I believe the image I used itself is very powerful in terms of representing the genre horror and also creating a frightening atmosphere. The image that I used for my film poster and magazine cover are quite similar, I done this as I wanted it to be my movie’s trademark/icon. Similarly to the movie ‘The ring’, the girl (ghost with long black hair in front of her face.