Evaluation Question One

IN WHAT WAS DOES YOUR MEDIA

PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP AND

CHALLENGE FORMS AND

CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA

PRODUCTS?

USE,DEVELOP & CHALLENGE

The sub- main character to show vulnerability

Colour scheme

Shot type

Tag line

I have chosen to use the poster from case 39 because this film was

one of my main research focuses. I used conventions from all

Of the case 39 products for inspiration, it also relates to my horror/

Physiological thriller genre.

The darkness of the poster

USE

- On my horror film poster I used the positioning of the cast names from case 39’s poster. Although

they are arranged differently, the names were placed on the top to make them noticeable when looking

t both posters. I also used the fact that the names are written in capital letters and the serif font, I did

this because it helps show the horror genre.

- What I really liked about the poster from case 39, is that the character is not the single main

character and is in fact the protagonist of the film. The character shown is the victim of a

child antagonist, which Is why I decided to use the sub main character on my own poster. The

character I have show is also a protagonist, I have used her to show her vulnerability, and to

show how the antagonist has caused someone else to become mad.

-I think majority of horror film posters show the genre usually from the colours and mise en

scene. Like on case 39’s poster the main colour of the background is black and show a dark

element to contrast with the other colour.

Areas which I have used from the poster of case 39 are:

DEVELOPAreas which I have developed in the production of my poster are:

-On my poster I have develop the position, font and overall look of the films title. On case 39’s poster

the title is near the top on the right side, whereas mine is quite low down and has a more central

position. Both fonts are serif fonts to conform with the horror genre. My title looks simpler with the

black colour and small drop shadow, whereas case 39 has a slight glow at the top, and slices through the

letters. My development relates more to my film because of its simplicity.

- Another element of case 39’s poster which I developed is the tag

line. My tag-line is stands out a lot because of the brightness of the

red, and the position being directly under the title draws the eye. On

the case 39 poster the tag line sits on top of the black background

which again stands out because other contrast. I developed the tag line

because of the positioning, the layout and colour.

CHALLENGE

- On my poster I have challenged the conventions of case 39’s poster particularly on the shot type. On

case 39’s poster the shot is a medium/close up shot showing light to focus on the characters face, her

facial expression shows vulnerability and fear. Where as on my poster I have used a medium shot to

show the hospital gown, but I have shown her vulnerability from the pose. I think the face that she is

fearfully looking down and has tears down her face shows her innocence acting as the victim of the

other main characters actions.

- I have challenged the colour scheme from

the poster of case 39. The colours used on

case 39 are very natural consisting of shades

of brown, yellow with white and black.

Whereas on my poster I have used black,

white, and red with tints of colour from the

hospital gown.

- I have challenged the mise en scene of horror poster because my poster shows a girl

wearing a hospital, not obviously in a mental asylum/hospital. I decide to not make it overly

obvious as to were she is so the audience can make there own assumptions, but I think the

costume gives a hint. On case 39’s poster the mise en scene shows door, and focuses of the

door where the character is peaking from. Although the mise en scene is completely different

I think they both work to relate to each film.

USE,DEVELOP & CHALLENGE

Masthead

Corner story

Main story position

Cover lines.

Shot type

Genre/ colour scheme

USE

-I have used the normal magazine conventions of any poster, and of empires magazine to place

the masthead at the top. Empires ‘The girl with the dragon tattoo’ cover inspired me to put my

positioning statement along the top, tightly squeezed above the mast head. On my magazine

the masthead is covering whereas on empires magazine the character is covering the masthead.

I did this because the character I have used is the victim of a antagonist, and the cover-up adds

to her vulnerability.

The shot type from Empire is a long shot of two people, showing the whole body which

is why I have also used a long show to show the full length of my sub-main character.

The angle of my main photograph is looking down on the girl, whereas on empire the

camera is looking down which show that the camera angle can interpret the power of

the character.

DEVELOP

- I have developed the cover lines on Empire magazine

in many ways to give them a different look, but there

are similarities to conform with the magazine

conventions. On empire magazine the main cover

stories are displayed on the right side in a strip form ,

whereas mine are more lengthy in text and are separated

more. I think how I have presented the cover lines

relates to my film more that the single work strip layout

which empire has used.

- I have developed the corner story on Empire magazine to conform to the conventions of a

horror film. A technique I have used throughout my magazine is using the smudge tool on

Photoshop to create the spikes on shapes, I have used that as a block/background shape to

make this part stand out, this is because it advertises the film the whole magazine is about.

The corner story on Empires magazine is a cover story like the others but works well

because of the tight framing and colour scheme.

CHALLENGE

- I have challenged empire magazine’s main feature look. The magazine is a ‘The girl with the

dragon tattoo’ special promoting the film with the cover photo and the title being the main story.

The title is noticeable because of the contrast of white text on a dark background, and the position

is tightly framed on the left of the magazine, whereas on my magazine the film title is central

across the whole cover. I decided to make the main feature be the most noticeable, and I think its

position an font does that. I added a red strike behind the text to make it stand out more, to

conform with the horror conventions and to challenge other film magazines.

- For my magazine I have challenged the colour scheme of Empires magazine cover to relate to

my genre. I chose the genre oh horror/thriller which is why I have used a dark shadowing

around the edges, and why I selected the colour rule to include black, white, grey and red. On

Empires magazine the film featured is crime/drama/mystery therefor they have used a mix of

colours being different shades of blue, pink, white and yellow which because of its genre works

well.

USE CHALLENGE

USE

DEVELOP

DEVELOP

USE,DEVELOP & CHALLENGE

CHALLENGE

USE- For my horror trailer I have used normal conventions of a

horror film such as colours, narrative and typical shots. A

sequence often scene in horror films are running scenes,

which Is why I have used to short edits of someone running

on a woodland path. Within the first few seconds of the

trailer we can see a fear full character running from

something.

-The last shot we see on the trailer is the ‘coming soon’

title shot. On basically every trailer no matter what genre

it is the release date or at least the coming soon phrase is

present which is why we chose to show this on the last

shot. Many film maker make it the last shot to keep the

release date the last thing the audiences see, to keep the

date fresh in there minds which is why we done also done

so. This title page like all others throughout the trailer

have a simple black and white theme, with black being the

dominant colour. This is to show the dark horror genre

through the shots and title pages.

-On my horror trailer we used the conventional locations typically seen on horror films. We used the mise-en-

scene ideas and varied locations such as different areas in a woodland area, and rooms in the college. We

used rooms within the college to portray the feeling of a mental state, choosing a plain room without much

personality. This allowed these scenes to look dismal and portraying the feeling of the character well. The

lighting we used during these scenes which are typical in a horror film is the low key lighting of each scene.

-On our trailer we have created a soundtrack which relates well to the conventions of horror trailers. We created

sound on garage band with spooky sounds, similar to those on case 39. We also added voice overs of the main

character and a doctor to give more hint towards the narrative. We used sound effects such as booms, heart beat

sounds and an effect made from a wine glass to give depth to the trailer, to be more like typical trailers.

DEVELOP

- On my horror trailer I have developed the mental asylum

idea which is a well known theme of some horror films. I

have used the main character who has gone mad to do

various things which suggests her insanity, I developed this

idea by her saying ‘let me out’ which is different because

in her circumstances she wants to escape the asylum to

seek revenge, which as we see further on she does. These

scenes act as a flashback and the use of white transitions

rather than black help to show this.

-A big part of our trailer are its montages, they act as flashbacks

from the main character and another character who she made

mad. The montages consist of different noises, actions and shots

which make for a whole new mental asylum look. The fast pace

40.4 second shots give the whole trailer a fast pace feeling and

gives the audience a sense of the characters past.

On our teaser trailer we have used cinematography to develop the conventions to develop the various shots. For example in the scenes above we have used a mid shot of our main character staring into space, we used the mid shot to focus in on her facial expression and posture to show that she is a mental patient and isn't logically sane. The cinematography when using the mini DV camcorders allowed us to zoom in and out when the character is fitting to show her psychotic behaviors, using the long shot allowed us to see her in action other than just staring into space. The mise-en-scene was shot in a room to look like a mental asylum room which, but it also develops this idea with the use of windows and a small amount of lighting which isn't present in ‘the paranormal incident’, a mental hospital horror.

CHALLENGE- I have challenged previous horror hospital related trailers by

adding snap shots a number of times of medical forms. Me and

my partner produced some official looking hospital documents,

filled them in with the information of the main character and

presented them to look like a hospital notice board. We did this to

show the seriousness of the patients mental state with a close up

on the words ‘URGENT. LONG STAY PATIENT’. This shows

the genre we are appealing to well and is different from other

trailers I have researched.

- This is our production company logo. We have

challenged this because it looks unlike any other

company logo, with the name ‘After life’ thought of and

created by us. I think the colours of black and white and

the simplicity of a cross and title works well and doesn’t

look to busy. After looking at production company logos

such as twisted pictures I decided that a black and white

simple colour scheme would be appropriate. And looking

at Dark Castles logo I chose to make my logo more

simplistic with one single graphic.

We have challenged the conventions of horror trailers by using a voice over

from 2 female voices. During a montage of sub- character mental asylum

scenes we have included a voice- over from a female doctor saying that she

has ‘sent others mad’, this challenges the typical horror films because usually

those type of voice overs are done by male characters.