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

real media products?

How does my trailer develop or challenge forms and conventions of an existing trailer?

Production Logos/Preview Card/Credits

I have followed the codes and conventions as when making our trailer, we inserted a preview card, production logo and the end credits. We did this because when researching other trailers I noticed that all of them had one, so in order for our one to follow the codes and conventions we figured that we needed to add one.

Prop/Weapon Paradigms

When creating our trailer we thought of all the prop paradigms we could use, in order to follow the codes and conventions. We used a mask. A mask is used in order to hide the villains identity, thus making him mysterious, which creates a fear as it could be anyone anywhere. We also used a knife a the murder weapon, we did this as a knife is more personal and when a body is penetrated by a knife is has the same sort of effect as being raped.

Setting ParadigmsWhen creating our horror movie trailer we had to research in all the setting paradigms, in order to follow the codes and conventions. The setting paradigms consists of, isolated places like houses, woods/parks.

That way when the victims scream no one can hear them. Other places consist of houses, bathrooms and schools. Most of the films are set during the dark, this is because the dark creates a fear in itself. We followed the codes and conventions of a real horror trailer, as we set our trailer within the setting paradigms, we had our dace studio which is within a school, we also had a dark isolated field/park, an isolated house and even a bath scene.

When using the school, we first set it during the day to establish the equilibrium, then when one of the dancers decided to stay behind to continue her rehearsal, it got darker and the villain attacked. We did this as most attacks in horror films occur during the night.

Character ParadigmsWhen creating out main task (the trailer) we had to make sure we had the right character types I n order to follow the codes and conventions of a horror trailer. We decided to have only 6 characters shown in our trailer, the 4 girls, the boyfriend and the villain. The 4 girls were each given a label. We have the sporty one, which was dressed in a football shirt to emphasise this.

We then had a geeky girl who was dressed in casually clothes but wearing glasses to highlight this. We then had a promiscuous girl who was dressed in revealing clothes. And finally we had the virgin, who was also our final girl. She was dressed in an over sized t-shirt and a shirt. We had the boyfriend dressed in normal casual clothing, in this movie he is in a relationship with the ‘final girl’. And finally we had the villain in a mask, and dark clothing. We followed the codes and conventions as we had the different characters and highlighted their importance and into what category they fit into, giving the audience an idea of who will die first.

Here we have the promiscuous girl, she has been shown to be taking a bath. We decided to show her in the bath as like I psycho the promiscuous girl was killed in the shower, and she was killed naked, like a way of punishing her, doesn't deserve to die wearing clothes. We named her Tatum to link in with the promiscuous girl in scream. As we used scream as one of films we were basing our trailer on.

We have the geek, she has been shown to be wearing a blazer, and glasses to highlight her character type. She was killed on her way home from her dance practise. We named her Kirby like the geek in scream 4. As we used scream as one of films we were basing our trailer on.

This character is the sporty one, we decided to name her Buffy. The name is from the American T.V series Buffy the vampire killer, we decided to name her Buffy as it links in with her sporty character as Buffy was a sporty character. In order to highlight her character type we dressed her in a sporty football t-shirt, to show that she is into sport.

These characters are the couple – The boyfriend and the ‘virgin’. We named the characters Thomas and Nina based on the film ‘Black Swan’ who are the couple in that film.

Propp’s Character theory

Propp was a folklorist, who worked out that in tales, there were 31 separate storylines only that kept representing themselves. We can see that in horror there are a limited number of storylines, that keep repeating. Also, Propp worked out that in texts there are a limited number of character types. We can transpose these to film. When creating our character types for our film we used Propp’s character theory to go about choosing our character types. We have the hero which is also our final girl and the ‘virgin’, we have the false hero which is the boyfriend. We then have the villain. Also the victims.

Todorov – Theory of NarrativeTodorov came up with the idea that every story has a certain type of structure.

Equilibrium: At the start of every story; everything is balanced; harmony accord.

Moment of disequilibrium: Something has happened; someone bad turns up, equilibrium is shattered. Disequilibrium: The ‘hero’ struggles to fix the wrong, that beset them and returns to a place of equilibrium.

New Equilibrium: Villain is defeated and peace is restored but at a cost. Something or someone has always been lost and the new equilibrium is tainted by this experience.

This shot represent the equilibrium state of the trailer, it’s set In the dance studio, the non – diegetic sound links in with this. It represents a calm state, there’s nothing to worry about. It is set during the day.

This shot establishes the moment of disequilibrium. The first victim is faced with the villain. She is alone in the dance studio after hours. By now the non-diegetic sound has changed to a more of a dramatic sound, the sense of realisation, that not everything is as it seems.

This shot establishes the disequilibrium, our first victim has been shown dead. The Non-diegetic sound crescendos and speeds up, the shots also get quicker and shorter, to create tension.

We do not show the new equilibrium as when researching horror movie trailers they do not show the new equilibrium, also by not showing the new equilibrium, the audience will want to watch it to see if there even is one at the end.

Carol Clover – Final Girl Theory

Carol Clover stated that in horror films the girl always survives. If a girl dies it is because she Is promiscuous. The final girl in our movie trailer was Nina, she is the virgin, innocent and naïve girl of the group. She survives till the end and defeats the villain. When shooting we decided to try and make her look as pure as possible, this included making her hair natural and having no make-up on. As some people class putting make up on as being promiscuous, so we avoided that. We decided to have a final girl in our trailer in order to follow the codes and conventions, also when interviewing people, we found out that they liked the idea of it, and wanted a girl as a survivor.

Levi Straus – Binary Opposites

Claude Levi Strauss stated that constant creation of conflict/opposition propels narrative. Narrative can only end on a resolution of conflict. Oppositions can be used (light/darkness, movement/stillness) or conceptual (love/hate, control/panic.) and to do with the soundtrack.

In our trailer the binary opposites are the obvious, good verses evil, control/panic and light verses dark. This follows the codes and conventions as in every film not just horror there is always a conflict of some kind.

SoundWhen choosing the right sound we had to make sure that it fitted in with our trailer. After doing a lot of research into soundtracks using YouTube and Google, we decided to create our own soundtrack. In the end we had 2 final soundtracks. In order to figure out which one to use, we decided to show our focus group both of them with the trailer, they liked aspects from both of them, so we attempted to fuse them together. However as they were both in different keys we could not fuse them together effectively, so in the end we decided to go with the one that our focus group liked the best.

Our soundtrack follows the codes and conventions of a real horror trailer soundtrack, as during the equilibrium state the non-diegetic sound if a smooth melancholy to fit in with the equilibrium state, when the moment of disequilibrium occurs, the non-diegetic sound changes to a more of a tense sound, as soon as the disequilibrium state happens the non-diegetic sound crescendos and gets quicker and more tense.

Lighting

When creating our trailer we followed the codes and conventions of lighting, we kept it light to fit in with the equilibrium state. We gradually made the settings darker as the trailer went along, to fit in with the disequilibrium states.

How does my magazine cover develop or challenge forms and conventions of existing magazine

covers?

Research Into Existing Magazine

The Mast head- Its in red with a white stroke, and a black drop shadow. The ‘ F’ and ‘A’ are extended at the bottom, and are pointing inwards, like fangs which link in with the name of the magazine. The colour red is a traditional colour of horror, as it links to blood and gore. – This follows the codes and conventions of an existing Fangoria magazine, due to the font, which is used in other existing Fangoria covers, I have also used the iconic colour red to link into blood and gore.

Issue date and month, establishes when it was made, and gives the reader an opportunity to research on other issues. – Follow codes and conventions of existing media products as like in other magazine covers it establishes the issue number and month.

Gives the readers an insight of what else is in the magazine. – Follows codes and conventions as by highlighting the importance of this film, it lures people in.

The image is of one of the characters dead. With red blood stains on her face, the colour of the blood on her face links in with the colour of the ‘Fangoria’. She is very pale almost blending in with the white background, highlights the fact that she’s dead. The image is a close up, this follows the codes and conventions of an existing media product as close ups are mainly used in order for the audience to empathise with the character.

Information about other articles, gives the reader a teaser of what they’re going to read if they buy the magazine.

The film title, is placed below the image. It is in the same font as it is in the poster, with gives the sense of synergy, linking the two together. It follows the codes and conventions as it establishes who the cover stars are.

Like a film role with images from other films. Gives the reader an insight of what’s inside the magazine, and as it’s a movie magazine- using a film role links in with that.

How does my film poster develop or challenge forms and conventions of existing film posters?

Research Into Film Posters