1. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT
USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

2. TRAILER - USES
• In my trailer I have used the stereotypical music which is used in horror films. The music
is creepy and eerie which sets the mood of horror. I have used the sound of a music box
to relate to the young girls that I have used in my production. The idea for this came from
‘The Woman in Black’ trailer which does the same thing.
• The camera shots and angles used in my trailer are used in real media products. A variety
of establishing shots of the location where the trailer was filmed sets the scene for the
film. Also close up shots use to establish the main protagonists in the trailer.
• The pace of the trailer is also the same as in real media products of this genre. The music
helps this happen. The editing of the film matches the speed of the music at the
beginning, which means the shots are long and slow. The music then speeds up, and so
the editing does too where the shots are now shorter and quicker. Again I got this from the
trailers that I analysed, ‘The Woman in Black’, ‘The Lovely Bones’ and ‘Hide and Seek’.

3. DEVELOPS
• In horror trailers, I found that a typical convention was to have an establishing shot at the
beginning showing the audience where the trailer was filmed. I have also done this but
have made the clips shorter and have used more than one to establish the location of my
trailer.
• It is quite unusual to have a positive beginning in a horror trailer. Here I have shown the
young girls having fun at the park but then everything changes when the accident takes
place. This is where the mood changes and it becomes more of a horror film.

4. CHALLENGES
• After analysing three horror trailers I found that a stereotypical convention of them was
that there was narration over them, either in first or third person. Originally I planned to
have narration of the girl being haunted by her dead friend. I eventually decided against
this because the sound that I got was not good enough to go into the trailer. Instead I
added text into the trailer which was not used in the trailers I analysed, but I felt worked
effectively as it still gave the audience an idea of what is going to happen in the trailer but
not giving too much away, therefore making it more mysterious which is what I wanted to
happen.

5. USES - POSTER
• The colour scheme of black and white is a convention of the genre of horror. The use of
the red in the eye in the shadow of the girl is also a stereotypical colour for horror.
• The use of a tagline on film poster is effective because it gives the audience a small clue
about the film but not giving too much away. In my case the tagline is ‘Do you believe in
ghosts?’
• The use of credits at the bottom is also a convention of film posters, and this is why I have
put them on the bottom of mine.

6. DEVELOPS
• The typography of my poster is the same as the film posters that I have analysed. The
half the face not revealing much is a convention of the genre of film that I am doing. It
creates the sense of the unknown and making the audience want to find out more about
the film. It is simple by effective at the same time.

7. CHALLENGES
• On my poster I have put a faint shadow of one of the young girl in the eye of the main
image. From the posters that I have analysed this was not a convention. I chose to do this
because it creates a sense of mystery as to why she is in the eye. The girl in the main
image looks as though she is looking for the girl, but the audience would not know why
this is.
• Another convention that I challenged was that the overall poster was quite simple and did
not have much on it. I chose to do this to create the eerie, mysterious mood around the
film.
• I also made my poster landscape rather than portrait, as I though this would be more
effective for the layout of my poster.

8. USES – MAGAZINE COVER
• I have used a bold title that stands out and catches the eye of the audience. Also the use
of direct mode of address by the main image on the cover will make the magazine seem
more appealing to the audience therefore making them want to buy it.
• The use of the date of the issue and the barcode is a typical convention for all magazines.
• A convention of magazine covers are using buzz words and puffs, which draw the
attention to the target audience and give them an idea of what is included within the
magazine.

9. DEVELOPS
• From the magazines that I have analysed I found that the image of the main character
was usually taken separately and not an image from the film. Here I have done the same
by having a photo shoot with the characters after I had got my footage for my trailer. The
blank expressions on the girls’ faces shows something bad is going to happen in the film
and the use of the holding hands, shows that it is related to the anchorage text ‘Friends
Forever’.
• A convention of the film magazine ‘Empire’ is that the title has been altered in some way,
usually with the main image covering the title or placed underneath. I have placed the
image underneath to make sure that the title stands out to the audience rather than it
being covered.

10. CHALLENGES
• After looking at a variety of film magazines, a convention that was common across all of
them was to have only one person on the front cover. I challenged this convention and
placed both protagonists on the front of my magazine cover. I chose to do this because I
thought that it was important to include this because otherwise the anchorage text would
not really relate to the image. I feel that this was an effective choice in promoting my film.

11. SOCIAL MEDIA
• I found from other films that they used social media to promote their film. I decided to do
the same and have created a twitter account where I will be able to tweet information
about the film and post links for people to watch. The image includes a picture of the main
protagonists and the bio (something about the account) contains the tagline of the film.