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

Horror Poster Conventions:- Main character as large image (Antagonist or Protagonist)

- Low key lighting - Tagline

- Large Title- Credits

- Release date- Website link/URL

- Production company name and logoThe main character being the large image is to make sure it represents the film and links back to the title, the low key lighting that is used around the poster is for added affect so posters don’t look plain and dull, a tagline is used to reference the film, a large title is a common theme because it stands out to the viewer and draws them in, credits are a legal requirement for posters to have included on them, the release date is usually inserted to hype people up and get them ready, a website link so people can check out previous work and get to understand the film, and the production company is on there to give them credit for their work on creating the film.

This is a very brief list of conventions that I have written about for the poster sinister which I have labelled and included on the next page to fully understand what the conventions are and what common themes to look out for, when going over the poster that I created for our film called The Occupants as you can see below.

Main Character as large image

(Antagonist or

Protagonist)

Tagline

Large title

Low key lighting)

Credits

Release DateWebsite link/URL

Production Company name or

logo

The first convention that I will be looking at which I have included within my poster is the production company name and there logo with who they are associated with as well, while including the legal age requirement as well. This is a very important convention as it is technically credits but for specifically the production company, because it givens them all the credit for making the film which they deserve, otherwise people could claim the work as their own, or people wont want to visit their website consisting of existing products they have made meaning they would lose out on a lot pf promotion, so making sure that the production company is included on the poster is necessary but because it actually isnt important at all it is usually the smallest aspect on the poster so not a lot of attention is drawn away from the main reason being the film. So even though it is necessary to show who helped fund the film it can still be very small as it is still being included, and that is the reason we included this on ours. This is the same with the credits, it is made in the smallest font because it isnt important to the viewer, but the poster needs to give acknowledgement to the people who helped fund and create the film. The website link is placed below the production companies in a small font as if the reader does want to know more about the film then they can find it, but it shouldn’t take to much attention away from any of the other features, as it isnt a main feature on the poster.I also included the specific release date of the film to inform the audience so that they know this information, but also so that people can begin to get hyped for the film making them speak about the film increasing its popularity, I coloured this text white to stick with the rest of the text at the bottom, but sized it larger to make sure people see and read this information.

The second convention that I am looking at is how most posters use/include the main character antagonist or protagonist as the largest image on the front of the poster. The main character being the stalker/antagonist appears with a close up shot to make sure it focuses on what the mask is like and also where his eyes are looking this is to reinforce the idea that he is a stalker and that he will/is always watching. There is also the use of direct mode of address with the stalker looking straight at the audience making them feel intimidated by the character and also make them more intrigued about who the character actually is. The way I have positioned the image as the largest but also right in the middle of the poster shows that they are the centre of attention, and will appear a lot within the film.

Furthermore, the colour scheme that I have used is very clearly shown as the common theme of black, red and white to clearly indicate the horror genre of the film/trailer we are making. I think the use of these colours is very important, this is because the main idea for the colour scheme is to make it easy to catch the viewers eye and draw in their attention which this colour scheme does really well because red and white against the jet black background stand out very well, while still communicating the common theme of horror and fear. Another reason why these colours are used is because they all link to a certain meaning, like black is linked to darkness and fear of the unknown because you cant see through darkness, red has many different meanings but when linked to a horror genre it is linked to blood, danger etc and then white could be linked to the opposite something like indicating innocence and purity, to give the idea that the victim has done nothing wrong. So the use of this colour scheme is very effective in many different ways, while always linking back to the horror genre.

The tagline is another very common feature that is usually always included in every poster, this is because it is meant to give a very short insight that links to the main idea behind the film. The idea behind our tagline being ‘Leave while you still can’ is very important to the main idea of the film and is probably the main reason why the stalker starts appearing, because the antagonist lived there as a kid and is where he killed his parent, and whenever someone moves into this house he appears, and they disappear. The reason we chose this is because it indicates a side to the stalker which might be apparent in the film, like he is giving them a chance to leave and he is warning them, but then the word ‘still’ is used to represent the idea that they wont always have a chance and if they are going to leave it needs to be quick.

The title, this is the biggest piece of text which can be seen on the poster above the tagline as this is the most important text included and is the main reason why it is the largest, as the other reason is to draw peoples attention as it stands out very well and remind the viewer what the film is called so that it gets them thinking deeper about what the film is on. When creating the title we had to make sure that we engaged with our audience to make sure that they stay and explore its reason, so making the title straight to the point and simple helps with the grabbing of the viewers attention making them feel more engaged in the poster making them want to see the film, but also get talking about which will help promote the trailer.

Horror Movie Website Conventions:- Social Media Links- Title Is The Link Back To The

Home Screen- Trailer - Colour Scheme (Red, White and

Black)- Navigation Bar- Film Reviews and Awards- Sound/Audio – Same That Is In

The Trailer- Images On The Page- Credits- Release Date - Production

Company/Logo/Website

As you can see from the right hand side I have picked my own poster which I will be going into detail on, and then the don’t breathe website and the cabin in the woods to reference my website to the conventions that thee two very popular horror film use on their websites.

On my website I have included at the bottom of the home screen 4 separate links to the trailers social media websites, so that if the viewer of the trailer, website and poster is interested in the film and want to find out more because they are intrigued then the social media links is definitely the best place to find exclusive information about the film. The fact that social media is such a big part of everyone's lives nowadays it is very important to use them, as this is going to be the most popular place where people will find out about new films and their trailers. I used these specific 4 types of social media because in my opinion these are the most popular and will generate a larger audience. I decided to keep them in their standard colour as that is what people are used to, making it very easy to identify what these icons are, obviously once they are clicked it will open up a new window ready to view. The social media bar is used/seen on every website you go onto because of how popular they are in creating hype before the film has been released.

The next convention that I have seen a lot when looking at websites, is the ability to click the title which will take you back to the home screen without having to click the bar at the top. As you can see from the mouse icon in the picture when the title is clicked it will take you back to the start screen, this allows the viewer to make sure that they are on the same website as I have inserted the title onto most my pages to make sure of this, but also top keep on reminding the audience the name of the film so that it will stick in the back of their mind creating further hype for the film.

On my website the main thing that I wanted to include and the biggest thing to include is the trailer as a big video on the front screen or on another page to make sure that people can watch the trailer, without having to go somewhere else to try and find it. If the trailer wasn’t available to view on the website then there wouldn’t be any sort of link that the audience can make out, especially when I have included the soundtrack from the trailer as the background music for the website showing there is a link, I chose the audio to be music from the start of the trailer because I felt like it was very eerie and created a creepy atmosphere which I found as perfect for the website. The music plays in a loop so that when the song finishes it will start again, meaning it doesn’t have to be manually done, but that option is still there which allows the viewer to stop or play the song when they want, making the website more interactive for the viewer instead of a boring experience, and as you can see from the picture they can also change the volume of the song or mute the song if they feel the need to change this.

Another convention that I made sure to include was to stick with the same colour scheme throughout my poster and onto website, to make sure it still linked with the horror genre where possible, the colours have been used for the same reason as on my poster and is consistent throughout my whole website to again make sure that I am staying with the genre. The colours work very well in contrast to one another making it very easy to make certain parts of the website stand out more than others, like the title and tagline.

When looking through previous websites that had been created from other conglomerates about the films that they had produced I found that a navigation bar is a necessary feature in any form as long as it takes you around the website. I decided that I would include a navigation bar in a simple form so that it is easy to read and use. It is very easy to see being at the top, and because the colour is grey against black it makes it stand out much more, but not too much so that it would be taking away interest in other main features like the trailer. The navigation bar is used to quickly take you around the website so you can learn more about the film. The page you click on will highlight in a dark grey colour to show that is the page you have selected, and so you know what page you are on. The navigation bar will stay on every page to make sure that you can always get back to the home screen.

This next convention isnt a major convention that is seen on every website, but is included a lot to be classed as a convention. This convention is the reviews and awards that the trailer/film has received, to make the film seem a lot better and so when the audience see this, it makes them think that the film is worth watching if the ratings are good as it allows them to judge the film before they have seen it, possibly making them want to see it more. This feature isnt always included on websites because the ratings could be poor which would make the film/trailer look bad, so this feature isnt a necessity but can be good to include.

As you can see from the image above, I am showing that I have used images on the website to illustrate what the film is about in some cases and to make the website look better. Images are used on the majority of movie websites not just horror, and this is because they are a great way of showing certain parts within a film without giving away too much, they hint at certain areas that could happen within a film. Also if the whole website was just filled with text, it wouldn’t apply to all people because they don’t want to have to read for ages, when they could juts look at pictures and understand the same, which makes images much more convenient to use as well as text.

Another convention that we included and is necessary is the release date of the film, this is used to create hype for the time it is being released and to inform people. People also like to know when things are coming so that they can prepare for its release. On the other hand, this could be seen as challenging the conventions because not all companies like to share the release date as they want to build anticipation for the film and keep the audience intrigued.

Credits are also important to include within the website as well, this is because if the website is the first thing that is seen then knowing who stars in the film is a necessary way to create hype. Also if they know who has helped make the film, then they can make judgements about the film and decide whether they want to see the film. The credits are also a legal requirement to include as they show credit to the people who have made the film, but don’t need to be large as it isnt important.The last convention I have listed is the production company, logo and website. Again, the same as the credits it would be a legal requirement to include this as it shows who has made the film. While the website is there to spread the promotion for the film and get more people to hear about it. I have also used the white colour scheme to make them stand out more so that they have some relevance to the website, and so people know what it is.

Horror Trailer Conventions:- Green certificate- Production Company Logo- Establishing Shots- Gradual Increase In Pace - Score/Sound Tempo etc- Sudden Bursts/Jump Scares- Final Credits/Release Date/Website

The trailer conventions for a horror film are quite different to the conventions of a trailer under the action genre for example. Horror films are usually made to scare people so have different techniques for this to work effectively, while they do have there differences there are also a significant amount of similarities which any genre trailer has.

The main reason we included the green certificate is to inform the audience, the green certificate shows the audience which age groups are allowed to watch the film when it is released in cinemas, this is usually shown at the start of all films but sometimes it isnt, this is mainly with horror films because audiences will know that the age rating will be high being too high for children to watch so it would be a pointless feature to have at the start. So it could be seen as challenging the conventions as we have made a horror film, but it isnt a huge feature so people don’t really notice this as much.

During the start of our trailer we included our production name and logo animatic. This is seen as a necessary feature for trailers to include as it shows the audience who the film is produced by. This is effective in some ways as it could make them want to watch the film more than before, but because they have never heard the company it might put them off, which is why some companies don’t always show this in their trailer. We decided to include this because we felt like it was necessary for our audience to know who we are, possibly making them spread the company who made the film getting others to watch it, so could be seen as a form of advertising.

This convention is showing an establishing shot. This technique is usually used at the start of trailers and films to introduce the type of place it is being shot in. This is very effective and is used a lot because it indicates certain things about the film for the audience to understand better, it sets the scene very well. This isn't used a lot throughout trailers because they are short, so might not be very important, but we decided to challenge this and include one to give our audience a better understanding of the setting.

- Throughout trailers there is always a gradual increase in pace leading to the final couple of scenes which are always the most action packed and tense. The trailer usually starts off pretty slow just introducing everything and slowly leads into more of the action and anxious scenes towards the end, this is a convention that is used because it makes the audience want to stay until the end, meaning they will watch the whole thing making them hyped to see the film. This technique is used over all trailers and usually any genre as it works so well, so we followed this and made the ending of our trailer the most action packed which was done very well. We started off by introducing the characters and their life, then started to introduce the problem that they had to face and then vaguely showed what happened, so we stuck with a traditional equilibrium that horror films/trailers like to follow.

- When creating our trailer we made sure to spend a lot of time on deciding what sounds we were going to include and where we should include them. This is because the sound building up creates a very surreal effect making what is on screen much better and more effective especially when the sound links with what is happening on screen. Another music convention would be sudden bursts that happen at jump scares etc to make them much more terrifying for the audience to sit and watch making them tense and on the edge of their seat. This is a convention because everyone watches horror movies to be scared, so using sudden bursts combined with jump scares makes these moments much more daunting and intensifying for the audience.

At the very end of the trailer you have the short credits that appear consisting of the title of the film to remind the audience of the film the trailer is for, this will make sure that they know the name of the film and will keep on reminding them about what this new film is so it isnt forgotten.

The release date is also included to let the audience know when the film is going to be released so that they can have more information about the film and get ready for when it is released. This will create hype for the film and is why its used within all trailers, and if not then it will say ‘coming soon’ which can be seen as adding more suspense to its release but we challenged this as we thought it was better to let our audience know.

Another thing that is included would be the website link, this is usually included at the end of the trailer with the rest because it isn't important enough to have its own part. It is still included so that people can visit the webpage after they have viewed the trailer so that they can learn more and become further interested in the film, this shows that the products are all linked together and are about the same film so people don’t get confused.