Olivia LyonsAdvanced Portfolio: A. Product ResearchResearch Into Artist, Genre & Narrative with Conclusions

Question 1A will ask you to select one production (AS or A2) and evaluate it in relation to a media concept. The list of concepts is as follows:

Genre Narrative Representation Audience Media Language

My selected production is my A2 production of a short film. Throughout the ancillary tasks I have focused on the horror/thriller genre, in which I created a poster advertising a horror movie. The poster I created includes a range of different features that have connotations of the genre and I used Chandlers’ theory to help me do this. As the design is what first attracts the audience’s attention I used the colours black and red on the poster which have connotations of danger, death and blood which are all conventions of the horror genre. The setting shown in the background of the poster image is leaves and trees which establishes to the audience that the image is taken in a forest/woods. This is a deserted place and creates a sense of being alone and vulnerability, which indicates the two conventions will be featured within the final short film. I used direct address for the main image on the poster to not only capture and draw in the audience’s attention but to create an eerie image that disorientated the audience. In order to do this I manipulated the girl (on the image) eyes in photoshop to make them look darker and to make her image scarier. The direct address to the audience also identifies her character as being a main character within the film. I also applied Neale’s theory of repetition and difference to create an effective final design. The audience of the horror genre expect to see dark colours which I have included by having the text in black and red and by editing the eyes on the image to make them darker (repetition). However, the background of the ‘Widow’ poster is green which isn’t a colour associated with this genre as it has connotations of summer (difference). Using green suggests there may be an ideology of innocence within the film even though the genre is clearly portrayed as horror. The poster doesn’t give much away to the audience about the setting but the forest like background creates an idea of isolation and alone which is featured in horror films so creates a repetition. The image immediately identifies a main character and looks spooky and mysterious which is expected (repetition). However, the girl

Olivia LyonsAdvanced Portfolio: A. Product ResearchResearch Into Artist, Genre & Narrative with Conclusionscharacter is usually the victim within the horror genre however this image suggests she is taking the role of the male antagonist. Neale has another theory called “Mental Machinery” which is the way in which the production team target their audience in order to meet their expectations. In this case how to attract an audience and give them what they want to see when watching a horror film. I included various conventions of the horror genre to the film poster in order to meet the audience’s expectations of a horror movie. The dark colours are what the audience want to see as black and especially red, which symbolises blood, are expected to be featured within a horror film. The audience expect the setting of a horror film to be somewhere deserted where the character is vulnerable. The image on the poster establishes the setting as a forest/woods which meets their expectations of the genre. I used Neale’s mental machinery by including an image that identifies a main character that is scary, suspicious, un-nerving. However, instead of having this character male and including the stereotypical male antagonist I used a female to take on the role of the “baddy”. This means I am meeting the audience’s expectations by including a villain but challenging the stereotype by having the villain played by a female which helps capture and maintain their attention as this isn’t expected within the horror genre. In my opinion, I think the genre can be immediately identified because of how many conventions of the horror genre I have featured within the film poster, therefore I believe it is an effective poster.