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

There are various different common codes and conventions that are associated with the horror movie genre. Some are vital to include in your own horror movie but others can be challenged or developed. Within our media I believe that we found a healthy balance between the two.

Firstly, the genre of movie we were making a trailer for was a horror movie and we wanted to make that fact obvious to the target audience. During our research period of production we discovered that there are a few codes and conventions that nearly every horror movie trailer adopts. One of these things is the use of Iconic objects like knives, guns or torturing equipment. This is seen in ‘the strangers’ trailer that I analysed where one whole shot of the montage (50 seconds in) is dedicated to a close up of a knife. This therefore represents the knife as a significant object within the movie and chosen genre. This is a very effective way of clearly highlighting your chosen genre and also creating fear among the audience. This is one code and convention that we decided to adopt within in our own media. We used the iconic object of a knife covered in blood to create enigma and suspense within our horror trailer and also our film magazine front cover where we used a knife as our main image . This image is also associated to a ‘stereotypical’ slasher horror movie which communicates to the audience that this movie will include the things that make horror movies enjoyable like attractive characters, fun new murder techniques and an isolated environment. One strong example of an existing media product that reflects this is the ‘scream’ films which have been well received, consequently meaning the films include what people (the audience) want to see.

Although we did use some common codes and conventions within our media, we also took some risks regarding challenging and developing them also. Through our trailer we wanted to challenge the idea that a film trailer cannot include two conflicting genres. For example in our film trailer we used soft romantic music as well as painful screams to represent the two different genres of romance and horror .Two genres and representations not normally seen in the same Film trailer. We wanted to falsely lead the audience to think that the film was in fact a romantic comedy and as a consequence let them relax. This then means that the audience are more shocked and surprised when they soon discover that the movie is in fact a horror. On the other hand, most horror movie campaigns make the genre very clear when promoting their media. For example the poster for ‘saww 5’ which I analysed uses a graphic main image to represent the horror genre. This is a code and convention that we also decided to adopt within our own poster by using blood which is commonly associated with horror to spell out the number ‘19’. We also incorporated common codes and conventions of a romance film within our trailer. For example low key lighting and typical love songs are both things that an audience will automatically associate with a romantic movie. But when we add an ambient effect to the soundtrack and dim the lighting further we managed to catch the audience off guard and now create a tense sinister mood.

Camera shots and camera angles are two more things that are commonly similar within horror movie trailers. For example the majority of horror movie trailers begin with some kind of establishing shot. For instance in the ‘Haunting in Connecticut’ trailer I analysed as part of my planning and research the very first shot is a bird’s eye view establishing shot showing the audience the state of Connecticut. This type of shot is commonly used within horror movie trailer for two reasons; firstly is simply allows the audience to understand where this film/trailer is set, and secondly is normally informs the audience that the place is isolated meaning the characters are on their own and far away from help. We used this common code and convention within our own film trailer as our first shot is a low angle wide establishing shot of a large isolated house. This type of shot highlights the house as where the action will be set and the low angle also means the house looks large, intimidating and predominant.

In conclusion our media product does adopt important codes and conventions of real life media products as well as largely challenging them. Horror movie trailers are always trying to find new ways to scare and frighten an audience and that is what we have also tried to do. For some people their biggest fear is that one minute they feel relaxed and comfortable and then within seconds they can be on edge and vulnerable. we have simply tried to exploit this fear.