In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
In order to gain ideas and build my trailer I looked at various other horror trailers and a comedy trailer to compare and to understand what not to do, and this was an influence upon my final product however I did do further research into trailer techniques used in horror trailers to gain ideas to fully use and challenge conventions. The trailer is formed of a continuous scene cut into three parts
The scene I chose is vital to the movie and also contains tension which was needed in a trailer to hold the audience but also in a horror teaser trailer contains a different technique other then the ambiguous short shots normally used; thus challenging the conventions. This technique is also seen in the ‘Super 8’and ‘Cloverfield’ trailer (posted before in research and planning), these trailers had a different effect on the audience due to the longer shots and continuous scene; I felt this challenged the stereotypical conventions used in trailers and made people want to watch, as it withholds a short scene or story in a couple of minutes and leaves the ending ambiguous to create tension. This scene includes no conventional shots seen in horror trailers e.g. blood, weapons or pain, however it does have a chase scene which connotes a father trying to escape with his child from the ambiguous man (cult leader). I chose a father and daughter relationship to challenge the stereotype seen in horrors of a woman attempting an escape from a higher power or a woman in pain ect and this relationship is a Hollywood fantasy picked up in the likes of ‘Kick-Ass’. This relationship in ‘Kick-Ass’ held within the pain, graphic images and superheroes and thus I thought it would be able to be seen in my film as well as my trailer. The man dressed in black was to symbolise evil and was kept indefinite to conform to the mystery convention used oin horror’s bad characters. The baby in this scene was covered in white to show innocence which is a main theme cutting through the film. The camera shots used for this part were stable and at either a high or low point to keep the antagonist unclear and to show the emotion on the fathers face. Except for the last shot in this scene which is hand-held and follow the father running to the car, tracking from a low-angle to the window. This shot was used to connect the audience with the characters and scene, to add voyeurism which enables emotions like concern and hope into the audience which would then create a want to see the film as the scene is left on a cliff-hanger. This scene isn’t really explained either, why are they running? Who is the father running away from? Questions that will be answered in the film and this questioning is conventional to gain after a trailer is ended, thus is effective and developed from real-media products.
Between the shots of that scene there are ambiguous, jolt montage shots at a much quicker pace, aligned after some text. These shots were developed from conventions used in trailers – the speed is faster to get information in but also to create fear and panic visually and the shots introduced themes of violence, pain, torture and weapons which is most obviously forms to horror conventions. The close-up shots of the child I felt were most important therefore are show at various points throughout to gain awareness that she is important and it’s all about her life and safety. The direct mode of address in some shots of the child created a connection with the audience, drawing an emotional connection (seen in ‘Haunting in Connecticut’ with the protagonist’s severely ill son). These shots contrast with the horror shots – blood-ridden weapons, tortured father, ambiguous figures and mixing innocent with evil is a convention developed from seen stories both with researched trailers of ‘Haunting in Connecticut’ and ‘Let the Right One In’.
The tagline used in three parts is ‘A community misguided, the children ill-fated, all except one’ this refers back to the importance of the child seen before and also explains the plot in slight detail, keeping all areas of the trailer interlocked, a convention used in trailers to keep the audience entertained, and to guide and persuade the audience into liking and understanding the film. The rule of three is also used as a technique to give impact and is commonly used to persuade, connect and inspire audience “The rule of three is a principle in writing that suggests that things that come in threes are inherently funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than other numbers of things. The reader/audience of this form of text is also more likely to consume information if it is written in groups of threes. From slogans ("Go, fight, win!") to films.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_three_(writing)
In my research and planning, a questionnaire was devised on which it had the question 'Do you think trails should have a voiceover?' This question resulted in the answer no more successfully and thus I didn't use a voiceover like conventional trailer. However, although it is conventional to use a voiceover in my horror trailer research none of four had a voiceover either so I figured a voiceover wasn't nesscary in this trailer. The music was constructed firstly of a slow beat of a drum, consistent bass and a high pitch squeal noise. These three choices were influenced by the research into trailers in the first stages of the production. The first thing I put down were the drums because all trailers have a beat and it was important mine had a beat fitting to my trailer, I then chose the bass to add a little extra to the beat because it sounded to clear and to 'normal' - I think all horror trailers have the ambiguity in sound, making sounds less clear and more animalistic - hence the use of a squeal noise. This was added to create a uneasy feel to the trailer, which I believe to have succeeded. All these non-diegetic sounds are very conventional to horror because they are eerie, animalistic, inhuman and disorient.
However, I didn't think this was enough to be the final piece so the use of strings to add a higher pitch building on the tension of the video and to match the quick changes of each shots. The music helps climax the film title which peaks once shown and fades down after when 'Coming soon' is shown. This develops ideas used normally in trailers progressing the ideas of string instruments used to build and create scary atmosphere. I also added a jump scare shot which was a continuous tracking shot of a medium angle. This shot I chose to put in silence so the scare was more sudden and effective, this also conforms to conventions of a horror trailer as scares at the end are to captivate the audience and leave them with a sudden impact from the film.
In the making of the magazine, I made sure to refer back to examples of real media products out there like Empire magazines – most important as I was making my own film version of Empire. In researching these examples I compared a mainstream film magazine – ‘Empire’ and a specialist horror magazine named ‘Horror Hound’. Horror Hound was covered in shades of red and black which was very dark on the eye, whereas Empire included a range of colours fit into the cover photos tones of colour, making each one almost individualistic. The similarity was all Empire magazines and all Horror Hound Magazines had a in-house style including a main font for the magazine title, a continuous font for the rest of the text, a barcode, price and tagline for the magazine underneath the headline. For that reason, I made sure I had all of these things on my poster to help add realism to the magazine but also in conformity to the style of media.
The picture I chose for this magazine was a shot of the tortured father and his child. The blood on him and the direct mode of address conformed to magazine and horror conventions. It was important that the father was on the front cover because the protagonist of the film is more likely to sell magazine due to a famous actor or actress that will appeal to an audience specifically. The direct look would attract and connect audiences in the same way the trailer uses shots of the child directly looking into the camera. I also liked the juxtaposition in the angle of the camera – the camera is of a high angle shot looking down on the protagonist beaten, yet he carries himself without fear, containing a battle within the scene that will be portrayed in the film. This idea also challenges convention of a magazine because normally the protagonist is represented in a powerful stance. The contrast and use of black and shadow was added in to again conform into conventions of horror films and to clearly advertise the horror on the magazine cover.
This was the first magazine cover I did, as you can see it isn't as contrasted or dark. The third feature was firstly 'There Will Be Blood' a film that came out three years ago, but to keep it with the conventions of a magazine and Empire I changed this feature to 'Beneath the Dark' which brought the magazine up to date.
