Question 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge form and conventions of real media products?
Casting
In recent horror films it can be very common that the female character to be a killer or possessed, this creates the role reversal between men and women, as typically the male character is brave and the stronger gender. But with our trailer the female lead (Holly Frost) gets possessed in the first 50 seconds of our trailer which creates the idea that she has no control over who she hurts as she is under the influence of our Yuri (Mr Cullen). An example of a horror that has the main female lead getting possessed is 'The Babadook' released in 2014 and 'Paranormal Activity' released in 2007. Also by having our final victim being a male is breaking the convention of traditionally having a female character as the victim, in the majority of horror films the female characters are the main target, this is due to them been seen as physically weaker and vulnerable. There isn't many horror films that a have a male character as the victim, but an example of horror films that do are Friday the 13th and SAW. |
Setting
It is very typical for a trailer to have several different settings to portray a range of seniors. This is due to the style of a trailer, being a montage of clips and often not having links with one shot to another unlike a opening title sequence. We have arrange of setting in our trailer, but a popular location that similar horror films such as Cabin in the Woods, Mama is an abandoned cabin. |
Possession
Within our trailer there are several ways that we tried to show the audience that our horror sub genre was possession, one reason why we chose to have possession as the main feature of horror war it is easy to use visual imagery to help convey someone being possessed. One way is through the use of movement, near the end of our trailer we showed our main character (Holly Frost) banging a wall and all of sudden throwing a chair, this showed the audience that she was not in control of herself and that she was being controlled, this then linked with the sound of voices that was played on a loop linking to the idea that there was voices in her head.
One of our taglines for our trailer and poster is "You'll mind will be Seized" we decided to have this followed by "You have been Warned" this confirms to the audience that the trailer is about a possession and that once the Yuri has been released its to late to save yourself.
Within our trailer there are several ways that we tried to show the audience that our horror sub genre was possession, one reason why we chose to have possession as the main feature of horror war it is easy to use visual imagery to help convey someone being possessed. One way is through the use of movement, near the end of our trailer we showed our main character (Holly Frost) banging a wall and all of sudden throwing a chair, this showed the audience that she was not in control of herself and that she was being controlled, this then linked with the sound of voices that was played on a loop linking to the idea that there was voices in her head.
One of our taglines for our trailer and poster is "You'll mind will be Seized" we decided to have this followed by "You have been Warned" this confirms to the audience that the trailer is about a possession and that once the Yuri has been released its to late to save yourself.
Conventions
Within our trailer we used the traditional conventions, the first convention we used was using fast paced shots, this helps builds the audience up towards the end of our trailer. This is a common feature within trailers as this creates tension and couples well with the reveal of the title of the film at the end of the trailer. it also allows us to give an overall flavour of the narrative without giving away the plot.
The second convention we used was to have a typical blonde as our first victim, the reason that this a popular victim is as blonde as typically seem as vulnerable and ditzy making them the easier target to go for.
The third convention we used was having a final scare at the end of our trailer, this is common within almost every horror trailer that we have looked at, for example The Woman in Black and Sinister. This is done for the main reason to leave a lasting impression on the audience, this is the last thing they see.
Within an official trailer it is very typical to have 8 different locations. the style of a trailer is to be a montage of clips and often not having links with one shot to another unlike an Opening Title Sequence. We stayed close to this idea in order to develop conventions by filming various locations throughout our filming days. We aimed to have a minimum of 8 locations within our trailer, within horrors a typical place to film i sin a small enclosed dark place to create suspense fro the audience, in our trailer we filmed in a dark basement.
In our trailer we filmed in various locations basement, abandoned cabin, house, bathroom, in a field. Filming in a house conformed to traditional horror as in Scream the main scenes are in a house.
The second convention we used was to have a typical blonde as our first victim, the reason that this a popular victim is as blonde as typically seem as vulnerable and ditzy making them the easier target to go for.
The third convention we used was having a final scare at the end of our trailer, this is common within almost every horror trailer that we have looked at, for example The Woman in Black and Sinister. This is done for the main reason to leave a lasting impression on the audience, this is the last thing they see.
Within an official trailer it is very typical to have 8 different locations. the style of a trailer is to be a montage of clips and often not having links with one shot to another unlike an Opening Title Sequence. We stayed close to this idea in order to develop conventions by filming various locations throughout our filming days. We aimed to have a minimum of 8 locations within our trailer, within horrors a typical place to film i sin a small enclosed dark place to create suspense fro the audience, in our trailer we filmed in a dark basement.
In our trailer we filmed in various locations basement, abandoned cabin, house, bathroom, in a field. Filming in a house conformed to traditional horror as in Scream the main scenes are in a house.
Developing Conventions:
In our trailer we used our main character as a Yuri, using a Yuri in horror films is an idea that is fairly new, it draws on the paranormal genre of a "restless spirit" torturing its victims. This is where we got the idea of "Cullen's" background of killing his family. We have developed this convention by taking the idea from Japanese and Korean horror and putting it into our trailer.
Our Poster:
With our poster we kept to the traditional colour of a dark background this allows the audience to relate the poster to a horror, however we broke conventions by revealing our killer fully on our poster (Holly) instead of keeping her hidden. When designing our poster we wanted to use the main feature in our trailer that releases the Yuri Mr Cullen, we decided to use the smashed mirror to help show how Holly has changed and being controlled. We also wanted to have glimpses of the victims in the glass to show how vulnerable they are.
We believe that this an iconic image in relation to our killer, we used the Kuleshove & Collision theory when editing our trailer, this was done to vary the pace in our trailer to conform to classic horror conventions. When using the Kuleshove and Collision theory it allowed the trailer to go from slow paced edit to fast past edit, this created tension and allowed the trailer to look professional as it is seen in many traditional horrors. Within our trailer the two theories was the best idea as the beginning of our trailer was slow paced to help create suspicion, then near the end of our trailer it became more fast paced.
Our Magazine:
For our magazine we used the first victim to be killed by Holly, Hannah. The reason we chose to have Hannah was to show how vulnerable she was, she is a easy target and the that she was the typical blonde to be killed off first. A reason why using Hannah was a good thing for a magazine was because the male audience will be attracted to her making them buy the magazine and watch the film.
We decided to position Hannah to the far right looking over her shoulder to the left, this makes the audience suggest that she is looking at the Killer.
In our trailer we used our main character as a Yuri, using a Yuri in horror films is an idea that is fairly new, it draws on the paranormal genre of a "restless spirit" torturing its victims. This is where we got the idea of "Cullen's" background of killing his family. We have developed this convention by taking the idea from Japanese and Korean horror and putting it into our trailer.
Our Poster:
With our poster we kept to the traditional colour of a dark background this allows the audience to relate the poster to a horror, however we broke conventions by revealing our killer fully on our poster (Holly) instead of keeping her hidden. When designing our poster we wanted to use the main feature in our trailer that releases the Yuri Mr Cullen, we decided to use the smashed mirror to help show how Holly has changed and being controlled. We also wanted to have glimpses of the victims in the glass to show how vulnerable they are.
We believe that this an iconic image in relation to our killer, we used the Kuleshove & Collision theory when editing our trailer, this was done to vary the pace in our trailer to conform to classic horror conventions. When using the Kuleshove and Collision theory it allowed the trailer to go from slow paced edit to fast past edit, this created tension and allowed the trailer to look professional as it is seen in many traditional horrors. Within our trailer the two theories was the best idea as the beginning of our trailer was slow paced to help create suspicion, then near the end of our trailer it became more fast paced.
Our Magazine:
For our magazine we used the first victim to be killed by Holly, Hannah. The reason we chose to have Hannah was to show how vulnerable she was, she is a easy target and the that she was the typical blonde to be killed off first. A reason why using Hannah was a good thing for a magazine was because the male audience will be attracted to her making them buy the magazine and watch the film.
We decided to position Hannah to the far right looking over her shoulder to the left, this makes the audience suggest that she is looking at the Killer.
Inspiration from The Final Destination
We took inspiration from the poster The Final Destination as they have used a mirror to show the victim and the Antagonist, we also wanted to use an object as the main focus of our poster as this is how our Yuri, Mr Cullen is unleashed. Another factor that we took inspiration from is the colour scheme, the smokey background unveils a sense of mystery and darkness which we wanted to portray in our poster as every death happens a night.
We took inspiration from the poster The Final Destination as they have used a mirror to show the victim and the Antagonist, we also wanted to use an object as the main focus of our poster as this is how our Yuri, Mr Cullen is unleashed. Another factor that we took inspiration from is the colour scheme, the smokey background unveils a sense of mystery and darkness which we wanted to portray in our poster as every death happens a night.
Inspiration from Empire Magazine Front Cover:
We took inspiration from the magazine Empire as we liked that the title was big, bold and stood out, we also liked that the title is in the background and that it doesn't take to much attention away from the character on the page. In our poster we have not challenged or developed convention, we used an iconic image from our trailer of the mirror smashing and had a brunette girl, Hannah as the main girl on the front, we chose this as it appeals to the opposite sex and may make them want to pick up the magazine and read about our film, Cullen. With our magazine we used templates of empire and replicated them, this allowed our product to look like the real product.