In what ways does your media prodution use , develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Forms & Conventions of Real Media Products are rules that make a trailer a trailer and a movie poster a movie poster. Conventions help an audience recognise what type of media product it is by genre and whether they will choose to consume it or not. In this section of our coursework we will be analyzing how we used and developed common conventions of real media texts. We will be analysing our trailer "awol" and our poster and magazine "Fright" to see if they follow the common conventions used by real media texts.
Magazines have a common layout that they follow and are made to be informative whilst interesting. There are common conventions that are used to signify what is and is not a magazine. Magazines use codes such as:
Above are some examples of real horror magazines of which follow the same conventional layout of magazines such as coverlines and barcode. On the left is the music magazine we made called "FRIGHT" we followed the majority of conventions such as masthead and selling line. However one convention that was developed was the cover lines on the left hand side as a image is included which is the poster for the movie this can attract more readers as it is a free item. The main image is also edited by using a red overlay and the grainy texture makes the image more original and more effective as red connotes death and gore.
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Conventions We Followed
1) Film Strip
A film strip is used to put images in order in a small space. It symbolizes a film strip that is used in non-digital cameras. Using a film strip is effective as we were able to include behind the scenes images from our film , this would attract our target audience to the magazine as they get to see how the film was made which is interesting.
2) Bold Masthead
As you can see in several magazines , the masthead is on the top of the page and is very bold and large. This is because the masthead is the title of the magazine and therefore it has to be noticeable and memorable so that the audience can remember the magazine due to the mastheads appearance. Because of this we followed this convention as it is needed and makes the page look orderly.
3) Main Coverline
We decided to use the same font used for our movie title and use it for the main coverline "AWOL". This is effective as the audience will recognize the brand due to the same font being used and therefore may be more likely to purchase the magazine as a movie they like or recognize is being featured in it.
Conventions We Developed
1) Coverlines
Coverlines are a way of briefly explaining the content of the magazine and are usually positioned on either side of the page like columns. We developed this convention by mixing the positions of some of the coverlines as some are vertical whilst others are horizontal. Some of the cover lines are also underlined with a fade out effect to make it more creative.
Conventions We Challenged
We did not challenge any conventions with the magazine but only really followed and developed them. One of the ways we could have challenged conventions is by using a different camera shot/angle of our antagonist instead of the common close up image of the antagonist. As you can see from these examples they all have the same camera shot a close up/mid shot.
Similar to magazine conventions , film posters have conventions that are common codes and rules that companies follow to produce a successful and marketable film poster. However may posters look very different from each other even in the horror genre due to the different conventions in different genres , they will not all be the same but there are still common elements shared in movie posters such as:
Above are examples of real media examples of horror posters and the conventions they follow. They are all very similar in regards to this and this is why they are conventional horror posters. They all include the same conventions but are developed in different ways. On the Left is the poster for "AWOL" we also followed , developed and challenged some conventions with the poster and wanted to be creative and conventional at the same time so it could appeal to our audience.
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Conventions We Followed
1) Film Title (Bottom of the poster)
The Film title is at the bottom of the poster and this is the best way of making the title visible. It stands out from the page and with the gritty textures this was useful to make the film title more memorable. This is probably the most common way of using this particular convention as it is literally the center of attention and it makes sure the viewer sees it.
2) Close Up Main Image
We used a close up of our antagonist so that they could gather more emotion from the characters facial expressions and the use of direct address to the audience can make them feel intimidated which is good as they will want to watch it if they feel it is scary. This was also so they could see the weapon and have an image of the antagonist and the weapon to help them remember the film.
3) Credits Bottom Of Poster
Credits is featured on almost every horror poster we found. Credits fill the space at the bottom of the poster and list the producers , directors and basically all the people and companies included in the pre-production and production stages of the film. This is a significant aspect of posters as people recognize movie posters due to the credits always being included at the bottom.
Conventions We Developed
Cast Names
In comparison to many horror posters we included our main cast names on the top of the poster and made them very bold and noticeable through the use of color and the size. This is because we know "star power" is an element that attract audiences to films therefore horror posters sometimes include their main cast not only in the credits but also somewhere else on the poster , usually the bottom.
Conventions We Challenged
Awards/Quotes
On our poster we included awards given to the film such as "Top 100 all time horror films" and also included positive critics about the film by newspapers and film critics. This is so that our audience are more persuaded to watch the film and are attracted to it because of the positive feedback it has received. Majority of horror posters do not include quotes and awards so therefore including this was different.
Trailer conventions are features and elements that film companies follow in order to produce a successful teaser trailer. However , trailer conventions can be developed and challenged more as there are various genres and movies that are being produced everyday therefore trailers have to be original and exciting to attract an audience. Below are real trailers and the conventions they follow.
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Nightmare On Elm Street
Friday 13th
AWOL
Scream |
Awol |
Conventions We Followed
Captions
Captions are commonly used in horror trailers to give some background clues about the film and can be used to attract the audiences attention and persuade the audience to watch the film. We used captions three times in our trailer and is edited with a moving sky behind the text than to just use a plain black background.
Running/Chasing Scene
In horror trailers especially in the sub genre of slasher there are chasing/running scenes included through quick cuts , POV and steadicam for example to build intensity and to make the audience feel as though they are the victims. These scenes are fast paced and are effective in making trailers more exciting.
Iconic Weapon
In horror trailers the antagonist usually has an iconic weapon in this case scream's iconic weapon is a sharp knife and in our trailer the iconic weapon is the Gurkha Knife. In both trailers the iconic weapons are shown on some occasions this is to connote violence and death which are ongoing themes in horror films.
Conventions We Developed
Use of News Stories
Although captions were used in our horror trailer , we also included scenes of newspaper stories to make the trailer more realistic and the audience will be able to understand more of the plot whilst not giving too much away.
Release Date
Some horror trailers only have the release date at the end but in our trailer we have the release date but also the credits and logos included , as well as a hashtag so that our audience can get the trailer trending on social media this way we can attract a larger audience.
Conventions We Challenged
Appearance of Antagonist
In some horror trailers the antagonist is not shown frequently or their identity is anonymous (masked) to make the antagonist mysterious. However in our trailer you can see the antagonist's body and face which is unconventional in slasher movies and they are also shown at least three times. This is because our antagonist is an Ex-soldier and we did not want to over complicate and move away from this so we kept the antagonist as someone the audience can visibly see.
We researched army costume and uniform and some good results came up and we used these searches to find what our antagonist should wear to look like a real soldier. It was not difficult to think of what the antagonist should wear because everyone is familiar with what a solider looks like so it was easy to recreate. For our protagonists as they are adolescents it was important that they wore casual and trendy clothing as that is how the majority commonly dress. Most of them have an urban and street style of clothing therefore we were able to recreate this very easily. Their costume is very important so that our audience could identify them as teenagers and not adults , it is very conventional in horror films especially in the sub genre of slasher to have adolescent victims this may be because being young is also associated with "innocence".
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To do makeup we researched scar and fake wounds tutorials on YouTube to see what they looked like and how to make them. There were several videos on YouTube on how to make scars and wound on face , neck , hand and arms. This was effective as it meant we could use these tutorials to practice making our own scars. As gore is a common theme in horror making bleeding scars and wounds would be conventional and is relateable as our antagonist's iconic weapon is a Gurkha knife of which penetrates into the body.
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Gurkha Knife
The kukri is effective as a chopping and slashing weapon. Because the blade bends towards the opponent, the user need not angle the wrist while executing a chopping motion. The slasher genre involves using weapons that are sharp , quick to use and dangerous such as knives , axes , machetes and so on. In our trailer we will be featuring a gurkha knife as our iconic weapon for the antagonist as he is an ex gurkha soldier. We decided that we were not going to use may props as there was none really needed apart from the antagonists weapon as the scenes in the trailer are outdoors so the protagonists did not use anything. However there are many horror films where the antagonists have iconic weapons which is a huge feature in the film.
In Scream the antagonist has an unknown identity and can only be noticed by their costume and weapon therefore anyone in the film could be the antagonist. However in AWOL our protagonists can see the antagonist and can therefore identify him more easily by costume and face. However there is no name for him just the "Soldier" to add anonymity. Both characters signify death as the one in scream looks like a ghost or a grim reaper of which are commonly understood to connote death and the color black signifies mystery and fear , similar to AWOL the idea of a soldier is that soldiers kill in war and therefore have been trained how to be violent and skilled killers therefore the connotations associated with WAR such as bloodshed , trauma and struggle these are themes we want to convey to our audience through the antagonist and the storyline. Moreover , the main protagonists in scream are adolescents like in AWOL but in scream there are much more other characters include in the trailer but in our trailer it is only the three protagonists and the antagonist featured.
A film score (also sometimes called background score, background music, movie soundtrack, film music or incidental music) is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score forms part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects, and comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to enhance the dramatic narrative and the emotional impact of the scene in question. In these horror films they all have different sounding scores through the use of bangs , silence , high pitched sounds , footsteps nursery rhymes and sounds of a child toy.
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For AWOL we used a mixture of diagetic and non diagetic sound for the trailer such as screams and loud thuds. The sound begins slow at the start but then gradually becomes climatic as the trailer goes on. The sound was inspired by horror trailers such as these so that were able to follow the conventional sounds they used but then also develop them. We used Logic Pro to create the score.
In our final products we made sure we were connoting the sub genre of slasher through the use of our antagonist who indeed is a psychotic killer as he is an Ex-soldier who suffers from PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) from the being in the military and suffers from delusions and hallucinations. He acts like a soldier although the e war is over. Their iconic weapon is a Gurkha Knife which is a sharp and violent tool of which all slasher films possess an iconic weapon such as this. The film would be gore filled and their is a sequence of deaths as the protagonists end up being hunted down and killed. Therefore we used several elements in our product to make sure our sub genre was significant.