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

I think that my trailer contains many elements that are conventional of the horror genre, aspects such as the shot types, mise-en-scene and sound were all used to create a product that would represent the horror genre in a way that also represents the ideas and narrative that we had for our own horror film.

For example, horror tends to use lighting as a feature to cause feelings such as disorientation and fear to give the product a certain connotation. Such as in the film 'Orphan', the high key lighting below is used to imply a medical facility; it lasts only a few seconds which assists the disorientation that the audience feel. It appears as a point of view shot which puts us in the eyes of the character and we can relate to them, looking into a light is not only disorientating but it also allows for something to happen that is not comprehensible. Similarly to this, my trailer contains also a shot (below) that is designed to disorientate the audience and also lasts only a couple of seconds, however my shot uses more low key lighting to darken the scene and connote mystery; it coincides with the change of music to show that the characters are in danger, and the fact that it is difficult to see what is going on makes it even scarier. The differences between these shots are quite obvious, from 'Orphan' the lights appear to come from the ceiling and make us think that the person is lying down, making that person seem vulnerable. In 'Off Campus' it is a person holding a torch, which makes it seem more like a discovery of something lurking in the shadows, it is almost the point of view of the killer as we see that the character's are being more wise to it's presence.

 

 'Orphan' screen shot      'Off Campus' screen shot

Another convention of trailers is to concentrate on the interests of the audience, mainly to make the audience interested in watching the film. In horror, trailers tend to concentrate on the fears of it's audience, a common fear that many people share, including myself is a fear of eyes. In 'The Final Destination' there is an extreme close-up of an eye, which is very similar to a shot in my trailer. As shown below.

'Off Campus' screen shot        'The Final Destination' screen shot

As you can see, both shots are very similar, even the way that the eyes are at a canted angle is very similar and shows that both are following conventions of horror. These close-ups of an eye act like the beginning of an eye line match, which allow the audience to identify with a character and also imply that something bad is going to happen. Eyes become the focus of attention at this point so that we can see pupils dilate and even reflections in the eyes of what is to come.
However the differences in these two shots are clear, the eye in my own trailer appears a lot darker and has a darker connotation to it, speculating who the eye belongs to and what intentions that character has. In 'TFD' trailer the eye looks more troubled, and it is made clear in the trailer that the eye belongs to the main character, the weakness here connotes this as the character is helpless and explosions erupt around him. 


A common feature of trailers particularly, is to use titles during the trailer to give additional information about the trailer which the visuals do not give in sufficient detail. Most trailers contain them, each varying in size and fonts to suit the subject of the trailer.

'The Final Destination' screen shot   'Off Campus' screen shot

As you can see above, both trailers contain titles, and oddly enough it even seems that they appear at the same time in the trailer, 'The Final destination' appearing at 1.18 whilst 'Off Campus' appears at 1.15. This suggests that it is conventional of trailers to show these kind of titles around this time, a balance between visuals and text that gives the full story. However, the types of text differ greatly, and this is due to the sub genre of the films. TFD almost has a sci-fi essence to it because it is based on psychological visions, this is represented though the neon blue text and whispery background. But OC is a slasher/paranormal type film and so uses red, which has connotations of blood and death.

Another means of giving away aspects of the story is to use newspaper clippings, not only do they assist titles in giving details about the narrative they are also an aesthetic way of showing them. Newspaper clippings are conventional of both trailers and horror because they support the idea bought forward from the 18th century classic novel 'Dracula' and also give away major aspects of the narrative. The idea that there is life after death; so in terms of the newspapers, the idea that things can reoccur, deaths in certain houses, return of old killers and so forth.

 'The Amityville Horror' screen shot    'Off Campus' screen shot

Both trailers contain headlines which are relevant to the narrative of the film, it is important to do this in order to portray the narrative well. The differences in these shots are that 'TAH' seems to focus on one clear storyline, and a spotlight effect is used to create a more unique feel to it. In 'OC' there are several articles, which in my mind makes it seem more like a developing issue that seems to reoccur. This would support the idea created by the novel Dracula as it represents the idea of things returning.
  
A common convention of trailers involves the use of weapons, a weapon in a film can connote different things and becomes part of the iconography. It also gives information about the type of killer, for example a samurai sword generally connotes a ninja, or a gun connotes a gangster. Particular horror legends have different weapons that become associated with their image, Freddy Kruegar has a glove with blades whilst Jason prefers a machete. Therefore a weapon in a trailer can instantly give details about the kind of killer included in the film. No weapons at all can mean that a film takes a different approach to death, such as religious themed films where exorcisms occur and weapons aren't really needed. 

 'The Crazies' screen shot   'Off Campus' screen shot

Both of these trailers contain pitchforks; a pitchfork connotes the idea of a farmer, which I think is quite representative of the past. Death by pitchfork would also be rather a gruesome death, which suggests that both films contain a lot of gore. Also they are both shown in the same stabbing motion towards the camera, this is a convention of horror as it puts the audience in the point of view of the person who is being stabbed, something that no audience member would want. However the differences between these shots are vast, the lighting is very different as in 'The crazies' it is a bright clear shot which focuses mainly on the pitchfork. In 'OC' the shot is much darker and is lit using a torch, it does make the audience feel more involved though as they keep their eyes watching as to where the torch shines, in which it highlights the fork as it is coming down. 

Another interesting thing that I found was that in the last shot that we used in 'Off Campus' where the final girl  is in a car and gets grabbed from behind, an almost identical shot was featured in 'The Devil Inside'. The shot is very conventional of horror because it is a jumpy scene which is featured in many classic horrors, it is almost standard whilst watching a film to shout 'check the back seats!' as it is frustrating when a character doesn't and is then captured. 

'The Devil Inside' screen shot       'Off Campus' screen shot

The main differences between these shots are the shot distance;  'TDI' being a medium shot, whilst 'OC' is a long shot, the fact that in 'TDI' the killer is much more noticeable and easier to identify, but the long shot makes it seem more mysterious, and in both trailers the fate of the character is left unknown. Also the lighting is much darker in 'OC' which adds to the mysterious quality of the ending, what happens to the final girl is left undetermined.  

The use of effective shots in a trailer are very important, they have a great impact on the audience and also help to gain their interest.

'The Crazies' screen shot    'Off Campus' screen shot

These dramatic shots are very similar in terms of lighting, the outline of them is lit in a way that their torso appears like it is glowing. Obviously the location of these shots are very different, in my own trailer it is a character entering a shed, whilst in 'The Crazies' it seems more like a discovery, especially as the audience's eyes are drawn to the large unidentifiable object. Both however are still dramatic shots that cause impact on the audience, they are interesting and attract attention. 

Another important factor of horror is gore. The amount and type of gore is mostly due to preference, but in many films gore is included as a means of attracting it's audience. 

 

'Smiley' screen shot       'Off Campus' screen shot 

One way of portraying gore is by showing the source of the gore, the method that lead to the gory scene. The feeling that the audience get when seeing a bloody knife for example is they imagine the motion of stabbing that would lead to the knife being bloody. For people who do not like blood this can be very scary. 

An important aspect of any trailer/film is to identify the location that the film is set in, it is important for an audience to know the location of the film as this allows for the audience to have a general better understanding of a film. The setting plays an important part of mise-en-scene as it allows for other assumptions about the film to be made which help an audience establish important things such as the plot. For example if a film is set in a mental hospital, the film is likely to be about a psychotic  patient who may return and kill who ever is there. 

 'Last House on the Left' screen shot  'Off Campus' screen shot

Both of these trailers contain shots of cars, although not straight away an indication of the setting, they do give away the fact that the characters had to travel to get there. In 'LHONL' it acts as an establishing shot which does give away many aspects of the location. In my trailer, a long shot is used and this does still successfully give away that it is in a residental area. Both shots are used for different purposes, in my own trailer the car is used as a means of moving house, whilst the other is used to travel away on holiday. 

Overall I think that my trailer contains many conventions that a real trailer does, the genre of the trailer is made clear by the low key lighting, the expressive non-naturalistic camera work, and the use of mise-en-scene. The name of the film is indicated clearly at the end of the trailer with a memorable sound effect, and also at the end of the trailer are production values such as the stars and directors.