2. Genre Conventions
-Horror/ Thriller
-Mise en scene- knife, black costume, isolated
locations, as its raining it is an example of pathetic
fallacy, chiaroscuro lighting, picture props like in
‘Se7en’
-Close up shots of eyes (Rizwana in cupboard, Tovia
in car mirror)
- Typical fast paced, tension building music which
creates a sense of danger and fear.

3. -In the film ‘Tamara’ it has a similar revenge story to
ours, she uses a knife to cut off one of her victims
nose, ears and eyes. We incorporated this into our
trailer and used a knife as a weapon for revenge.
-On the other hand in ‘Tamara’ there is the use of
supernatural which is more common of horror films, in
our trailer we tried to make it look realistic so used real
weapons and made the killer completely human.

4. - ‘The genre may be considered as a practical device for
helping any mass medium to produce consistently and
efficiently and to relate its production to the expectations
of its customers’-McQuail
When the audience look at the trailer they will have
expectations of what might occur and what might happen
to the three victims. An example is shown when Tovia is in
the car and the killer grabs Tovia, the audience will expect
to see Tovia being killed. However, their expectation is
contradicted when Tovia escapes out of the car.
- Christine Gledhill notes that ‘differences between genres
meant different audiences could be identified and catered to...
This made it easier to standardise and stabilise production’.
This is shown through the genre of our film trailer which is
horror/thriller; the trailer has psychological aspects which
would appeal to a female audience and the kidnap and
killing of victims would appeal to a male audience.

5. Narrative
-Establishes three victims and a killer, with the use of titles
to establish why he is killing them.
-We skip between the three characters but in the end we
go back to one of them to establish her as the main
character and a possibility of her survival. -However this is
uncertain, creating an enigma.
-The traditional horror/thriller characters as well as
enigmas will make the audience want to see the film.
Throughout the trailer there is no equilibrium we just see
disruptions therefore the audience questions whether an
equilibrium will be formed in the end, which is an example
of Todorov’s theory to a certain degree.

6. Representation
-Car scene is a typical convention in horror films like in
“Ils” it is recognisable to the audience as they may have
seen it in other media texts. The car however in our
production is a symbol of escape.
-The dragging down the stairs scene is another typical
convention of horror/thriller films and can find an
example of this in “Hills have eyes 2” it is a
representative of a negative fate, as running up the stairs
implies a more difficult escape than if someone was
running down the stairs.

7. -There are typical female victims- there is an example of the
Proppian character type ‘damsel in distress’ the women are
seen as more vulnerable and weak in contrast to men, so
make the more suitable victim. However in our production it
is questioned if they really are innocent victims? The killer is
the antagonist and is an example of the Proppian character
type of the villain.
- Ira Konigsberg suggests that enduring genres reflect
‘universal dilemmas’ and ‘moral conflicts’ and appeal to
deep psychological needs. – In our production there is a
moral conflict as the women did bully the killer when he
was at school but are his actions justified???

8. Audience
-Our target audience is around age 15-30
-The cast is mainly female and so is more likely to
appeal to a female audience and due to psychological
aspects of the film, however there is elements of
violence and action that will appeal to the male
audience.
- Typical fans of specific genre recognise genre
conventions so film will appeal to them, for example
followers of horror films generally go to watch new
horror film at the cinema.
- Creation of enigmas such as ‘will any of them
survive?’ will make people want to see the film and
find out what happens to the women in film but also
the killer.

9. ‘Other pleasures can be derived from sharing our
experiences of a genre with others within an interpretive
which can be characterised by its familiarity with certain
genres’ – In todays society the audience like to share
their experience and have the ability to do it with
modern technology. They can talk about films on the
internet, social network sites and blog. This means
the audience are more involved and enjoy discussing
it with others to see their view point of the film etc.

10. Media Language
-The knife signifies violence, blood but also creates a sense of
fear as it is an intimidating weapon.
-Facial expressions in the trailer and close ups of scared eyes
signifies being vulnerable and weak and the power the killer
has.
-The voice over shows the killers mental state and establishes
to the audience the danger he imposes on the victims. This is
also done with the newspaper and creates fear which is backed
up when you see the killer cutting up the pictures, showing the
audience is in a pure psychotic state and how he's been
planning it.