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

1. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA
PRODUCTS USE, DEVELOP OR
CHALLENGE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA
PRODUCTS?

2. FILM
• Upon researching codes and conventions of the horror genre, I discovered
that the use of the colour red connotes to many things within horror. Red
connotes to blood, danger and determination.
• In my film, Don’t Press Play, the main character wore a red t-shirt to
indicate that he will be in peril during the movie, suggesting he could die
by the end. Determination could be another connotation that can link to
the main character as he showed persistence in trying to escape the
antagonist. This was implemented into my film as the colour red itself is
a universal convention of the horror genre.
• An example of this convention is from the film IT. Throughout the movie,
the object of significance was the red balloon where the clown attempted
to lure children with it. This is because balloons attract children, as they
love to have them and hold them throughout the day. However, since the
balloon is red, as an active audience we view this and assume that any of
the children that accept the balloon from Pennywise will end up in
danger.

3. FILM
• Furthermore, in my film, when the antagonist was in view,
we could constantly see the massive amount of blood
dripping and smothered all over its face. The use of blood is
a feature which conforms to conventions of the horror genre
and most importantly refers back to the colour red.
• The mass amount of blood was used in the film because
having just a little bit of blood or no blood at all won’t
portray the antagonist as someone to be feared. Hence, the
decision to pour plenty of blood all over the antagonist’s face
made it appear as frightening to the audience.
• This convention was implemented from the film Carrie
where, at her prom, she was drenched in pig’s blood which
created a horrifying effect when she went on a psychotic
rampage around her school. This gave me and the group the
idea that the use of a considerable amount of blood will
illustrate the antagonist as a scarier individual.

4. FILM
• Whilst researching conventions of horror, music is not really
used throughout a film. Occasionally, the odd rock or
classical song is used to either refer to the characters dark
mood (in reference to rock music) or to act as contrapuntal
when there is a significant scene (in reference to classical
music), for example, when someone is brutally killed.
• In my horror film, there are two songs from the genre of
grime, where the main character walks home with his
headphones in. This has been used to challenge the
conventions of music within the horror genre as the music
used is a representation of what students (British Youth)
listen to in this day and age. As a group we felt that this
was necessary to use as we wanted the audience to
understand more of what the main character likes within
the film, allowing them to identify with him.

5. FILM
• Another convention after conducting research on the codes
and conventions of the horror genre is that the characters
do not take notice of the threat or the consequences of their
actions.
• This is evident in my film when the main character decides
to pick up the cassette tape which has “DON’T PLAY” in
big, red writing. This follows the conventions as the
characters do not follow instructions, expecting everything
to be alright or for the adults to clean up their mess.
• Not thinking about their actions resulted in the definite
murder of one of the characters along with the cliff hanger
of one of the friends going back into the house. What is
unknown is whether this character is killed or not.

6. FILM
A main convention that I discovered while
researching conventions was the lighting. In
the majority of horror film, the most scariest
and tense parts occur in the dark. This is
because the character is prone and vulnerable,
whereas the antagonist is dominant which
allows it to attack the protagonist. As a viewer,
you expect the unexpected, you know it will
happen as it is in the dark, but you are not
exactly sure when it will occur. Hence, why the
use of lighting, especially low-key, is a
convention of the horror genre.
In my horror movie, the last few minutes of
the film were mainly shot in the dark due to
the antagonist being released. I felt it was
necessary and effective to do this in order to
create more tension and a higher fear factor.
This was because the antagonist wouldn’t
really appear that scary if it were chasing
people in broad daylight. Therefore, the use of
low-key lighting really helped with the aspect
of horror.

7. POSTER
• Whilst researching existing horror film posters, I found some key
conventions. A major convention is the colour scheme of the film poster.
With a high majority of them, they tended to be black, white and red.
• The black is used to add the dark and creepy element to the poster which
conforms to the genre, where the colour white is usually used for the
typography in order to contrast with the black, as the black is typically the
background. The red is usually the secondary colour in horror film posters
as the colour red is strongly used in the horror genre and conforms to a lot of
conventions within, such as blood and fear.
• For my poster, I followed the conventions of existing horror film posters
with the colour scheme selection as I wanted my poster to appear
professional and realistic.

8. POSTER
The dominance of one large image as the hotspot of the poster lures the audience in is another general convention of horror, if not all,
film posters. I used this convention in order to create a professional poster.
The hotspot is a picture of the antagonist wearing a hood over half of his face to prevent his identity being known by the audience,
making them want to know who the person beneath the hood is. A close up of the antagonist is used on the film poster because I
discovered that in existing horror film posters, the antagonist, spirit, paranormal entity is usually the main focus and image on the
poster.
However, in a lot of movie posters, their antagonist is usually distorted or disfigured in some way or form. I have gone against this
convention as I wanted to ensure the audience acknowledge and understand what the antagonist exactly is.
The fact the antagonist in my movie has a loosely sewn mouth with a lot of blood around its mouth tells the audience enough to
understand that this is the antagonist of the film. Therefore, I believe it was necessary to not distort the image of the antagonist.

9. POSTER
More typical conventions of existing
horror film poster are the release date,
strapline and credit block. I felt it was
necessary to conform to these
conventions of a horror poster as these
are all the generic and basic but
essential things needed on a film poster.
For my film poster, I decided to have the
release date during October as it is the
month of Halloween. This is where a lot
of horror movies are released as they
relate to the spooky season of Halloween.
I followed these conventions as releasing
a horror movie during October was more
suitable to do rather than release it in
Spring or Summer where it is lighter,
making it less scary to watch.

10. POSTER
• I have also conformed to the conventions of the strapline by making it short and snappy. However, I
have gone against the conventions as most of them are either in the 3rd person or it is a statement.
I have done this by producing a strapline that is in 1st person, making it seem to the audience that
the antagonist has taken over the poster by personally speaking to them. I felt this was necessary
to do as I wanted to produce a poster that is unique but still follows enough conventions of the
genre.
• Finally, in every 9 out of 10 horror film posters, the credit block is present on there. This is done to
slightly give the creator and producers of the film and poster some recognition for the work they
have done. The typography of a credit block is always in the font ‘SteelTongs’ from existing film
poster.
• I have adapted and used this typography on my horror film poster since it never changes, no
matter the genre or film.

11. REVIEW
• Whilst researching the conventions of horror film reviews, I had
discovered that the title of the film needs to be enlarged to the point
where it fills a section of the left-hand side of the double page review,
for example, the top of the page. This is because it should be the first
thing that the target audience look at when opening the page to the
review.
• Furthermore, a convention for the title is that its typography is
different to the strapline and the text containing the content of the
review. This is because they want to show the audience the significance
of the film, presenting that the title itself is more important than the
rest of the page.
• I have challenged conventions by using the same typography from my
poster onto my double page review. This is because I want there to be a
clear and coherent link between the two products in order to maintain
consistency and professionalism with my products. Therefore, this will
make my review more recognisable to my target audience.

12. REVIEW
A convention that I have followed for the
double page review is a rating out of 5 stars
and an information box that consists of all the
relevant information to do with the film such
as the duration, cast, producer and release
date. This was done to inform the audience of
things they need to know before watching the
movie, knowing the journalist’s opinion on the
movie and to ensure that my review looks
professional.
A convention that is used quite frequently in
double page reviews is the use of an enlarged
first letter at the start of an article/review.
The introduction of the review contains my
overall opinion of the movie.
I have decided upon doing a negative review
as I felt it was easier to express the negative
criticism about the movie rather than giving
it a shining review.

13. REVIEW
I have broken conventions of the review
by not using still images from the movie
but instead of images taken for the poster
that didn’t make the final cut. Even
though they didn’t make the cut, they
were still good quality images that
related well to the film. For instance, the
two images I used was an image of the
cassette tape and a different image of the
antagonist (which was different to the
film poster).
Summarising the review with a verdict at
the end is also a convention of a double
page review. This is where the journalist
summarises the movie in a few
sentences, dictating their opinion on
whether the audience should bother to
watch the movie or not. I have decided to
use this as this is used in a lot of double
page reviews across many genres.