2. In what ways does your media product use,
develop, or challenge forms and conventions
of real media products?
3. Background
For our A2 coursework, we were required to complete a 2 and a
half minute trailer along with a poster and film magazine front
cover. These 2 print tasks were supposed to complement the
video and support it in order to make it more sophisticated and
professional.
In this evaluation question I am going to explain how I
researched, adapted and challenged conventions of both the
print tasks and the trailer. Our chosen genre was horror so all
conventions need to follow the normal conventions of horror
movies and the stigma related to it.
4. Horror poster
Image:
The image in this poster uses very low key lighting and the
only source of light can be seen through the window, pulling
up the subject, creating an eerie tone.
Low-key lighting is a common convention of horror movies
as it leaves much to the imagination whilst still providing the
audience with some part of the film that anchors them in
and makes them want to watch the film.
Film Title:
The film title is a very important part of the poster as it is one of
the main parts that attracts the audiences.
When researching the horror movie genre, I realised a lot of the
film posters have a simple, traditional font. Instead of a creepy
font, designers use writing that we would see in everyday life and
something familiar to us. I believe the reason for this is to refrain
from making the poster too comical and also to let the audiences
know this is something familiar and could happen to an everyday
person.
Release date:
This is a common convention for not only horror movie posters, but
film posters in general. For this reason I had to make sure I used it
appropriately and to perform a degree of sophistication on my film
poster.
The release date for some movies can be more appealing based
on a certain date e.g. 31st October or Friday 13th for horror movies.
Tagline:
In this particular poster, this tagline is telling the audience that
this film is based on a true case study.
This type of advertisement creates and even more powerful
tone for the audience as it makes the movie more real and
even more scary. It is conventional for horror movies to adapt
this certain type of marketing as it builds a sinister tone and for
those wishing to seek thrills, it is more exciting because of the
added element of realism.
Billing block:
Like the release date, the billing block is not only a
common convention of horror movies, but it is a common
convention of film posters in general. For this reason I
would not need to discuss much about it other than the
fact it is something all film posters tend to have.
Company reference:
Like the release date, and the billing block, it is not only a
common convention of horror movies, but it is a common
convention of film posters in general. For this reason I
would not need to discuss much about it other than the
fact it is something all film posters tend to have.
‘From’ reference:
Here, the film poster references other successful films
from the director or producer of that film. In this case it is
‘The conjuring’ which is the film that comes before this
film and also ‘Insidious’ which has had 4 different sequels
Website/Social media interaction:
Sometimes, film companies put a ‘#’ or something else that allows
audiences to interact with the film. This helps to build the ratings of
the film as it spreads awareness and creates a community of fans.
The website is usually included for those who wish to find some
more information on the film, it is a common convention for a lot of
films because it allows the people to find out about everything to
do with the film, for example the show times or merchandise.
5. Horror magazine Website:
It is common for a magazine to include their own website
because it allows the audiences to get extra features on
the website if it does not include it in the printed version.
This allows interaction between a certain magazine and
audience or even a certain article and audiences.
Puff:
A puff is a common convention for almost all magazines
no matter the genre or magazine. A puff can be used to
make a certain part of the magazine stand out so that it is
appreciated more by the audiences. It is usually a brighter
colour and uses buzz words like ‘plus’.
Film title:
The film title doesn’t always feature on the magazine as
not all magazines are dedicated to one film. However as
this magazine is dedicated to the film ‘Evil Dead’, the title
is in large bold font and allows the audience to know what
this magazine all about.
Magazine masthead:
The magazine masthead is an important part of the
magazine as it needs to be recognisable to all the fans
and audiences that read it. Red has been used and it
is a dripping font which can be described as blood
dripping. Red is a common colour for horror movies as
it is a sign of blood and anger or danger.
Cover stories:
It is common for a magazine to have alternate cover
stories to the main story featured in the magazine. In
this magazine, the cover stories have a short
description but the main part of the cover story is the
image. This can be because with film magazines, the
picture content is more important than the description.
This can be incorporated in my magazine to follow
conventions.
Image:
The image is an extremely important part of the
magazine as it can make the audiences either want to
pick up the magazine or not. With horror film
magazines, a lot of conventions are important. For
example low key lighting is a significant part of the
photo as it brings a sense of mystery and danger.
Additionally, not only is low key lighting used, dark
colours have been used.
Barcode:
A barcode is a common convention for not only horror
magazines but a common convention for all
magazines, it is something I should include for
authenticity.
Buzz words:
Buzz words are a common convention for a lot of
magazines, and means people are anchored in to read
the magazine. It is common to use these as they catch
peoples eyes with both important news as well as
gossip that people find interesting.
6. POSTER: how it uses, develops and challenges conventions of real media products.
Tagline:
The tagline uses a red childish handwriting font. This is a common convention of horror movie posters because red is considered a scary
colour associated with blood, danger and anger. Therefore by using red in the tagline, along with childish handwriting that is considered
creepy and sinister, I have both followed conventions of a lot of horror movie posters but I have also challenged them by using an
‘unprofessional’ looking font.
Film title:
The film title uses a red font like the tagline which is a common convention for horror movie posters, however the font is very matching of
the horror theme and doesn’t follow conventions of a professional font on the poster. Therefore, even though my posters font colour
matches the horror genre, the actual font does not match the movie poster conventions.
Picture:
The picture I used was not what I originally wanted however I needed to go for this one as the original picture did not actually relate to the
film and didn’t include the main part of the image which was a toy doll. The masks around the main image is a symbol of being watched
which is the theme throughout the trailer and film; the masks are also used as they feature in the film as the thing that hides the
neighbours face, it is an important part of the trailer as it is the only thing that disguises the character.
Billing block:
The billing block is a common convention for all movie posters and is something I included out of necessity rather than choice. I made sure
it followed the colour scheme of the poster and it matches the ratings and actor names which improves the overall professionalism of the
poster.
Company references:
Again, like the billing block, this is something that a lot of, if not all film posters use, I decided to use companies that tend to produce horror
films to increase authenticity and professionalism. The companies appear underneath the billing block at the bottom of the page, which is a
common convention of movie posters.
Actor names:
The actors names appear underneath the film title, when researching real media products, it is common for the actors name to appear
there or at the top of the poster. As the space above the image was already taken up by both ratings and the tagline I decided to put the
actors underneath the title as it still creates significance for them.
Ratings:
The rating of a film does not always appear on a movie poster as it can distract the attention from other p[arts of the poster and when
researching horror movies in particular I did not seem to find many posters with the ratings however I decided to include it to make the
poster more sophisticated and authentic.
7. MAGAZINE: how it uses, develops and challenges conventions of real media products.
Masthead:
The masthead follows the normal conventions of a film magazine, as it is already a magazine masthead that is recognisable
among the public and those fans of the film industry. It is normally red and I had the option to change the colour if I wanted to
however I decided not to as red is a common colour in the horror genre.
Puff:
The puff is something I designed myself and I am really proud of. I decided I wanted to included this type of puff as I wanted this
particular magazine front cover to be dedicated only to horror which is uncommon for an empire magazine which focus primarily
on the action and adventure genre, steering away from the horror genre. It is a common thing to include a puff in a magazine
whether it be a film magazine or even a music magazine which is why I decided to include it and make it an attractive puff.
Film title:
The film title in this magazine matches the film title in the poster which is something I wanted to do in order to make the title of
the film recognisable as well as following a particular style. By seeing on both the print tasks, this type of font, it is something
that is associated with the film and therefore has the opportunity to boost the audience interaction as it makes something a
common feature for the audience.
Skyline:
The skyline is something that I saw in the empire magazine and was a common convention for it. I included literacy skills that
make the skyline more appealing and approachable. I would’ve normally not included the skyline however I felt the magazine
was missing something without it and it was a common convention in the empire magazine so including it would make it more
authentic and sophisticated.
Date & Price:
The date and price is something that features in almost every single magazine no matter what the content. It is an important
feature because it allows the user to know the price of the magazine and if they are an avid magazine collector, it allows them to
put together their collection and potentially earn money from it. Therefore, I included the sate and price in-between the ‘M’ in
‘Empire’.
Barcode:
Like the date and price, the barcode is an extremely important part of the magazine as it where the user can actually buy it.
Sometimes the barcode is not included if the copy is an online type magazine. None the less I included the barcode as it is a
common convention for all magazines and therefore creates authenticity.
Cover lines:
The cover lines are an important part of the magazine as it
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8. TRAILER: how it uses, develops and challenges conventions of real media products.
