Question 1

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

2. I WAS TOLD I NEEDED TO CREATE A PROMOTIONAL PACKAGE FOR A HORROR FILM, SO I KNEW I
NEEDED TO CARRY OUT LOTS OF RESEARCH TO COLLECT THE COMMON CODES AND CONVENTIONS IN
ORDER FOR MY PACKAGE TO BE PROFESSIONAL. I KNEW THAT COMMON CONVENTIONS WERE A VERY
IMPORTANT PART OF CREATING A PIECE OF MEDIA TEXT BECAUSE I HAVE STUDIED MEDIA FOR MANY
YEARS. I COLLECTED THE RESEARCH BY LOOKING AT CURRENT HORROR FILMS TRAILERS, POSTERS AND
WEBSITES. THIS HELPED ME TO COLLECT A WIDE RANGE OF COMMON CONVENTIONS TO USE IN MY
MEDIA PRODUCTS, OR OPPOSITELY CHALLENGE THEM. THIS IS A WAY OF MAKING IT CLEAR TO OUR
TARGET AUDIENCE WHAT THE MEDIA PRODUCTS ARE TRYING TO CONVEY.

3. • MY GROUP AND I DECIDED TO RESEARCH A SUBGENRE OF HORROR THAT WOULD FIT OUR
AUDIENCE FEEDBACK, SO WE LOOKED AT PSYCHOLOGICAL AND GORE, TO MAKE THE COMMON
CONVENTIONS MORE SPECIFIC.
• LOOKING AT THESE SPECIFIC CONVENTIONS HELPED US TO FULFIL OUR TARGET AUDIENCE’S
EXPECTATIONS.
• WE DID THIS BY COMPARING ALL THE TRAILERS POSTERS AND WEBSITES AND THEN PICKING OUT
THE COMMON FEATURES BETWEEN THEM ALL.

4. IN THE POSTERS, MY GROUP AND I NOTICED THAT THEY ALL CONTAIN A LARGE
PHOTO USUALLY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PAGE. I LOOKED AT SILENT SCREAM, ONE
MISSED CALL AND DEAD SILENCE WHICH ALL HAD THIS FEATURE. THE OTHER
POSTER I LOOKED AT, NAMED ‘THE AMITYVILLE HORROR’ HAD A SMALLER PHOTO
BUT THIS COULD BE BECAUSE THEY WERE CHALLENGING THE COMMON
CONVENTIONS.

5. I CHOSE TO FOLLOW THE COMMON CONVENTIONS IN MY POSTER BY USING A CLOSE UP SHOT OF THE ANTAGONIST.
MY REASON FOR THIS WAS BECAUSE IT HIGHLIGHTS THE EVIL FACIAL EXPRESSION OF THE CHARACTER AND IT
ALLOWS THE AUDIENCE TO SEE HIS FACE IN DETAIL. I ALSO FOLLOWED THE CONVENTIONS BY DECIDING TO GO WITH
VERY DARK/LOW KEY LIGHTING. IN OTHER POSTERS I HAD LOOKED AT, THEY WERE MOSTLY DARK WITH A FOCUSED
IMAGE IN THE MIDDLE. I USED THIS BECAUSE IT SETS THE TONE FOR THE FILM AND SINCE MY FILM IS BASED IN A
GARAGE, GARAGES ARE USUALLY DULL SO THE LIGHTING FIT WELL.

6. I STUCK TO THE COMMON CODES AND CONVENTIONS IN MOST PARTS OF MY POSTER. I PLACED THE
TAGLINE AT THE TOP CENTRE OF THE PAGE, WHICH I FOUND IN MANY OF THE POSTERS I HAD
RESEARCHED. I PLACED THE TITLE UNDERNEATH THE MAIN PHOTO, AND THE CREDITS ALL AT THE
BOTTOM OF THE PAGE.

7. I CHALLENGED A CONVENTION BECAUSE I DECIDED NOT TO INCLUDE REVIEWS ON MY POSTER LIKE
SOME OTHERS HAVE DONE. I FELT IT MAY CLUTTER UP THE PAGE AND START TO TAKE THE FOCUS AWAY
FROM THE IMAGE SO I USED REVIEWS ON MY WEBSITE INSTEAD. I DECIDED NOT TO CHALLENGE TOO
MANY CONVENTIONS ON MY POSTER BECAUSE I WANTED IT TO HAVE THE SAME EFFECT AS A
PROFESSIONAL POSTER.

8. WHEN RESEARCHING FOR MY WEBSITE HOMEPAGE I LOOKED UP CURRENT WEBSITES PROMOTING
HORROR FILMS. THE MAIN ONES I FOCUSED ON WERE ‘BLAIR WITCH PROJECT’ ‘DON’T BREATHE’ AND
‘LIGHTS OUT’

9. I FOUND THAT THE WEBSITES HAD VERY SIMILAR CONVENTIONS TO THE POSTERS. THEY INCLUDED A
BI TITLE WHICH MADE THE NAME OF THE FILM VERY CLEAR. I INCLUDED THIS IN MY WEBSITE BY
PUTTING THE NAME OF OUR FILM ‘THE VIEWING’’ AT HE TOP OF THE PAGE. THE BLAIR WITCH
PROJECT HAD A SOUNDTRACK THAT AUTOMATICALLY PLAYED WHEN THE SITE OPENED. I TOOK
INSPIRATION AND SEARCHED THE INTERNET AND FOUND A SOUNDTRACK THAT I COULD USE ON MY
OWN WEBSITE.

10. OTHER FEATURES INCLUDED A SOCIAL MEDIA BAR WHICH I INCLUDED ON MY WEBSITE TO ALLOW USERS
TO GO TO THE DIFFERENT SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES FOR THEE FILM. THIS IS ANOTHER GOOD WAY OF
PROMOTION BECAUSE IT ALLOWS THE AUDIENCE TO INTERACT MORE. I ALSO HAD A NAVIGATION BAR ON
THEE LEFT SIDE OF MY WEBSITE WHICH WAS ON EVERY WEBSITE WHEN I DID MY RESEARCH. THIS MAKES IT
CLEAR FOR THE USER TO GO TO PARTICULAR POINTS OF THE WEBSITE FOR INFORMATION. I PLACED THE
SAME PHOTO THAT I USED IN MY POSTER, IN THE CENTRE OF THE PAGE SO IT IS EYE CATCHING AND
SHOWS OFF THE MAIN CHARACTER. I PLACED MY TAGLINE AND REVIEWS ON THE PAGE ALSO AS IT IS
IMPORTANT INFORMATION THAT WILL BE OF INTEREST TO THE READER AND WAS A COMMON
CONVENTION OF ALL THE WEBSITES. I ALSO STUCK TO 3 MAIN COLOURS FOR MY COLOUR THEME AS THIS
WAS A COMMON FEATURE THROUGHOUT THE WEBSITES. IT MAKES THE WEBSITE CLEAR TO READ AS TOO
MANY COLOURS CAN MAKE IT SEEM MESSY.