q1

1. In what ways does your media product
use, develop and challenge forms and
codes and conventions of real media
products?

2. Codes and conventions are very important and also very helpful
for media practitioners. A clear guide is given to the practitioners
as to what is usually expected. However, there is still space to
challenge these expected rules.
For our portfolio we were instructed to create two ancillary
pieces; a film poster and a magazine front cover. Before then
going on to create a horror trailer. I will discuss each one in
detail, describing how I believe I used, developed and challenged
codes and conventions, with reference to existing and relevant
media pieces.

4. Institutional information is presented at the bottom of the
page, in a smaller font than the others in the frame. This is
similar with our poster as well as Friday the 13th and A
Nightmare on Elm Street, both existing media film poster,
highlighting the idea that we have conformed to and are using
this existing convention to benefit us as it is already shown to
be successful in existing media products.

5. “Coming soon” is placed
nearby/around the institutional
information, again using an
existing convention of film
posters to a certain extent - as it
is usually used on teaser
posters such as Scream 5
however is presented on
actually posters such as
Sorority Row. More often than
not institutional information
and “coming soon” come as a
pair, it would be confusing for
the audience to then replace
this piece of text, which is why
we believed it would be better of
sticking to the convention. If
the audience are unable to find
when the film is being released,
they might not bother following
it up and therefore might not
end up going to watch the film
because of this.

6. As you can see on the Halloween poster, “coming soon”
is not presented because it has been developed further
and a release date has already been set. This is one
convention we could have developed further by adding
an actual release date enabling the audience to become
even more engaged with the poster as well as the film
in order for them to be more eager to watch it as they
would know the exact date and would therefore keep it
in their mind. This is not present on all film posters, as
the coming soon acts as a tease. However, in Friday the
13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street posters it is
present, and is placed at the very bottom of the page,
below the institutional information. Meaning that this
will be the last piece of textual information the
audience see and therefore will be the last thing in
their minds so it will be unlikely for them to forget it.

7. The title is the biggest and most attractive piece of text in the frame allowing the
audience to understand and establish it as the title of the film. This is common in
all media products, as it would be confusing for the audience if this was not made
clear to them and may think in some cases that the tagline is in fact the title. This
is present in the Jeepers Creepers poster. Those who are not familiar with the film
may get confused as to whether “Jeepers Creepers” is the title or “What’s eating
you?” Merely based on the size of the text.
Commonly in horror posters especially the title is written in a red font, as it is on A
Nightmare on Elm Street’s poster. This is done as it reflects the sub genre of the
film and gives connotations to the idea of blood and gore, which is what the slasher
sub genre reflects. At first our poster challenged this convention as it is was
written in white, which is not conventional for a slasher film, it is more
conventional within physiological and spiritual horrors. However, we added red
blood splatters to allow the audience to understand that it is a slasher. The main
reason we did this was because when producing our poster, after many different
font testers as well as colours, we could not seem to find a red that we liked and
think suited our poster, so we experimented further and believed that white was a
better option. However, we needed to ensure an element of slasher was
implemented which is where the blood splatters came into it. After a while we
decided as a group that this looked amatuer and decided to change the font colour
to black, to represent the darkness that lays in “Deadwood Grove” as well as in the
antagonist. This was more suiting to the horror sub genre as well as existing
conventions, although we challenged it at first, we then result in using existing
conventions in order to give our poster a more professional look.

8. The antagonist is the only character presented on the poster, giving the audience an insight to whom is behind the killing in the film. Based on previous research
from our questionnaire, this was the most attractive character to have, which is why we opted for this decision. By asking our target audience this question, we was
able to confidently make this decision. Additionally, it is a convention of horror posters, therefore because it was a successful convention we decided to stick with
it in order to make our poster as successful as possible. Furthermore, similarly to Friday the 13th whereby the antagonist is wearing dark, baggy clothing and a
mask, we believe this is effective as you get to see the antagonist in the form the characters do, as well as this choice of costume being effective, we choose to do
the same and conform with this convention as it is typical of horror and will be what the audience expects to see. With A Nightmare on Elm Street, a medium long
shot is used instead. This still allows the audience to have an insight to the antagonists costume, allowing them to recognise them on other promotional pieces as
well as in the film itself. Also, the audience will slightly be able to see Freddie’s face/mask also creating memorability. However, it is not clear, due to the back
lighting creating a silhouette on his face - reminding the audiences of his dark nature. When conducting our poster, this image is something we re-arranged
frequently to see what was best suited based on our mock ups. We believe that the long shot with the location in the background was best suited for our narrative,
however, we did not dismiss the idea of A Nightmare on Elm Street altogether, instead we used a similar image type for our teaser poster.

9. The colour scheme is predominantly black, white and red as expected
in a horror film poster, more importantly in a slasher film. The colour
black represents the idea that the antagonist himself is dark, evil and
twisted as well as that the killings themselves take place during the
night, which is when it is dark. The colour white represents the
innocence of the victims, as well as their purity, they are being
targeted for no reason. Lastly, the colour red represents the brutality
of their deaths and gives connotations to the idea of plenty of blood
being apparent in the film. These colours are very conventional on
slashers therefore we followed this convention as by not using them
we may confuse the audience regarding the sub-genre.

10. The location of image is predominantly
where the film takes place. It was taken
where we filmed. By adding the location
in the background we aimed to give the
audience an insight to the narrative,
portraying that it was going to be based
in the woods. By doing this, we aimed to
further attract the audience to wanting
to watch the trailer and become more
involved in our promotional package.
By having a location in the background
is very conventional in horror films
across, it is present in “Insidious” and
the audience will be able to incur that
the location in the background is the
main focus of the film, which is why we
decided to follow this convention.

12. The second piece of our promotional package was to create a magazine front cover and we decided to go for the classic film
magazine look such as Empire and Total Film, that is a general film magazine instead of horror specific magazine like Fangoria.
We did this because we believe that the general film magazine looks more professional and attractive. Additionally, based on our
previous work on magazine front covers, we are all more experiences in general film magazines as opposed to niche. Therefore
we thought it would be more beneficial to use our skills and knowledge to make the best magazine front cover possible.

13. The masthead is written at the top of the page,
where it is conventionally placed. By doing this it
is therefore evident to the audience that this is
the name of the magazine, which is further
emphasised by the size and boldness of the text.
For this particular feature of the front page, we
did not think it was something that should be
challenged as it would take away the
professionalism of the cover as well as would
confuse audiences therefore we followed the
codes and conventions and placed the masthead
in its signature location within the frame. Our
main inspiration was from Empire, as we thought
that the masthead was attractive. Also, because it
is simplistic, it is easy to adapt. For example, it is
usually written in a red font. However, based on
the edition of the magazine and the feature film,
the colour can be changed to make the front cover
in general look more attractive as well as sticking
to them theme. This is clear through the
‘Inception’ and ‘The Hobbit’ editions.

14. The skyline is as where it says, at the very top of the page, above the masthead, but not big
enough to confuse it as the masthead. It is not always a convention to have a skyline, it is
apparent on some magazine front covers like on Empire and Total Film but on other editions it
is not present. However, we decided to follow the convention and add in a skyline to make it
look more professional. Additionally, it gives the audience a bit more extra information that
could not be presented in a different way such as in a sell line.
SkylineNo skyline

15. The main image is a medium close up, one of many different
camera angles used on a magazine front cover. We decided to use
this as we thought it was one of our better pictures as it is at a
slightly low angle shot making the antagonist look dominant.
Also, it is close up enough to see the detail in the mask meaning
that the audience will be able to remember it and create a
symbiotic link between our entire promotional package. I believe
we followed conventions both from shot type as well as the main
image filling the frame. This convention was important to follow
as it has established to be successful across many front covers,
therefore by challenging it and have a photo that does not fill the
frame would make our front cover look amateur, and the
audience would be less engaged as they would have to look
closer at it instead of it being attention grabbing.
Our main inspiration for this was the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ edition
of Empire. This was purely because of the shot type used. This
was because of the slight low angle but as well as the distance.
The audience are near enough to pay attention to detail but not
exposed to enough to reveal too much about the ‘main character’
(protagonist).

16. The main sell line is conventionally there to
support the main image and give the audience an
insight to the feature film. It is conventional for
the main sell line to include the name of the film
in order to promote it further. This is a
convention we intended to follow because it
allows the audience to recognise the film as well
as want to find out more about it, such as behind
the scenes or exclusive interviews. On the
contrary, if the audience do not recognise the
film, the main sell line would help them
recognise this.
Sell lines are used in order to further convince
the audience to want to purchase the magazine,
they are conventionally placed in the left hand
third, as you can see on Empire. I think that this
is the most effective layout as the audience will
read from left to right, which is why we have
followed this conventions. Furthermore, I think
that if I placed sell lines on both sides it would
look far to crowded and messy.
‘The Hobbit’ edition of Total Film was inspirational to us when developing our
own magazine front cover, based on the main sell line. As a group we liked the
positioning of the main sell line, as well as the context of it. Whereby it suggests
an interview with the cast, which is something we was planning to do.
The ‘Lord of the Rings’ edition of Empire was also inspirational to us based on
the layout of the sell lines. We also would like to position sell lines on both side
of the main image in order to give our audience as much detail to draw them in
to further want to purchase the magazine.

17. A pug is usually placed in the bottom left hand
corner hidden. It consists of a barcode and usually
the date, price and edition. This is placed hidden
away so that the audience can take in all the
information from the front page before looking for
the price. This is not something that is placed on
Empire’s front cover, it is placed on some and not
on others. This could be maybe due to the fact
some editions might have a cover mount around
them whereby the barcode would be placed.
However, due to the style of our front cover placing
it in its conventional place would look odd in my
opinion so I therefore challenged the convention
and placed it vertically on the left hand side.
Puff’s are usually very common on magazine front
covers however this is unapparent on Total Film’s
Avatar edition. On our front cover, the puff is
presented on the left hand side of the page in an
oval shape. This splits up the text on the page, and
makes the magazine front cover look more visual
rather the verbal. Which is why we decided to
follow this convention in order to make my
magazine look more attractive.

19. This was the most complex and time consuming section of this coursework, therefore, more time and more research was needed in
order to make it as effective and realistic as possible.
The main inspiration came from Friday the 13th, it is one of my as well as the others in my group all time favourite slasher films
and was also one of the main reasons I wanted to focus our promotional package towards this sub genre. Furthermore, I think the
general structure of the trailer and the two montages; the first of the teenages having fun and the second one where everything
goes wrong, is attractive and it something we wanted to implement in our own media product.
Friday the 13th Trailer Deadwood Grove Trailer

20. The first thing we had to do was to insure that we
used enough iconography to successfully present the
sub genre to our target audience and for them to
identify it as a slasher. One way I believe we did this
was portraying the group of teenages to be rebelious;
being somewhere they shouldn’t be and drinking
underage. One way this was presented further was by
the use of there being a sensible character who
recognises that they should not be there, who takes
on the role of the ‘final girl’ a convention that is
established in all slasher films.
Otherway iconography was presented was through
the way that the killer was always seen wearing a
mask, baggy black clothing and would be carrying a
knife. This is something we believed signaled the
slasher genre, as an axe would cause lots of blood
and gore. This is conventional across all slasher
trailers, such as Scream whereby ghost face is
always seen wearing his mask, black baggy dress
and carrying a knife.
Scream
Deadwood Grove

21. Different characters are assigned different roles
in slashers, which ultimately decides their fate.
There is usually a blonde character who
represents the ‘sacrificial lamb’. Blondes are seen
as dopey and can be described as ‘blonde bimbos’
therefore it is not surprising that they end up
dying first. This is present with both Chelsea in
Friday the 13th, Casey in Scream and Paige in
House of Wax. Based on those who we had
available to film, we were unable to get a female
with blonde hair which could effectively make our
trailer less effective, as instead we had to use a
brunette. However, I believe that through the
actions it is clear which character takes on the
role in our trailer. Antonia is the smallest in the
group and is seen holding Stanley's hand and
drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, from this
the audience will only see danger and can only
seeing the outcome being one thing, death.
Furthermore, she is seen wearing a cream over
sized jumper, further enhancing her innocence
and this will effectively refer the audiences back
to Casey Becker, Scream, who wore a similar
outfit.
(From left to right): Chelsea - Friday the 13th, Casey Becker - Scream and Paige - House of Wax.

22. Another character that stands out is Selina, the final girl. The final girl is usually
renowned for being the serious one and spotting bad situations from the offspring. At
the beginning of the trailer Selina establishes that it is a bad idea, later on we see her
again angered at the idea that they were lost. Furthermore, we see all the other reckless
teenagers being tortured by the killing. However, at the end of the trailer we see Selina
by the car, insinuating that she has a chance of survival.

23. Another key convention that makes a huge impact on a trailer is the non-diegetic sound added in within
the post production stage in order to increase the intensity of the trailer. As the trailer goes on the music
becomes more intense, this combined with the action on screen gets the audience adrenaline pumping
and effectively makes them want to continue watching the trailer and then on to watch the actual film.
This is a convention we believed was very important to conform with as we believe the action and sound
should be parallel to one another and it also adds to the effectiveness of the trailer. Despite this, we also
wanted to use contrapuntal sound such as a nursery rhyme, to further creep the audience out, as we saw
in A Nightmare on Elm Streets trailer.
Other sound effects that are conventional are stab sounds of the weapons being used. For example in
Friday the 13th everytime someone is killed, before the screen cuts to a number, the sound of the
weapon that was used is played. I find this effective as the audience will begin to feel fear, and it would
make their skin crawl. This is why we implemented it into our own trailer. The way in which it was done
was by dragging the axe across the bridge as well as the poles. By doing this, the audience will be aware
that this is the killer's signature murder weapon and might get nightmares themselves from the recall
of the sound.

24. Developmen
tThere are a few changes we made from our original poster and magazine front cover in order to make them look more
professional and realistic.
Some changes made to my magazine front cover was to add more sell lines on the left side of the frame as well as the right. This
way it makes the frame look less empty as well as it gives the audience more to look at. Additionally, we moved the main sell
line from the bottom of the frame and centralised it more as this is more conventional of magazine front covers. This was then
replaced with a banner at the bottom, another convention of front covers.
Only little changes were made to the poster. The main thing being that we added a tagline, as when we first created our poster
we was unsure on what our tagline was as we had three options to choose from. By having a tagline, it would further anchor the
main image and the title, further attracting the audiences to the narrative of the film. On top of this, feedback showed our
institutional information was to big, so we decreased this in size. Allowing other aspects of the poster to attract audience
attention.
I think the narrative of our horror was presented across both of our ancillary pieces. The mask was a huge give away, slashers
are renowned for having masked killers who go on rampages, such as Mike Myers in Halloween. Therefore from seeing the
mask, the audience can guess what is going to happen in our film - multiple deaths. This is further indicated by the axe in our
poster, a clear indication of the slasher sub genre. Lastly, the audience are exposed to location in the background of the poster.
Allowing them to come to the conclusion that the antagonist will murder his victims in the forest. This alongside both horror
and sub genre conventions being followed have allowed us to draw in our audience successfully and fulfill their expectation.