1. Before we began our narrative, it was important for us to look at existing real
media product in terms of the narrative. This is because we wanted to have
an insight as to the conventions used and how we could present it our own
product, as a way of making it obvious to our audience the genre we were
targeting. By exploring the various narrative within the horror genre we
decided to subvert the use of adult as well as male protagonists, rather our
narrative would focus on a child killer e.g. ‘Orphan’ which tackles such
sensitive issue. Further subversion would be in the case of focusing on ethnic
minorities being protagonists. This is because often within the horror genre
they either play the comical role or are the first to be killed off (Alvarado et
al), we thus wanted to subvert this portrayal of such ethnic groups.
Nevertheless we would conform to some of the conventions often explored
in horror narrative, such as creating a sense of enigma ( theory by Roland
Barthes)- creating a sense of mystery as to who the killer is and other
unexplained events (in our narrative). Such method is apparent in horror
narrative as such ‘Turn of the Screw', 'Hide and Seek’, ‘Childish Games’ and
‘Scream’ hence why we decided to include this in our own narrative as a way
of reinforcing the horror genre.

2. The use of Iconography: blood
• Following the horror convention, we as a group decided to
use blood as a way of reinforcing the horror genre. This is
because we decided to follow the slasher genre, which
often uses blood as a way of evoking a reaction from their
audience due to horror often playing on society’s fears
hence why blood is often used. We thus thought that by
using blood would be an easier way for our audience to see
the genre we were targeting, and thus more likely to
connect with our products due to their interest in horror
films, rather than us targeting those who do not watch
horror films. This thus meant that the use of blood was a
significant aspect of our production, as it enabled us to link
our products to existing real media products within the
horror industry.

3. Iconography: knife
• Due to us following the slasher genre, we decided that a
sharp object would be ideal use of weapon for our villain,
as demonstrated in ‘Halloween’ (1978).
• originally we were going to use ribbon as the murder
weapon, as a way of making it obvious that Flora was the
villain. However we thought that this did not reflect the
slasher hence why we decided not to use it in the end.
Additionally by using the ribbon as a weapon would be far
too obvious as to who the villain is, which is not
conventional within the slasher genre, as the villain are
often hinted not given away to the audience. We feared
that if we were to give away as to who the villain was
through the use of weapon, our audience may not bother
to watch our trailer if it was to be in the cinema.

4. Iconography: mask (subverted)
• Subverting the slasher genre which often has
iconography of a mask, we chose not to
include this due to the fact that we wanted
our audience to be aware of who the villain
was. This comes down to the fact that in
‘Orphan’ (2013), ‘Hide and Seek’ (2005) and
‘Childish Games’ (2012) none of these real
media product use mask hence why we also
decided not to use mask in our own
production.

5. Setting
• Following the convention, we decided to include an isolated setting
where Megan (one of our protagonist) would be escaping from the
villain who is in pursuit of her. By incorporating such scene our aim
was to evoke a reaction from our audience due to the sense of
panic it creates.
• Furthermore following the early stages of gothic literature ‘Turn Of
The Screw’ (1960) which is where horror initially started, we chose
to include an isolated setting where the murder of James (Flora’s
father) would take place in a house. By making such event take
place in the house our aim was a way of asserting panic amongst
our audience due to the fact that it made our trailer look more
realistic as if the murder was taking place in the audience own
homes. This is done in existing slasher films such as ‘Psycho’ (1960),
‘Halloween’ (1978) ‘Hide and Seek’ (2005).

6. Music/sound
•
•
This is an essential aspect of
horror trailers as it has the
ability to either ease the
audience into the narrative
(slow romantic music- often
used at the beginning of the
trailer), or evoke a reaction by
putting the audience on edge
through the use of atmospheric
music/ sound.
In terms of music we chose to
use various music as a way of
suiting with the shot used, as
well as evoking a reaction.
However we used ‘Creepy Little
Girl Talking’ which consists of
various songs (edited by Sarah
Engel- ‘YouTube’) more often
than other. We found out that
this suited the paste of our
trailer really well due to the
lullaby reflecting Flora with ‘I
can see you...’ , which we used
in climatic scene when Megan
was banging on the door
wanting to escape the torture
of Flora.

7. Final girl/heroes
• We subverted the characteristic of final girl (who
according to Carol Clover) is the victim who
defeats the villain.
• In our production (Insanity), we chose to have
Flora as the final girl, this comes down to the fact
that instead of we wanted to subvert the idea of
the villain being defeated. However we kept
some element of this theory in terms of the such
character moving the narrative forward- through
Flora events begin to unfold for audience.

8. Religion
• We conformed to this convention by using
religion (Christianity) in a ‘twisted’ manner to
suite the dark element of horror. A prime
example of this is demonstrated in ‘Carrie’ which
relay heavily on religion in moving the narrative
forward. This is what ultimately makes ‘Carrie’ to
become deviant and perhaps criminal, taking
matters into her own hands. Likewise we also
used religion in our narrative where Flora often
refers to this throughout as a way of justifying her
actions through language such as ‘If we confess
our sins, he’s faithful to forgive us our sin’.

9. Fast cuts and editing
• Initially when we showed our rough
cut, the shots in which we had used
were exceptionally long (35 seconds)
which was not conventional within
the horror industry. This is because
by having longer shots tells too much
of the story, which is what we as
editors wanted to avoid as it told too
much of the story and with little
enigma for the audience.
• However with our final edit we
ensure to follow the convention of
fast cuts often used in horror trailers
as a way of building suspense e.g.
‘Insidious 2’ (2012) which influenced
us in terms of the paste of our
editing.

10. The crack
• Furthermore using ‘Carrie’ (2013) as an
inspiration we would also include a crack
going through half of Flora’s face- this will
again be done through post production.

11. Blood used on magazine front cover
• The use of blood- will be used as a tear drop on the
magazine front cover (on our protagonist- Flora). This
was influenced by ‘Carrie’ (2013), which also uses
blood- although present on the horror poster we would
subvert this by using the inspiration for our magazine
front cover image. Here through post production we
would add tear coming from one eye and blood coming
out of the other. The blood was to reflect the
horrendous crimes Flora had committed, whilst the
tear was a reflection of the pain she’s going through
due to her father’s death. Although its ironic that she
would cry due to her killing her father, however she
was close to her father (James), hence the tear.

12. ‘Turn of the Screw’ (1960) influence:
characteristics
•
•
•
•
Due to horror initially started as a result of gothic literature, we thought this would be appropriate
for us to play on the themes explored in this particular novel.
Our major influence from this novel was the characteristics of Flora, just like in ‘Turn Of The Screw’
(TOTS) we decided to use the young character’s name (Flora), due to the fact that we wanted to
play with the audience perception. This is because upon hearing and seeing the little girl, the
audience are straight away intrigued by her ‘loveliness’ enabling them to view her in a much more
positive manner, with her name connoting innocence and something precious which will in effect
make her likeable to the audience. This is why we thought it would be beneficial for our group to
use such name for our protagonist and just like Flora in ‘TOTS’ we will ensure to make her sinister
contrasting the audience pervious perception of her.
Additionally we were inspired by the mature language and behaviour that Flora display in ‘TOTS’
which is shocking for the readers, as this is not expected of such ‘innocent’ and ‘adorable’
character. We thus thought by giving such characteristics to Flora (Insanity), this will impact the
audience as much as it does when reading the novel, this will ensure that our audience becomes
distant from Flora which is conventional in horror films ( audience being emotionally distant from
the villain).
Lastly by incorporating some of the themes addressed in ‘TOTS’ (sinister children), we aimed to
make our narrative more interesting for our audience due to child villains now being portrayed
differently than they were in the past. A prime example is that in contemporary times, where child
villains are presented in a darker image (more sinister). With this in mind we decided to make Flora
(Insanity) much more menacing, however whilst having trait of likeability which Flora from ‘TOTS’
has.

13. ‘Turn of the Screw’ (1960): mise-en
scene
•
•
•
Following the convention of classic gothic literature we chose to address Flora in
Victorian style clothing, contrasting mise-en scene used in contemporary diction of
young villains e.g. ‘Hide and Seek’ (Emily). However we believed by using such
mise-en scene it would reinforce the idea of her being different from other girls
her age which is reflected in our narrative. This is apparent in media product e.g.
‘Carrie’ (2013) where due to her dysfunctional family where religion and abuse is
at the focus point makes her be an outcast amongst her peers. The issue of
alienation is also evident within the horror genre which arguable is what makes
such characters become deviant and criminals within society e.g. ‘Norman Bates’‘Psycho’ (1960), ‘Orphan’- ‘Esther’ (2009) and ‘Michael Myers’.
Although the mise-en scene surrounding Flora (Insanity) is rather old fashioned,
we incorporated some modern element e.g. red lipstick. Through media language
we wanted to reinforce the idea of Flora (Insanity) behaving quiet maturely for her
age, connoting sexual desires-lust.
Furthermore we chose to use ribbon as a way of reinforcing her innocence and
childlike qualities, appearing to make her be the least of a suspect.

14. ‘Hide and Seek’ (2005) in terms of
trailer
•
•
•
•
This media product influenced as in a sense that just like the film where a psychiatrist scene is used-‘Emily’ drawing a
picture, we also incorporated this in our own trailer. This comes down to the fact that we wanted it to reflect her childlike
characteristic which would ease the audience into our narrative. This would however change when the police man (in ‘Hide
and Seek’) questions Emily as to what she’s drawing with her stating ‘You...dying...slowly’. We thought that this was effective
due to the fact that from such an innocent looking girl, the audience do not expect such shocking statement from such
likeable character. In the same way in our own trailer we also used similar shocking statement where Flora behaviour rapidly
change when the psychiatrist questions her whilst drawing ‘what happened to your father Flora?’ leading her to reply ‘You
wouldn’t want to know...’ (she then angrily throws down her crayon).
Similarly we chose to use various camera angles in this scene, consisting of P.O.V and high angle which are conventional not
only in this particular film but horror film in genre e.g. ‘Halloween’ (1978) relay heavily on P.O.V shots.
Although we chose to conform to some element of this film, we also subverted it e.g. by having an ethnic minority who is
slightly older than ‘Emily’. Our aim by having an ethnic minority here was a way of engaging with our other audience who
may be of an ethnic minority background, where ethnic minorities are not often portrayed within the horror genre as
demonstrated in ‘Hide and Seek’ where there are no ethnic minority playing a protagonist role.
Through post production (Using Adobe Premiere) we also added tilts ‘Run because she’s coming’ as a way of revealing some
element of our narrative to our audience without giving too much away. Although some light of our narrative were shared
to our audience, we also ensured that we followed Roland Barthes ‘Enigma code’ (who argues that element of mystery must
be incorporated within that particular piece as a way of intriguing the audience). Furthermore we also included the similar
credits which appeared at the end of that particular trailer e.g. in ‘Hide and Seek’ the credits consisted of date the film will
be released ’January 28th’, website address ‘www.HideandSeekthemovie.com’ and copyright. We thought that this particular
credit was much more effective than the other credits we had seen in trailers, this is because the credits also reflected the
narrative well (fast flashy text- symbolic of ‘Charlie’ being powerful and quick to be seen by others to be accused of the
horrendous crimes he had supposedly committed). We followed this convention by also having a website displayed at the
end of our trailer ‘www,insidethemindofachild.com’, where the audience will be able to find more information if needed.
Lastly we also made the motion of the text reflect our own narrative- in our case we chose to incorporate ‘Block dissolve’
symbolising the idea of her having two different personality and thus not being ‘quite right’.

15. ‘Orphan’ (2012)
•
•
•
Followed the convention in terms of her (Flora) being portrayed in a similar
manner to ‘Esther’ e.g. cute upon first glance (exterior) however undertone of
bitter inside(interior).
In the same way, both her and Flora dresses in a similar manner (bows and
Victorian style dresses). In the case of the mise-en scene both ‘Esther’ and Flora
wear similar contrasting colours of white and black to reinforcing their conflicting
personalities.
In the case of Flora, we chose to make her wear white when playing an innocent
part e.g. her spinning with her doll in the park signifying an innocent carefree
child, contrasting the torment she faces after killing her own father. Conversely
during darker scenes e.g. washing the blood off her hands she’s seen to be in a
black attire reinforcing the sinister things such little girl of that age is capable of
doing- similarly ‘Esther’ also wears black attire when she pushes a child off a
playing ground equipment, leading the victim to be crippled. Overall the use of
media language (Saussure and Barthes) enabled us to develop conventions suited
for our horror trailer, as a way of linking our product to existing media product in
the horror industry.

16. Trailer how we challenged
conventions?
• One of the major and obvious subversion was the
fact that all our casts were of ethnic minorities.
This is because we felt that such ethnic groups
were not presented fairly within the horror
industry- they often don’t have diverse roles
within the horror films. As previously stated we
felt that ethnic minorities were given the role of
either being comical or they were the ones to be
killed off first. We as Postmodernist film markers
however wanted to subvert this hence why we
chose to only cast ethnic minorities, where they
were given more roles e.g. protagonists.