1. Narrative:
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 adults 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 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
technique 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 and the idea of
someone being assassinated. 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
therefore 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 real media product such
as ‘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 final edit of our trailer. Additionally
by using the ribbon as a weapon would
be far too obvious as to who the villain
was 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
the identity of the villain through the use of
weapon, our audience may not bother to
watch our trailer if it was to be in the
cinema, due to there not being any
mystery.

4. Iconography:
mask
(subverted)
• Subverting the slasher genre
which often has iconography of
a mask e.g. ‘Halloween’
(1978), 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, which were our
influence do not 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 instead.
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.
• However we ended up not using this blood, nor the crack
going through her face on the magazine front cover due to it
not looking professional, hence why we decided not to use this
on our final edit of the magazine.

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. Additionally her name connotes innocence and something precious which in
effect make her likeable to the audience- likeable personality is present in ‘Psycho’ (1960)- Norman
Bathes. 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.
‘Orphan’

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.

15. ‘hide and Seek’ (2005) in TermS
of trailer (continued)
•
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’- distancing the audience.

16. ‘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 reinforce 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.

17. 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.
• Following on from there, in terms of subverting the roles, we also chose to
give more roles to women (in our trailer women play the protagonists).
This contrast the conventional horror trailers where women are sexualised
through characters such as ‘the slut trop’. Although we used some
element of the male gaze (Laura Mulvey) in sexualising Megan, we ensure
to subvert her where we also portrayed her as intelligent, which is not
conventional within the horror genre as such characters are always
portrayed to be less intelligent- typically ‘blonde’ stereotype.

18. Quick analyse of our
poster
Arguably we conformed to the idea
of the villain not being seen by the
audience. In our poster this is
demonstrated with the audience only
seen half of her face, which adds to
the mystery as the audience cannot
see all aspect of her face and thus
cannot see the meaning behind her
eyes. This makes her appear to be
menacing as the audience cannot
guess her character, and thus
opposing the question ‘who is she?’
and ‘what is she looking at?’.

19. •
•
Quick analyse of our
magazine
Originally we wanted to conform of the style of
shot (mid shot) which are often used on magazine
front covers. This was because we wanted to tell
aspect of our narrative through the body
language of Flora. However we decided against it
due to the fact that we thought a mid close up
along with angle of gaze would reflect our
narrative far better, as a way of the audience
engaging with Flora. This gives the illusion of Flora
starring directly at the audience, which is
chilling, giving the impression that she’s coming
after them next (audience).
We subverted certain element of the horror
magazine cover- in our case we chose to have
ethnic minority on the front cover which is
unconventional. This is because we wanted to
engage with ethnic minority audience who may
feel that they are not presented within the horror
genre- we wanted to promote ethnic minority
potential and acting ability, which felt needed to
be highlighted.