The document discusses the conventions of crime thriller trailers and how they were applied to a student media project trailer. It begins by outlining some of the key conventions like editing techniques, camera shots, sound, characters, and setting/mise-en-scene. It then provides examples of how these conventions were followed in the student's trailer, such as using fast cuts and tense music to build suspense. Character archetypes like the innocent victim and villain were also employed. Overall, the document demonstrates how the student's trailer adhered to typical crime thriller trailer codes and conventions to engage the target audience.

1. Sana Gillani
In what way does your media product
use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?

2. Codes and conventions of a
trailer
Trailers stick to the general codes and conventions for creating a
trailer for it to be successful.
● Most trailers usually last about 2-3 minutes.
● They include the release date.
● The title of the film is included.
● Other titles relating to the clips are shown in the trailer.
● Names of the characters.
● Production logo
● An age certification, which is there to provide a guideline for the
type of target audience
● Music and voiceovers
● Social media

3. CONVENTIONS
INCLUDED
IN OUR TRAILER

4. The company details

5. Title of Trailer

6. The length of the trailer

7. Print screen of the release date

8. Codes and convention of crime
thriller trailers
➢ Genre:
The genre of the film determines how the film will be set out and presented. When creating crime thriller trailers it
is essential to keep in mind the micro features. These include editing, mise-en-scene, sound and camera.
➢ Camera:
There are lots of different types of shots used within crime thriller trailers. This includes, establishing shots, high-
angle, long shots, close ups, medium close ups, shot reverse shot, panning and many more. These shots are
used to create suspense and build tension for the audience. They are also used to easily convey the genre of the
trailer.
➢ Editing:
Editing is used in crime thriller trailers in a way to create an uncomfortable or a suspenseful atmosphere for the
target audience by adding lots of fast cuts, sudden change of camera angles. This disorientates the viewer as it
creates an on screen tennsion, which is key for crime thriller trailers.
➢ Sound:
The sound used for crime thriller trailers is for building tension with eerie or tense music being played as diegetic
or non-diegetic. High pitched sound is often used to make the audience feel uncomfortablee and to give them a
sene that something unpleasantt is about to take place in the scen and making it seem like as though they are
experiencing the film through the character’s point of view.

9. Continued...
Mise en scene:
Customes:The customes always depend on the role of the character. For example, if the
character is good then he will most likely wear white and other light colours, and if the
character is playing the villain role then he will most likely wear dark colours, such as, black.
Lighting: The lighting in mostly all crime thriller trailers is dark and dull, often rainy. This is to
create tension and build suspense for the audience.
Props: The props that are mostly used in all crime thriller trailers are weapons, such as, knives
and guns. The use of props helps to inform the audience of the genre of the film.
Locations: Crime thriller films are often set in dark, mystery, gloomy locations. For example, in
areas with less population. For example, the woods or jungles.
Titles: The titles are used to further inform the audience of the film and to engage them.
Theme: The theme of crime thriller films often involves revenge killing, murder, suicide, mental
illnesses and many more. These themes help the audience to easily identify the genre and
they also create tension.
Characters: The type of characters that are typically used are the villain, the promiscuous girl,
a hero, the innocent/damsel in distress girl.

10. What all Crime Thriller films include
- When watching the many different crime thriller trailers and analysing
them before creating our final trailer, me and my team members found
the trailers did not give the full storyline away. The story is told in lots
of different clips put together, each scene lasting about 3 or 4
seconds. This technique is used to make the audience want to watch
the full film when it is out in the cinema.
- Most trailers had the typical characters of a crime thriller film. This
includes the damsel in distress, the promiscuous girl, the hero and the
villain.
- The trailers length is always about 2.5-3 minutes long.
- Lots of different shots are used in the trailer all at once showing lots of
clips.
- They are always set in mysterious/spooky looking areas.
- The sound (diegetic/non diegetic) further contributes to the genre.

11. Analysis of film trailers

12. The Raid 2
Analysing this trailer,
as well as analysing
other tailers, further
developed our
understanding of the
key points and
conventions of a crime
thriller trailer. We
clearly became aware
of exactly what we
needed to include in
our trailer

13. Themes

14. Our Narrative
The November Man and Gone Girl had a massive contribution to our narrative. As a group we
decided that we like narratives of these two films and to base our narrative for our trailer as
something similar to the narrative of these films.

15. Deciding on our narrative
We have changed our narrative at least three times after getting audience
feedback and by carrying out focus groups.
Our first narrative idea was to have Shiwa Bakhtiyar as the person who
will be killed. However, after getting feedback we were told that it would
be better if the character Sarah Jones is killed as it would make more
sense, because she cheated with her sister’s husband.
We carried out some more research and wanted to stick with our original
plot of having the character Shiwa Bakhtiyar murdered instead. This is
because it would create a lot of tension and build suspense for the
audience making them wonder how she got murdered instead of Sarah
Jones, because she is the one who planned the murder of Sarah Jones.

16. Camera
I followed the codes and conventions of the use of camera in crime
thriller films. I found that the trailers we analysed had a various
different camera shots. This includes, establishing/wide shots,
close ups, medium close ups, long shot, medium shot, pan, shot
reverse shot and many more. Me and my team focused on these
shots throughout the making of our trailer.

17. Establishing/wide Shot
In our trailer we used establishing/wide shots
to establish and clearly show the setting of
where the trailer is set. These shots provide an
overall view of the whole scene. The
establishing shot is used at the start of the
scene to show and inform the audience of
where it is set. It clearly shows the atmosphere
and further builds tensions as to what is going
to happen next in the clip.

18. Low angle shot
The first low angle shot of Shiwa Bakhtiyar is
used to make her look isolated and vulnerable
and may show that she’s weak. It also shows
that someone might be looking down her, to
show that she is not worth anything in their
eyes. The second low angle shot of Shiwa
Bakhtiyar and the killer shaking hands, shows
that they are making a serious deal. This
camera angle focuses closely on the
handshake, showing that something terrible is
about to take place.

19. More Shots
Shot reverse shot:
These shot is used to show the
conversation that takes place
between the two sisters. It also
builds tension as the camera
moves from on character to
another quite quickly. This shot
clearly shows their facial
expressions which also adds to
the building of tension and
suspense building.
Two shot:
This shot is used to show
both characters in the same
frame. It shows their body
language and facial
expressions. Sarah Jones’s
body language is more
relaxed than Shiwa’s, as her
body language tells the
audience she is stressed out
and looks disappointed.
Extreme close up:
This shot is used to show
the disappointment and
worried look in Shiwa
Bakhtiyar’s eyes.

20. Shots continued...
Point of view shot:
This is a point of view shot from Shiwa
Bakhtiyar. This shot is used to see from the
character’s point of view, to make them
feel as though they are with the character
in the film and they are also involved in the
action.
Wide/long shot:
This shot is very informative. This is
because it show the audience where this
particular scene is set and also shows a
long shot of the two sisters. This allow the
audeicne to identify their body language
and clearly see what they are wearing.

21. Editing
Me and my team members followed the codes and
conventions of editing from other trailers and included
some of the editing techniques in our trailer.

22. Editing Techniques
Cut away:
This shot is used a a buffer between the
shots used to help the editing process and
to move on to the next scene or to show
something in relation to what is being
shown with a cutaway effect.
Black and white effect:
The black and white effect is used to
inform the audience that the flashback is
being played and to help them easily
follow with the trailer without getting
confused.

23. Sound
We followed the conventions of a typical crime thriller
trailer for sound and included diegetic and nondiegetic
sound.

24. Soundtrack:
I downloaded the soundtrack of our trailer that played in the background
throughout the duration of the whole trailer. I followed the convention as I made
sure the soundtrack has a mysterious, eerie and thrilling effect to match the
genre. I selected my genre on youtube, the converted the file into mp3 (as you
can seen from the print screen shown above). The soundtrack starts of slow,
then gets faster and louder adding more tension and building suspense. The
soundtrack is non diegetic.
I also included some diegetic dialogue, to help the audience understand the
narrative better. The dialogue by Shiwa Bakhtiyar “You’re my sister! How could
you do this to me?” adds to the understanding of the audience, making them
aware the other sister has done something terribly wrong.
The soundtrack gets louder and faster as the Shiwa begins to run from the killer,
which builds suspense and gets the audience on the edge of their seats.

25. Characters - Conventions followed
Together with my team we followed the conventions of the typical
characters used in crime thriller films.
- We included the innocent girl Shiwa Bakhtiyar who has been deceived
and betrayed by her husband and sister and tries to take action
against it by seeking revenge, but fails to do so.
- The promiscuous girl, Sarah Jones, who is Shiwa’s sister.
- The villain who “pretends” to help Shiwa, but is really her sister and
her husband’s side. So he kills Shiwa instead of her husband.
- The husband, who has the main and behind everything, even though
he is not shown in the trailer, keeping it a mystery for the audience.
The husband is innocent in Shiwa’s eyes, as Shiwa is blaming only
her sister, but she is not aware that they are both equally at fault, and
he is the one who directs his friend (the killer) to kill Shiwa.
- We have also challenged the conventions of the good character. As
we decided to kill of the innocent character, instead of the evil
characers.

26. Mise en scene
We have followed the conventions for the use of mise
en scene in our trailer.

27. Lighting
The lighing in the room when the two sister’s are
having a conversation is very gloomy and calm,
creating a tension between the two sisters as they
argue . There’s nothing else to distract the audiecne,
as the complete focus is on the two sister’s in this
scene. The lighting is also not a distraction, as it just
simply adds to the mood of the scene.
The lighting for this scene is in black and
white, to show that it is a flasback and is in
the past, but is there to show the audience
what had aleady happened.
The lighting for this scene ahs a daylight
effect to match the scene, as it shows the
two sister’s happily having a conversation.
The beautiful green grass colour also
adds to the mood of this scene.

28. Costume
Although Shiwa is wearing a
black coat. The white coloured
scarf around her neck helps to
add to her innocence as she is
aware of the fact that her
murder is being planned and
her husband and sisters have a
hand in the planning. The white
coloured scarf als shows that
she’s vulnerable
Although the killer’s face has
been hidden throughout the
trailer, the audience is able to see
that he wearing all black. This is a
convention which we followed
from watching other trailes, as the
villain is always dressed in black.
The colour helps the audince to
identify them as the villain.
The two sister’s are both
dressed in similar dark
clothing.This is so that the
storyline is not given away to the
audience. The audience will not
be able to identify the innocent
and promiscuous girl
straightaway. This will further
grab their attention into the
trailer,

29. Props
The cones are used to
mark the area and to
show others that a murder
has been taken place in
that area.
The stone has been
shown to add to the
audience’s
understanding that one
of the character’s were
killed with the stone.This
also links to other cime
thriller trailers, as some
sort of weapon is always
involved.
The phone is used to
show the character’s
communicating with
each other through
electronic devices.
This also informs the
audience that some
tragedy will take place

30. Setting
The woods:
The starting is of a dead
body covered in a black bag
in the woods, to show the
audience that this is where
the murrder was taken place.
I have followed the
conventions of a crime
thriller film, by having the
character killed in a
mysterious place.
Park:
Near the middle of the trailer,
the two sisters having a
happy moment together is
shown in the park, to add a
lively and happy effect to the
scene
Empty house:
The empty house adds to
Shiwa crying. The empty
house also shows that the
marriage between Shiwa
and her husband was not
very successful. This is
because the house they
both share does not look
like a family home and has
an empty effect.

31. Titles
The titles help the audience understand
what is happening in the various
scenes all shown in the trailer, so they
are abke to follow the narrative/trailer
without getting confused with what is
happening. The audience are
introduced to the characters by having
the names next to the characters. The
titles of the character are in red and the
other titles are in black and white basic
font, standing out on the black
background.

32. Magazine
We followed the general codes and conventions of a
magaine, by making sure we included the main
conventions in our magazine.

33. Conventions of a magazine
- Masthead: a title used to make the reader’s aware of what magazine
they are reading.
- Header: this is alway below the masthead and may talk about
competitions and draws.
- Footer: this is always below the cover, which is another informative
convention of the magazine, as it informs the reader of other exciting
things to be found in the magazine.
- Splash/pull sticker: often used to attract the reader’s attention.
- Left third: this contains the main feature of what isinside the magazine.
- Cover lines: used to inform the leader of the main articles inside the
magazine. Often found on the right hand side of the magazine,
- Date/price/issue: to give the reader some vital information of the
magazine.
- Main image: the image of the person/object who is associated with the
magazine.
- Barcode: ths is used for the company's purpose, as it informs them how
many of their magazine copies were sold whenever it is scanned.

34. Film magazine analysis

35. How I followed the conventions in my
magazine?
I followed the conventions of a magazine when creating my film magazine
by making sure I included the following:
- The masthead
- Header
- Footer
- Main cover line
- Left third
- Barcode/date/issue
- Flash/pull sticker
- Main image.
I have explained the use of them in the next few slides.

36. Analysis of movie magazine
Masthead:
The masthead is in big, bold and capital blocks. The white colour goes really
well with the black background. It is in front of the image, making the reader
aware that it is the focal point of the cover. The colour give the title importance
and also stand out to the target audience. Whiite is often associated with
innocence, vulnerability, elegance, reflecting the character in the image, Shiwa’s
personality. The stereotype of the white colour can also be challenged, because
it can also connotate death and mystery. This will help the selling of the
magazine as it gives the magazine a sense of mystery. The masthead has taken
up a lot of space on the top section of the magazine. the effect of this is to make
the magazine stand out when placed on the shelf next to other magazines.
Main image:
This is a close up shot. The image of Shiwa sells the storyline more than any of
the other conventions. Her sad, dissapointed facial expression informs the
audience of her innocence, and makes the audience side Shiwa. She is looking
directly towards the audience, making them feel connected and involved with
her emotions.
The main cover line:
The main cover line is the title of the film.
The colours of the title are black and
yellow. The black blends in with the est of
the cover, whereas the yellow stands out
from the cover, giving the title a 3D effect.
The right colour will attract the reader's
attention towards the title, and if they were
to go away, the title will still be in their
mind.
Flash:
The flash is in a red
box with white text,
attracting the reader to
the magazine. The
flash shows other well
known magazines
produced by FILM
company.
Barcode/date/issue:
This informs the reader of the price. I have
placed this on the corner of the magazine
as it not that important and because I
would not want the read to be distracted
from the main elements of the cover. On
the other hand, it very important to the
company, because it informs them of how
many copies were sold and whether the
publication of this magazine is successful.

37. Left third:
The left third of the cover reveals where the main
part of the information and content is. The colour
of the text is white and yellow with grey boxes
around the yellow text. This is to make it stand out
to the target audience. So, when the target
audience have a look at the cover, this part of the
magazine will not be missed out and will also be
read.
Footer:
The footer informs the reader of other
content they will find in the magazine. It
is in yellow text, with a grey
background. This follows the style of
the bottom cover of the magazine.
Header:
This gives extra information to the reader.
The colour of the font is white, behind a
black background, following the general
style of the magazine.

38. Conventions of a poster
- They should keep the audience engaged.
- They always include the film’s title.
- Eye catching
- They include film ratings
- The names of the main characters
- Age ratings
- Quotations of someone who has already watched the
film.
- Company details

39. Poster analysis
We carried analysiis of four different film posters in order to fully understand the conventions
needed for a film poster. The analysis helped me with the layout of my final poster. The layout of
the poster “The November Man” is slightly similar to my poster. I used ideas from this particular
poter and also taking ideas from other posters to make it seem like a professional film poster.

40. Analysis of film poster and conventions
followed
Positive quote:
This is a film poster convention that
I carried out in my poster. The effect
of this is that it brings a positive
insight into the film and would make
the target audience watch the film.
The quote has a major influence on
the film because it is from a well
known person,
Image:
I have used a medium long shot image of the main characters in
the film (similar shot type compared to The November Man
poster). This image helps the target audience understand the
trailer better. They are able to clearly see their facial expressions
and so this helps them identify who is bad and who is innocent.
Title:
I have followed up the convention
of the title of the film that is placed
just below the middle. similarly to
the title in The November Man.
The font and design of the title is
also very different compared to
the posters we analysed. This is
because we wanted to insert an
original idea that will also fit in
within the genre, as the balck and
yellow represents the tape that is
put around an rea by the police
being investigated.
Cast:
This is a typical convention that is used in all film posters that I
have used in my own poster. I used the idea from the poster
Seven of placing the cast names at the top of the poster and in
white to make it stand out on the black background,
Company details:
I have followed the convention
of adding the company details
on the poster. I used this idea
of layout from The November
Man poster with ‘coming soon’
placed just above it in yellow.
This makes the poster look
more reatistic eievablen.
Ratings:
The ratings ist is a good film.
This is proof to the target
audience tha it a good film,

41. Overall
To conclude, I think I have followed up the conventions needed in my
trailer, magazine and poster to make it seem more realistic and
professional. I research has helped me develop my production, as me
and my group members was always referred back to it, in case we
forgot to add some of the important conventions. We clearly followed
our research as our guuidance in order to make our production a
success. If I had the opportunity to do this again in the future, then I
would use more dramatic sound effects and have even more fast paced
and steady editing. I would also opt for a different genre, such as horror,
which will help me gain mor knowledge and develop my understanding
of producing trailers.