The document discusses the conventions used in creating a crime/thriller film trailer and ancillary products like a magazine and poster. It analyzes how conventions of genre, form, characters, camera work, editing, sound, props, and layout were incorporated from research on similar media. Conventions like fast pacing, voiceovers, close-ups, and naming actors were used in the trailer. The magazine cover featured a close-up shot, sans-serif fonts/layout, and related colors. The poster employed a mid-shot, similar fonts/layout, and matched the trailer's color scheme.

1. Conventions
By Aimee Wilson

2. Our Product
Our group produced a trailer within the Crime/Thriller genre. We used conventional
aspects which enabled it to look effective and challenge the forms of real media
products. From conducting much research into the genre I discovered many themes
that became prominent within film magazines, film trailers and film posters.
Conventions of Genre
Conflict between the antagonist's
and protagonists
Violence and fighting
Weapons e.g. guns/knives
Cars
Drugs
Themes about murder/revenge
Conventions of Form
Trailers last usually 2-3 minutes
Voice overs
Names of the actors
Background music
Short footage of scenes in the film
By following the majority of these conventions we intended to create an
effective crime/thriller film trailer. We used these as guides to incorporate
them into our characters appearances/actions and make it appeal to our
audience. By creating a storyline involving 4 female's who get involved with
drugs, alcohol and fights I will explain how we successfully made it
conventional.

3. Conventions of Form
Our trailer fitted the conventions of form by doing the following..
We included the names of the actresses throughout the trailer to remind the audience who is featured in it.
We found this to be a significant conventions as it enticed the audience who were fans of the
actors/actresses into watching the film. Although the actors we used we not famous we still included them
to make our trailer professional and stereotypical.
We also found that another convention was that the length of the trailer is usually 2 minutes long, with the
incorporated shot lengths we made our trailer 1.49 which was nearly the conventional length.
Another conventions in which we used within our trailer was the use of voice overs. We used these to
include the right information that would allow the audience to understand the concept of the storyline but
without giving too much away. We chose to use whispering also, and repeated this throughout to add
suspense and to entice our audience. This was used in the trailer to Spring Break which was very similar to
our storyline. We thought this was effective and so chose to do the same with our trailer.

4. Characters
Although out characters were not stereotypical for
the crime thriller genre (strong/masculine males),
we used teenagers. This added the realism of crime
as stereotypically in crime/thrillers such as Spring
Breakers and The Runnaways young, female
characters are used. Since our final product showed
some similarities to these films we thought this
could convey the wild and chaotic lifestyles that are
shown in the story lines. Thus adding to the thriller
genre that we tried to adapt to which made it seem
more crazy and exciting. The main antagonist 'Luna'
was represented using negative connotations
similar to villains in modern crime thriller today. With
the use of dark leather clothing and heavy eye
make up, she stood out among other character's
within the trailer to indicate her role clearly. The
other character's who are seen as antagonist's at
the beginning of the trailer wear light coloured
clothing to indicate a innocent persona. Once under
the influence of 'Luna' the audience can understand
their character change via the use of dark clothing.
The use of the feminine characters helped make it
effective as, stereotypically, the situations they were
involved in seemed more outrageous and
interesting.

5. Camera work
Examples of camera work which we used to ensure our trailer met our audience’s needs and conventions of the genre were…
Wide Shots - A number of these shots were used in out trailer. For example the shot of the car headlights turning on and the shot of the three
characters on bikes and running. This gives the audience a clear view of the scene and allows them to understand the situation. It's
conventional as it sets the scene and gives an clear view of the location and situation. For example the shot of the three girls running away
looks like they are in a dodgy and run down establishment so the audience can identify this which relates to the crime element. It also connotes
that since they are the antagonist's they are running away from 'Luna' the villain and her evil schemes.
High Angle Shot - A high angle shot is used in our trailer when three characters are laying on the bed. This is conventional as it introduces the
characters and in this scene it shows them to be innocent and inferior. It shows the equilibrium of the story as the characters have not come into
contact with ‘Luna’ after which they turn wild and fearless. We wanted to create the identity of average regular teenagers to then contrast with
the lifestyle that they begin to lead later on in the trailer. Similar to Spring Breaker’s where the characters are shown in college at the start of the
trailer and then within the party lifestyle later on. You can also see that in these high angle shots the lighting is high key which connotes the
innocent representations of them.
Close Up Shots – We used many close up shots within our trailer which we found to be conventional in other crime/thriller trailers. We found
this to be effective as it constantly reminded the audience of the characters involved. It also enhances their emotions within scenes, especially
when they are ‘on drugs’ and ‘drunk’ which adds to the rebellious and wild aspect of the trailer. We also used close up shots of scenes where
the character is flicking through the money which conveys how much money they have adding the element of crime since they most likely made
it illegally. Other trailers similar to ours such as Spring Breakers and Taken, use close ups of there character's too which we identified to be a
conventional camera shot and so used this through out our trailer to remind the audience of the characters.

6. Editing
We tried to make our trailer seem very upbeat and energetic to mirror the patterns of other crime thriller trailers
such as Spring Breakers, 21 Jump Street and Taken. By including short and fast clips it enabled us to pursue
the tension required to make it effective.
Fast Paced Editing - We used this type of editing throughout our trailer to ensure that we added the element of
excitement and to keep the audience’s focus upon the trailer to keep them interested in our product. By trimming
certain scenes that we filmed and putting them in non chronological order it was deemed more effective as it broke up
the trailer. This is conventional as crime thriller films often use this to add the thrilling aspects to the audience. Many of
our shots were 1s or 2s which we found to be similar to films such as Spring Breakers and Project X. Since our
characters are younger, we used these length shots to convey the party lifestyle and drama to the trailer to entice our
audience.
Fade To Black - We used this technique within the start scenes of our trailer. We introduced the protagonist's within
the film which was Me, Hannah and Kate and then we began to use fade to black in between shots to give the hint to
the audience of the introduction to the antagonist 'Luna' we incorporated 0.1s shots of Elli to build up tension and
contrast with the happy and innocent portrayal of the other characters. We then used the fade to black after the Luna
had been fully introduced with the shot of her with a lighter whispering 'Wild' to create a dramatic pause and then used
text with the words 'This summer' to add the dark element within our crime thriller trailer.
Slow Motion – We used this on a number of our shots including the shot of Kate running away towards the gate and
then her clinging onto it. We used this as she was predominantly shown as the weaker character in contrast with the
antagonist and her running was a symbol of her running away from the lifestyle that Luna is making her lead. We
wanted to emphasis this and by slowing down the shot it created a different atmosphere when in contrast with the
other fast paced shots. Another example of when we used slow motion was when Elli 's character Luna was shown
partying and then 'Ellinna Horton' was shown. This created the illusion of the character on drugs and distorted the
audience's perception to get the idea of the alcohol and drugs involved with the characters. Trailers such as Spring
Breakers used slow motion for party scenes too, when conducing our research we found this to look effective and so
experimented with shots ourselves. The outcome was successful as it looked creative in contrast with the other shots
and worked well incorporated into our trailer.

7. Sound
The sound involved help to create the thriller impact that could make our trailer successful. Some
examples of this are…
Background Music (Non-Diegetic) - We used non copy write music for the back ground of our
trailer. It started off slow and then the pace began to increase. This fitted the scenes that we
included as the shots that were filled with more violence and raised more tension were shown as
the song became faster. When all the scenes were fitted into the song, this created an effective
product.
Voice overs (Non-Diegetic Dialogue) - With the use of voice overs we made sure the sound
within our trailer was conventional. Trailers such as Spring Breaker's used the repetition of
whispering 'Spring Break' throughout their trailer creating and promoting the film as the audience
watch the trailer. We chose to use this technique with the word 'wild' and used it to play throughout
to create a mysterious and continuous tone. Other voice over's which help introduce the
character's were used. 'I think my cousin Luna is coming to stay' indicate the initial storyline without
giving too much away. It hints to the audience who the characters are so its easier to understand .#
Sound effects - We used the sound of a gunshot at the end of the trailer to create suspense.
Since we did not want to give too much away about what happens in the film we used to to indicate
the crime that may take place which made it conventional. We did not show any prop of a gun
within our trailer so with the sound effect it seems more interesting and creates anticipation to the
audience.

8. Props
We incorporated various props into our trailer that we identified to be
conventional in other trailers, these enabled us to create realism of the
crime/thriller. Props such as the cash helped create a crime connotation within
the trailer since scenes within show drug dealing and so it adds the illegal
aspect to it. The drugs/alcohol within the trailer express the anti social and wild
behaviour that the characters get involved in, relating back to the title of the film
'W!LD' the audience is reminded that with the excessive illegal substances the
characters are rebellious. We used the prop of the car to help create a more
energetic feel, since most of the scenes do not include any vehicle's in, we
wanted to include one to ensure it was conventional. It also showed the
audience the extent of the character's behaviour since they drug deal in it. A
show was shown of the headlights turning on in the dark which looked effective
and eery within our trailer, helping it to seem conventional with the other shots.

9. Ancillary Product - Magazine
Image
I ensured my main image for my magazine was conventional by using a
mid shot/close up. I found from conducting detailed research into film
magazine covers that this shot allows the audience to gain a clear focus
upon the character which enticed the audience. I chose to use this image
since she is the protagonist within my trailer and so people will recognise
her from this and be intrigued into reading the magazine. By centring the
image on the front of the cover, its eye catching and stands out to the
audience making it conventional as you can see from the comparison to a
real life magazine.
Masthead and Fonts and Colours
From exploring the conventions of film magazines I discovered that to
create an enticing cover, the fonts and masthead look best in sans-serif.
This way they brand identity of the magazine remains modern and simple
which appeals to the audience as it stands out among the background.
The cover lines are also in a sans serif font to continue with the modern
look, they stand out and seem bold which is eye catching. I chose to red,
white, black and pink for the colour scheme. The use of back, white and
red look professional and work well together. The use of pink creates a
feminine and girly look. Since this issue is the 'Wild' edition the audience
are reminded of this and are enticed by the use of pink. The pink's and
white's also are used on the film poster and in the trailer to 'W!ld' making
the theme more continuous as the audience can relate all the products
together.
Layout
The layout on my magazine fits the conventions
of a film magazine as it is the 'route of the eye'
layout. It looks neat and ordered and so it is
easy to navigate. The main cover story is located
on the bottom half of the cover in the centre.
Since the main story of the magazine is about
the film 'W!LD' it immediately seems enticing
and bold due to its position. This is conventional
as it clearly illustrates the main story and is
clear to the audience. The layout means that the
title of the magazine is the first thing they see,
the image the second and the cover story the
last so it remains memorable to the audience so
they will be sure to read about it.

10. Ancillary Product - Poster
For my film poster I researched into many posters to understand the
conventions such as layouts fonts and colour schemes. I chose to use
the image of three of the protagonist's looking into the distance. I used a
long mid shot to allow the audience to see the setting and associate it
with the trailer since this scene is use. This is conventional as many
posters feature a long shot of either one character or more on. I wanted
to feature the 3 protagonists on the poster since I used the antagonist
on the magazine so the products are more relatable to the audience.
I used a similar layout to the Spring Breakers. The title of the film is big and
bold at the bottom of the poster making it eye catching and enticing, the
use of sans serif font makes it look more modern and simple. With a
route of the eye layout I tried to make sure that the actors names were
at the top and so were seen first to gain interest. The use of the billing
text at the bottom of the poster is conventional as it is often seen
located here and is the last thing the audience see. I added the release
date last to remain memorable in the audiences mind as they will be
reminded when to go see it.
The use of the colour scheme is matched with the colours used on the fonts
in my trailer and poster. The pink connotes the feminine element and
represents the females within the image and the white connotes
innocence which is conventional as it portrays the young and girly
persona's. The low key lighting allows the fonts to stand out from the
image, it also create the dark crime/thriller atmosphere that is
conventional for the genre.