1. Evaluation – part 1
In what in does your media product use, development or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products.

2. Using conventions of real media products.
Our media product (trailer) uses, develops and challenges the forms and conventions of real media products, meaning
that we have borrowed ideas, as well as going against and challenging typical conventions from already successful
products.
We have used the forms and conventions of existing trailers such as ‘Sleeping with the enemy’ and ‘What lies beneath’,
we looked in depth at both of these trying to match ours as similarly as possible. For our trailer we used the typical codes
and conventions to ensure that it was professional and matched the genre of t he film. There are many techniques when
creating trailer that we could have used such as mysterious, villain and hero/victim character, isolated location, fast pace
music and editing, dark or dull lighting and a vulnerable female character with a dominant male character. We have used
these codes and convention of thriller films such as using dark colours and lighting for the isolated settings when the
female is held hostage in the confined space to show that character was scared and frightened in that situation, this is
convention for a thriller/horror movie as they usually use dull lighting to signify something bad is going to happen.

3. Another example of the use of codes and conventions from our media production (trailer) could be that we
used a villain (male) character and victim (female) character which is used in a lot of the trailer that we
looked at for research such sleeping with the enemy this is an example of a movie that we looked at when
researching for our own trailer. They used a vulnerable female character and a powerful male character, we
used this convention in our own trailer to signify that females are powerless and weaker. We used our
research to help us with this as we found out from watching similar trailer that is always a typical hero and
villain, and the villain will be the powerful stronger character who has dominance over the hero/victim.

4. Lastly, in our trailer we used the codes and conventions from thriller genre films, by creating suspense for
the audience, this is a way in which thriller films get the attention of the audience but also not making it
clear the whole storyline, as it leave them in suspense as to what will happen. An example of this in our
own production work is when the editing increases in speed, with short quick clips that are in non-
chronicle order to confuse the audience but enough so that want to see more. This convention will
create suspense and mystery for the audience which is a main way in which to associate it with a
thriller/horror movie. Our research helped us to edit the footage as we got feedback from our trailer
suggesting that we should shorten the clips in order for it to create more suspense.
Quick short shots of scenes, put together in a fast pace with suspense music

5. Challenging the conventions of real media products.
When creating our media product (trailer) we used our research in order to make informed decision on how a thriller
trailer would look professionally based on feedback or existing media products. However for some parts f our trailer we
went against and challenged the convention of real media products. An example of this in our trailer could be the
editing pace at the beginning where it is quite calm and relaxed and the wedding scene is happy and joyful however in
the ‘what lies beneath’ trailer it has a fast pace from the start to create suspense for the audience straight away. But we
wanted to build up that by starting off with a calm scene and increasingly getting faster, we felt that this would look
professional and create a better storyline for the audience. There were other films that we looked at for research which
did the same as our trailer production, however we did go against the convention of some thriller movies.
Anther way in which that we went against the conventions of a thriller trailer could be actors age as you would typically
see an older couple that have abusive relationships where as in our trailer they are young adults. Through our research
we did find that the age of these relationships would typically be middle aged, however we challenged this and
suggested that younger relationship have the same problems.

6. Our media product (print work) uses, develops and challenges the forms and conventions of real media products,
meaning that we have borrowed ideas, as well as going against and challenging typical conventions from already
successful products.
For our film poster and magazine cover we used, developed and challenged the forms and convention of real meal
products, we researched a lot of other similar posters and magazines in order to come up with our own ideas based on
real life products. Some of these were Empire and Total Film for the magazine, where as for the poster I used Salt, The
Box, Gamer and Safe House to gather ideas about how the print work should be laid out, what it should look like and
include. I have used film poster conventions such as dark lighting, red simple but bold text and a focus on the image of
the main character, I adopted these conventions for our poster as it looks professional and fits the thriller genre. I have
used the layout from ‘The Box’ film poster so that the text is in the same position at the bottom to not distract from the
image but with white and red text so that it stands out on the dark background. For the magazine film cover we have
used popular film magazines such as Empire and Total Film to give us ideas on how to structure our own product, we
used similar strap lines to the ones used on real meal products, as well as bold text for the titles, also the structure and
layout of our cover looks like a professional to mirror the research ones we looked into.
Using conventions of real media products.
Similar to The Box film poster
The style and colour of the film poster Gamer

7. Main focus on the
male character
Challenging the conventions of real media products.
We have challenged the conventions of real media products by not using
more than one person on the film poster and magazine cover, we used
just one image as we felt that it focuses more on that character and their
part in the film, instead of having multiple people featuring on the cover.
However there are real media posters that have used only one image of a
character, but there a few that used 2 people, I feel that the single image
works more on a cover.

8. Conventions (editing techniques, camera, mise en scene, graphics and sound)
Editing Techniques
The editing conventions of a thriller film will include; jump cuts, cross cutting, fast pace and continuous editing (a
logical order). In our trailer we used a lot of jump cuts and fast pace editing to create suspense for the audience, we
did this by jumping from one part of the scene to the same scene but a bit forward on. For example when the
women is looking thought the pictures we jump cut from the start of her looking to the middle and end, with other
shots in between to break it up and keep the audience waiting. We used fast pace editing at the end of the trailer to
pick up the pace so that it was gripping and exciting for the audience. We also used continuous editing by which we
put the clips in mostly chronological order so that it was easier for the audience to understand. Lastly, we used cross
cutting near the end of the trailer, when the friend is on the phone and it cuts across to another location at the same
time, where the women is taken hostage.

9. Camera
The typical camera conventions for a thriller would be close ups and extreme close ups of the characters showing the
emotions, also focusing in on props used. The villain character will usually be cut quickly when shown to hide their identity,
for example a lot of back/side views of them including shadows. In our trailer we have used many close ups so that the
audience can see the expression or details of the scene, sometimes its used to block out other things to leave the viewer in
suspense, we did this also by using a lot of back shots of the male character to hide his identity which make the audience
more interested in finding out more.

10. Mise En Scene
The mise en scene conventions include; the setting of the scenes allowing the audience to understand the story, lowered
lighting for more suspicion parts, dark clothing and props relevant to the scene. We have used these typical conventions
in our own trailer, we show the exterior of the house and interior to let the audience in so they feel apart of the film. We
also used dark lighting to represent the mood of the scene to signify what was going to happen, this was used when the
girl was looking on the internet and when the man took his wife hostage, the lighting is dimmer then to show the
emotions of the female character. we used props such as tape and photographs in our trailer, this helped the storyline
come together for the audience.
Sound
Sound is very important in order to establish the environment and emotions of the characters, for a thriller its there to ad
suspense and tension, sound conventions is when it starts at a slow pace but builds up dramatically. For our trailer we hav
picked a range of sound tracks – some are happy and joyful, but it turns into eerie and more dramatic at the end, this is don
to build up pace for the trailer and storyline so that it grabs the audiences attention and they continue watching it, as th
speed and sound keeps getting slightly faster and louder. We intended in our research and planning to use a happy song i
the beginning along with the traditional wedding song to go with visuals, which increasingly increased in pace so that in th
end it was very dramatic and quick to match fast pace editing.

11. Editing Techniques
For our production we have used a range of editing techniques when manipulating the images in order for them to
look more professional and similar to real media products. We edited the images in Abode Photoshop using
brightness/contrast, colour variation, crop and lighting so that the magazine cover and poster images stood out to
audience. For the image we made it look sharper and brighter by increasing the contrast, this enhances the dark
parts of the image so that it stands out, and the lines are sharper. We also edited the text to a red for a brighter
effect on the dark background, we also increase the contrast and brightness of the text so that it stands out more.
Camera
For the magazine and poster we used a camera to
take the images, taking mainly front on shots of the
male character so that it focuses on his expression
and face. We found that a lot of magazine covers and
film posters adopt this techniques on their media
products to engage with the audience, it could also
draw in viewers if they see a face on shot of the actor.
For the magazine film cover we used a medium shot
of the male character holding a hammer with a
serious expression to suggest that he is going to be
the villain of the film.

12. Mise En Scene
In our production work, (magazine cover and poster) we used mise en scene in order to create a professional look
like a real media product. The actor in the film poster is showing some tattoos to signify that he is a evil character,
but it fades into black not showing everything about the character. However the film magazine cover we used a
medium shot so we had to choose appropriate clothing, we chose to use a vest top showing the tattoos of the
character which can also suggest that he is the villain, also the prop he is holding (hammer) can signify that
something is going to happen in the film using it.