The document discusses codes and conventions commonly found in horror film genres. It provides examples of conventions such as three-act narrative structures, use of lighting, sound, characters and more. It then discusses how the media producer's film trailer challenges some conventions by using elements not typically seen in horror, such as a hoodie for the antagonist's costume and starting the narrative with disruption rather than equilibrium.

1. H U D A H A I D
In what ways does your media product
use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products

2. Codes and Conventions
 Codes and Conventions
 Split into sub genres , often hybridised
 Primary target audience – male, 16-24, Mainstreamers
 Uses and Gratifications (active audiences) theory can apply
 Extensive use of Narrative enigmas
 Exploration of Narrative Themes
 Slow pace of Editing, builds tension. Long takes
 Three act narrative structure
 Predictable narrative content (follows format)
 Clear binary oppositions e.g. good v evil
 Use of low key lighting
 High production values but many low budget horror films
 Dominant, hegemomic representation of gender: The Female Victim
 Extensive use of close up
 Incidental non-diegetic sound
 Distorted diegetic sound
 Extensive use of narrative off-screen space
 Young/teenage characters
 Point of view shots
 Low angle shots

3. Contemporary Examples that use typical Codes
and Conventions of a Horror film
 Contemporary Examples
 Paranormal Activity 2
 Saw (6 films in franchise)
 Blair Witch Project Dog Soldiers
 I Know What You Did Last Summer
 Hostel
High Angle Shot used to show
an overview of the scene. I have
used this shot in my trailer.

4. Costume: SKYE
 Costumes is a vital part with mise en scene in Horror especially in Slasher Horror which
is my sub genre for the film trailer. According to Clover, a theorist who suggested that the
final girl theory is a concept within slasher horror. As the final girl tends to be the
survivor in the film. Therefore I wanted to include this in my film as its associated with
the sub genre I have chosen for my film trailer but a typical convention of a final girl is
that they tend to wear ordinary clothing. However as the film progresses the type of
clothing they wear gradually changes because of how they are represented in the film. For
example Sidney in Scream who wore very plain clothing and when the camera was on
her, the lighting was very dark. However I decided to develop this convention by choosing
bright colored clothing for the main antagonist and the lighting was very light until the
antagonist appeared in the shot. However in the end of the trailer, the atmosphere is very
dark with both characters in the room. I chose to do this because I wanted to show the
audience how the lighting has been light throughout but becomes dark in the ending
scene to show how the representation of the characters has changed through mise en
scene.

5. Characters: SKYE
 The antagonist in my film was represented very mysteriously as he wore dark clothing
and a hoodie. Hoodies are usually associated with social realism films but I decided to
use this as I hadn't seen many Horror films use a hoodie. Most Horror trailer's used an
iconic mask such as the mask in scream. Throughout the scream franchise, the USP of
this film was the mask as the audience can buy these masks. These masks somewhat
promote the film. Therefore I wanted to make my film trailer more different as the
antagonist wore a hoodie because this type of clothing is usually associated with my
narrative which involves a stalker. By doing this, I’m challenging conventions of a Horror
film by using costume which isn’t usually used in Horror films. The stalker in the film has
a large scar on his face so that he could appear scary and create fear with the audience.

6. Narrative: SKYE
 The narrative for my film trailer follows Todrov and I decided to use this theory as many
mainstream films follow Todrov’s theory in their film trailer. However I decided to
challenge his theory by starting my trailer with the disruption of the equilibrium as many
typical Horror films would start off with the equilibrium and ends with the new
equilibrium. The beginning of my film starts off with the antagonist kidnapping the
victim of the film therefore this shows the disruption of the narrative. I challenged typical
conventions because I wanted the audience to automatically be intrigued by my film
trailer as it starts off quite frightening as the stalker kidnaps the young victim and then
gradually shows the antagonist stalking the young victim.

7. Sound: SKYE
Instead of creating my own soundtrack for my film trailer, I researched sounds that I could
use in my trailer. For example a website I used was freesound.org. I had used a range of non-
diegtic sounds because I wanted to develop a convention. Most Slasher horror would not
include many non-diegetic sounds but I wanted to include sounds such as a women
screaming and a masking tape sound. As it could somehow increase fear with the audience.
However its very typical to use a sound of a women screaming therefore I decided to keep
this convention just so that the audience would recognise the genre of this film. The diegetic
sounds I used were from soundtracks people online had created. The beginning of my film
started of slow but the music becomes faster and builds tension throughout the whole film
trailer. The dramatic scenes in my film trailer fit well with the sound used in the trailer.

8. Binary Opposition: SKYE
 Binary Opposition is when something opposes with one and another, I used this theory
within my film trailer as it’s a convention used in many mainstream Horror films and in
some other genre’s too. For example the scene in which the main protagonist holds a
candle in the dark shed and the stalker appears behind her without her knowing and
blows out the candle. This not only creates suspension but it creates light vs dark between
the two characters. The main protagonist represents light and the antagonist represents
dark. Binary Oppositions isn’t common with Horror films but its common with the sci-fi
genre. For example Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace and this is shown through
the characters costume as the main character wears a light coloured shirt and a white
colored robes and this represents purity and goodness whereas the antagonist has a red
coloured lightsaber. I decided to use a typical convention of this sci-fi film and
incorporated this into the genre Horror, as Binary oppositions is usually associated with
horror films. The light candle I used somehow represents the protagonist of the film and
the darkness represents the dark antagonist.
Candle used in the
film.

9. Shot Types:SKYE
 I used a range of different shot types that follows typical forms and conventions of
existing Horror films. Most Horror films use close up shots or use handheld camera’s to
show scenes. I decided to challenge these conventions by using a range of other camera
shots such as a over the shoulder shot and a high angle shot. For example there was a
over the shoulder shot from the antagonist perspective in the beginning of the film
trailer.
Over the shoulder shot