This document summarizes the ways in which the student's media products of a film magazine and poster use and challenge conventions of real media. For the magazine, the student adopted basic magazine structures but challenged conventions by mixing classic and modern styles. The poster was inspired by classic horror films but challenged conventions by using a ghost character rather than the main protagonist and a golden glow rather than black and white coloring. Overall, the student incorporated standard elements of magazines and posters but also added their own twists to challenge conventions.

1. EVALUATION QUESTION 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop
or challenge forms and conventions of real media
products?

2. THE MAGAZINE- INTRO
As I was starting to plan my film magazine cover I was told to look upon
other magazines such as Empire and Total Film, in order to use them as an
influential device, so I can base my magazine on the expectations and
different conventions that follow magazine products. However even though I
used them as a base and template, I also wanted to add different aspects to
my product so I can add an element of individuality and uniqueness. Through
making this product, we also had to follow the "repetition and different
techniques" rule that are used on many existing productions, for example
Empire follow the repetitive form for their layout and font of expressing what
they have in store in their issue, but sometimes they host and show different
techniques by producing limited editions that have a
more professional outlook on the design. Instead of just featuring the hero in
the specific film, they also have the option of a different cover that features
the villain (Thor/ Loki- The Dark World edition). Unfortunately I cannot
produce two covers to produce a different technique, instead I can repeat the
font and colour scheme of my magazine, but then throw in a twist of
background and the option of 1 out of 2 covers, which will show a different
technique.

3. THE MAGAZINE- PART 1
My magazine adopts the basic structure that would usually be expected as
it holds all the conventions that are on normal every day film magazines
with a hint of classic thrown in. My magazines mast head of my production
is wide spread across the mid top of my page, so I have enough room to
add a skyline which in itself will be another useful device of grabbing the
audience’s attention even more as Voted by You is a use of direct address
and held in a different colour. The mast heads design is not like normal film
magazines, however it is similar to a different genre of magazines such as
“Red” as it follows a scripture style of writing, which adds the convention of
sophistication and alternative style that was used in 1929 on one magazine
named Picture Play:

4. THE MAGAZINE- PART 2
My main image is of the female protagonist who stars in the film that is being
promoted, but instead of featuring my actresses name I have gone along with
the idea of only showing the films name- Body Sitter which in a way draws the
attention away from the actress that is being featured, however I did include in
the anchorage text: New Talent is among the mist, which could be used a
useful device because it shows the reader that there is more than one person
being featured in the magazine. The main protagonist is wearing normal
clothing as she seems like an everyday teenager, which is the angle that I
was going for. By having my main protagonist in every day clothing and not
styled like a super model may attract my audience better as they may be able
to relate to the star as they could see themselves in her. The main
protagonist’s body language and use of direct address produces the
conventions of terrifying aspects as she is looking to the audience’s attention
for their help. This almost mimics the Total Films cover of Harry Potter as
instead of using a hand, he is using his wand which produces an adaptation
of 3D elements, and both stars have a terrified expression across their faces ,
which are both a different technique as it’s not all sophisticated as they add
suspense to the page both with the expressions and body language.

5. THE MAGAZINE- PART 3
The sidelines and anchorage text are both in the same font and style which adds repetition
and produces more ideas of sophistication and elegance, which brings across a sense of
maturity to my target audience. Along with sophistication, one of my side lines includes a
different eye catching layout that includes different conventions and genres of film, showing
my audience that my magazine is capable of under lining any genre and that there is
something for everyone. The colours of my side lines vary from white to red so it can catch
the audience’s attention, but at the same time remain organised in a colour sequence: White,
Black, Red with a hint of green. Which is a similar technique that total film used as half of
their sidelines were a block colour and the other a faded version of the colour in the
background:
When looking at the Total Films addition the main items in the sidelines that stand out are
the ones in white as it's almost high lighted against the background, however I do like the
idea of the others (actors names) almost blending in to the back ground and seeming
almost thinner than the others. To challenge this idea of different ways to present my
sidelines I have added two different eye-catching colours which both appear visible, easy
and clear to read.

6. THE MAGAZINE- PART 4
By using a reel to hold my other images to alert the reader on what else is in store in my
magazine cleverly links in with the mast heads name: Reels in Motion. This idea follows
the conventions of the whole movie genre and adds a clever twist to the classic 35 mm
reels. In some of the magazines I have looked at, the other mini images are held in a
golden box that seems like a ticket due to the shiny influence of the gold, instead of
copying there idea, I adapted and challenged it by instead of just showing still shots of
the characters, I have included images of directors making there film come to life by
green screen (Godzilla), a set up for a horror film (which ties into horror genre) and one
still of two well known actors working together.
Total Film-
Exclusive Edge
Reels in Motion-
Addition of Exclusive Edge

7. THE MAGAZINE- EPILOGUE
In the end when it comes to my magazine I have
added most of the conventions that are
expected, such as the colour scheme, main
character, side lines and the mast head which
are all featured in different media products.
However by adding a few of my own twists I
have challenged the conventions by adding
different styles of modern vs Classic with the
style of writing and I have featured what other
magazines tend to ignore- showing the audience
different aspects of making a film: the green
screen images.

8. THE POSTER- INTRO
When I was designing my poster at the beginning, I had the idea of a
broken frame that held an image of all my main characters with their eyes
scratched, and then in the reflection is Maya who plays my ghost girl.
However when it came to finding out where my poster would be advertised,
it didn’t really fit in to the conventions of a real poster, therefore it would
have looked out of place where ever it would have been held. So I
scrapped that idea and included more research on how posters work and
where they are mainly advertised, this is where I came up with the idea of
my poster, with the help of the inspiration of the film The Awakening and
The Others- both films that are held in an Victorian era. With taking this
inspiration, I developed my poster to seem similar to The Others (2000)
with a mix of up to date films such as The Devils Due (2013), this
challenges the conventions as again I am mixing classics and real modern
films and there posters.

9. THE POSTER- PART 1
My poster is designed in a simplistic way where everything is
noticeable so my audience doesn’t miss anything and yet it’s vague
so it’s not giving anything away apart from this film may include
ghosts and a possible possession, through the help of my posters
title- Body Sitter. The layout of my poster holds most of the
conventions in a horror poster, such as darkness, ambiguity,
unknown fears and the mix of the everyday vs ghastly. For example
in the Devils Due poster you have a simple cot and a mother
beside it, that shows the every day scenarios of a mother and her
child, however the ghastly is introduced as the cot is lighted up by a
golden glow and the mother is in an unusual, almost demonic pose
as she sits in a symbol that seems cut and scrapped by her nails.
My poster has the similar effect as a little girl posing innocently in
what seems an every day house, however through the use of my
lighting and the fact that the little girl is blending into the back
ground, introduces the ghastly as this connotes danger, mystery,
innocence being lost and many more.

10. THE POSTER- PART 2
Most modern posters include extreme close ups of the main protagonists face, for example Carrie
as both posters either have her face covered in blood or the mothers face looking terrified and
almost pleading to the audience so they could help her. Whereas other posters feature a range of
things such as a body part being held in a white room (Squeal- 2013) or little child on a rocking
chair holding an every day toy (The Conjuring- 2013). The main thing that I have noticed that the
supernatural film posters are held in either a dark room or completely black and white, whereas
serial killer and slasher films are held in a white and bright scenario. Therefore instead of
conforming to the modern posters with having my supernatural poster in black and white, I’ve
decided to challenge the conventions of the posters colours and main image by using the ghost
girl instead of a close up of the main protagonist and having an golden yellow glow to the image
instead of it being in black and white.

11. THE POSTER EPILOGUE
Alike my magazine, my poster has followed the
stereotypical conventions of horror posters which
normally involves darkness, mystery, absence of hope
and many more. However unlike many posters
including the main character in there poster, I have
decided to challenge this and include my absent
character Elsa (the little girl) as it preys on the
innocence of my audiences mind and brings across
more ambiguity and mystery as they want to know on
what really is going on and why is she positioned like
this? Another challenge that I have brought on my
poster is that it is shown to be a modern film that is
twisted around with classic 1920 type writing, this
implies that it could either take place in these times or
flashback to these times, where the audience may
question on what’s happened to this little girl and why
is stuck there?

12. TRAILER INTRODUCTION
As soon as I found out that I was going to make a horror trailer, my head burst
with so many ideas, some that I carried out in my production. I knew I wanted to
make a supernatural trailer so this meant that I could follow the general
conventions of including mysterious things happening such as things moving on
it’s own, ghost sightings, darkness and a lot of it, children screaming, dramatic
scenes such as people being dragged, possessed or killed. However I didn’t
want my trailer to seem like a normal ghost vs. possession film where it’s full of
clichés and predictable scenes, so I challenged real films and included my
classic feeling throughout all of my productions. During making my trailer I
decided to watch old horror films and trailers such as the classic The Exorcist,
The Shinning, Psycho and many more. Through this research I decided to add
the old classic split second black and white shots of my little ghost girl playing
with things and making a nuisance- therefore showing the innocence, but
testing the audience whether or not this is really happening. Also the shots that
aren’t “handheld” are in black and white, this adds a nice twist to modern vs.
Classic, almost like Sinister has entered the world of Psycho.

13. TRAILER PART 1
Due to my production being a supernatural film, I only focused on that section of the horror genre. You
can see similarities with my trailer with Paranormal 4 as both of the girls in each production are
recording everything that’s happening, however in Paranormal Activity 4 most of the camera shots
come from Skype (making it more realistic to the modern audience), but I’ve decided to change the the
modern films and technology expectations by going back to basics on using a handheld camera
instead of phones or a web cam:
Since my trailer is hand held, it hosts similar camera angles to Paranormal Activity so the audience
can see what the actual characters can’t such as shadows or things moving behind them. This is a
good device to use as it appears more dramatic and jumpy if you don’t notice it at first.
One thing I’ve noticed when doing my research is that trailers always show the good parts in the film
and at times some of the scenes are not in the film, therefore when making mine I had to make sure
the shots were going to attract my audience so they don’t become bored whilst watching the trailer,
because if the trailer bored them then there's no point in seeing the film.

14. TRAILER PART 2
I have decided to challenge the typical supernatural films by adding a classic twist on
to my trailer and these are the scenes where the recording isn’t happening. For
example at the beginning everything is in colour, but towards the end black and white
takes over. Through the inspiration of Stanley Kubrick and The Shinning trailer with
the particular twin scene where it shows present to future when the girls are together
and then next on the floor in there own blood, back to them standing… I believed was
brilliant as it shows what it is about to happen, and this could terrify the audience due
to the ambiguity being played. Therefore when looking at my trailer, I decided to add
my own black and white twist and included natural scenes of two sister dancing and
playing around, but this is a quick flash and since we’ve already seen them appear at
the window, the audience is left to question: Who are they?

15. TRAILER- EPILOGUE
When I was making my trailer I made sure that it followed typical conventions such as darkness,
mystery, attracting the audience straight away with relatable characters and an interesting storyline
and many more. However I have included to add a twist and almost challenge existing products by
mixing in classic films with the modern. For example on the scenes where strange things are
happening and parts that aren’t being “recorded” are held in black and white. This gives a taste and
a reminder of all time classic films such as Psycho and The Exorcist. This helps add mystery and
occasionally suspense because you don’t know what's going on and what century this film is being
filmed.
Nearly every trailer always adds music that causes tension and suspense, therefore I decided to add
sweet and soft music at the beginning when my characters move in, but then as the font says “until”
and one of my characters finds something suspicious in the garage that’s when a soft tune of Ring
and Around the Roses is played, towards the end I got one of my characters to sing the same song.
This idea I got from the trailer of Insidious 2 when a woman is singing a different nursery rhyme of
Row Row your Boat- when watching this trailer I felt very tense as the music was breaking up and
repeating itself on loop when all the action was going which I thought was a very useful device to
creep out my audience. In the end I have taken existing products and used them to inspire me for
how to make it full of suspense by the music, editing, camera works and the ambiguity in general.