The document discusses how the media products conform to and challenge conventions of their forms. For the film trailer, conventions such as logos, taglines, and editing techniques like fade to blacks and jump cuts were followed. However, some conventions were challenged, like including institutional information in the middle rather than beginning. Mise en scene, shots like point of view and extreme close ups, and a lack of dialogue also conformed to thriller conventions for the trailer. But clothing of characters and inclusion of a montage sequence challenged expectations. The film poster used long shots and low lighting to build tension but included standard elements like billing, title, and reviews. The magazine cover followed conventions with its masthead, tag

1. EVALUATION 1. IN WHAT
WAYS DO YOUR MEDIA
PRODUCTS USE, DEVELOP
OR CHALLENGE FORMS
AND CONVENTIONS OF
REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

2. FILM
TRAILER

3. TITLES

4. In terms of adhering to the conventions of film
trailer, the trailer begins with an introduction of
the production company logo on screen. It is a
recognisable convention for the audience and
establishes that the product has been made by
a professional company.The logo is introduced
immediately on screen with the titles coming
soon after with a typewriter effect as one letter
comes on screen at a time. It allows the
audience to concentrate on the production
company as they are having to look at what the
letters spell, signifying that they are more likely
to remember the company. Over the top of the
ident is a diegetic voiceover immediately introducing
one of the character to the audience .

5. The ending of the trailer was conventional in terms of
talking about new media. Including this titles has been
inspired from my analysis process, the title included a
website for the film and a hashtag that can be access on
different social media platforms.This is a new initiative
that has been introduced to be interactive with the
target audience as they can look at behind the scenes
footage and competitions on social media, generating
excitement for the film. It is a marketing technique that
will gather interest from the audience which leads onto a
hype for the films release.

6. The only title that challenged the conventions of
film trailers is the title that contained institutional
information about what other films have been
created.This is stereotypically placed in the
beginning sequence of the trailer however we
have decided to place this though the middle of
the trailer. As we thought that it would solidify
hooking in the audience once they have already
watched part of the trailer.

7. Another way that we conformed to the conventions of
film trailers was by including taglines within the title
sequence.These taglines built upon the narrative and
added context to the audience that there are romantic
conventions within the narrative. They also help to
create suspense for the audience as they see the title
“But sometimes its not supposed to last”, leading them
to wonder what is actually happening.The colour of the
two titles deepens from one to the other representing
negative connotations and an impending disruption
within the narrative.

8. CAMERA

9. We used a found footage effect on the beginning
of the trailer as it conventional for the thriller
genre.This is because this type of camera effect
gives the trailer a more realistic feel and allows
for the audience to connect with the character
on screen. Although this type of shot has a
sinister tone as it has associated use in horror
film connoting that something negative might
be about to happen.The mid shot of the female
is also stereotypical as it establishes the location
that the actor is in and representing it as an
everyday scenario, making it relatable to the
audience.

10. This high angle shot of the female leaving the
house corresponds with her character
archetype within the trailer as a high angle shot
connotes dominance.This is the first time the
audience will have seen this character and for
her to be leaving with such short notice leaves
the audience suspicious of her intentions,
denoting that she could be the antagonist
within the narrative.

11. Using a point of view shot also conforms to the
thriller genre as it allows for the audience to see
the narrative through another persons eyes.
However the audience don’t know who either
character is so are unsure of their purpose,
building on the idea of tension.

12. I used a extreme close up within the film trailer
as this is conventional of the thriller genre as
they are deployed in order to create tension.
The shot highlights the slight fear of the
female character but also creates suspense for
the audience because they are unsure of what
she is looking at.The shot conforms to the
convention of the genre as it creates a
mysterious atmosphere that confuses the
audience leading to increased excitement.

13. MISE EN
SCENE

14. The trailer mostly conforms to the
conventions of the genre in terms of its
mise en scene. I used elements of low key
lighting within cutaway shots as I wanted
to connote a sinister tone to the audience.
Low key lighting has negative
connotations leaving the audience feeling
slightly uneasy with the narrative, building
tension.

15. The locations of the trailer also conform to
the conventions of the genre as they mainly
tend to leave the protagonist isolated.
These isolated locations connote fear and a
sense of being alone, signifying that
something negative is happening.Also there
is a symbolic representation of cemeteries
within the trailer as they are shown on more
than one occasion, they have
representations of death.

16. Clothing of the characters is one of the only
ways in which the conventions of the thriller
genre are challenged.This is because films in
this genre mainly have characters wearing
black clothing as this has connotations of evil.
However we have challenges these
conventions within the trailer as the
antagonist isn’t wearing black clothing.The
audience at this point won’t have made the
connection as to who the antagonist is at this
point . Although we have used the
representation of a green puffa jacket to
confuse the audience because they would
have seen the actress who was killed putting
the jacket on earlier in the trailer.

17. The use of a home location develops the idea that
there are small insights of the romance genre within
this thriller trailer.This is because even though the
genre has change from initial research, we still
wanted to include small hints of the romance genre to
showcase the research that we have already done. A
home location has connotations of privacy and
signifies a strong relationship between the two actors
as the audience can infer that they live together.
High key lighting is also used in this shot as it has
positive connotations and represents a loving
relationship between the two.

18. EDITING

19. During the editing of the trailer we used a
large amount of fade to blacks that is
conventional of both the genre and the
form.The use of fade to blacks break up
sequences of shots so that one sequence
isn’t on for a prolonged period of time.
This is conventional of the form because
within film trailer the footage is
stereotypically broken up in order to
create excitement. Fade to black are also
conventional of the genre because the
colour black has sinister connotations
leading to heightened tensions for the
audience.

20. Using jump cuts is also a convention of both
the genre and the form of film trailers.They
are stereotypically at the end of the trailers
which is apparent in the trailer we have
created. By having lots of jump cuts it breaks
up and has a sped up effect on the footage,
this excites the audience as it indicates that
the trailer is reaching its climax. It is also a
convention of the genre because jump cuts
are an editing technique in place to build
tension for the audience.

21. An editing feature that we have used which
challenges the conventions of the thriller genre is
montage.We used a montage sequence of the
female character using her camera in outdoor
locations.This is rarely seen within thriller genre
as a montage has softer connotations however it
clearly fits in with the romantic element that we
tried to include throughout the trailer.The
sequences allows a relationship to be acquired
between the audience and the female as they get
to see more into her personal life.

22. SOUND

23. The use of sound effects slightly develop
the conventions of the genre.Within the
thriller genre diegetic sound is mainly used
because of the more complex narrative.
However we wanted to include sound
effects in order to make the car accident
scene more realistic to the audience. We
heightened the volume of the accident to
represent its significance as the disruption
within the narrative.

24. A voice over was placed throughout
the first half of the trailer. It is
conventional of the form as voice
overs add context to the narrative and
allows for the audience to establish a
relationship with the character who’s
talking. It defies the conventions of
the genre as thrillers tend not to have
voice overs as it could give the
audience too much insight and take
away from the tension that is trying to
be built.

25. Non diegetic sound+ diegetic
An unconventional aspect that we chose
not to have is only a very small amount of
dialogue between two people. It is at the
beginning of the trailer but ends soon after
that point.This is because I wanted the
trailer to be as ambiguous as possible and
create a high level of mystery as a tactic to
gather interest in the film from the target
audience. Non diegetic sound in the form of
a an upbeat soundtrack is played at the
beginning of the trailer to represent positive
connotations as portray a sense of
equilibrium within the narrative.

26. FILM
POSTER

27. I challenged the form of this real media
product because I used an extreme long
shot as my main image for the film poster.
Stereotypically film posters use either a
medium or close up shot of one or two
characters, conventionally two. I chose an
isolated location for the main image which
connotes a sense of loneliness for the
female character. I chose to challenge
conventions by using an extreme long shot
because there is another character in the
background of the shot and I wanted to
develop the idea that the female in the
foreground of shot is being followed,
building tension.

28. The creation of the image conformed to the
thriller genre as I added mise en scene aspects
to adhere to the genre. I lowered the darkness
of the image to represent low key lighting which
has negative connotations. I also added a
grained effect to the background of the image
which adheres to the thriller genre as it made
the character in the background look fuzzy to
the audience.This builds suspense as the
audience can’t tell who the character is.

29. For the Billing board, I adhered to the conventions by
having it at the bottom of the poster with the text
centered using a stereotypical thin, sans serif font for the
billing board. I chose to stick to this convention in order
to create consistence as without this, the film poster
might not be as easily recognisable or the audience.

30. Another feature that used the convention
of the form through the creation of the film
title. I used a large sans-serif font as it is
eye-catching for the audience, I used the
colour white which has connotations of
purity signifying that there could be a
resolution at the end of the film. I placed it
in the centre of the poster which is a
conventional trait as it is one of the first
traits that the audience sees.

31. By having institutional information, it adheres to
the conventions of the form because it helps to
make the audience aware of companies that have
been involved in the production of the film.They
are professional companies which signifies that the
product that we have made will be of a high
standard.

32. I stuck to the convention of having a review on
the poster.This is a smaller convention with
film posters and they aren't always included.
However I thought that it would be important
to include on the poster as it reassures the
audience that it is a creditable film trailer that
they would enjoy. ’Cosmopolitain’ magazine is
a well established magazine and can bring in a
wider audience who also like this magazine.

33. MAGAZINE
COVER As magazine in general have a strict set of
codes and conventions, my magazine cover
mainly conforms rather than subverts the
conventions of the form.

34. The masthead produced for the magazine
cover is conventional to the form as the
masthead is always placed at the top of
the magazine cover. It is the largest piece
of text that fills the entirety of the page, it
is immediately eye catching for the
audience.

35. A tagline is another convention of the form that I
adhered to when creating my real media product.The
tagline goes alongside the masthead , I coloured the
tagline pink to appeal towards the female target
audience of the magazine as the colour has
connotations of femininity.

36. As the magazine has a female target audience,
the cover lines also conformed to the
conventions of the product.The cover lines that
I produced are about one British and one
American actress so that the cover appeals to a
wider target audience.The colour of the cover
lines have a pink and white colour scheme to
adhere to the house style of the magazine.

37. I stuck to the convention of having a barcode
and price on the film poster. I decided to place
this in the bottom right hand corner of the
poster so that it can be seen by the intended
audience but it is not a very significant
convention.