The document analyzes how the author's horror film trailer uses and develops conventions of the horror genre. It follows many standard conventions, such as an R rating to allow graphic content, focusing on a group of teens summoning an evil spirit, and using quick graphic shots and increased pace to build suspense. However, some shots may be inconsistent in tone or not clearly set the location. The trailer aims to attract horror fans and leaves audiences wanting more to understand the narrative.

1. In what ways does your media
product use, develop, or challenge
forms and conventions of real media
products
Media Evaluation Question 1

2. RATING
I decided to follow common horror
film convention, and give my
product an R rated certificate; this
is very common in the horror genre
as it allows directors to work with
far less restrictions than they would
if they were trying to make a film
suitable for younger viewers.
As I wanted my film to be aimed
primarily at viewers aged 17-21 the
R rating is ideal, as it allowed me to
use as much gore, and potentially
explicit language if I chose to
include it.

3. My trailer follows a fairly classic
convention of the horror genre,
focusing on a group of bored teens
who perform a ritual, and invoke an
evil spirit. I decided to conform to
convention through beginning the
trailer in a state of equilibrium, as
everything is okay at the start of
the trailer.
I used the first shot to foreshadow
some of the narrative for the film,
as it clearly indicates that the film
will be about summoning demons,
as is also implied in the title
“Ritual.” Opening with a shot
displaying the narrative is
uncommon, however I think it
works effectively as it draws in
people who know that they are
already interested in the possession
genre.
One thing I neglected to do for my trailer was
include a shot from outside the house in order to
set the location more effectively, as although I
know that the location is a suburban home, it
may be unclear to those watching

4. This is the shot in which I first
introduce my characters. The Mise
en scene in this shot fits with the
horror genre, as its dark and eerie,
however I don’t think it fits in with
the mise en scene for the rest of my
trailer, which include a lot of red
tones in order to create the effect
of an evil presence.
As this is only a teaser trailer, I
don’t include a lot of information
about the characters, choosing only
to include some basic dialogue to
show what some of them think.
This conforms to the conventions of
a teaser trailer, as they ususally
focus more on the action and the
gore from the film rather than the
characters

5. The close-up shot of the candles
creates the mise en scene needed in
order to create the atmosphere of the
ritual. The candles are commonly used
in rituals, and the medium shot of the
candles from above in a pattern makes
them seem more demonic, as they are
obviously laid out with the intention of
summoning something.
I could have further reinforced the
genre here through drawing a
pentagram or something similar, as a
more noticeable pattern for people to
recognise, as it’s a convention of the
genre.

6. I used this scene in order to
further embed the narrative of my
piece, it follows on immediately
from the candle shot, keeping the
slower pace of the film, which is a
feature of trailers, as they often
preserve the equilibrium whilst
also building tension until at least
20 seconds into the trailer.
The Mise en scene in this mid
shot also fits with the horror
genre, with colours of red and
black, if I wanted to push this
further I could have got him to
wear darker clothes, possibly with
some demonic iconography.
The dialogue in this scene is perhaps a
bit cliché, and somewhat generic, as he
just talks about a sense of danger, and
performing the ritual correctly, although
this does still fulfil its purpose of
creating more of an enigma for the
audience, as they will want to find out
what went wrong, and the consequence
of it.

7. I used a series of quick, quite graphic shots
in order to shock the audience. The use of
fast, graphic shots is very common in teaser
trailers, as it belies some of the features of
a film that will attract people who are
interested in the genre.
The Mise en scene of the silhouette in the
doorway is iconic and reminiscent of older
horror films such as Psycho, however I’m
not sure if it fits the iconography within the
rest of my trailer, as the black and white
shot seems almost out of place.
The use of the special fx gore is very
common in professional horror trailers, and
gives their audiences a taste of the better
special fx that are likely to be in the film.

8. The close-ups, and the medium close up
shot of the knife being cleaned, and
displayed with the blood on it is fitting
with the mise en scene of the rest of the
piece, however it is a fairly uncommon
type of shot to be used in a horror film,
perhaps comparable to similar shots in
professional trailers that are more jump-
scares, or sudden realizations for
characters that there is something wrong,
it’s often used to show items that are
possessed such as dolls.
The mise en scene in this shot is
somewhat out of place, as the white
background of the sink feels too bright
in comparison to the darkness in some
of the other shots in the piece.

9. This scene marks the most
obvious change in atmosphere
in the trailer, as it clearly shows
the girl becoming possessed,
with both the red eyes, and the
editing techniques with the
slight dip to black, and the red
filter being applied to all
footage after this.
This does follow some
conventions of the possession
genre, as the character being
possessed is traditionally a girl,
as normally they are seen as
less threatening, so there is
something extra creepy about a
female antagonist.
Films about possession are
more commonly about a family
with kids, so I am somewhat
challenging convention by
changing the demographic of
the characters.

10. The inter-titles I used throughout my trailer convey the iconography of the genre effectively
through the use of both font and backdrop. The font is jagged and somewhat demonic,
connoting the genre, and the backdrop appears to be a blood stained surface, which fits the
iconography of my piece effectively. One thing that I am unsure of here is the white text, as
I feel like it doesn’t fit the mise en scene of the rest of the piece, however it was a
compromise I felt I had to make, as otherwise the text was indiscernible from the
background.
I included the
traditional titles to tell
the audience what
other work the
producers had done,
and when the film
was being released.
I followed other
trailers in the genre
by including a
melodramatic
strapline in order to
create an
atmosphere of
distrust

11. I increased the pace near the end of
my trailer in order to build suspense
and excitement for the audience. The
increase in pace also allows the
trailer to show off some of the
scarier elements of the film, whilst
also not revealing too much of the
action.
I also used the music in order to
increase the pace of the trailer here,
using a percussion piece with
increased tempo, as well as
additional sound effects for screams
and other things such as the head
smacking against the wall.
Both of these things follow then
usual conventions of a horror teaser
trailer/.

12. My main title screen is placed at the end of the trailer, which is conventional, most trailers
do this so that the last thing you see is the name of the film, and therefore you remember
it.
The mise en scene of the title screen fits the genre, as it shows the red, horror themed text,
clearly displaying the title of the film. However, I feel that the choice to include the credits
on the same screen was unnecessary, and takes away from the overall feeling of the
screen, making the feeling of genre less powerful.
I think I could have instead chosen either not to include the credits at all, or to include them
on a separate screen.
One advantage to the
inclusion of the credits is
that it would attract
people who like watching
a specific actor or director,
however this is less likely
to be a factor for smaller,
independent films.

13. After the final title screen I chose to
include the scene of one of my
characters with a very graphic burnt
face effect, who then opens his eyes.
Including a very short scene for either
a jump scare, or to increase narrative
enigma for the audience is very
common in horror trailers.
I also used a loud, climactic noise in
order to add more impact to the shot,
and to add in a final moment of
suspense to the trailer, as it means
that it finishes strongly.
This shot will also leave audiences
confused, and wondering how this ties
into the narrative, encouraging them
to watch the whole film.