1. In what ways does my horror film
poster use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions real media
products?
2. - I looked at lots of existing horror movie poster to see what is most commonly used in the posters so that I could adapt
that to my own poster.
- The colour scheme that I used for my poster was red, white, grey and black which is a stereotypical colour scheme that is
used amongst existing horror film posters like The last exorcism II and The conjuring. These colours have negative
connotation which is why they are commonly used in horror film posters.
- The font that I used was distressed looking which is common type of effect that is used on horror film posters to give a
unsafe/ dangerous vibe to the poster. Black, red and white colours were used for the fonts. This is because, the colour
black is considered omen and represents death and mourning, while the colour white is linked with ghosts and spirits.
Lastly, the colour red denotes for danger, passion, blood and death, therefore, connotes for a bad foreshadowing.
- Wide shot/ medium shot and close ups are commonly used in horror film posters. My poster has a wide shot image of a
old building which is quite similar to the image used in The conjuring. Wide shot especially of a house/building make the
audience feel isolated and inferior as they are looking at a image from a long distance and makes the object look
obscure.
- I used dark lighting for my poster which is very typical of horror movie posters as it coincides with the horror genre.
- Prior to creating my poster I looked at the layout and content of existing posters and found a common layout system
which I incorporated into my poster.
Overall, for the poster of my horror film I tried as true to the conventional horror film poster as following the conventions of horror
movie poster was a good guideline to use when making my poster. I didn’t challenge the convention of horror film poster, this is
because my target audience are used to seeing the stereotypical form of poster. Therefore, I created a regular horror movie
because it would be more appealing to my target audience. Also, I think if I were to challenge the convention of horror poster
then my horror poster may not have been appropriate for its genre.
3. In what ways does my horror film
website use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions real media
products?
4. - The colour scheme for my website were red, blue, grey and black which is similar to other
existing horror film website. I used these colours and they are negatively associated, for
example, red indicates danger and death. I did not go against the convention of the horror film
website in terms of colour scheme, because I believe that if other colours would not have been
appropriate for horror genre.
- As for my font I chose a font that I had been using throughout my poster and trailer to maintain
my house style. However, my font fits the typical type of font used in a horror movie.
- Prior to constructing my website, I had looked at various horror film website to get an insight of
how a horror film website looks like. I tried to create a similar context and layout to the existing
horror film website because it would be easier for my target audience to use they are familiar
with that particular layout.
- However, in my website homepage I have not included the picture of my dvd because I didn’t
create a dvd but if I had created a dvd I would have included its picture to encourage my target
audience to purchase my product.
Overall, I followed the forms of convention of horror film website for my own website because I think
it helped me to create a more realistic horror movie website which was my intention.
5. In what ways does my horror film
trailer use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions real media
products?
6. - In terms of camera angles/shots like POV shot and pan shot, lighting (dark/ muted) and music (classical,
piano, low scary sound effect, non-diegetic), I followed the conventional ways of horror movie trailer
because, it gave the best results. For example, I used dark lighting which helped to create suspense
and If I were to challenge this for example by using bright lighting it would have not been suitable for the
sense and would have created a different ambience.
- One way I challenged the forms of convention of a stereotypical horror film trailer is that I used all
female characters from Asian background. During my research I found that in a horror genre film White
actors are casted as the main protagonists and antagonist. An Asian character will typically get a role in
a horror movie if it's set in an Asian country and they are most likely going to get a very stereotypical
role like a doctor or a Buddhist monk/ priest. This was something I wanted to challenge this, therefore, I
casted a Asian female as the main character. I feel that it is important to represent ethnic minorities in
Western/Non-Asian films because it makes them feel included as they have a character that they can
relate to.
- Also, the ghost character is played by another Asian female. Although female ghost is a very common in
nearly all horror movie, I believe that by using an Asian ghost I have challenged the conventions of
horror films.
- The plot and the setting of my horror film trailer follows the conventions of a horror film, however, the
actors are Asian. I wanted a typical horror film plot and make typical horror film characters but they are
just played by Asians, which challenges the convention of horror film because characters that are
stereotypically given to White actors are being played by Asian actors without having the story
emphasising their ethnicity or culture.
