Evaluation

By Daniyaal Hussain

In what ways does your poster use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real

media products?

The poster we created borrowed elements from various horror movie posters and the colour red was used frequently throughout most of the posters in order to represent blood which is seen in most horror films due to the fear of death, etc. This was used in our poster due to it having the genre of horror and this was researched in various other horror films which helped us develop the poster.

We did not change any conventions since we wished to stick to the normal tradition of how horror movie posters are made and to make it seem more accurate since it would be inaccurate to have a horror movie poster look bright and calm. Real horror posters such as A Nightmare On Elm Street were used in order to borrow elements off of them such as the crimson background and the fact that only the antagonist was coloured was also borrowed so that he is shown to have importance in the story or is possibly responsible for the crimson colour which is blood related. Furthermore the same font style is used giving it a more classical yet powerful look as it is formal and bold further developing the conventions of horror movie posters.

In what ways does your cover use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

We researched into different types of film magazines such as “Empire” and “Total Film” and the layout for empire was used for our own magazine. We used the Empire logo on our Magazine and placed it into the same space as most Empire magazines although the logo’s size was decreased.

Most film magazines tend to promote film titles on the cover although not as big as the main film being promoted. We did this and added small icons of famous horror icons such as Jason Voorhees; promoting them in the process and giving the reader an image of what they look like which has developed most magazines that exist today.

In a way it has also challenged the conventions of real media products as the picture provided has no blank background and is instead just an edited photograph but with no sort of special effect and the reason being is because it gives the magazine and film itself a sense of realism as the film is a realistic horror with no type of supernaturalism whatsoever. Real covers like Empire’s Hellboy 2 cover has edited the masthead with a fire effect although we stuck with the original which further challenges the conventions. We used the title from the poster on the magazine too which gives it a type of iconic feel as the film wants to be big and for all people to recognize the title wherever it’s shown, on a magazine cover or even on merchandise.

In what ways does your trailer use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our trailer borrows elements from typical horror/thriller trailers such as Friday the 13th and Anabelle. We did not borrow any of the shots given only the contrast between scenes, having that same fade in and out gesture used in most horror trailers. The fade out then switched towards the inter titles which is another thing borrowed from the Anabelle trailer still containing that red font.

Most trailers already use the convention of introducing characters in a medium shot especially when they are having a conversation as this gives the audience a clear idea of what the relationship is like between the two characters. Showing them both is almost like an introduction towards them. Moreover, the fact that they are staring at each other whilst conversing also gives the audience the idea of their relationship being a close one.

Furthermore, the trailer uses various shots inspired from the Friday the 13th trailer specially the over-shoulder shot of Jason watching the kids at Crystal Lake. We had the main antagonist of our trailer watch the happy couple from afar as an over the shoulder shot. This convention is usually used in most trailers to give the audience a sense of mystery and to keep them in suspense as to what will happen next.

The soundtrack as well as sound effects consist of a typical thump noise as an action or movement is made in the trailer. This is used in most film trailers as it gives off a dynamic effect towards the audience as well as giving the audience a sense of being overwhelmed as it is an over-exaggerated sound effect used in nearly all trailers regardless of genre, but it seems to fit the genre of horror quite well due to it keeping the audience in suspense and a rush of adrenaline. It also connects with the splash made in the river.

The rest of the soundtrack gives off an eerie effect which could possibly creep out the audience and it used when the male walks towards an alleyway, but unknown to him the antagonist awaits. The soundtrack helps the audience connect with the male as they can almost feel the danger he’s in.