In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge formsand conventions of real media products?

Please click on the image below for the annotations Flickr. The images on the left are stills from my own groups trailer 'Nightmare Endings', the images on the right are stills taken from real media products.

ALL, a photo by AlexSopp on Flickr.

Real horror trailers are used to attract an audience, and create excitement about a movie before its release. They often incorporate many quick excerpts from the movie, which aim to give enough information away about the film to create a 'buzz' around it, but not enough that it will spoil the movies story.

My trailer incorporates many typical conventions of the horror genre in that it gives away some of the story to create a fear about the 'monster'.

One way my trailer uses forms and conventions of real horror products is through the use of Freuds theory of the return of the repressed.

We wanted to include the idea of a past force returning, as it would give an explanation for the events that are occurring now. This would make it seem more realistic for the viewer.

Horror often focuses on a character becoming increasingly mad, to show how an innocent person has madness within them.

The image on the right (top) shows the main girl in my trailer rocking in a corner connoting madness. The confined space of the corner helps to accentuate this.

The idea of a hidden madness within this girl is developed later in the trailer with the image on the right (bottom) showing her staring into the mirror. The character has realised she has become a 'monster'. The reflection of her in the mirror also suggests a split personality, which is another stereotypical feature of a horror monster.

The use of sound in our trailer is also very typical of a real horror trailer. We used loud booms (stings) to accentuate certain shots, as well as a scream sound effect when her face morphs to show that she has become a monster.

One recurring theme of horror is the use of a female protagonist. Carol Clover has written in her book 'Men,Women & Chainsaws', about the topic of the female representation in horror. Our trailer also features a female protagonist, however the audience is made to identify with her through various close up shots which contrasts the theory on the "Male Gaze". However, as the trailer progresses it becomes harder to judge whether the girl is a protagonist or the antagonist, so we see a variety of long shots also, allowing the audience to seem detached from the character.

One way my trailer challenges typical conventions of a horror trailer is how it mainly features just one character in it. Because we have created a teaser tailer we wanted to focus predominantely on the main girl and her descent into madness. We felt this would be the main selling point if this was a real film.