How Did I Stick To Horror Conventions?

Trailer Conventions:

A disruption to normality happens - I showed this in the beginning of my trailer when Lizzy visits Jenny and asks her out however, a killer enters Jenny's home and she is murdered.

The title of the film and the credits are usually shown at the end of the trailer - I did this to stick with convention. At the end of my trailer I show the title and release date of my film.

The music indicates that a frightful moment is coming up - I did this in the moment when Jenny was about to be murdered to make it obvious to the viewer that the disruption of normality was about to happen.

Usually set in an isolated location - I used an abandoned factory for my isolated location to create a strong sense of danger.

The action on the screen is interrupted by credits - I also used this convention by having multiple captions come up on screen in between action scenes to build tension and suspense.

Dramatic angles show more of the character, high shot, low shot, close up - I did this multiple times in my trailer to make it more dramatic. This is just one example of a close up that I used in my trailer.

Dark, scary atmosphere e.g. stormy day, night time - I shot at night time in the beginning of my trailer to set the dark and scary atmosphere of my trailer.

High pitch screams - I used this convention twice in my trailer, I used it in the beginning when Jenny was being murdered and I also used it when Alex and Lizzy found Ruth's dead body however, in that scene I lowered the volume of that clip because I had some narration over it.

An extraordinary situation for a death or murder with either multiple or no suspect - I had two deaths in my trailer and only until the very end of my trailer do you get any knowledge of the killer. Throughout my trailer my murder has no identity however, at the end I recorded a voice over to sound like the killer was on the phone with my main protagonist.

Vulnerable targets on their own e.g. young children, teenagers or females - I challenged this convention a little. Instead of a vulnerable target on their own I had two however, I did stick to this convention slightly by having the target teenage females.

The fonts for the film titles usually have a creepy or gothic edge to them - my title font has that creepy and gothic edge to it that makes it follow convention.

There is always blood and violence and a type of death or murder - I followed this convention loosely. I didn't include any blood or too much violence however, I did include the scene where the killer is dragging Jenny and a shot of Ruth's dead body.

Low-key lighting - again, I followed this convention loosely too. The beginning of my trailer is shot in low-key lighting however, the rest of my trailer isn't.

Poster Conventions:

• Red, white and black colour scheme - I followed this by using red and white font and having a dark background. I also dressed my characters in grey, black and red.
• Small titles, generally at the bottom of the poster - I challenged this convention slightly as I did put the title at the bottom of the poster however, I made the font large and bold.
• The release date - I included this in my poster and highlighted it in red to make it stand out.
• Low-key lighting - I used this convention as I shot this photo on a gloomy day at around 4pm (during winter)
• Use of one large image to grab the audiences attention, optical focus - I included one large image on my poster in order to follow this convention.
• Captions - I added a caption at the top of the poster in order to give a viewer more insight into the movie before watching it.
• Anchorage - the photo I used is taken in the same location I filmed at in my trailer. 

Magazine Front Cover Conventions:

• Emphasis on the main character, generally a close up or mid shot - I used a mid shot on my front cover.
• Rule of thirds - I centred my feature article photograph.
• Masthead at the top of the page - I placed my masthead at the top of the page.
• Cover line across the feature article photograph but not covering it too much, generally along the bottom of the page - I placed my cover line (which was the title of my trailer) across my feature article photograph and I also had it running along the bottom of the page.
• Plugs flush left and right - I ensured that my plugs were flush left and right and I also made sure that they did not cover my feature article photograph.

Adding My Voice Over

I recorded my voice over straight onto iMovie. I used a podcaster mic to ensure that the audio quality was perfect. I just plugged the mic into my laptop, clicked record audio on iMovie and then moved the audio to where I wanted it in my trailer.

Then I used the iMovie audio effects and chose 'Telephone' as I wanted the killer to sound like they were talking to my protagonist on the phone.

Editing Techniques I Have Used

At the beginning of my trailer I added in a green title screen as I noticed that this was conventional for film trailers to have this.

I made my own production company logo and introduction which I added just after the equilibrium had been first disrupted as I also noticed that this was conventional too. I used an effect called 'focus' on the letters to animate them and make it more interesting. I also added a glitch to the black background to make the title screen more interesting and also I felt that it fitted in with my genre.

I used the effect 'dream' on these three clips because I wanted to create a sense of the future whilst having Alex's speech over it. I wanted to make it clear a viewer that these two scenes are in a different time period.

I speed up this clip to add a different pace to the trailer and to also convey a sense of urgency.

I've also used multiple 'fade to black' transitions to break up my different scenes.

Sound I Used In My Trailer

For the beginning of my trailer I used this music   that I found on YouTube. I needed music that  started ominous yet soft to establish a clear equilibrium and that this was going to be disturbed. I also needed it to build as this was when the equilibrium was disrupted. I think it fits in perfectly with my genre and the story of my trailer.

The second piece of music I used is called 'Animal'. I used this at the end of my trailer because I felt that it created a fast pace and it was also used in the trailer for 'Scream' the TV show; which I have loosely based my trailer on. It also mentions 'Lets play a game' which is a theme in my trailer that the killer is trying to play games with my protagonist about the murder of her friend in the beginning.

Choosing The Font For The Title Of My Trailer

When looking for a font I knew I wanted it to be simple yet have an overall horror feel to it. I went onto Urbanfonts.com and chose the 'Scary' catagory. From there I found 3 fonts that I liked a lot. These included: 'DK Ishtar', 'Forbid Nothing' and 'Scream' (as shown below).

After typing out the title of my trailer in each font I decided to go with 'Forbid Nothing' as is was bold, readable and had that eerie, creepy feel about it that I wanted.

Developing My Magazine Front Cover

I started with the background. I found that black worked well however I wanted to make it a little more interesting so I made it fade into a grey.

Then I added my photo, which I cut out using the magnetic lasso tool on Photoshop. I thought the image worked well with the fade because it made the image stand out more than just having it on a plain black background.

I added my masthead & puff next. The masthead is conventional as it almost fills the top third of the page. However, the puff is somewhat unconventional because it's beneath the masthead. It looked better there because it fitted perfectly beneath the 'M' of 'FILM'. 

I then added a blood splatter & the words 'HORROR EDITION' to make the genre clear to a potential buyer.

The next thing I did was add all my plugs to the page. I made sure not to cover my feature article photo to keep with the conventional style. I chose my fonts carefully to again, ensure that the genre was clear.

Then I added the cover line, which was the name of my trailer. I kept the font exactly the same to keep my brand synergy.

The final thing I did was add a barcode to the bottom of the page. Because it was black I decided to make it readable by having a white rectangle behind it. This however looked rather plain and boring, therefore I made the edges around the rectangle look like torn paper to again keep with the horror theme as I thought that by having it torn and distressed made it fit well within the genre.