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.