In what way did your media product use, develop, or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?

I feel that my trailer has distinguished itself from other trailers enough for it to have developed on
various expectations of trailers today, while still remaining part of the horror genre. I hope to have
achieved a unique aesthetic within my trailer, especially during the second half dream like
sequence.

The setting of the forest has been used in

many horror films and trailers, and I have
used this to my advantage. I have utilized
the associations made by other media to
help show the genre of my trailer to the
audience. The forest dream sequence is
also a great example is how I have altered
these conventions and associations to
separate my trailer from the usual scary
dark forest look. The colours are almost
neon, and the blur adds an uneasy feel. I feel that this unique look, especially in conjunction with the
previous sequences and conventions of a normal horror setting will help the audience to take notice
and remember my trailer, which is essential for a successful trailer. This applies to the Repetition
and Difference theory (Steve Neale), as I have taken the usual setting but twisted the visual
representation of it.

A second way in which my trailer has

used conventions of media products and
the horror genre is the low-key lighting.
This, in combination with a very bleak
and colourless tone instantly tells the
audience what kind of film it is that they
are watching. The contrast between the
first and second halves of my trailer,
however, helps to show how Ive tried to
challenge this horror convention with a
colourful yet still unsettling tone.

During this same shot shown above, a second convention is a slow zoom. This kind of technique can
be seen in the trailer for Evil Dead (1981), which is something that I analysed back in the research
phase of my work. A slow zoom can create tension as it builds anticipation for something to happen.
Due to the media that we consume, we are expecting a potential jump scare or sudden change of
pace. I have tried to tap into this conditioned response. I have essentially used conventions set up by
most forms of media to my advantage. This shot also engages the audience due to that same feeling
of something will happen, and it causes the audience to ask questions which raises intrest in the
trailer.
One shot of my trailer focuses on a screenshot from an IRC. It features an anonymous user joining
the chat, which the main character reacts to with confusion. Zimbardo (1969) talks about how
anonymity creates a lack of self-evaluation and leads to a disregard for following societal norms of
behaviour. When applied to this shot of my trailer, it points towards the idea of a potentially
dangerous individual joining the IRC; Being cloaked in anonymity would allow them to exercise any
harmful intent, which creates a sense of tension in this shot. This also ties in with our natural fear of
the unknown, thus raising questions and the suspicion of the audience.

A modern convention from the horror

genre that I have used throughout my
trailer is the use of static and visual
deterioration such as noise and
discolouration. An example of this in
real media texts is Ringu (1998), or The
Ring (2003). This is shown through
various effects added in Premier Pro,
while also being connotated by mise-
en-scene featuring technology such as
a CRT. This plays with the human fear
of degeneration, as well as a technophobic perspective of a post-
human society in which we lose all control to inhuman
technologies. This powerlessness towards technology is also
coupled with a sense of heightened danger around electricity
and older more unsafe equipment such as a CRT, which then
reaches a climax during the CRT-like dream sequence in my
trailer. The omnipresence of technology