EVALUATIONLouise Millar

HOW DID MY MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE, THE CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

When producing our teaser trailer it was important for us to gain inspiration from other films and posters and magazine covers because it would give us more of an accurate insight as to what makes a successful horror. The main influence on our media product was The Amityville Horror, as this film wanted to portray the same kind of plot and idea that we did. The posters of this film also greatly influenced us because they gave us a few ideas on how to tease the target audience and also giving them enough recognition to be able to know which film it was.

There were other films which have influenced ours, The Shining, The Ring were the other two main films which contributed to some ideas. This was because we wanted to focus our film around a paranormal presence, a transcendent being which could not be stopped. In order to portray this and fit into the horror genre we decided it was best to use the haunting of children. This is used in both films above, for example, Samara in The Ring and the dead twin girls in The Shining.

The illusion aspect of the twins in our trailer was used because we wanted the audience to be undecided on whether Eva or Katie could actually see them, or if they were just being haunted by a paranormal presence that could not be seen. Both arguments was portrayed through the trailer, through the twins appearing behind Eva in the bathroom where you can actually see their faces, and the other argument it with the door slamming on its own, the pot falling off the cooker on its own, the classic paranormal haunting conventions. We used this technique in order to disorientate the viewer into not knowing whether its only the audience who can see the twins or whether Eva and Katie can too.

COMPARISON OF POSTERS

Note: The similar surrounding darkness of the houses, making it seem like a point of view shot, that something or someone is watching the house. The darkness is contrasted with light shining from within the house in both posters, making the audience curious as to what is happening within the house. The twins are a main focus of our marketing campaign and this is why we thought it would be key to use them in our poster.

Note: Both titles of each film are written in a way that looks like its flickering, or shadowed and dim which resembles candlelight, this type of candle font could be argued as a key convention of representing a paranormal presence as most films which include a Ouija board or a séance have candles lit in order to communicate with spirits.

.....COMPARISON CONTINUED

Note: As both sides of the posters are darker it makes the house in both posters the key feature. This is because the audiences eyes are drawn to the house because it is what takes up most of the poster. By making the house the main image on the poster it teased the audience into wondering what the film may be about.

Note: The slogan for each film is scratched into the wall, almost like it has been engraved which is a key feature we decided would be best for our film. As the slogan is scratched into the wall it makes the viewers wonder who carved it and why.

CONVENTIONS USED / DEVELOPED FROM REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS.

• Newspaper Articles: As in The Amityville Horror trailer, we decided that the use of titles through newspaper clippings would help give the audience an idea of the plot while still keeping them teased and building suspense.

....CONTINUEDThe medium shot of the houses are a specific shot which we thought would contribute to our trailer well, this was because audiences could relate the house from the poster to the house they see in the trailer and this would make the house seem like the evil. This is something that The Amityville horror included in the trailer. It establishes the setting for the viewer while still creating tension.

....CONTINUEDThe under water shot in the bath was a shot we saw in the trailer for The Amityville Horror and we decided to use and develop. This was because it was only held for a second in both trailers it makes the audience confused as to whether the person in the bath is dead or if they are alive. Water also resembles being consumed or drowned, which is what we were trying to illustrate with the evil in the house, being consumed and drowned in evil.