Evaluation 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challange forms of conventions from real media products?

Frame 1 - Locations and props

Frame 1 shows one of our most common locations; the garage. It also shows a knife, which is the most significant prop shown in our trailer.  I chose to show this location and prop as the garage is the most iconic setting in our trailer as it is the attackers 'base'.

This conforms with conventions of thriller films as the attacker often has a space of their own where they plan what is going to happen. An example of this is at the beginning of Last house on the left where the villains had their own apartment to plan things in. To develop this idea we made sure the location was recurring throughout the whole film. The mess in the location makes it easily identifiable and therefore as it is seen numerous times in the trailer the audience realise the significance of this setting.

The shot shown in the frame is shown earlier in the trailer than the knife is seen held to Katie's neck. This links with Barthes' enigma theory as the knife being shown is a clue as to what will happen to Katie.
The use of the darkness and low key lighting in this shot also uses conventions of real media products as low key lighting connotes mystery and creates suspense. The use of the colour blue, however, challenges the conventions of media products. This is because blue is a colour that connotes calmness and relaxation, therefore it is not often used in thriller films. We thought this colour added to the tension and suspense created as it contrasts the clutter of objects everywhere and makes the audience question the contents of the room.



Frame 2 - Costume

Frame 2 shows an image of Katie, walking across the living room running away from her attacker who she has just seen watching her. She is wearing a simple outfit here, that is very colourless. We decided to dress Katie simply at all times, as we wanted a larger proportion of the audience to be able to identify with her based on the uses and gratification theory. To ensure this happened we did not want to help her to fit a specific stereotype, therefore we were careful with the costumes to ensure they were not overly pink, or sporty etc. The main outfit she wore during the trailer is the black t-shirt and blue jeans featured above. The black being in solid blocks connotes claustrophobia and lack of space, where as the white connotes emptiness, these are emotions Katie feels while being tied up and therefore we wanted her to dress in a way that connoted this.  Other costumes are based around the colours black and white and therefore fit this stereotype.

Frame 3 - Use of logo

Frame 3 shows our production company logo. We chose the name 'Maximum productions' as we felt the word 'maximum' connotes the greatest amount of something. This therefore connotes that our production company is the best company creating the greatest work. We used iconic London landmarks to connote that the company is an independent British company, and five stars around the edge of the frame as this suggests we are a 5 star company which is the best it can be.

After making our production company logo the white background originally used was too bright and did not conform with the darker colours stereotypically used by thriller films. We chose to make this background darker and changed it to a grey colour, therefore as it comes onto the screen at the beginning of the trailer it is immediately identifiable that our film is a thriller film.

Frame 4 - How characters are introduced

The key character introduced in our trailer is Katie. There are few other characters introduced in our trailer, as the attacker himself is not seen. Katie's friend is shown at the beginning, and there are images of other girls targeted shown. The voice used in an emergency phone call is the first character heard in our trailer. The image I have chosen for this frame shows Katie at the end of the trailer on the phone to the emergency call centre hiding under the bed. This shows that throughout the whole trailer she is introduced to be vulnerable and helpless. This develops conventions from other thriller films as the main character is always portrayed as vulnerable and therefore easy to attack. However, we have challenged thriller film conventions by introducing so few characters as these films are usually chaotic and include more characters adding to the busyness.

Frame 5 - Camerawork and editing

Frame 5 shows a handheld camera shot walking up the stairs. I chose to include this shot as it is really effective in ensuring the audience felt like they were watching from the antagonists point of view. This type of point of view shot is often used in thriller films to make them seem more documentary like, such as paranormal activity. Therefore it does conform with generic conventions of thriller films.
As this point of view shot was taken the attacker is walking up the stairs in the dark searching for Katie. The music here builds up slowly adding the tension as the attacker climbs the stairs. After a series of fast paced cuts The attacker finds Katie hiding under the bed. The camera shot being handheld makes it slightly shaky and more realistic looking, making it easier to establish that the antagonist is the one climbing the stairs.

Frame 6 - Plot line and narrative

The main narrative shown throughout the trailer is the attacker searching for Katie and when finding her keeping her locked up and held hostage. Therefore this is the narrative I chose to portray on both my magazine cover and film poster. I did this by using an image of Katie with her hands tied up and her mouth taped over. In my magazine cover there is also a knife held near her throat. This connotes to two different audiences the narrative of my film.

Displaying the narrative of the film is often done in film posters as it is direct advertising for the film and therefore this is something that is likely to entice and engage a mass audience. This will especially be designed to target the demographic target audience by giving away enigma clues which will connote some of what is going to happen.

This happens less often in magazine covers as the lead actor/actress is more likely to take part in a photo shoot which will lead to a staged photograph being taken and used for the front cover. However, in my ancillary task I chose to challenge this as I wanted to use an action shot. This is because this helps to create synergy between all three texts so consumers of the text will recognise the different  mode of address as associated with the film and therefore it is mass advertising on a wider scale.

Frame 7 - Use of intertitles

Intertitles are used in film trailers to include more narrative in the trailer. It is further used in thriller trailers to create mystery and suspense as limited information is given. However, when making our trailer we did not originally include intertitles. After making the first draft of our trailer we asked for feedback from a selected group of our target audience, who agreed with us that we had created a fast paced trailer that created tension and suspense and by including intertitles we were likely to ruin this illusion and mystery we created.

We did however chose to include institutional information at the end of our trailer. This is something that all film trailers include as it lets the audience know who created and worked on the film. Not only does this give the correct people credit for the film, consumers of the trailer may spot names they recognise and have previously enjoyed work by, and will be more persuaded to watch the whole film.

Frame 8 - Use of titles

When creating a title for my ancillary task I tried to make one that is not specialised to a specific genre of film.This is stereotypical of film magazines as they are therefore able to advertise to a mass audience, an example of this is 'total film', this title is not specialised in any way and therefore is suitable to advertise a variety of films. I chose to use the title 'global film'. I felt this title is not specialised in any way and therefore can advertise a variety of films. The term 'global' also connotes being worldwide therefore this suggests that the film magazine gives information on worldwide films, this will entice a mass audience to read this magazine.

To make the edition of the magazine more specialised the words 'thriller special' were evident at the top of my magazine cover, this can be seen in this frame. By doing this all information on different films that I included on my magazine cover was related to thriller films in some way. Many film magazines will often do this, therefore I was using and developing generic conventions.

Frame 9 - Fonts

This frame shows an image of the title of our film when it appears at the end of our trailer. The font we chose to use . I used this title logo on all three of my media texts as I felt this created synergy between them and was easily recognisable for the demographic target audience.

We chose to use a font from a free font website from a category called 'scratchy'. This font is a white colour which connotes innocence and purity, against a black background. The innocence and purity created contrasts with the title of the film 'hostage'. I think this highlights how Katie has not done anything for this to happen to her and she is an innocent young girl who becomes helpless without any intention to do so. White fonts on darker backgrounds are often used in thriller film title logos. This can be seen in films I researched such as The last house on the left. However, we also challenged thriller film conventions as title logos often include the colour red. This is a colour that connotes danger, as red is an extreme colour it is prominent and draws attention. We chose to challenge this by not using the colour red in our logo, this draws attention as it is so simplistic, however the chaotic font draws enough attention itself. The colour back being the background is prominent in many thriller films. Black is a colour that connotes authority and power.  Being used in block around the title connotes the power the antagonist has over Katie, it also connotes submission and this therefore connotes the attempt the attacker has made for Katie to be submissive to him and not run away or disobey the situation he has set up. Stereotypically villains in films where the colour black, such as Dracula. Therefore, we are developing conventions of films further by having this colour in our title logo.

Furthermore, the font we chose challenges conventions of thriller films as titles from these films are often bold and a standardized san serif font. Whereas, our font connotes desperation and fear and the idea that Katie is desperately trying to escape this hostage by scratching her way out.