1. Evaluation Question One
In what ways does your media product
use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?

2. Introduction
In order to show how our media product uses, develops and
challenges forms and conventions of real media products, I have
taken nine frames from our own trailer and compared them with
nine frames from real trailers to compare how we have used or
challenged forms and conventions of both a trailer and typical horror
conventions.

3. Title Pages
By having a short clip of the title of the film at the end of the trailer, it not only
highlights the name of the film being advertised to the audience but it is also a
typical convention you would expect to see in a film trailer. I have displayed the title
we used in our own trailer 'Off Campus' with a title from 'Jeepers Creepers' as they
both have a similar font which consists of the letters being cracked and broken away
slightly which is a conventional font you would expect to see in a horror trailer.

4. Monster/Killer
Off Campus Trailer
Often seen in horror trailers is a short clip of the monster/killer, normally a close up or a
long shot. This establishes to the audience who the villain is whilst also briefly showing
what they look like without giving too much away but at the same time scaring the
audience enough to persuade them that this is a good horror trailer to go ahead and
watch in full at the cinema. When planning our trailer we decided that a mask would
make our killer to appear more scary so that our audience were shocked/scared when
footage of him was shown.

5. Intertitles
Off Campus Trailer Sorority Row Trailer
By having a title after a bit of footage, it divides the trailer up to tell a bit of the
narrative as well as show clips from the film. The purpose of the titles is to build
suspense at the beginning of a trailer which leads up to a faster paced ending. We
included titles within our own horror trailer as they explained very briefly part of the
narrative whilst also slowly building up the tension whilst the editing was still slow-
paced before it reaches the faster editing clip towards the end of the trailer. These
titles are conventional of a film trailer as they are used to divide up sections of
footage and also build up suspense within the trailer.

6. Close Ups
Off Campus Trailer Final Destination 5 Trailer
The use of close ups were really important to try and include within our horror trailer as
close up shots are a really effective way to help achieve the ‘scariness’ within horror
trailers as they act well for jumpy clips of footage and also help the audience to closely
identify themselves with a particular character. This clip of an extreme close up of an
eye is taken from our own trailer which I have chosen to compare from a clip taken from
‘Final Destination 5’. A close up of an eye is an effective shot within a horror trailer as it
draws the audience into the characters eyes. Eyes are also an element seen in horror
that a lot of people are scared by so therefore this shot works as a convention of horror.

7. Pitchfork/Low Angle Shot
Off Campus Trailer The Crazies Trailer
In one of our scenes from our horror trailer we decided to have a pitchfork as one of
our props in which would be used as one of the murder weapons seen in our trailer. A
pitchfork is seen as a very brutal and gory weapon to use so therefore this worked well
for one of our gory scenes within the trailer. By filming the action with a low angle
shot, it puts the audience into the victims eyes so it appears as if they are the ones
who are about to be killed which is why it therefore works as a really effective shot
within our trailer. I have compared our own shot with a shot taken from a horror film
‘The Crazies’ as the context of both images is very similar and both are effective shots.

8. Over the Shoulder
Off Campus Trailer Eden Lake Film Poster
I have compared these two images as they are very similar in terms of the context of the
shot as in both scenes a female is seen hiding behind something, looking over her
shoulder. Although the shot I have chosen to compare with is used for the film poster of
the thriller ‘Eden Lake’ it does however connote the vulnerability of a woman in a horror
film as they are often seen as very vulnerable and the most likely to be killed.
However, both of these characters have ‘Final Girl’ features as they are attempting to fight
and survive which is why we chose to include this shot in our horror trailer.

9. Newspaper Clippings
Off Campus Trailer Paranormal Activity 3 Trailer
By including shots of newspapers clippings within our horror trailer it enables some of the
background story to be shown so that our audience can connect with the narrative of our
trailer and have an understanding as to what has happened. Shots of newspaper clippings
also connote ‘The Return of the Repressed’ meaning something coming back from the
past which is what I believe makes our horror trailer more scary as it is about something
from the past haunting the house and the people in it. Although the image I have
compared our shot with is a photograph, it still connotes the past as both clippings have
aged in colour or damaged which all suggest something being brought up from the past.

10. Jumpy Scene
Off Campus Trailer Halloween Trailer
At the end of our horror trailer, we decided to include a jumpy scene in order to make it
an effective trailer that would scare our audience. We chose to show a girl about to drive
off who then gets strangled by the killer who emerges from the back of the car. A very
similar and effective shot is seen in the film ‘Halloween’ where the character Annie is
strangled and killed by the villain Mike Myers who as well emerges from the back of the
car. This we believe was a very effective element of our trailer as it made a jumpy point
that scared our audience as well as gave us the chance to relate our trailer closely with
other real horror film trailers.

11. Conclusion
Throughout the planning process of our trailer, there were certain
conventions of horror that we wanted to include within our own trailer.
Common conventions of horror that we wanted to include were things such
as: Newspaper Clippings, a scene that would make our audience jump, a
final girl and some gory scenes. These conventions were important for us to
include in order for us to make an effective horror trailer as they are typical
conventions that are used in a lot of horror trailers.
As well as the importance of including horror conventions within our
trailer, we also needed to include typical conventions of a film trailer. These
included conventions such as intertitles to divide up our footage as well as a
range of different camera angles and shots to make our trailer visually
interesting to look at, not only as an effective horror trailer but also as a
well put together film trailer.