1. Evaluation Question One
IN WHAT WAS DOES YOUR MEDIA
PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP AND
CHALLENGE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA
PRODUCTS?

2. USE,DEVELOP & CHALLENGE
Shot type
The sub- main character to show vulnerability
Colour scheme
The darkness of the poster
Tag line
I have chosen to use the poster from case 39 because this film was
one of my main research focuses. I used conventions from all
Of the case 39 products for inspiration, it also relates to my horror/
Physiological thriller genre.

3. USE
Areas which I have used from the poster of case 39 are:
- What I really liked about the poster from case 39, is that the character is not the single main
character and is in fact the protagonist of the film. The character shown is the victim of a
child antagonist, which Is why I decided to use the sub main character on my own poster. The
character I have show is also a protagonist, I have used her to show her vulnerability, and to
show how the antagonist has caused someone else to become mad.
- On my horror film poster I used the positioning of the cast names from case 39’s poster. Although
they are arranged differently, the names were placed on the top to make them noticeable when looking
t both posters. I also used the fact that the names are written in capital letters and the serif font, I did
this because it helps show the horror genre.
-I think majority of horror film posters show the genre usually from the colours and mise en
scene. Like on case 39’s poster the main colour of the background is black and show a dark
element to contrast with the other colour.

4. DEVELOP
Areas which I have developed in the production of my poster are:
-On my poster I have develop the position, font and overall look of the films title. On case 39’s poster
the title is near the top on the right side, whereas mine is quite low down and has a more central
position. Both fonts are serif fonts to conform with the horror genre. My title looks simpler with the
black colour and small drop shadow, whereas case 39 has a slight glow at the top, and slices through the
letters. My development relates more to my film because of its simplicity.
- Another element of case 39’s poster which I developed is the tag
line. My tag-line is stands out a lot because of the brightness of the
red, and the position being directly under the title draws the eye. On
the case 39 poster the tag line sits on top of the black background
which again stands out because other contrast. I developed the tag line
because of the positioning, the layout and colour.

5. CHALLENGE
- On my poster I have challenged the conventions of case 39’s poster particularly on the shot type. On
case 39’s poster the shot is a medium/close up shot showing light to focus on the characters face, her
facial expression shows vulnerability and fear. Where as on my poster I have used a medium shot to
show the hospital gown, but I have shown her vulnerability from the pose. I think the face that she is
fearfully looking down and has tears down her face shows her innocence acting as the victim of the
other main characters actions.
- I have challenged the colour scheme from
the poster of case 39. The colours used on
case 39 are very natural consisting of shades
of brown, yellow with white and black.
Whereas on my poster I have used black,
white, and red with tints of colour from the
hospital gown.
- I have challenged the mise en scene of horror poster because my poster shows a girl
wearing a hospital, not obviously in a mental asylum/hospital. I decide to not make it overly
obvious as to were she is so the audience can make there own assumptions, but I think the
costume gives a hint. On case 39’s poster the mise en scene shows door, and focuses of the
door where the character is peaking from. Although the mise en scene is completely different
I think they both work to relate to each film.

6. USE,DEVELOP & CHALLENGE
Masthead
Genre/ colour scheme
Cover lines.
Main story position
Shot type
Corner story

7. USE
-I have used the normal magazine conventions of any poster, and of empires magazine to place
the masthead at the top. Empires ‘The girl with the dragon tattoo’ cover inspired me to put my
positioning statement along the top, tightly squeezed above the mast head. On my magazine
the masthead is covering whereas on empires magazine the character is covering the masthead.
I did this because the character I have used is the victim of a antagonist, and the cover-up adds
to her vulnerability.
The shot type from Empire is a long shot of two people, showing the whole body which
is why I have also used a long show to show the full length of my sub-main character.
The angle of my main photograph is looking down on the girl, whereas on empire the
camera is looking down which show that the camera angle can interpret the power of
the character.

8. DEVELOP
- I have developed the cover lines on Empire magazine
in many ways to give them a different look, but there
are similarities to conform with the magazine
conventions. On empire magazine the main cover
stories are displayed on the right side in a strip form ,
whereas mine are more lengthy in text and are separated
more. I think how I have presented the cover lines
relates to my film more that the single work strip layout
which empire has used.
- I have developed the corner story on Empire magazine to conform to the conventions of a
horror film. A technique I have used throughout my magazine is using the smudge tool on
Photoshop to create the spikes on shapes, I have used that as a block/background shape to
make this part stand out, this is because it advertises the film the whole magazine is about.
The corner story on Empires magazine is a cover story like the others but works well
because of the tight framing and colour scheme.

9. CHALLENGE
- I have challenged empire magazine’s main feature look. The magazine is a ‘The girl with the
dragon tattoo’ special promoting the film with the cover photo and the title being the main story.
The title is noticeable because of the contrast of white text on a dark background, and the position
is tightly framed on the left of the magazine, whereas on my magazine the film title is central
across the whole cover. I decided to make the main feature be the most noticeable, and I think its
position an font does that. I added a red strike behind the text to make it stand out more, to
conform with the horror conventions and to challenge other film magazines.
- For my magazine I have challenged the colour scheme of Empires magazine cover to relate to
my genre. I chose the genre oh horror/thriller which is why I have used a dark shadowing
around the edges, and why I selected the colour rule to include black, white, grey and red. On
Empires magazine the film featured is crime/drama/mystery therefor they have used a mix of
colours being different shades of blue, pink, white and yellow which because of its genre works
well.

10. USE,DEVELOP & CHALLENGE
USE DEVELOP CHALLENGE
USE DEVELOP CHALLENGE

11. USE
- For my horror trailer I have used normal conventions of a
horror film such as colours, narrative and typical shots. A
sequence often scene in horror films are running scenes,
which Is why I have used to short edits of someone running
on a woodland path. Within the first few seconds of the
trailer we can see a fear full character running from
something.
-The last shot we see on the trailer is the ‘coming soon’
title shot. On basically every trailer no matter what genre
it is the release date or at least the coming soon phrase is
present which is why we chose to show this on the last
shot. Many film maker make it the last shot to keep the
release date the last thing the audiences see, to keep the
date fresh in there minds which is why we done also done
so. This title page like all others throughout the trailer
have a simple black and white theme, with black being the
dominant colour. This is to show the dark horror genre
through the shots and title pages.
-On my horror trailer we used the conventional locations typically seen on horror films. We used the mise-en-
scene ideas and varied locations such as different areas in a woodland area, and rooms in the college. We
used rooms within the college to portray the feeling of a mental state, choosing a plain room without much
personality. This allowed these scenes to look dismal and portraying the feeling of the character well. The
lighting we used during these scenes which are typical in a horror film is the low key lighting of each scene.
-On our trailer we have created a soundtrack which relates well to the conventions of horror trailers. We created
sound on garage band with spooky sounds, similar to those on case 39. We also added voice overs of the main
character and a doctor to give more hint towards the narrative. We used sound effects such as booms, heart beat
sounds and an effect made from a wine glass to give depth to the trailer, to be more like typical trailers.

12. DEVELOP
- On my horror trailer I have developed the mental asylum
idea which is a well known theme of some horror films. I
have used the main character who has gone mad to do
various things which suggests her insanity, I developed this
idea by her saying ‘let me out’ which is different because
in her circumstances she wants to escape the asylum to
seek revenge, which as we see further on she does. These
scenes act as a flashback and the use of white transitions
rather than black help to show this.
-A big part of our trailer are its montages, they act as flashbacks
from the main character and another character who she made
mad. The montages consist of different noises, actions and shots
which make for a whole new mental asylum look. The fast pace
40.4 second shots give the whole trailer a fast pace feeling and
gives the audience a sense of the characters past.
On our teaser trailer we have used cinematography to develop the conventions to develop the various shots.
For example in the scenes above we have used a mid shot of our main character staring into space, we used
the mid shot to focus in on her facial expression and posture to show that she is a mental patient and isn't
logically sane. The cinematography when using the mini DV camcorders allowed us to zoom in and out when
the character is fitting to show her psychotic behaviors, using the long shot allowed us to see her in action
other than just staring into space. The mise-en-scene was shot in a room to look like a mental asylum room
which, but it also develops this idea with the use of windows and a small amount of lighting which isn't
present in ‘the paranormal incident’, a mental hospital horror.

13. CHALLENGE
- I have challenged previous horror hospital related trailers by
adding snap shots a number of times of medical forms. Me and
my partner produced some official looking hospital documents,
filled them in with the information of the main character and
presented them to look like a hospital notice board. We did this to
show the seriousness of the patients mental state with a close up
on the words ‘URGENT. LONG STAY PATIENT’. This shows
the genre we are appealing to well and is different from other
trailers I have researched.
- This is our production company logo. We have
challenged this because it looks unlike any other
company logo, with the name ‘After life’ thought of and
created by us. I think the colours of black and white and
the simplicity of a cross and title works well and doesn’t
look to busy. After looking at production company logos
such as twisted pictures I decided that a black and white
simple colour scheme would be appropriate. And looking
at Dark Castles logo I chose to make my logo more
simplistic with one single graphic.
We have challenged the conventions of horror trailers by using a voice over
from 2 female voices. During a montage of sub- character mental asylum
scenes we have included a voice- over from a female doctor saying that she
has ‘sent others mad’, this challenges the typical horror films because usually
those type of voice overs are done by male characters.