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

2. This is a shot from the trailer for 'Blair Witch Project'. It shows a close up of a terrified person talking to a camera. This shot is scary because it shows the fear of the person without giving away what they're afraid of. The fact its a close up also disorientates the audience because they can't see the whole picture. This is a shot from my trailer. It shows the main protagonist, Jake, crying to the camera in a similar way to the shot above. This is an important shot for my trailer because it establishes who the main protagonist will be in the film and gives the audience someone to identify with and care about. Also like the trailer above we used teenagers for our characters, this is a common convention of horror as teenagers can easily be portrayed as doing things like camping.

3. This is a still from the film ‘Paranormal Activity’. It shows a distorted version of the previous shot. This is effective because it implies something is interfering with the lives of the characters, and as this thing is unknown it is scary. This again disorientates the audience because they don’t know what's happening or why. This is a still from my trailer. It also shows a distorted version of the previous shot. We felt this effect worked well here because David appears dead and yet he opens his eye, and the audience don’t know why. This effect also emphasises that there is something scary going to happen, so the audience don’t just think David’s recovered.

4. This is a still from the film ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning’. Just before this still the foot came down suddenly in front of the girl’s face, with a bang. This is effective because it not only makes the audience jump but also implies a threatening presence. This is a still from my trailer using a similar technique as the one above, in that we also used a foot suddenly appearing, with a bang. However we had to do this slightly differently because our trailer was all POV so we couldn’t have the foot appear in front of someone’s face. Instead we had the camera being dropped and then the foot appearing in front of it. This could be seen as even more threatening because it could imply the character has also dropped to the floor.

5. This is a still from the trailer of ‘Grave Encounters’. It is from a shot of someone running away from a room with a handheld camera. This is effective because everything is moving very quickly and therefore becomes blurry and hard to follow. This adds to the audiences sense of confusion and fear. This is a still from my trailer. Like the one above it is from a shot of someone running with a handheld camera. We used this shot because you can’t see what’s happening, therefore the audience only sees what the character is seeing. This helps to build a connection between the audience and the character and puts them in the same helpless and confused position.

6. This is a still from the trailer for ‘The Last Exorcism’. It is from a shot of a girl jumping at the camera. This is effective because it makes it seem as though the girl, who is possessed, is jumping at the audience. This is likely to make the audience jump and it emphasises that this character acts in unpredictable ways and therefore foreshadows what will happen later. This is a still from my trailer. It is from the shot in which Jake is holding the camera and a hand appears behind him through a gap in the trees. This shot is effective because like the shot above it should make the audience jump. Also the handimplies horror because it is covered in blood and reaching for the main protagonist.

7. This is a still from the trailer for ‘Blair Witch Project’. It is at the start of the trailer and sets up the premise of the film without giving away too much. It just gives the setting and implies that the characters disappeared. This also helps to establish the genre of the film straight away. This is a still from my trailer. Like the still above it is from the start of the trailer and helps to set what the film is about. However the information we give is more specific time wise. It also doesn’t tell the audience there has been a year since the disappearances, so they could have happened recently. Also like the shot above this is effective because it gives the audience some information to get them interested and establish the genre.

8. This is a still from the trailer for ‘The Ring’. It is the frame directly after the title shot and exactly the same except it has a slight glitch. This is effective because again it implies that some unknown force is interfering with what is happening. This is reinforced more by the fact this is done on the title. This is a still from my trailer. It is of an inter-title that has a glitch effect on it like the still above. Also like the one above it gives an impression of other worldly interference, something which is scary and uncontrollable.

9. This is a still from ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning’. It is from a shot of a woman running in the dark. It is an effective shot because the audience can only see the woman, they can’t see what is chasing her or where she is going. This puts the audience in the place of the character because she also can’t see what's chasing her or where she's going. This is a still from my trailer. It shows Theo and Jake running in the dark. This is similar to the shot above because the audience also don’t know what's chasing them or where they are going. These shots differ in that our trailer seems to use more natural light than the one above, which makes everything blend in more and therefore makes it harder to follow the characters.

10. This is a still from the trailer for ‘The Eye’ . It is from a shot of a woman with her eye closed which suddenly opens. Eyes are a common device used in horror to communicate not only fear but also transformations into creatures like zombies or vampires. This is a still from my trailer. It is from a shot of David laying on the floor, in which his eye is originally closed and then suddenly opens. In this shot, like the one above, the eye is the main focus, and subtly implies that something is wrong without giving away what that something is.