When choosing to do a film trailer, We wanted to do a genre which we felt we were most confident and interested in. From watching Horrors and especially more lately Psychological horrors we felt this would be the perfect opportunity to incorporate our knowledge and put it into a media text(Film trailer). When noting our ideas for a film trailer we had to research conventions and different memes into this genre. From watching so many we recognise a pattern of conventions featured in many films. These could include isolated areas where the event takes place e.g. In the modern horror normally a big 'family' or couples house with 'no neighbours' around them so when the killer enters this leaves them in danger. Other things like themes containing religion. Religious books, ornaments, letters etc this is becoming increasingly popular in the 21st century as with the rise of some religions e.g. Islam, however religion has mainly declined and most horror films reference Christianity. To my opinion because of this decline, Producers may feel they want to bring back the idea of religion and incorporate this into horror movies giving religion a twist. (Rise of Cult films becoming popular).
When considering whether we would use conventions we immediately thought of course we would. Every genre has a set of conventions which makes it recognisable to an audience therefore they can establish what genre It is. This rule applies to a mass audience as many people like the idea of conventions being in place without being to emphasised, this is when audience start to get bored and class it as 'another horror movie'. Obviously conventions were there to guide producers into being successful therefore we knew we would use typical conventions in my text. We feel because we wanted to appeal to a mass audience then it would be appropriate to use conventions and not go against them or else my audience could think what a bizzare idea, which would probably appeal to a niche audience however we are appealing to a mass audience target age of 15-24 year olds. Most 15-24 year olds do not want anything that challenges conventions because they don't understand and like the idea. When they want to watch a movie, they have a motive e.g. to get scared, or to go to the cinema with a group of friends which makes it an even greater experience.
By deconstructing film trailers and analysing them in depth, even films which use many typical conventions can still be very diverse in their work, e.g. something we wanted to do. James Wann is a very successful director, directing one of the most talked about horror films of 2013 The Conjuring. This film follows many typical conventions,( isolated house) supernatural theme, family calls people to help them yet it is not successful they are warned etc. In my opnion I feel as if this film was very cleverly constructed. The film was so thrilling it build up suspense in such a chilling way, gradually making it worse. Wan really thought of the mise on scene, choice of actors and story line/composition very well while following typical conventions. He added his own imprint or tropes into his films.
We learned that in Psychological horror movies, the killer is always in mystery. The producers need to be savvy with what the audience want and building suspense through camera work, mise on scene, editing etc. Location is a key in horrors as the audience want to know where they are, how the killer got in, why etc. Good camera shots including the Establishing shot and close up are used in horrors to show the suspense on the characters.
For my film trailer we have obeyed with many conventions and not challenged them as much as we are not confident enough to break into that market without doing some thorough research and maybe with more time and resources, I'm definitely not against the idea at all though, it sounds very creative to challenge conventions completely and I am inspired by people who think outside of the box. Conventional aspects I included were the 'handheld' footage which makes the concept of the film seem more 'real' which scares the audience because they feel that if it is real then it is out there and something may actually happen to them, this would be their worst nightmare. I used very isolated locations e.g. behind the stage and in an empty park to make it again seem all so familiar to the audience. Moreover, I wanted to use ambient sounds in my trailer which included a heartbeat, breathing sounds and a baby crying this was very typically conventional and I feel that people could identify that it was a horror genre from conventions like this. In addition we used non diegetic sounds such as 'Bang' which is typical at creeping up on the audience as it has been proven that loud noises in such shock raise heartbeat and make the viewers more scared.
Again as I mentioned earlier, sound is very important in enhancing the surrealness of a movie, especially a horror movie. If you have ever watched a movie without any sound it is not the same at all in some cases it makes the movie completely not scary! One way I have maybe challenged conventions is by using a different soundtrack to what most horrors use. Many horrors use an orchestral type soundtrack or piano. I have gone against typical conventions and I used two soundtracks which some may question not to use for a horror. These two soundtracks are Gary Jules Mad world which is in some ways quite depressing and a song which makes you think about life a lot. However because my film is a psychological horror then this song is suitable as it engages the audience a lot, which will then make them want to watch the film. Also I used Pop goes the weasel which is like a carosuel song so its quite happy which contrasts with the horror genre and made the clown look really eerie and frightening.
When applying my film trailer to theories I think it can be applied to many including the uses and gratifications theory. We think this theory applies to many horror films as the audience take out what they want from the media text. The theory is concerned with mass communication and what people do with the media. We believe in our horror trailer people have a motive to get scared and they get what they want from the film. Especially as we think this will appeal to a mass audience because a lot of people have been following the Northampton clown story, this will attract them even further.
In a way we have also challenged conventions by going against character stereotypes e.g. The cute girl. Our story was more concerned with serious life events e.g. the theme around kidnapping and suggested Paedophilia. Our film trailer makes the audience more aware of this is a more subtle way.
Vladimir Propp proposed a theory on narrative functions. According to Propp characters have a narrative function. They provide structure for the text. I agree with Propp to some extent. The typical characters he found was the hero, the villain , the donor , the dispatcher, the false hero, the princess. Now in consideration of our film trailer many of these characters do not exist e.g. The princess, we don't have a prize at the end our main theme is concerned with real life events rather than just a story line.
In terms of development, In my ancillary tasks, we kept developing them to ensure my media product was up to tip top condition. we kept developing the font on my magazine cover as we knew in my head what we wanted however, it was hard finding the font, therefore development was key here. Fonts in horror tend to be bold and striking mainly in rich colours such as red and black. Some can be slimline and gothic illustrating the concept of horror.
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