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

When creating our trailer we looked and researched into Coulrophobia, which is the fear of clowns. Following the interest in clowns and the popularity of the fear, we chose to base it on this. When we were researching trailers, we looked at conventions and codes which were similar to ours such as titles, hints of the films, symbols and intentions.

Due to our
decision we researched into this and how it affects people in order to understand how to use the clown in our trailer to scare the audience, gaining the reaction we want. We were inspired by films which use masks to hide the killer, as we cast our killer in a clown outfit. These films include IT and scream, due to their use of masks to create the unknown killer which is a convention of a slasher film. We also looked into films such as Halloween, The Strangers, Scream and films which included a party in them such as Project X, Prom Night and Sorority Row. Although Project X is not a horror or slasher film, we still gained inspiration for how to shoot the party scene and conform to the codes of a party genre, such as strobe lights, alcohol, girls in provocative clothing and scenes of dancing.

When researching our genre we studied the films we had already watched the trailers for, and took note of the ways in which the horror and slasher films made it clear what the intentions were, for example in prom night you are aware of who the killer is and that is part of the story so they make that clear throughout the trailer, however in sorority row the killer is unknown, however they focus on the killer when he is dressed in a robe similar to the Grim Reapers black hooded robe. We gained a clear view of what our genres codes and conventions are which lead on to finding our target audience. We chose certificate 15 due to the hinted violence, gore scenes, nature of the film and alcohol use in the party scene. 

When looking at the film Halloween we paid particular attention to the fact that many people were scared of the unknown, so having a masked killer plays on the fact they are at the disadvantage because they are unsure if they know the killer, or want to see what is under the mask. Having the killer in a mask is a stereotype of a slasher film, having the killer in a mask creates the unknown which is a common fear, causing the audience to feel uneasy as they aren’t sure who the killer is.  Another film which inspired us and allowed us to conform to the codes and conventions is Sorority row, as the killer in that is acknowledged and seen, as our clown us, although you never see his face to identify who he/she actually is. The killer also mainly kills girls which is a convention of a slasher film as girls are stereotypically more vulnerable than men. However, just as in the film Sorority row, our trailer projects the ‘Final Girl Theory’ as there is one girl who is left surviving, which is hinted at in the trailer as she is seen alone, from the clowns point of view, running away and backing up into a corner.

Although, it was not only from films that we gained our influences and inspiration for our trailer, it was also through music. Slipknot are a band who wear masks and jumpsuits, making them all look united and in uniform. Although this can seem intimidating and scary, the use of masks have made audiences feel uncomfortable and scared which is our aim for our clown. The mask used is a grimace smile, which is similar to the distorted grim reaper mask used in Scream. The use of a distorted mask is a convention which is constantly seen in media products in the slasher and horror genre.  Slipknots use of masks and jumpsuit to make the audiences feel unsettled was developed into our trailer from a real media text in order to attempt to make audiences feel uneasy and unsettled as they did when they watched Slipknots videos.

When considering how our mise-en-scene would be able to follow the stereotypical slasher/horror film, we researched into location, sound and costumes. Our characters had to wear party clothing and due to our main killer being in a clown costume, we decided to have a costume Halloween party. This enabled the girls to dress more provocatively, making them more vulnerable and following a convention of slasher films. For our location we decided to shoot somewhere that was isolated and had enough space for a realistic party. We decided to shoot in a basement which has previously been used for parties, so there is writing on the wall and tables and sofas as there would be in any average basement party for teenagers. In our media product, we mixed the genre of slasher and horror and made it modern and up to date by using a social networking site to demonstrate who the clown was stalking and then killing. This is a convention of social realism.

The music we used is a modern dubstep score which was specifically made for our film, using fair ground music quietly in the back ground and using words such as ‘They will die’ to build up the within the film. The genre of the music is also what we would expect our target audience to listen to, therefore it would appeal to them and entice them to watch the film.

 

When creating our website we looked at a variation of websites, and our biggest inspiration was the Saw website. We discovered that within the  a stereotypical slasher film website was short video or a cut down trailer on the home page to show what the film is about. The website would also have screen shots which demonstrate key themes and key moments in the trailer, for example a clown shown behind the girl, and the clown shown half hidden in the party scene. The Saw website uses certain images to also show key themes and points about the film, for example a chainsaw. When a film contains one key killer, for example Jigsaw in Saw, the grim reaper in scream and the clown in IT, the websites and posters would focus on their image, influencing us to have the clown as the background of the film, which is another key convention of a slasher/horror film website.