In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Using Conventions
+ Typical zombies
We wanted to show zombies that you would typically find in zombie films. This is because zombies represent the post-modern apocalypse and this is what we wanted our trailer to portray. Zombies are typically portrayed with blood, ripped clothes and in groups. Our zombies have these typical qualities because we wanted the audience to recognise this and therefore the audience would associate our trailer to be a zombie trailer. Also zombies are common in 21st Century films and trailer so many people would perceive our trailer to be a zombie trailer.
+ Fast Pace Shots
Using fast paced shots that build up towards the end of the trailer is a common feature within trailers as this creates tension within the trailer. This tension is an important feature in trailers because this makes the audience continue to watch to see what will happen next. Fast pace shots also allow us to put short shots into our trailer without the audience noticing any possible plot spoilers.
+ Final Scare
We wanted to use the convention of a final scare because, for obvious reasons, the audience would be frightened by it and might not expect it. We know that using a final scare is fairly common within horror trailers but we felt we wanted to convey the typical horror trailer so that the audience would know that the trailer is a typical horror trailer. Final scares are used because they leave the audience tense and scared, also it leaves a lasting impression on the audience because this is the last thing that they would see.
Developing Conventions
+ Locations
We have developed the use of locations in our trailer. We wanted a verity of locations that were in the forest and in an urban environment. We discovered that most zombie trailers such as Dead Snow (2009), 28 Week Later (2007), World War Z (2013) didn't combine a verity of different locations. However, trailers like I Am Legend (2007) combine different locations of an urban environment with a nature environment. We wanted to combine these environments because we wanted to develop the use of locations within our trailer.
+ Slow Motion
We have elaborated with slow paced shots in our trailer because we felt that we wanted to contrast these fast and slow paced shots. Also slow paced shots aren't used often in zombie movies we have found only one zombie trailer that contains slow motion shots and this is Zombieland (2006). We decided to use slow motion shot in our trailer because not many zombie trailers have slow motions shots. We wanted to develop slow motion so we added slow motion shots throughout the trailer.
+ Radio
We added the use of a radio effect in our trailer. This develops conventions because not many zombie trailers contain a radio sound effect. Also we wanted to use this effect because it begins to build the tension in the trailer. The distress call for help adds to the build up of tension in our trailer. The radio transmissions become gradually more intense with each distress call. Furthermore, the pitch of the voice raises which again adds to the tension. The third radio is more intense which builds up the tension. We wanted to put this distress call into our trailer so that the audience would wonder and question what he needs help from.
Challenging Conventions
+ Subtle Use of Opposition
We wanted to challenge conventions by not showing the opposition clearly to the audience. By doing this the audience feels the urge to know what the opposition is. We wanted the audience to only see glimpses and brief shot of the zombies; this doesn't allow the audience to fully view the opposition, leaving an element of fear which builds and increases through the trailer. Also there are shots of characters running away from the opposition but the audience doesn't see what they are running away from, which also leaves the audience urging to find out what the opposition is.
+ Subtitles
We challenged conventions with the use of subtitles in our trailer. Our subtitles are simple and basic; this is so that they don't distract the audience from the image content. They are also easy to read which allows the audience to quickly read them and understand the story of the trailer. Our subtitles challenge the conventional subtitles because they are simple and not distracting.
> Our Poster
We wanted to developed conventions within our poster so that the poster would present itself as a professional and successful advertising element for our trailer. We used the stereotypical horror colours which are red and black because we wanted to emphasis that our poster is a horror poster. Also we wanted to keep the victim hidden, as we felt that this would give a contrasting feel to the typical zombie genre. We wanted to keep our poster quite minimalist so that this wouldn't give anything away thus the audience would be more inclined to watch the trailer.
> Our Magazine
For our magazine we wanted to have a strong contrast compared to our poster. This is because we wanted to create an unusually aspect for the promotions for the film. By doing this the audience are interested in the contrast thus they would question this and want to watch the film to find the answer. The magazine is much lighter in colour than the poster which breaks the conventional horror genre. However, the model is wearing a dark jacket and has dark hair; this creates a contrast with the light colours. We wanted to have strong branding references so we made the state of decay font in this magazine similar to the original. Furthermore, there is a subtle use of red in this magazine which hints blood and horror to the audience; this would interest the audience and again they would question this.