Q1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge codes and conventions of existing media texts.

For our A2 media portfolio we were asked to create a trailer for a low budget horror film as well as a poster and magazine front cover to promote the trailer. We acknowledged the codes and conventions of existing media texts from the same genre and decided to follow many of the traditional conventions about the form of each text however we also challenged many conventions in order to create something different from the norm.

 'Eve' the trailer follows many basic codes and conventions of traditional slasher films. The camerawork has some elements of handheld camera which adds to the documentary realism of the narrative. Other ways in which this is shown in our trailer is by the use of a voice over in the voice of one of the characters within the film. The voice over is important as it helps the trailer along by giving a sense of the narrative, in doing this it also projects a sense of the genre. Also with the captions that come across in a 'typewriter' style reminiscent of police reports. This helps to tell the story and guide the audience through the trailer. The overall effect of this is that the narrative appears more factual. Although it is conventional for captions to appear in a trailer the fact ours is presented as a typed message reinforces the documentary realism. The handheld effect is reminiscent of other slasher films and is also seen in films such as 'Paranormal Activity' to boost its claims that it was a true story. Another camera technique we used were point of view shots. We decided to have a 'stalking' shot through the eyes of our monster in order to put our audience in the position if the monster. Similarly Spielberg did this in jaws, placing the audience in a position of discomfort.

The shot from jaws where we are placed in
the perspective of the shark. In short the audience
are made to feel as if they are the killer.

The use of the name 'Eve' is important in reference to our film because although it is easily recognized by the audience as a shortened version of 'Evelyn' which is the name of the little girl in our film who also turns out to be the 'monster', thus conveying a sense of narrative. 'Eve' is reminiscent of night and symbolic of the end of things. In this case, the end of the teenagers lives. Also, Eve in the story of 'Adam and Eve' brings on the fall of makind.

 Because our film is a low budget British horror, we needed to ensure the name of the film was something catchy that would be easily remembered by the viewer of the trailer. Other films have also done this in order to gain a large audience. Films such as 'Dead mans shoes' and 'Halloween' also have short minimum-syllable titles in order to make the audience remember the name of the film after they have watched the trailer.

Our Trailer is filmed in the woods which is an iconic location for horror films. Other locations that were mentioned in our questionpro were; a desolate house, an abandoned warehouse, an empty school after dark etc. The reason we chose the woods is because as a location it was more readily available and also it fit more suitably in with our narrative.

Another convention of trailers is montage editing. This is when several shots from the film are placed together in a non-chronological order in order to create meaning and build up the pace of the trailer therefore adding tension. The conventional form of a trailer incorporates a montage sequence which builds to a climax, examples of this is seen in trailers such as that for 'Queen of the damned' Our montage editing starts with the character Tony saying 'You go this way, I'll go that way' this puts the audience on edge as its something typical of slasher trailers for characters to be in danger once they are alone. then the pace starts to build as we see many characters running and then shots of Eve running as well  no shots are shown of eve actually attacking any of the teenagers however we focused on using the juxtaposition between the shots to help the audience understand that Eve is the killer. One example of this is the 'dragging' piece. This is when three shots were used to create the understanding that 'Eve' has dragged the body of one of the teens and thrown it into the lake.

The first shot of this sequence shows the character 'Keith' being dragged through the woods. Around him the grass and plants are quite clearly dead which gives reference to the fact that he himself has been killed. The fact we cannot see Eve dragging him and cannot fathom a little girl dragging a teenage boys dead body adds to the idea she is some sort of 'supernatural' force.

The next shot is of Eve in the woods. The scenery around her is reminiscent of German expressionism as the branches of the trees are twisted and slanted which is reminiscent of Eves twisted mind. The fact she is wearing red symbolises gore and danger.

The last shot is of a large splash in a lake. The surface of the lake seems to be black which is again symbolic of death. Subliminally the audience has understood the created meaning of these three shots and understands the dead body has now been dropped into the lake by Eve.

One way in which our film breaks conventions is the use of the character 'Eve' as our monster. Usually in slasher films the monster is an older masked assassin. We decided to go against this norm and use a little girl. This is important as little girls usually represent innocence and childhood which is something the teenagers in our film are on the verge of losing due them coming to the age of sexual maturity. The overall binary opposites of our film are innocence and evil. Many shots in our trailer reflect this.

'Dont Look Now' 

This shot on the left for instance mirrors the juxtaposition of innocence and evil in our film. On the left of the frame there is a playground. Playgrounds are generally representative of childhood and innocence, there is also aspects of yellow on that side of the frame which has connotations of life, sunshine and happiness. However the red bars seem to be separating 'Eve' from that. Red has connotations of evil and danger. Her jacket is also red, this is vital as it has intertexual reference to 'Don't Look Now' an 1973 film by Nicholas Roeg in which a father tries to come to terms with the death of his daughter who drowned wearing a red coat. He then thinks he sees her all over Venice and desperately tries to track her down only to be dissapointed. The right side of the frame shows tree shadows in slanted angles. This is reminiscent of German expressionism as the crooked setting is resemblent of the monsters crooked mind. It could be described as a 'psychological landscape'.

Another convention of slasher trailers is the use of 'the male gaze' this is when women are portrayed as weak and vulnerable in a sexualised way as if we are seeing them 'through the eyes of a man'. In this shot we see Tracy running. The camera is at a high angle putting her in a vulnerable position. Also the fact she is wearing a low cut top and is showing cleavage shows how even though she is in danger we are seeing her in a sexualised way. The fact she is wearing a lot of black alerts the viewer to the fact she is inevitably going to die. However due to the language of film being controlled by the norms of our patriarchal society this death doesnt affect the viewer as much as the message is subliminally telling us her death is punishment for her being sexually active.

Another way in which we developed pre- existing conventions of slasher films is with the use of 'typical' characters within the group of teenagers. 'Crystal' who is played by Susie Corquin is typically dressed revealingly and has a sultry attitude about her whilst on camera. Because our film fits into British social realism we decided not to go with the typical 'blonde bimbo' as this is not an accurate reflection of british society. Although she has brunette hair she still is quite clearly recognised as the supposed 'whore' character who we expect to die during the film.

Tony is the 'Athlectic alpha male' character of our film, he is played by James Morissey. His appearance also reflects the changed social ideologies that make up British social realism. Being of dual heiritage he has 'afro' hair. In earlier films it was quite common for the black male character to die during the film as there would quite often be a white main male character who ended up in a relationship with the leading female character. Representations of black men being 'sexually powerful' meant he posed imbalance to this new equillibrium. However in our film the 'black' male is the leading male character this also reflects how societys views have changed.

 

Our 'Final Girl' character is Nora who is played by Harissa Sheikh. As she is of Asian ethnicity we can associate her easily with being the book-worm type due to stereotypical representations of young Asian girls being very studious. The fact there is a mixture of ethnicities within our film goes against typical slasher films in which there is a predominantly white presence. Also, this again adds to the British social realism aspect as many areas of Britain especially London are very racially diverse.

 

 

Existing Media Research - Trailers

Dead Mans Shoes; A textual analysis

The trailer starts with non-diegetic music associative of the countryside, this sets the scene and we know the movie is set in a rural area. the setting is mostly green which has connotations of life and nature which give a positive mood to the start of the trailer. At this point the genre is not clear as the music seems quite relaxing which is unconventional of typical horror films. It could be said that this music introduces the equilibrium and reflects the calm loving relationship the two brothers share. In an early establishing shot Richard is shown carrying an army green knapsack which shows he has returned from the war. Also in the shot we see grey clouds moving towards the village which is a visual metaphor for ‘there is a storm coming’. 

We are then shown Richard walking along a typical horror location- isolated wilderness (the woods). The captions shown illustrate aspects of the narrative. The mood is quite calm when shown captions such as ‘a brothers love’ and we are shown home video type footage of the two brothers playing as babies, this aids illustration of the narrative. Shortly after we are shown fiery typography spelling out ‘a brothers revenge’ this is the turning point where the trailer changes and we see the horror element shown more blatantly throughout the rest of the trailer. This is a priority for this film as it is revealing Richards story so later in the film we can justify him as being the killer and identify with him as the ‘monster’ figure. There is no apparent 'monstrous feminine' in the trailer however it could be argued that Richard represents the fear of castration as he carries an axe-type weapon often and it could be argued that he robs the men of their 'masculinity' as they are scared of him.

Richard is shown against a grey gritty wall similar to German expressionism it could be argued that this suggests the crumbling foundations of his sanity. This location is conventional of horror films as desolate houses are often associated with evil. There is also a screeching sound and flashes of red which reinforces that this is a horror/slasher. The disruption is now introduced. Richard is shown wearing a war gas mask. This is important as a convention of slasher films is a masked monster such as that in 'Halloween' and 'The Texas chainsaw massacre'. The way in which this trailer challenges this convention is the fact that the 'masked monster' is the protagonist and the audience can identify with him as they understand his reason for killing.

Black and white footage is operated as a narrative device to divide the flashbacks from the rest of the sequence, it is also somewhat in slow motion indicating a dream- like perception of the past events. The flash transitions used are a convention of horror, thus building pace.  The transition from the bullying scene to men laughing designates to the audience that these are the malevolent characters of the narrative. The reiterated red flashes indicate danger and foreshadows murder, this has elements of a typical slasher. The pace increases once we get a sense of the narrative. There is also a non-diegetic compilation of a base note and then a light childish motif which is typically used to set a horror mood. Richard can be seen to be both the antagonist and the protagonist (binary opposites) or the leader of the ‘evil’ group can be seen as an antagonist. Richard is shown holding an axe which reflects his lunacy. We are then shown quotations from reviews which are a convention of low budget films as it helps to build an audience. The music dies out for impact as we see the title of the film. There is then the end card and a website people can visit to create media exchange or audience interaction.

The Shining intertextual analysis

‘The Shining’ presents a trailer which seems to break all the codes and conventions of the average movie trailer, there is no montage editing, we are not introduced to the characters in the typical way and only one shot is used the whole time. This is something the audience is not used to and therefore introduces their fear of the unknown; they are put in a state of discomfort as they are viewing something irregular with their typical viewing experience that does not fit their expectations of a film trailer. The trailer starts as a completely black screen then fades into a shot of a hotel lobby facing the lift doors. The completely black screen is used to keep the audience in suspense Kubrick uses the same tactic in '2001 a space odyssey  but for a longer amount of time. IT could be said that the use of it in this trailer is an intertexual reference to '2001 a space odyssey  and it causes the audience a similar feeling of discomfort. The lift doors are red which has connotations of blood and danger, the surrounding furniture is brown and comfortable to reinforce the location. We then see credits rolling upwards the way you would expect a lift shaft to. The typography is capitalised and thin, typical of thriller type movies. There is also the sound of a ticking clock and another percussionist noise which builds pace and tension. The discreet sound similar to a swarm of bees causes uncomfortable experience for the audience. There is then another base note and the pace builds, we hear a strange ‘alien’ noise slightly different to the buzzing noise which builds the audiences discomfort. We then see a ‘wave’ of blood seep through the lift and splash against the walls; it reaches the camera completely covering it till we are viewing the lobby through the blood. The discomforting noises build up representative of the ‘monsters’ psychotic mind.  We are then again submerged in darkness and the trailer ends. The reason why this was successful is because the film is by Stanley Kubrick who is a well-known director. People may watch the film just because they know he directed it. However in our film we may have to follow the typical trailer style as we are not well-known directors and need to build an audience through the quality of our trailer.

Finished Magazine front cover

 

 

Finished Poster

Finished Trailer

Magazine front page templates

Synopsis

EVE Synopsis”

The film starts with a swing…There’s a little girl in a red coat swinging on it. The only noise that can be heard is the rusty screech of the swing and a quite song sung by the girl. We only see the back of the little girls head.

The first time we see Eve she’s holding hands with her mother and they are walking through a park. The mother engages in a conversation with her friend ignoring Eve’s cries for attention. Getting fed up with Eve’s moaning she lets go of her hand and continues with her conversation. After a couple of minutes she reaches out for Eve but finds that she is not there. She looks around in panic calling out for her without any luck. She realizes Eve has disappeared. 

People rush to the woman’s help and contact the police. The police arrive soon after and ask witnesses for statements but no one is able to one as everyone claims not to have seen or heard her when she disappeared or in fact anything suspicious happening at the market. Therese, Eves mother, is rushed to the police station where she contacts her ex-husband who always blamed her of being a bad mother and for the past several years tried to get custody of Eve, without any luck. They argue about Eve’s disappearance both blaming each other for her gone missing and eventually are split up by the police officers. After further questioning, Theresa is told to go home and await further information. She gets home, sits on the sofa and clutching Eves blanket, cried herself to sleep.

A few years after Eve’s disappearance we come across a group of friends; Crystal Lake, Tony Hutch, Keith Mount, Nora Clark and Benny James. It is evident from the start that the leaders of the group are Crystal and Tony, the pair is also together. They don’t seem to care about anyone but themselves and spend most time together as opposed with anyone else in the group. Although they’re not bad kids, they like to cause trouble in their little town and are regarded by everyone else as someone you should stay away from. However you can’t miss Nora doesn't really belong to the group as she’s quite plain and doesn't talk much and hates it when the group does something stupid which they tend to do a lot.

We see them walking through the same market Eve went missing in. They are laughing and having a good time, totally oblivious to what happened there only a few days ago. They come across some flowers which have been laid down in Eve’s memory as the whole town believes there’s no hope in finding her again. Tony accidently steps on the flowers and kicks them away without any regret and walks away making a joke of it as the rest of the group laugh along with him. They walk towards Tony’s car and decide to go for a ride around the town.

As they get in, Crystal starts playing with the radio and after coming across a few bad music stations, leave the radio on a news broadcast after hearing the name of their town. The broadcast talks about a little girl that has recently gone missing and appeals for anyone with any information to come forward and contact the police. The group listen intently and soon realize that the flowers they trampled on where meant for the little girl. They look at each other shocked but soon forget about the whole thing. Suddenly, Tony loses control of the car and quickly brakes. When he tries to start again, the car doesn't move. They are now stranded in the middle of an empty road at the edge of town totally surrounded by woods. They all blame each other until they come to the conclusion that no one will probably come across them any time soon and they should all go and look for help themselves or end up being stranded in the woods at night. By this time, it already starts to get dark and they need to act quickly. They start walking together, not wanting to break up but soon realize that they have more of a chance to fins help if they split up and go in different directions. Tony, Crystal and Benny walk one way and Nora and Keith go the other way. At this point things are starting to turn strange. Nora and Keith see a silhouette of a person in the distance and run towards it, happy that thy found someone who could help them. Instead they see an old man who just stares into the distance mumbling about terrible things happening in the woods. Not wanting to spend another minute with the man, they run away terrified.

In the meanwhile, Tony and Benny joke about how fun it would be to send the night in the woods and make a lot of noise. Fed up Crystal, who is terrified of being in the woods at night has a go at the boys and makes her way back to the car where she claims she’ll wait out the night alone if she has to. As she makes her way back towards the car, she starts to choke and grabs on to her throat. She feels herself being pulled up by something that feels like a thick rope tied around her neck. She tried to struggle but she can’t see what she’s struggling with and soon gives up on the fight, being the first one of her friends to die. We can see her legs dangling from her lifeless body.

Realizing that they have been immature and making the situation worst for Crystal, Benny and Tony come back to look for her. Following in her tracks, they call her mobile and follow the sound of the ringtone which leads them to her dead body. Tony looks at his girlfriend’s body terrified and scream. Benny does the same and they both run away. They stop once they think they have gone far enough and try to evaluate their situation. Being totally lost in the woods now, they start to realize that the only way to get out is to find the rest of the group and try to find their way to their car and get out of there. They start walking fast, keeping a look out for anything strange as they struggle to find Nora and Keith They then hear a scream, a familiar scream. Realizing that it is Nora they rush to help her, fearing that something horrible happened again. They find her terrified and she tells them that when they were walking around looking for help, Keith went ahead and when she caught up to him she found his dead body covered in scars and foam at his mouth. The boys tell her about Crystal and all three of them start to run away, anywhere, in any direction just trying to get away as fast as they can. As Benny and Nora run together they realize that they lost Tony. They go back to get him, fearing that the same thing happened to him. They find his body covered in scars and blood and start running away again. Whenever they try to run away they end up in the same spot as they were before and start to come to terms with their inevitable death. As they gather the strength to run again, Benny is pulled away and dragged on the floor begging Nora to save him, as he’s dragged to the river Nora chases after him but can’t catch up, doesn't get there in time and watches her friend drown.

As she’s about to give up as well, she decides to make a run for it and save herself. She runs for hat seems like forever and surprisingly finds herself at the edge of the road. When she sees a car she pulls it over and tells the driver to drive away as fast as he can. As they drive off, she looks out the widows and sees a little girl in a red coat standing on the edge of the woods, smiling. The driver tried to communicate with her but Nora is too devastated to say a word.

It turns out later that the little girl that was kidnapped at the park has been locked and cruelly abused in an old shed in the woods. Her tortures made her turn from an innocent girl to a blood thirsty animal seeking revenge on anyone who enters the woods. Especially those who took her disappearing as a joke.