CONVENTIONS OF POSTERS, MAGAZINES AND TRAILERS.

 
 

⃝ The image dominates the frame.

⃝ Dark, dismal colours are used with hints of brighter colours to present a fight between pure and evil.

⃝ A tag line is placed at the top of the frame, to reel in the audience.

⃝ The strap line is placed underneath the title, to add the edge after the title has been digested by the audience.

⃝Institutional information is placed at the bottom of the page as this is the least important.

⃝ Release date is the very last thing on the page.

⃝ Versatile shots are used, such as Close up, Long shot and medium shot.

⃝ Anchorage is present.

⃝Low lighting to keep the victim’s identity slightly hidden, or high angle lighting in order to display the protagonist as less superior to the evil force.

⃝ The stock location is not always present.

 

 

 

 

⃝ A medium/close up shot so the audience are able to see the antagonist.

⃝ The image dominates the page, with the character being placed in the second third of the page.

⃝ The name of the magazine stars in the primary optical area, allowing the audience to have knowledge of the well known magazine.

⃝ There are rarely sell lines, with the insidious cover being the exception due to these ones are correlated to horrors.

⃝ The magazine’s tagline appears above the title.

⃝ The colours are mainly dark which promises the audience that the genre is specifically horror.

⃝ The setting is rarely shown in the background

 

 

 

Horror Trailer Conventions:

⃝ Dark lighting (ambient) , and shadows often caused by back lighting, or underlighting.

⃝ Contrapuntal sound (sound that doesn't fit in with what's on screen) for example in the Insidious 2 trailer, a baby nursery rhyme is playing whilst the baby bouncer is being possessed and moved forward.

 

⃝ Screams

⃝ Intensified diegetic sound

⃝Suburban setting as the stock location, Insidious, The conjuring, The Amityville Horror etc.

⃝ Jumpy moments, The sting at the end of The Conjuring trailer where Elena is looking through a small jewellery box she then lowers this from her sight and a ghost like possessed figure appears in front of the screen to fright the audience.

⃝ Horrific imagery, again in The Conjuring trailer Elena is talking to her ghost hunter companion, and behind him there is a decomposing corpse hanging from the tree, and the audience are only able to see the corpse's rotten feet.

 

⃝ Innocent Objects that are transformed into objects of evil and terror, The Woman In Black has a number of children's dolls that's faces look devious and possessed.