Shayla Newman

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

By researching and looking at existing trailers we managed to identify codes and conventions
of trailers as a whole and of our specific genre which is horror. Some of the typical conventions
which kept occurring through our research were the titles at the end, fast cuts, music in the
background and many more. Our teaser trailer follows the conventions of real media products using
many ways. One way in which is the length of the trailer; we made sure our trailer was no longer
than 2 minutes long which follows the conventions of a teaser trailer; our trailers duration was
1mintue42 seconds. It also contains quick snap shots and scenes of the film which the audience can
get a taste of the films plot but doesn’t give away too much of what happens in the film which will
entice the audience to watch the full film when it comes out in the cinema or buy the DVD. We also
found that at the end of each trailer the production companies and the names of most of the people
involved in the making of the film was shown, so our trailer also contained this information which
we made using adobe Photoshop. Our production/distributors logo “Blade Production” is a different
font to our title of out film “Game Over” as we found it was a common style among most trailers and
it was shown at the beginning of each trailer, as is ours. They also displayed the date in which the
film would be released at the end of the trailer or ‘coming soon’. We chose to use ‘coming soon’
because during the trailer we catch the audience’s attention and then tease them at the end of the
trailer making them want to view it more and to insert that it is an actual film as containing this in a
trailer is very conventional. Most of the horror trailers we watched used on screen graphics such as
The Grudge trailer, because of this we decided to stick to the conventions and also use onscreen
graphics. An example would be our title “Game Over” at the end of our trailer which has a flashing
red Xbox symbol around it which represents the evilness within the game. In our trailer we used a
voice over to create more tension and horror (due to the tone of voice used), we got this idea after
viewing Saw film trailer, as we thought connected and attracted the viewer’s well. We also found it
was essential for our trailer to contain a male voiceover; this is because it is conventional for horror
trailers such as Saw to use one. Certification was another form and convention we used with in the
trailer. We made our own certification title using Photoshop which we was going to use in our trailer
but our research found that in cinema it’s not needed because it will be shown before films with the
same rating. When viewing trailers such as SAW, The Grudge and The Eye we noticed that each of
them had a green screen about the audiences before the trailer continued. However, we did not use
this green screen as our trailer is for cinema use not internet/YouTube use. Our trailer didn’t let our
audience know much about our characters. We had done this so the film would be more of a
mystery for the viewers because if they knew a lot about each character the film wouldn’t be ‘new’
to watch as the viewers would know everything about them already. Another reason is because our
character ‘Abdullah’ tries to figure out a solution to the ‘red-ring’ Xbox’s; however due to the lack of
information given about the characters our viewers are unaware of Abdullah’s achievements/goals
within the film ‘Game Over’. Our use of editing also helped convey a trailers forms and conventions;
we used quick cuts to make the tension rise in the trailer. We also used cross fading and dissolving
for the titles as many trailers we watched also used these types of edits. For lighting we were
limited and could not conform to conventions because we didn’t have Hollywood lighting. The light
could only use was natural light, domestic light and our Panasonic HDC camera light; which we used
to film our whole trailer on. Even though we were limited on lighting we were very pleased with the
outcome especially the big close up of Travis’s eye when the dark natural light of outside helped
create a spooky atmosphere and the Panasonic HDC camera light which pointed straight at his eye
making his pupil move in a spooky manner. Through researching we found that it was essential for
us to use some non-diegetic sound which for the horror genre is usually eerie, intense music. At first
we planned to create our own non-diegetic eerie sound but we were unfortunate in getting any
equipment/instruments so we decided to scrap that idea. Lucky enough one of our teachers was a
user of a website where we were able to download copyrighted music for free. We finally found
really good catchy intense music which co-incidentally contained ‘white noise’ which we also
 Shayla Newman

needed. We used this music as the backing track to build up and create the tension and horror
throughout our trailer. We put the title of the film “Game Over” at the end of the trailer as we found
this is a better way of attracting the audience as they want to know what it is called so they can go
and watch it, therefore they will have to watch it until the end. We also used the convention for
costume as it is an important aspect for a trailer. Costume needs to convey character development
but contrast the horror aspect. Due to this, we dressed the boys in the usual teenage boy fashion to
connect with our target audience; such as ‘hoodies’, polo tops and jeans. Another convention in
horror films is the use of makeup. However horrors usually use a lot of prosthetics but we were
limited on budget and could only afford to buy 2 tubes of fake blood which only cost £1.98. This was
far from conventional but we thought it could have an advantage. This is due to no other make up
being used so it made the blood distinctive and catching. However, for Travis’s scene we bought
white paint which only cost 99p to use for his face to create zombie scary features. We also stuck
bits of tissue to his face to make it look like dead dried skin which conventional zombies usually
have. The contrast between the black background and white face also helped create the horror
feeling/genre. After watching many horror trailers we notice they all created suspense using a cliff
hanger at the end of their trailer. We also done this as we thought it was a good way to create the
tension and mystery of the film and make the audience want to view the film more.
Our trailer conforms to the convention of all great film trailers with the cliff hanger of ‘what happens
next?’ Our trailer ends with a mystery which makes the viewer’s question where Abdullah is caught
by the red light virus or not. We conveyed this by having the last shot of Abdullah shouting that the
virus cannot get him but then contrasting having a shot of the red light being reflected in his glasses.
This is used in our trailer to create mystery and to make the audience question whether the virus
does get Abdullah or not.

We developed convention that synergistic practises often produce a game of a film, such as
Spiderman and Saw or in recent years a film of a game, such as Silent Hill and Resident Evil. We
made a film about a game so when the game for our film is released people will be a little
apprehensive about playing the game because of the horror associations. This is similar to
Nightmare on Elm Street where people were afraid to see the horrific Freddie in their dreams.
We challenged the forms and conventions by incorporating a split screen within our trailer
showing our awareness of convergence and the blurring genres. As technology advances, more films
are being based on games, rather than the other way round. Narrative and character are more
important in games than they used to be; whilst the future of film, as suggested by Don Tapscott,
may well have a degree of interactivity more akin to games - as Photoshop style trickery becomes
more and more possible with moving image. Consequently, our film intends to unify both markets,
therefore acquiring the largest possible target audience within our stated age range.
Another way in which we challenged the forms and conventions of a horror trailer was by going
against the idea of a ‘damsel in distress’. We portrayed this by the costuming in which Nicole (our
only female character) wore; checked shirt and jeggins, she was not dressed ‘normally’ and not in
the conventional way. Through our research we found that girls are usually dressed provocatively,
such as in Scream 4, where the woman was dressed in underwear which was used to attract males
to watch the film; however, that is not what we intended to do. As technology advances, more films
are being based on games, rather than the other way round.

As a whole, I believe that our trailer balance of conforming and challenging typical forms and
conventions of both film trailers generally and the horror genre. Our trailer conforms the important
and major conventions but goes against them in some areas where we feel it would be more of an
advantage for promoting the film.
 Shayla Newman

Ancillary Tasks

Within ancillary task one (film poster); I followed the conventions that we had seen in the
posters we looked at in our research. I made the title of the film big, bold and colourful in the top
centre of the poster to catch the audience’s attention. I included the tagline ‘Death it’s in the game’
in order to grip the audience and entice them to watch the film due to the catchy scary tagline. I
contained the information about who was involved in producing this film; this is one of the main
conventions used for film posters. I believe that this convention makes my poster look believable
and professional. I also included the production companies at the bottom of the poster as we found
this was also a convention used in most of the posters. After browsing through famous film posters;
I came across Avatars film poster. I really liked the way in which they used two half faces put
together to show the contrast and link between the two characters. Due to this I decided to use a
picture of Travis as a zombie and a normal boy. This was to represent what the evil red light can do
to humans in the film. I also represented this by using a blurred image of the red Xbox ring/light on
the zombie face side and the green Xbox ring/light on the side of the normal face. Another common
convention used was ratings and quotes from newspapers, we both felt this was a very good idea as
it gives the audience an impression of how good/scary/shocking the film is before viewing it. Every
horror film magazine; SAW, SCREAM etc, we analysed all used a black background with a main image
which creates a scary theme. I also used this convention as it puts the attention on my main image
which represents the film very well. I challenged the forms and conventions of film posters as it
does not contain any actor’s names; this is because I want my target audience/ viewers to see the
film because of the film not because of actors. Another way in which I challenged the forms and
conventions were by using ‘Coming Soon’ not a releasing date. This challenged it because usually a
date is given to let the audience know exactly when they can view this film, however I wanted to
tease my audience and leave them ‘hanging’ wanting to find out when the film is released.

Within ancillary task two I followed the codes and conventions for magazine front covers.
Throughout my research I noticed that every magazine contained a barcode, price, date and issue
number. I wanted my magazine cover to look as professional as it could be, so my magazine
contained all three. The price of my magazine however is in small font due to the price being
substantially high so the price would not be a lure. My pricing is in different currency; pounds and
dollars. This widens my audience as my magazine will be able to be bought in UK and USA.

Every magazine also used one big main picture in the centre of the magazine; I chose to do
the same. I took a picture of Nicole with face paint and blood so she portrayed her zombie-self
within the film. I used a fan to make her hair go flowing off her face – scary like. I edited the picture
of her using Photoshop and changed the brightness and contrast to make the blood dominant in the
picture. I put the picture of Nicole in the centre of the magazine to draw attention and catch the
audience’s attention which is a typical convention widely used. Another convention is to have the
name of the magazine in big, bold, font and to make the magazine name link in with the genre of
magazine i.e. film magazines: ‘Total Film’. I chose the name ‘Filmstar’ as it links in the genre of the
magazine and the magazine would contain top stars from films (actors etc) which would attract
audiences. Underneath each film magazine name a strapline is also used such as; EMPIRE Magazine
their strapline is ‘The world’s biggest film magazine’. I liked this convention and made up my own
strapline “The brightest film magazine around!” this links the magazine name “FilmStar” with the
tagline as Stars are bright. Barcodes are a very important and major convention for a magazine as
 Shayla Newman

this is what is scanned to buy a magazine. I definitely needed and wanted to use a barcode to make
my magazine look very professional and legit, I used an online barcode maker to make a barcode.
Due to the worlds technology modernising even further, a new barcode type pattern is now used
called: QR/Smart phone barcodes. I decided to also use this QR barcode to show that my magazine is
modern and up to date with technology. I also put a website address for the magazine as it is a form
and convention widely used throughout all magazines. Just like many film magazines, my front cover
has other film names down the side. This gives a wider range of buyers due to the other many
popular film names being shown on the front. I challenged the forms and conventions by not having
a free gift or advert on the front cover, just like EMPIRE magazine. I have done this because I want
my buyers to buy the magazine because of the films not because they just want a free gift. House
style is main form and convention very widely used. My house style is bright, eye catching yet
simple. I used this style as the font is bright and eye catching and also easy to read, the colours also
appeal to both sexes. Almost every film magazine has other articles on the front page. This
form/convention is like a lure. It drags people’s attention and makes them want to buy it to find out
more. I chose to use an exclusive interview with an actress Nicole Bell for the new film Game Over
(our trailer/film).Using words like EXCLUSIVE make people want to buy it as they want to know the
latest gossip before anyone else.
 Shayla Newman

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary

I chose to do a poster and magazine front cover for my ancillary tasks which combined with
our horror trailer. I believe that my combination of the trailer ‘Game Over’ and my two ancillary
tasks; ‘Flickstar’ film magazine and ‘Game Over’ promotional poster are very effective for the
promotional aspects. This is due to each of them being eye-catching and containing the same house
style, which appeals straight to my target audience due to the forms and conventions I followed
making it successful.
For my poster I used a picture of one of the main characters; Travis, which immediately
shows the link between the trailer and the poster. I also included the film name “Game Over” on my
poster in the same style, font and colour as my title in our trailer and on my magazine front cover.
This shows how I used the same house style in my combination of all three tasks. By using the same
style, font and colour on all three it helped to keep a continuity and easy identification for all
audiences. Throughout the house style I continuously used green for the word ‘Game’ and red for
the words ‘Death’ and ‘Over’ to represent evil within the colour red and innocent in the colour
green. Another way in which I felt my combination was very effective was due to the magazine,
poster and trailer, all containing the red ring ‘virus’ image. This image is the main distinctive image
which automatically connects to the film ‘Game Over’. During the trailer this distinctive image
appears countless of times to remind/scar the viewers of this symbol. On my magazine, this sign is
placed inbetween the name of the film “Game Over” to show the link with this image and the film.
On my poster, the red xbox ring is bright and blurred to show attention to it and to represent what
the evil red light can do to humans in the film. I believe using this image in all three tasks is very
effective in promoting ‘Game Over’ as everyone will be able to link this image to the film
immediately. Another way in which my magazine and poster is linked is, on my poster I used my
magazine ‘Filmstar’ as a magazine which quotes and rates how good the film is. Throughout our
trailer, magazine and poster there is a major focus on the horror genre. This is shown through my
poster and magazine due to both of my main pictures are of the characters being zombies. On my
poster, half of Travis is a zombie, which makes the poster scary and the only picture on the front
cover of my magazine ‘Filmstar’ is of Nicole being a zombie. This helps promote that our film ‘Game
Over’ is a horror film and I believe that by using both zombie characters is significant to the film due
to it being of the horror genre. I put the logos of production companies on both the trailer and
poster to show the link between the two, making it evident they are from the same production
companies. However, my poster and magazine are to attract a different target audience. An
example of this would be; my magazine is of high price, so less teenagers would have enough money
to pay for this magazine even though the colours are eye catching and fun for this age. Whereas, my
poster would be shown in cinemas, at bus stops, on buses etc and would attract the biggest
percentage of my target audience (teenagers) due to the places in which the posters would be and
not having to spend any money to view this (unlike magazine). Both of my ancillary tasks focused on
the horror genre. They both contained zombie style pictures and the evil right light symbol.
I believe that using these main two images would attract more teenagers than adults as
teenagers are attracted to Xbox’s and horror themes such as zombies. I believe this link between my
magazine and poster connects and promotes our trailer effectively due to the distinctive fonts,
colours, slogans and images used. If I were to produce this film in real life I would make a business
deal with a game producing company such as Blizzard Activision or Eidos or THQ and a famous
 Shayla Newman

games magazine such as the Official 360 Magazine which would help promote my film and further
my range of target audience. It would also help lure my audience with any free demos usually given
within the games magazine.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Throughout the making of our trailer after each draft made we showed our trailer to a
handful of our target audience. We used the same focus group throughout the making so we could
easily see if we were improving our trailer due to the focus group already watching all previous
drafts. We showed our focus group our first draft and asked them for their honest opinions of areas
in which we need to improve and any areas which they feel were already of high standard. The
feedback we received highlighted many important areas in which we needed to change to build
better tension within the trailer. We used a video recorder to film the first two parts of feedback we
received after they previewed our first draft of the trailer. But due to a high demand within our
school for use of cameras we were unavailable to film every feedback we got for every draft; instead
we either asked them to write down notes or we wrote notes after asking them for their feedback.
The main points we received from our first draft were how the split screen was not even
and the boxes continuously moved and changed shape and size, the cuts were too slow in the main
intense parts, the music was not changed smoothly (after we had to cut and move parts of the
sound around) and the biggest problem was with the ending title and credits. We were already
aware of this problem due to Final Cut Express continuously telling us that ‘Media was offline’. I
believe that audience feedback helped us majorly even at this early stage. This is because our focus
group could pick out faults which Nicole and I were unaware of, it also helped us get more ideas
which we could add to our trailer; as our focus group put forth their ideas and changes. We also
learned from our feedback that our intense music was not in the correct places for our quick cuts in
the trailer, we then used the cutting tool on Final Cut Express to chop the music in to different parts
and place them in the correct positions.
For our last draft of our trailer we decided to upload and post the trailer onto our Facebook
pages instead of just showing it to the same focus group we have been previously using. We asked
them to comment with their view, opinions and any improvements in which they feel would help us
make our trailers standard as high as possible. We both believed that uploading our trailer onto
Facebook would be an excellent way of gaining feedback due to our combined accounts having
around 900 friends and the majority of the friends being in our target audience age range. The
feedback we gained from our last draft was very positive. The only criticism we received pointed out
the fact that they felt the split screen was too long and made a gap within the dialogue of the trailers
split screen. However, we did not change our trailer due to this criticism as we done this for effect as
the split screen was the calm part of the trailer before the hectic tense part after the red-ring.

Ancillary Tasks
I also used the same focus group which we used for our trailer for my ancillary tasks; I also
used a handful of people aged from 15 to 30 both male and female. I chose to have a different focus
group as they have no viewed the trailer so they will have a fresh approach when analysing my
magazine and poster, they would also have a more detailed feedback as they will notice the forms
and conventions used.
 Shayla Newman

From my first drafts of my magazine and poster I received very helpful criticisms. The new
focus group I had chosen pointed out that my magazine lacked the film genre approach, as there
were no signs or a symbol showing it was a film magazine. I then took this criticism on board and
used and Oscar award in the header to symbolise the magazine’s genre. They also thought my poster
should contain quotes and rating from newspapers or film critics to make the poster look more
professional. Due to this criticism I added magazine quotes and ratings; I linked my magazine with
the poster by using my magazine’s name with a quote and rating. I received positive feedback for
both ancillary tasks due to the main images I used, my poster image gained more positive feedback
due to the editing of two faces joined together.
I believe that gaining feedback from a different range of ages helped more when designing
my poster and magazine. This is because they hadn’t viewed the trailer so they had a fresh approach
when analysing them. I learned that audience feedback is very useful as it really helped make my
poster and magazine of high professional standard. This was due to the audiences’ different ideas
and judgements that I took on board during the construction.
If I was to make a ‘Game Over 2’ I would definitely use more social media in soliciting
audience feedback pre, during and post of the making of the trailer. This is because I truly believe
that without audience feedback our trailers, magazines and posters would not be of high standard as
they are now.

How did you use media technologies in the construction and

We used a wide range of variety of media technologies in the construction, research,

The simplest and most commonly used media technology we first used was the use of a
search engine, which in this case was [Link], which gave use hundreds of websites for horror
films such as Saw, The Grudge and Final Destination. Through the use of Google we were able to
view many trailers through either the films own websites or Youtube. We viewed these trailers
during our research and planning to spot the forms and conventions of film trailers and more
specifically horror trailers. We then both individually used an online website called [Link] which is
a very simple easy website to use where we brainstormed our ideas which kept them organised.
After we had all the information we needed so far, we both drew out story boards, using
pen/pencil and tabled paper. We then chose the better story board out of the two and decided to
scan the sheets onto Microsoft Word, then onto Scribd and finally Flickr in JPEG format as the
pictures become clearer and easy to read.
All of our trailer was film using a Panasonic HD Digital Video Camera, we found that using a
HD to record the footage was an advantage as it recorded straight onto an SD card. Both Nicole and I
owned our very own digital cameras both 14 megapixel, one Fuji and one Samsung which ensured us
that all our pictures for locations, still shots, cast shots etc where of highest quality as possible. We
also used the Panasonic HD Digital Camera to record my little brother Travis screaming, ‘white noise’
produced by a TV and a very high pitched noise which represented the virus during our split screen
scene. Nicole downloaded an app onto her Iphone which was called ‘Dog Whistle’ which created the
 Shayla Newman

exact high pitch noise we needed. Nicole was able to choose a high frequency but was low enough
for the microphone on the Video Camera to pick up and record without any interference. We used
the microphone on the Apple Macs to record our news reports and voiceovers which turned out
perfectly. However, when we tried to edit the recordings we were unable to do so. Instead, we re-
recorded both the voice overs and the news reports using the video recorder and deleted the video
on Final Cut Express leaving just the audio. We were then able to edit the audio using Garage Band
were we lowered the voice over pitch by around 3 decibels for it to fit the conventions of a horror
trailer having a deep male voice over. The background sound in our trailer was downloaded from a
website called KPM play, which was very fast and easy to download any music necessary which was
copyrighted but free. Originally we wanted to produce our own music but we lacked the equipment
and ability to play different instruments. For the production company we used a programme called
LiveType which was an easy programme to use and contain hundreds of different animations for us
to choose from.
We used Final Cut Express the most during the constructing stages of our horror trailer. This
was because we edited and created our trailer using this programme as it is a very professional
programme to use. We also used this programme to make our teaser trailer and our background
footage on our DVD menu. Both Nicole and I had never used Final Cut Express before so we both
found this programme hard to use at first; however after a while we started getting use to the
different effects, buttons and transitions. The closest film maker we had both used for our
preliminary task was Windows Live Movie Maker for our Rip-o-matic. We both noticed the massive
difference between both of these film making programmes as Final Cut Express is very professional
and sophisticated. We both used Adobe Photoshop to create the title for the end of our trailer and
the credits. Adobe Photoshop was easy for us to use as we both have previously used this
programme in AS Media Studies. I also used Adobe Photoshop to edit my pictures, for my ancillary
tasks, in various ways such as, cutting, changing the brightness and contrast and deleting the
background. I also used Adobe Indesign to create both my ancillary tasks; magazine and poster.
Many other students in my class used Adobe Photoshop for their ancillary tasks but I personally find
Indesign easy and quicker to use and I feel my knowledge for Indesign was better than my
Photoshop knowledge. Before creating my magazine and poster, I planned the design of them using
the old fashioned way; pencil and paper. I then took a picture of these plans to my computer to
upload onto my blog.
We then used iDVD where we put all drafts of our trailer onto a DVD disk where we were
able to take the DVDs home to show our family’s and friends’ to get their feedback. We both very
much enjoyed using iDVD as it was easy to use and we could upload and use our own DVD menu
background video and choose the design for the menu ourselves. We came across a very suitable
design which we feel had the horror approach however we could not change the colour from bright
pink, we would have preferred the bright pink to be red; but we did not have the knowledge to do
so.
Even through our feedback and evaluation stages we used our HD Video Camera as much as
we could. After our first draft of our trailer we asked two students to view it and for us to record
their feedback, as we had access to a camera. We also wrote down their feedbacks for our own
personal evaluation. Nicole and I then watched our trailer whilst recording ourselves on the HD
Video Camera pointing out where we need to improve or change the first draft. We decided to use
WEB 2.0 for our final draft to get feedback. We uploaded our trailer onto Facebook and asked for
our friends and family to comment on the video with positive and negative criticisms. We both feel
 Shayla Newman

out trailer was very successful with our target audience due to the amount of ‘likes’ and positive
feedback we received. All of our important video clips have been uploaded onto Youtube through
Youtube accounts where many more audiences can view, comment and even ‘like’ the videos.
My class used [Link] as our blog profiles for all researching and planning, post-
production, production and evaluation as it helps organise everyone’s work. We were able to upload
any pictures and Youtube videos without any hassle, which was very helpful as it was easier for our
peers and teachers to comment on our work to give quick feedback. My blog, I feel has helped me
the most during all the research and planning; it helped me link it all my work, planning, research,
tasks and feedback all in one place without it becoming confusing. It also allowed me to upload any
type of files such as my brainstorm on [Link], Youtube videos and Scribd files.
We used mobile technologies such as built in GPS to navigate where we were as we filmed
my little brother Travis at night in a park, which we did not know the name of. Due to the amazing
technology of my Smart mobile phone; Sony Ericsson Experia X10 we were able to find out our
location instantly which was Wandsworth Common.