I constructed four videos on movie maker explaining the simple conventions of a teaser trailer, the horror genre, a magazine front cover and a poster. I sourced my information from the internet and my notes and compiled these videos to easily explain.
Firstly, conventions of a teaser trailer
My teaser trailer uses these conventions in the following ways:
- It is short in length as it is 1.30 seconds
- It evokes intrigue and excitement through its differing paces as it gradually builds up and also, through the use of diverse shots, particularly the point of view shots actually placing the audience in the position of the protagonist.
- It establishes some form of narrative as the audience can recognise that a group of friends are living in a flat and the female appears to be negatively affected by something in the flat, gradually making her deteriorate as a character. The audience I feel would be able to establish some form of narrative through the female character.
- My teaser trailer was released at the start of 2011 and the film is advertised to be released 'in cinemas 2011' and this would be in a few months into 2011, so it is released a long time in advance of the acutal film.
- My teaser trailer begins with a relatively slow pace as the characters enter the flat and it gradually speeds up until shots last only a second as the teaser trailer comes to a climax. The pace fluctuates throughout the teaser trailer so that the audience can establish even more narrative, for example, it is quick when there is a long shot of the rooms in the flat but slows right down when the female is getting out of bed. This indicates to the audience that the female is being negatively affected by something in the flat. So my teaser trailer follows the pace convention.
My teaser trailer also includes other conventions such as including the title of the film 'Flat 39' and including an advertising date 'In cinemas 2011' so that the viewer can establish when this film is to be released.
My teaser trailer was constructed after I researched trailers such as Shutter Island, The Strangers and The Last Exorcism. My teaser trailer follows particular conventions from these trailers such as the use of loud atmospheric non diegetic bangs to accompany the tag lines in the trailer and the gradual build up of pace as well as the POV shots (inspired by The Last Exorcism trailer).
This is a video of conventions of the horror genre:
I have included these conventions in the following ways:
- An element of darkness is included as the teaser trailer contains film footage that was shot at night time, so mystery and uncertainty is conveyed through this and also through the dark rooms in the flat, particularly the end long shot of the female in the doorway.
- An isolated setting is evident as the teaser trailer is shot in a flat and we are able to see vegetation surrounding the flat so this connotes vulnerability as it suggests that these characters are alone. 
- A complex narrative structure is conveyed as there is more than one character yet only the female is dominant as it is her deterioration being viewed. The teaser trailer includes various settings, the flat rooms, the hall way, the stairs and the exterior of the flat outside so the viewer questions what has happened in this flat. A complex narrative structure is also conveyed as the female appears relatively normal at the beginning of the trailer yet as the trailer progresses we witness her mental state regressing and wonder why. 
- The convention of 'extraordinary event happening in ordinary situations' is explored in my teaser trailer as we view a normal group of friends living in a normal flat at the circumstances appear overall normal. Yet, we witness the downfall of the female character and her mental state/possessed mind frame which appears to be an extraordinary event happening in an ordinary situation. 
- The titles that I have included in my teaser trailer are white titles, slightly scratched and imperfect on a black background. This is to convey that the female protagonist symbolises the innocent victim (the white imperfect titles) being negatively affected and possessed by some form of evil and the black background symbolises an 'evil' surrounding the young female, it is somewhat inescapable and the female protagonist cannot do anything to get away from it, therefore, is ruined by it. The titles therefore reflect the psychological state of the female protagonist: her deterioration. 
- The camerawork within my teaser trailer is expressive because it reveals particular themes and issues within the film. The use of close ups on the female protagonist locking and latching the door symbolises that there is a great emphasis on security and the question is, should we be scared of what is outside of the flat, or inside? The use of the point of view shots are expressive as they reveal the POV of the female herself and how she is negatively taken over by something. 
- Disturbing sounds are evident in my teaser trailer such as the constant drone like non diegetic sound accompnying the first half of the teaser trailer. The use of the loud bangs combined with the titles are disturbing as they frighten the viewer as they are waiting for something to happen.
- The editing also creates suspense as it is very slow at first with simple straight cuts from the flat mates to the door, to the other flat rooms yet as it increases the jump cuts are fast in pace and the viewer is waiting for something to happen. This is evident particularly at the end when there is a slow paced straight cut from the title of the film to the long shot of the female in the door way, this creates unsettling tension as the viewer is expecting something to happen and an eerie atmosphere is created.
- The visual style in my teaser trailer is dark as this heightens the mystery and suspense as the audience feels vulnerable.
- There are character types evident in my teaser trailer as we can establish that the female is the protagonist as she is wearing light colours at the beginning of the teaser trailer yet as it progresses her character type becomes less obvious as she appears to be the antagonist as she is possessed and is wearing darker colours now. This heightens the mystery of the teaser trailer as the audience decide who the antagonist and protagonist are. The female character is effectively both within this film.
- The themes evident in my teaser trailer conform to conventions of the horror genre as they include good vs evil, the young female against the dark force. The supernatural, madness and insanity are also themes evident and are explored through the female character as she appears to be in contact with the supernatural and suffering from insanity and madness due to this.
Overall my teaser trailer effectively conforms to the conventions of the horror genre
This is a video of the conventions of a magazine front cover:
I have included these conventions in the following ways:
- My magazine front cover includes the simple conventions such as a barcode, a price, a website and simple fonts.
- I decided to manipulate the well known magazine 'total film' and transform it into an edition advertising my film 'flat 39' so I included the recognisable mast head 'total film' but manipulated it so that the genre and narrative of the film 'Flat 39' could be established, as if the film was taking over the magazine.
- I have included a dominant mid-shot image of the main female character of 'Flat 39' Her head is slightly covering the mast head as this is a convention of magazine front covers. Again, it is as if this new film is overtaking the magazine.
- The dominant colours I have used are dark colours black red and grey and also white for the typography. I have also used a sense of informality through the language to entice the audience 'Inside: on set with the cast and crew of Flat 39!','top 100 horror movies of all time!' The exclamation marks give a sense of informality
- I have included a unique selling point and this is the 'on set with the cast and crew of flat 39!' I have included on set images to entice the audience as they would want to see behind the scenes action.I have followed the convention of having a USP involving the film advertised on the front of the magazine.
- I have advertised different films on the magazine front cover and also advertised other features that will be in the magazine to let the audience know what else they will be reading about. They will be attracted by the main feature but also by others
- I have conformed to the convention of having a recognisable character from a film as the dominant image. I have included the female in the film 'Flat 39' as from the teaser trailer and poster, the audience will be able to recognise this female and associate her with this film.
- Another convention is the use of top line typography on magazine front covers, advertising different films. I have included this also to entice the audience further
Real media products that I researched in order to establish conventions were total film front covers including special film features on spider-man, terminator, salt, inception and the dark knight.
Here is the magazine front cover featuring 'Inception'. I have labelled most of the conventions evident so that I can establish what I have used in my own magazine front cover feature
Finally, this is a video explaining the conventions of a film poster:
I have included these conventions in the following ways:
- There is a cast and crew list at the bottom of my poster
- There is an advertisement for when the film will be released
- There is a dominant image expressing a complex narrative. The dominant image is of the female and she appears to be looking in the mirror, the audience are drawn to the image that is in the mirror looking directly at them. This intimidates the audience and it suggests that this is this girl's darker side, the side that she has been possessd by. The notion of two sides is reiterated by the mirror line directly in between the two images of the girl suggesting that she has a darker side to her personality. The typography 'who should you fear?' and 'In cinemas 2011' are effectively spaced to make the divide between the two sides obvious.
- A select few colours are used on my poster, dark greys and blacks and white for the typography and red. Black connotes mystery and uncertainty and red connotes danger which are all themes evident in my teaser trailer. This leads onto another convention of 'the darkness of a horror poster and the use of the colour red'
I used real media products such as posters advertising inception, the dark knight, the last exorcism, the strangers and shutter island. Each poster included a dominant image and particular colours that revealed themes from the film and this is what I have taken from researching these posters, as well as the cast and crew list and advertisment of the film's release.
Here is the poster for 'Shutter Island'. I have labelled most of the conventions evident so that I can establish what I have used on my own poster
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