Ancillary Research:Conventions SummaryBy Rebecca Osborne

Introduction

Within this task I will be producing a poster for my teaser trailer, a poster is a form of media which consists of a ‘large printed pictured used for decoration’ (Wiki). It’s purpose is to attract audiences and to persuade them to invest time or money into the product or media. In this case I will be creating a poster to attract a teenage audience that will be persuaded to watch my film. I will start off my research by looking at two example of horror posters and analysis the key features used so that I can have a good understanding of the conventional features used so I can use this within my own.

AnalysisMain Image:Close up of a woman's face, lack of colour close to a black and white affect. She has red eyes which stand out on her pale face. She also has a moth over her mouth and this can connote events in the film.

Main Title: the next thing that is in colour and stands out on the poster.

Tagline/Synergy from a best selling book: can mean that an audience is already interested in the film. Actors names:

This can be an element that attracts the audience to want to watch the film.

Directors names/Organisation names: Recognisable to the audience.

Billing Block: more information on who made the film.

AnalysisMain Image: Main image is the biggest and only image on the poster and is a close up of a woman face. A lot of editing has been done to this photo to make her face look like a skull, the sunken eyes which could be seen as shadows also cast a look of a skull on the woman. The shards of glass seem to create a broken look and separates the skull from the human.

Main Title:The title is the next noticeable thing after the image as it has been manipulated to have a glow against the dark foggy background to make it stand out and connect the image to the title. The title is seemingly recognisable as it is the last film within a series of them so by now the films will have been established and recognisable to the audience.

Tagline:‘Rest in pieces’ this is a pun on the well-known phrase ‘Rest In Peace’ which as seen below connects this tagline and the main image as the woman is part skull and therefore dead. The glass is broken and in ‘pieces’ although and so this play on words is seemingly appropriate for this image.

Subheading/Title:The title at the bottom is the next thing that stands out as it is the only coloured text on the poster. This text is in red and states ‘August’ which is the release month of the film. This has to be eye-catching as the release date is something that the poster needs to imprint in the audiences mind. This date is the main purpose of the poster, along with attracting the audience in the first place the date is something the audience should come away with.

ConclusionOverall by looking at these two posters there are clear similarities within the conventions

which are used within the genre of horror as well as the poster itself. Both have images of a character which is mot probably within the film so that there is a connection between the poster and the future film so that the audience receive details before even watching a trailer. Both have main headings which is the name of the title of the film and this is within white or black and contrasts with the background colour or with the image. It’s also typical to have some form of subheading that explains the film further and give extra information or a statement that relates to the film. It’s also common to see actors and actresses that the audience would recognise stated on the film so that there is another incentive to want to watch the film. It’s also common to have a billing block which is a list of their various people such as directors and producers that have contributed to making the film. All of this has helped me to have a clearer understanding of the convections which are expected to be seen within a poster for a film and more in particular one for a horror film. This is going to be helpful when making my own film poster as I am able to recognise the various conventions and use these within my poster so that it will also be conventional, it has also inspired me for when I create my own poster as I can look at the various conventions such as dark background, the white heading, a tagline which questions or persuades the audience in some way and other techniques which I can implement within my own.

Genre Research

Analysis Target Audience:The Target audience will most probably be older teenagers to young adults between the age of 17-25+ as the characters seen within the poster replicate that of a younger age range. It’s normally that age group that are most interested within the horror genre. The layout of the poster shows that the younger/smaller girl is which is obviously possessed manipulating the man who is tied up and has the back to the picture showing he has been demoralised and lacks power. There is a hashtag at the bottom of the page which is related to social media, this again shows that the target audience is of a young age group that use social media.

Content:The text is displayed in an interesting way at the top of the page as the words devil can be formed even though it doesn’t straight up say devil. This shows that the layout of words can reveal underlying meaning and from words that can relate to the image and content of the film. The characters shown like mentioned above show the opposite of stereotypes as the possessed young girl is controlling the young man. The lighting is dark around the edges creating a more closed in feeling and the main subjects being the character shown, the colour scheme consist of black and white and it’s rather neutral and fits within the horror genre.

Genre:Genre is conveyed through conventions through the play on words with the title, the placement creates the word devil which relates to the horror genre well as this supernatural character is seen as horror. The dark lighting of the image illuminates the characters, the male looking defeated and tied up in a torturous way relating to horror and the demonic look of the girl.

Conclusion:Overall I believe this film poster is successful within achieving it’s genre through the use of its conventions the play on the placement of words creates a horror character which is recognisable by audience. The main image is also very interesting and looks very horror and gory and shows a man being controlled by a demon girl and this is seemingly unconventional when considering stereotypes. This will intrigue audience and the titles such as ‘You haven’t seen true evil’ are all appealing to someone interested within horrors and this means that achieve it’s purpose of persuading audience to go see the film. This has taught me that when making my own poster I need to have an interesting main image and titles that are appealing.

AnalysisTarget Audience:Target audience will most likely be those young adults to older adults as the main image is rather horrific and not really suitable for younger children as the hand coming out of the mouth is not very child friendly. The target audience will be those that enjoy horror films and demon/devil type films as the title states ‘The possession to be supernatural. Younger audiences such as mid 20’s normally can handle and prefer this kind of demonic film so I feel it will appeal to this audience the most.

Content:The title at the top is a subheading and a further title and states ‘Based on a true story’ this adds to the horror of the poster and scares he audience even further than if it were not mentioned. This crates verisimilitude as the audience having a feeling that the events being shown in the film can happen within reality and this frightens them further. The main heading at the bottom has a slight low around it and has a type of scratch through it which could relate to the demonic theme of the film. The date is within red which shows that this is one of the main features that the audience need to know so the red allows them to notice it more. The main image is what attracts the audience to the poster as the editing is very creative and it looks very scary and creepy so audiences will want to find out more.

Genre:The genre is clearly horror and this is conveyed through various conventions, the realism of the title at the top creates a scary feel that the events seen within the film could be reality. The light and demonic scratch through the main heading creating a demonic feel that relates to the horror theme. The main image is supernatural as a hand is coming out the girls mouth and this again is creepy and crates a scary feel.

Conclusion:Overall this poster does display the genre well ad uses convections in a creative way to prove this. The main image is the main item on this poster and shows the theme of the film which is demonic and possible things that may happen within the film. The title with the demonic scratch in it again relates back to the theme and genre of horror and overall is successful in creating the genre horror. I can learn from this that titles can support the main image and can show the genre clearly.

Analysis Target audience:The target audience will once again be young adults as most horror films aim at this age range as they are most interested within this genre. The young girl on the front can appeal to female audience rather than a male but there is most probably going to be an equableness in sexes. This film is about exorcism and is something that is seen as real and can be seen within real life, so the target audience will most likely be these interested within the devil and exorcisms and as this is also the second film fns from the first one will also be the target audience.

Content:The white background is very different form other horror posters as it’s a lot more lighter and doesn’t bring the darkness like the other two posters which I have looked at. The character herself is used to demonstrate the number of ‘2’ as this is the second one to the first film. This is done very creatively as the horrific idea of bending backs which is seen within exorcisms creates the number 2. The titles are black which makes them stand out against the white background, this makes them stand out but they are also simplistic making the image the main item on this poster. Again like the other posters the title of the release date is within red and this makes it stand out and again is the main thing the audience will notice. The subheading at the top is supporting of the main image but again doesn’t take away the centre of image.

Genre:The genre is clearly horror which the main image straight away shows the girl on the front is shown to be demonic the way her back is bending and her facial features and this is a typical supernatural character seen within horrors. The plain white background is not particularly conventional of a horror but it doesn’t draw to the main image and makes it stand out further.

Conclusion:Overall this poster achieves it’s purpose and genre well, the main image against the white background makes it stand out and is eye-catching to the audience. The fact the characters is in the shape of a 2 relates to the second film of this kind and is done creatively to also show she is demonic. This teaches me that by using an interesting image can relate to the film as a whole and can be creatively done and the genre can still be horror even if the background of which is not particularly conventional.

AnalysisTarget Audience:The target audience for this poster will again be young adults and those within their early teens to early 30’s as these are most likely to have the time to watch films as well as be mature enough to not get frightened and be able to enjoy a horror film such as this. This poster doesn’t appeal to a gender in particular and is rather open to either gender as to what they prefer, it does seem to be quite a scary film from the factor a doll is within it and this means that those interested in horror are most likely to want to watch it. The title at the top also mentions that the film is from the makers of ‘Saw’ which is another reason as to why the audience will be attracted to this film poster as there are already a fan base for the Saw films and therefore this will lead to them being attracted to this film poster.

Content:The main image is the first thing that it eye catching on the poster as it take up most of the poster and the text is placed on top of it. The main image is of a doll with a wooden finger in the motion of a ‘sh’ which relates to the film title which is ‘Dead Silence’. The dolls features are realistic and gives the sense that it is alive and this can reveal some features of the film in which the doll could be alive within it. The doll is rather convectional in horror dolls kind of way and this may appeal to a target audience that enjoy films about possessed dolls. The main title ‘Dead Silence’ has been edited so that it shadows and looks as if it is moving on the page, it glows and it white to stand out from the dark background. The title ‘You scream. You die.’ is within red and stands out the most on the page and relates to the image as the dill is wearing a red bow, and the fact it is poised in a ‘shing’ motion. Genre:The genre of the film is shown within a convectional way on this poster, the black ground which hides the rest of background and centres the attention on the doll and makes it look like it’s surrounding by nothingness and suggests that no one can help the audience looking at the doll. The close up of the dolls face is a technique seen within a lot of horrors as close up are used a lot to expression the high levels of emotion which are conveyed within the genre. The wooden finger is chipped and has wounds on it again a connection to the horror genre as violence and injury are a common theme within this genre. The red title again is common as red connotes blood and so this is common to see when looking into this genre. The title which has a white glow and looks as though it’s moving again is common with this white glow around the title to make it stand out against the conventional dark backgrounds.

Conclusion:Overall I feel that the conventions used have conveyed the genre well as the combination of the dark background the scary looking possessed or human like doll which has a wounded finger, the titles which even mention the word ‘dead’ and ‘death’ words which are seen within the horror genre. All combine to create a poster which is clearly within the horror genre. I think this poster has achieved it’s purpose of persuasion well as the image is very eye catching and makes the audience want to fund out more about the film. This has taught me that again image is the most important thing about a film poster and can reveal a lot with just one picture, the titles are assisting the image and the tagline emphasises the genre even further and so I could use these techniques within my film poster so that I can convey my horror genre clearly.

AnalysisTarget Audience: I think the target audience for this film poster will be that of teenagers and young adults, especially aimed at those which are female and young adults as the main image seen on the poster displays a young girl which means the film could be more relatable to this target audience. The audience will most likely be fans of social media and have access easily to the internet as within red on the poster is a website name in which the audience can visit to find out more and this is typical of a younger audience. This sort of film will be appealing to this particular target audience as it’s a horror film which younger audiences are interested in.

Content:The main image is the most eye catching thing within this poster, it’s a medium close up of young girl whose face is covered within a mask which has stitches in blood that form a smile. This is irritated in the title ‘Smiley’, and this connect the image to the title. The image looks very scary a sit hides the true face of the girl who is wearing a pale blue dress with a collar and seems quite ‘pleasant’ if it wasn’t for the mask covering her face. The image is also intriguing as it doesn’t unveil to us if the girl is the evil one or is the victim and this adds to the incentive to go and watch the film to find out. The title is rather large and is within red writing which is a common text colour for horror films as it relates to blood and this theme is seen often in horror. The tagline ‘Evil wears a smile’ suggests that possibly this girl is the antagonist of the film and isn’t as innocent or a victim as we might first perceive.

Genre:The horror genre is clearly conveyed within this poster as we have a brown type background which is common within horrors which revolve around the colours of brown, black and red and could suggest a cabin or abounded house which again is a common setting seen within the horror genre. The mask is the main convectional aspect which shows this poster is within the horror genre. The blood and stiches shows injury and pain and these are common themes seen within horror, the manipulation of the young girl and the fact she is evil is common when it comes to demonic films which are supernatural it’s very common to have a young girl be possessed. The mention of the word ‘evil’ again is wording normally related to horrors and emphasises the genre further.

Conclusion: Overall I feel like this poster has achieved it’s purpose well as the main image is very intriguing and it doesn’t reveal a lot so leaves the audience wanting to find out more. The themes of the red titles which connotes blood, the mask which has blood stitches in it and the word evil with the dark murky background all combine together to create clear conventions of the horror genre. I think it has taught me that once again the image is the main element and the manipulation the image can make something seen as stereotypical become the opposite, the titles and background are also elements to consider as they contribute quite a lot to the genre conveyed, so when considering my own I need to pick out every single detail.