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

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

From the format research that I conducted on existing movie posters and movie websites, I was able to identify many of the conventions of these products, much like the format research I conducted on Gothic Horror trailers, I used this format research to make my product look more realistic and also allowing me to go along and challenge conventions of the genre. With my film poster, I found a number of conventions of horror movie posters, especially in the sub-genre of Gothic Horror.

 A convention thing that I found was that all of the posters are in night time or in the dark. This is an obvious method to promote the mise-en-scene of the movie Here are two examples of very well know Gothic Horror films: The Woman in Black and The Others. As displayed in the pictures there is a mist effect in the Woman In Black trailer, and it is also at night.




This is a convention that I followed in creating my movie poster, as I feel as though it goes a long with the conventions of the genre and it also helped me promote the mise-en-scene of my media products. I feel as though my film poster has become more realistic by following this convention.


 Another convention that I used in my movie poster was the use of the characters being the central image, with the title being below the image of the character. This convention is designed to make the audience know who the story is about, as many Gothic Horror pieces are about the character and his or her own conflicts, with the  villain being only one aspect of the story.

My movie poster 

The convention of the title of the film being below the actors. I wanted to go along with this convention as I felt as though it was very effective, and brings forward the mise-en-scene of my trailer. The text that I have used is slightly older fashioned, showcasing that my trailer is period. I found the font of the title was one of the most important conventions of  movie posters, as they portray the feel of the film as well as giving away certain aspects of the film such as period. The example of The Woman In Black poster showcases this, as the glowing font means that the audience can expect something out of the ordinary. Even though I did not go down this route with my movie poster font, I used an older style as I felt as though it can make the audience expect that my product would be setin the past, making it seem more mysterious as associations with the period my product is set in, tends to be Gothic Horror and large scary mansions. The mist affect that I have put around the text I did to make the poster look more professional, and was heavily influenced again by The Woman In Black movie poster.



















Another convention that I have used in my film poster is the dark lighting that used in the posters, usually illuminated by an old timely lamp or a candle. This can be seen among a wide array of Gothic Horror movie posters, as it reflects the time period that they are usually set in, and is a nod towards the very original Gothic Horror pieces that are set in a time when every home would not usually have electricity. This convention is seen in two Examples above, Crimson Peak and the Others.  This was a convention that I mirrored in my movie poster as displayed here:

Candle lighting I used 

 As displayed in my film poster, I have followed the conventions displayed in the examples above. Having Arthur hold a candle in the poster gave off a very mysterious and unsettling lighting, with only his face and body being lit up. I followed this convention because I felt as though it was true to the genre, and also looked very professional and showcased my ability to experiential with different forms of lighting. The use of the candle was also influenced by the fact I wanted to portray that my trailer was set in period, going with the convention of Gothic Horror media being set in the past, usually Victorian to turn of the century.

For my film website, I went against and also conformed to certain conventions of not just film websites, but websites for Gothic Horror products.  I was heavily influenced by the Crimson Peak website, where I identified numerous conventions of movie website that I then conformed to in my own product.  I chose the color black for the background of my website as it has connotations of evil and unwelcoming, which is part of the overall conventional mise-en-scene and feel of Gothic Horror media pieces.

My website main page

The background of my website also made the text stand out, which I feel makes the website look very professional and immediately directs the audience to the title. The font of the title as well also helps promote the mise-en-scene of my main production, as it is set in the past, therefore the typography being of an old timely writing style helps promote that aspect of my production. It also adds a flair to my website,  going along with the convention of movie websites putting  the films title as a center piece of the page, as seen in the Crimson Peak website. I followed this convention as I felt it made my website look more professional and realistic, and more like the websites that I found in my format research. The crimson Peak website also heavily influenced the overall layout of my website, with me taking the idea of having various pages that explains the narrative of my website, displaying a gallery of stills from my production, and also putting in an interview of cast members and the directors.

The options for the different pages on my website 

This convention I followed again as I felt as though it made my website seem professional and also helps my audience navigate through the site.

Something I did with my website that was not necessarily a convention of movie websites, was include an interview with the director and the actor. This was something I had always wanted to do as I felt like it would make my audience feel more involved with the overall production. The format research I conducted for my website did not have this, so it can not be called a convention of movie websites. However, I feel as though including it ultimately added a different feel to my website, and also purposely placed to differ from the dark mise-en-scene across the board, to make my website a more light hearted experience.

The typography that I used was also different from the old fashioned typography I used in my website and on my movie poster.  This is because I wanted the interview to be readable, as the old timely typography was very hard to read in such small font, and also it adds more variety to my website.