Production conventions

Production conventionsidentifying how I am employing the conventions of the horror genre in my trailer.

PlotsIDENTIFYING HOW CONVENTIONAL MY TRAILER STORYLINES ARE.

This storyline is conventional for a slasher horror as it involves a lot of torture, violence and gore a lot of slasher films such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Saw employ these aspects to make it conventional and so if I was to follow this plot I would use the torture, violence and gore to follow the conventions.The storyline as a whole is very conventional for a horror films as many films have used kidnapping/hostage as the main story for the film.However, if I followed this plot, it would be slightly challenging conventions by involving the family and passively torturing them by making them make themselves torture themselves by making brutal sacrifices.A girl goes missing is kidnapped and held in an abandoned warehouse asks family for a ransom the family have to search for the girl using clues they are given after each sacrifice they make.

Both these films follow a kidnap/hostage storyline and are conventional horror films.

A girl goes missing is kidnapped and held in an abandoned warehouse asks family for a ransom the family have to search for the girl using clues they are given after each sacrifice they make.

As you can see in the trailer, the Saw film is about kidnap and torture and is still conventional for a horror film.

The kidnap storyline will be easy to keep conventional by using blood (the Saw trailer contains a lot of bloody scenes) and showing the hurt of the family suffering without their daughter in their life and the pain they are experiencing when making the sacrifices.

After exploring an abandoned warehouse, one of the friends goes missing and she becomes possessed tries to kill her friends.

This storyline is very conventional as psychological and supernatural horror films are currently extremely popular. Films like Insidious and Sinister have used a possession storyline and have both been very successful and have even made sequels.

Violence and death are also very common aspects of horror films and so by making the possessed friend a killer makes the storyline even more conventional for the genre.

A group of friends use a Ouija board to speak to the dead one friend (as a joke) challenges the ghost to prove it is real. Freaky things then start to happen in the house.

This storyline is conventional and films such as The Gallows have used a similar plot where creepy things begin to happen when they interfere.Using a prop as the main focus point is also conventional as Babadook uses a book as the main prop and Ouiji uses a Ouiji board, similar to this plot.

On an exploration day, a group of friends realised they are being followed by something unseen. Slowly, each friend disappears into the hands of the creature and become followers of it.This storyline is also conventional for a horror film, however its slightly unconventional that the killer is one of the friends that is possessed as usually this storyline would be a slasher horror however the demon and possessed girl makes it psychological, too.Jeepers Creepers and Jeepers Creepers 2 is an example of a film where people are followed and are killed off one by one.

settingWhat settings are conventional for horror films.

An abandoned warehouseThis setting will be conventional as the atmosphere will be naturally creepy and will look very mysterious with low key lighting which is always used to create tension in horror films.House On The Haunted Hill is set in an abandoned asylum which would have a similar atmosphere to an abandoned warehouse setting.

A HOUSEThis setting would make the film relatable and it is extremely conventional for a horror film to be set here as it is used in almost every single horror film.Films like Insidious, Unfriended, Mama and Poltergeist are set in houses.

A schoolThis would be a unique and unconventional setting for a horror film and would excite teenagers who go to school as they are seeing things supernatural that could potentially happen at their school.Using an old school building would make it a slightly conventional setting as usually older buildings are used in horror films to give a creepy and supernatural vibe as there is a possibility of ghosts living there.I would have to make this setting more conventional by using very low key lighting and using bland rooms as a lot of schools are very colourful and bright which would be unconventional and wouldnt suit the horror genre.

A forestForests are another really conventional setting for a horror film as they already have an eerie atmosphere and so can make people scared or worried even when nothing creepy is happening. I would use the forest in the dark or leading up to the dark to make the sky look dull and have a natural low key light on the setting to make it suit the horror genre. The forest seen in the Cabin in the Woods trailer is very conventional. They have filmed at night-time and made the forest look deserted apart from one isolated cabin to make the audience immediately suspicious and nervous about who would live there.

CharactersWhich characters are conventional and used lots in horror films

DemonDemons are conventional for supernatural and psychological horror films and would suit it if I made a trailer for that sub-genre, however, it wouldnt suit a slasher film and so if I were to make a slasher trailer I wouldnt use a demon character.To make the demon conventional, I would have to make it look as scary as possible and use a lot of black to connote mystery. Demons are used a lot in supernatural and psychological horror films as they scare the viewer a lot as they dont know what it is. Films like Insidious, Mama and Babadook successfully use demons conventionally as they look scary and they play a big part in scaring the audience.

GHOSTGhosts are also conventional for horror films, especially when they have been awoken. They are easy to make conventional as they dont have to have a physical presence in the film because they are spirits, but can still cause pain and destruction to anyone who disturbs their peace.

Group of friendsHaving a group of friends as the main characters of a horror film is extremely conventional as it makes the film relatable and makes the audience fear that the same things could happen to them and their friends.To make the group of friends conventional, they would each have to have different and some contrasting personalities and different traits that make them react differently to one another when they are experiencing the terror.These films all use friends as the main characters and do it conventionally by having each friend be different from one another, have different styles and opinions, etc. Because of this, if I use a group of friends in my trailer I will make sure they are easily distinguishable from one another to keep the audience interested in each individual person.

kidnapperIf I was to use a kidnapper in my trailer, I would make them look unconventional by having them look normal and dress in regular, casual clothing to shock the audience when they realise that they arent in fact genuine with good intentions.Wolf Creek and Texas Chainsaw Massacre both have kidnappers and they look conventional. By making my kidnapper break the conventions, it makes the film a little bit more unique and may get more attention from the shock factor that a seemingly normal person can be a kidnapper and potential killer.

familyThe majority of horror films have a regular, conventional family in and to keep conventions I will do the same thing if I decide to have a family in mine.I will make them conventional by having a mother, father, daughter and son and they will live comfortably with well-paid jobs and a typical suburban house. This makes the film and family relatable to the audience which will keep them interested and make them want to watch the full film to find out what happens to the conventional family.