EVALUATION ONE: Have you subverted or conformed to stereotypes typical of your genre?

For our trailer, our chosen genre was horror. Horror films are rated to be the third most watched films in the world, with action and adventure first, followed by comedy second. Through numerous research we were able to find and learn about specific conventions and stereotypes relating to the four key areas of, MES, Sound, Editing and Camera to what makes a successful horror trailer. Some examples included, quick and fast paced editing so that the audience are left feeling confused and puzzled, which generates the emotion of mystery, which keeps the audience engaged and fixated. Dark clothing to be worn by the antagonist to emphasise a hidden identity, which further adds mystery  to entice our audience. We used binary oppositions in our trailer between 'good' and 'evil' between the hugely  terrifying clown and the three innocent,vulnerable girls. This is a stereotypical convention used in horror films to help set the scene.

We conformed and subverted to the stereotypes of a horror in our trailer.

Sound was a key area of where conventional expectations were met and conformed to. Adding sound was the final step to making our trailer, so we had ensure that all the footage and editing was complete before pasting in any sound, as this would jumble up our timeline and move everything around. Sound in horror films is a primary element to what makes the audience feel scared. Without sound, the audience would not feel as on edge or tense, so it was imperative that we one, had appropriate music and two, was fitted into the correct area. We used a mixture of diegetic and non-diegetic sound to make our trailer seem as realistic as possible. In the opening to our trailer, there is an eerie thud sound, as our institutions are introduced. This thud conforms to a horror trailer, it sets the mood that this is not a positive or optimistic location. Films such as Sinister, The conjuring and Insidious all feature this particular sound effect, which are all successful, box office hits under the horror title. The opening, establishing shot opens with diegetic sound of a radio playing jazz music. Initially, this would be seen to subvert to a horror trailer, as jazz is seen to be joyful and happy music, and horror films are the stark opposite of that. However, modern day horror films play on the idea of ordinary things, to make audience feel enticed as things almost seem 'too normal' before what Todorov's would call a 'disruption of the equilibrium', whereby an action causes a dip in the trailer, changing the initial narrative of the film. We also used sound effects in our trailer, which also conformed to the stereotypes of a horror film. We used a heartbeat sound towards the end of the trailer, to build up tension. Building tension towards the end is an effective way to make the audience go and see the film. The heart beat connotes to the idea that someone is feeling anxious, the heartbeat is fairly quick which accentuates the idea that someone is feeling scared- a common attribute and emotion that is expressed in horror films. Films such as 'IT' and ' The Shining' have used the heartbeat sound effect, which were also very successful horror films.

Costume also displayed a key attribute in our trailer. As we did a clown horror, we had to almost subvert and steer away from the typical soul destroying and blood thirsty demons hunting and possessing innocent people, but rather, look at a clown and how we can get the clown to be perceived as 'scary'. We took a lot of inspiration from the 1986 classic, 'IT' by Stephen King. This displayed a clown in a full on clown outfit, however we subverted from this idea, primarily because it was expensive to buy the full outfit and was too hard finding a place to buy it. Therefore, we had to come up with a way in which we could still make a clown look like a clown and be terrifying. We brought  mask from a store, which was slightly over sized, which conformed to a horror as it almost showed the idea of dehumanization, and also had stereotypical conventions of a clown appearance, such as, a red nose, white skin and extended smile. We then dressed our antagonist in black clothing, as this connotes to power, mystery and darkness which all conform to a horror film. The girls were dressed in simplistic clothing, such as jeans and t.shirts, basic clothing that teenage girls would wear. The effect of this meant that the girls appeared relatable and vulnerable, which helped to prey on the personas of the three girls, displaying them as innocent and helpless, which also conforms to horror films of having a innocent girl, such The Orphan and Would you Rather.

Editing was a way where we could play around and experiment to create tension and fear for our audience. We used a non additive dissolve numerous times in the trailer, to add a creepy and paranormal atmosphere. This can be displayed in the scene with the clown on the swing. As the swing is swinging back and forth, we faded in a non additive dissolve to merge two clips over the top of one and other.  This conformed to a horror film as the effect made the clown appear like it could be in two places at once, something that is not considered 'normal' in the human world, suggesting a paranormal and scary vibe being created. We used fast paced editing towards the end of the trailer, which conforms to a horror film as fast editing generates confusion, so this not only makes our audience want to see our film so they can discover what will happen, but also creates tension and fear of when the fast building of editing is going to end.

There were aspects in our trailer that were subverted to, and this came down to a particular location used in the trailer. We used a park as a scene where the clown is displayed swinging on a swing slowly, and then cutting to a scene where the clown is no longer shown. This created the paranormal vibe that we waned, but the general location of the park i feel subverts to a horror film. Parks are primarily made as an entertainment factor for young kids to run around, have fun and enjoy themselves, so why include this in a horror trailer? We figured that because clowns are historically associated with children, as they were seen to tell jokes and give balloons out to them, we wanted to put the clown in a location where children would go. We almost put two and two together, and put completely juxtaposing things together to create an uneasy atmosphere. Although a park subverts to a horror film, we made it work seeing a we were filming at night and there was nobody else in the shot.