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

When creating our product, we knew we had to conform to the main stereotypes in the horror genre, including an antagonist, protagonist and victim. However, by subverting the usual expectations, audiences become more engrossed in the media text, being persuaded to go and watch the film in cinemas. 

Our antagonist is the clown. We got our main inspiration from the original film 'IT' as it included a evil and mysterious clown. This conforms to the stereotypes of our chosen genre as the clown is eerie, murderous, suspicious and frightening. We wanted to present our clown as peculiar, helping keep audiences interested. We presented our clown in all black clothing with a bold and dauntless mask. The conforms to the conventions and stereotypes of horror as it's used to scare and frighten viewers. 

Our other three characters in our trailer are the three victims. We wanted to show them as innocent, vulnerable and endangered to help conform to the horror genre. We chose outfits that were fairly basic including minimal colours and patterns to help make them look faultless. 

The soundtrack of our product is extremely freaky whereby it sounds like chimes are playing. We also use multiple tracks including creepy children whispering and circus noises. This conforms to the idea of the clown and its surroundings as well as reflecting horror and the intentions to scare viewers. 

When editing we used the transition of 'dip to black' this is effective as when leaving a scene it leaves audiences questioning what will happen next. 

We used a non additive dissolve when editing to show one scene fade onto another. This effect shows the clown in the background fading away. This conforms to the conventions of a horror as it makes it look as if something is watching you, and you don't realise its there until you look deeper into the scene. With the children whispering in the background it creates a completely tense and unnerving atmosphere.
We subverted the stereotypes and conventions of a horror due to the location settings. For example, a park wouldn't usually be used in a horror film as its a place for enjoyment and happiness. However, as our antagonist is a clown we thought it would be effective as clowns lure in children and target them. We managed to subvert expectations but make it work efficiently in our product.
Another area whereby we subverted stereotypes is when we use the record player. Even though we made it black and white to help create a tense atmosphere the diegetic sound is jazz. This reduces the alarming effect of the trailer. Although, it may keep audiences asking questions as it keeps changing from scene to scene. This is an example of enigma codes by Roland Bathes as the trailer isn't fully explained, tantalising the viewers.
We reinforce the idea of binary oppositions as there is a clear divide between good and evil. The clown is the eerie and evil character whereby it targets victims and aims to kill them. The innocent and pure teenagers are good as they are only making their way home from school and not asking for their torture.