Horror Genre
Horror is a film genre seeking to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's primal fears. Inspired by literature from authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, horror films have for more than a century featured scenes that startle the viewer. The macabre and the supernatural are frequent themes. Thus they may overlap with the fantasy, supernatural, and thriller genres.Horror films often deal with the viewer's nightmares, hidden fears, revulsions and terror of the unknown. Plots within the horror genre often involve the intrusion of an evil force, event, or personage, commonly of supernatural origin, into the everyday world. Prevalent elements include ghosts, aliens, vampires, werewolves, demons, gore, torture, vicious animals, evil witches, monsters, zombies, cannibals, and serial killers. Conversely, movies about the supernatural are not necessarily always horrific.
Characters:
-The Protagonist - often a female role, most morally standing/smartest of the group. Almost always survive in order to be part of a sequel
-The Sex Appeal - Role often filled by a promiscuous Woman, often the first to be killed + are the first to expose their body
-The Irritating Character - Often partnered with the ‘Sex Appeal’ and often the first to go - due to their behaviour (The Viewer is usually happy when they have been killed off)
-The Unlikely Hero - Generally the one the audience suspects to be the antagonist because of their actions/appearance in the film
-The Antagonist - The ‘Bad Guy’ of the film - usually revealed at the end of the tim. usually killed off at the end/wounded in some cases to make room for a possible sequel
-The Token Black Guy - Often the one to sacrifice them selves to save others or to act as the muscle of the group - Sometimes take the role of ‘The Irritating Guy’.
-The One who gets his Comeuppance - ‘Side Kick’ of the ‘antagonist’ - Only interested in their own well being but always killed off before the end.
Conventions of a Horror Film
- Good Versus Evil
- Depression
- Religion
- Childhood Issues
- Revenge
- Supernatural
- Beyond Death
- Science Goes Bad
- Zombie Apocalypse
- Nightmares
- Madness
- Insanity
- Lust
- Self-Consciousness
- Envy
- Suicide
Horror Film 1 - The Possession
The Possession is about a young girl who buys an antique box at a yard sale, unaware that inside the collectible lives a malicious ancient spirit. The girl's father teams with his ex-wife to find a way to end the curse upon their child. Some conventions in the film include (Good Versus Evil, Religion, Supernatural, Madness etc) the film is about an exorcism, one of the main stereotypes within the Horror Genre. Within most Horror films, to create a suspenseful atmosphere the film is mainly built up of Diegetic Sounds e.g (Door Slam, Creaking Floorboards, Wind, Rocking Chair sound etc) the Soundtrack however is Orchestral - Non-Diegetic, meaning you can hear the soft but deep sounds of a violin, Scary wavy Brass section or even the loud slam of a Drum. Also in the film (Inside the Box) it contains a dead moth. The moth is a symbol of sensitivity and impulsiveness, in dreams it can mean impending danger, and has traditionally been associated with psychic powers and their development. And of course like butterflies, they represent transformation. It is said that moths are an omen (Portent of good or evil) death in some cultures too.
Horror Film 2 - Saw
Saw is about Two men who wake up in a secure lair of a serial killer who's been nicknamed "Jigsaw". The men must follow various rules and objectives if they wish to survive and win the deadly game set for them. some conventions in the film include (Good Versus Evil, Insanity, Madness and maybe revenge and suicide) The film is like a game show, they both must complete a task in order to go onto the next level (in this case survive). Just like in The Possession, the sounds are mainly Diegetic e.g (Door Slam, Creaking Floorboards, Wind, Rocking Chair sound etc) but there is also a Soundtrack played over the top of the footage. Jigsaw is related in some sense to a clown (Scary Make-Up Mask, Rides a Clown Size, Children's Size Trike) Clowns are again a main stereotype of a Horror Film. The main Clown Horror film of all time in my opinion has to be 'IT' the story about Pennywise the Clown. As it says here "Some researchers believe that coulrophobia cases increased after the 1990’s, when Steven Spielberg directed the classic horror film “IT” depicting a murderous clown was released" - http://www.coulrophobiafacts.com/
Horror Film 1 - The Possession
The Possession is about a young girl who buys an antique box at a yard sale, unaware that inside the collectible lives a malicious ancient spirit. The girl's father teams with his ex-wife to find a way to end the curse upon their child. Some conventions in the film include (Good Versus Evil, Religion, Supernatural, Madness etc) the film is about an exorcism, one of the main stereotypes within the Horror Genre. Within most Horror films, to create a suspenseful atmosphere the film is mainly built up of Diegetic Sounds e.g (Door Slam, Creaking Floorboards, Wind, Rocking Chair sound etc) the Soundtrack however is Orchestral - Non-Diegetic, meaning you can hear the soft but deep sounds of a violin, Scary wavy Brass section or even the loud slam of a Drum. Also in the film (Inside the Box) it contains a dead moth. The moth is a symbol of sensitivity and impulsiveness, in dreams it can mean impending danger, and has traditionally been associated with psychic powers and their development. And of course like butterflies, they represent transformation. It is said that moths are an omen (Portent of good or evil) death in some cultures too.
Horror Film 2 - Saw
Saw is about Two men who wake up in a secure lair of a serial killer who's been nicknamed "Jigsaw". The men must follow various rules and objectives if they wish to survive and win the deadly game set for them. some conventions in the film include (Good Versus Evil, Insanity, Madness and maybe revenge and suicide) The film is like a game show, they both must complete a task in order to go onto the next level (in this case survive). Just like in The Possession, the sounds are mainly Diegetic e.g (Door Slam, Creaking Floorboards, Wind, Rocking Chair sound etc) but there is also a Soundtrack played over the top of the footage. Jigsaw is related in some sense to a clown (Scary Make-Up Mask, Rides a Clown Size, Children's Size Trike) Clowns are again a main stereotype of a Horror Film. The main Clown Horror film of all time in my opinion has to be 'IT' the story about Pennywise the Clown. As it says here "Some researchers believe that coulrophobia cases increased after the 1990’s, when Steven Spielberg directed the classic horror film “IT” depicting a murderous clown was released" - http://www.coulrophobiafacts.com/
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