Genre Research
Genre Research
Genre: Horror
WHY: Horror is one of the most popular genres and loved by many. I personally don’t love the genre horror, because I get easily scared easily. Although that doesn’t take away from how fascinating the genre can be. It’s something all people know is fake but still don’t decipher what’s real and what's just for the film. People watch for the entertainment and thrill that horror gives. Also, I want to learn more about horror, one can only imagine that it goes behind the specifics of a horror movie. Whether it's prosthetics, makeup, mise en scene, or extreme props, not all movie genres involve. Simply figuring out what makes a horror movie, “horror” to us.
CONTENT: The genre horror is described as a story that aims to scare, thrill, disgust, shock, and more. They seek to make you scared, feel uneasy and experience suspense. Now even with that central goal all horror movies share, they can branch into numerous plots and themes. The ways these movies can branch is mostly deciphered about their plot. Horror movies can be gothic horror, which is usually a type of human vs. unnatural forces. There is also comedy horror, that combines the element of humor to horror that lightens the feel of the film and adds other messages. Supernatural horror is a popular subgenre in horror, and it involves supernatural things such as ghosts or spirits having a large involvement in the film. Another common subgenre is psychological horror, which uses people's emotions and mental states to creep viewers out in a way. A familiar example of this is the new movie Smile. The main character in this movie is people but since they are in an altered state of mind psychologically, it has a way of scaring people. Last, is and adventure horror, where the main plot has an adventure/action of the main character with the added element of horror. Typical conventions and popular areas of horror that are most commonly seen include monsters, killers, or paranormal activity. Now considering the characters, there is usually a focus on a main character, which is either the villain, monster, or “bad guy”, or follow a specific person or people that is the “good guy”. For instance, in the movie The Shining the “bad guy” is the main character. Another typical convention is in horror movies is setting. Horror movies have a way of adding suspense and messages through the setting. Usually things are creepy, dark, or the main character is in a setting alone. This makes the audience scared or makes them predict something is going to happen.
TECHNIQUES: Horror movies wouldn’t be horror movies without special techniques that remind the audience of scariness or suspense. These techniques are well known for everyone so any viewer can pick out and read. The first technique that is very popular in horror movies is sound effects/music. Sound effects and music have such a huge roll in horror movies adding suspense or emphasizing something. Watching a horror movie with no sound is almost not even scary. Music can be added to tell the audience something is coming or imply scariness. And sound effects can add to someone's character, or event. For example, in a movie, if someone jumps out at someone and in post-production a loud sound effect is added, it makes the event much more effective. For instance, in the movie Jaws, there is a specific scene where Matthew Hooper the oceanographer dives into the water to investigate a sunken boat. When he gets down there a man's head pops out and a loud sound effect plays, emphasizing the head's appearance.
Another technique that is more specific to horror movies is the element of surprise. In horror movies that aren't about gore, it is common to have scares. It is a very effective way to scare some, without them knowing it is coming. In the movie The Conjuring there is several jump scares, adding immense amount of suspense and thrill onto the audience. Now, moving more mise en scene related techniques, lighting has a big sway on a movies effect. There is several lightings for horror movies such as uplighting, using underexposure to make viewers unable to view some parts of the screen, there is also projection shadows, silhouette lighting, shows lighting, and bright lighting. They all can create a feeling of mystery and tension, which is exactly what is intended for the viewer's to feel. And the techniques are carefully chosen to match the feel the directors want to give the audience. As seen in this photo there is a shadow so it doesn’t obviously show the audience what the creature is but insinuating that something is coming and going to happen.
Continuing with mise en scene colors also influence and add to the “horror” tone. Common colors in horror movies are usually dark colors such as blacks, greys, and reds. The dark colors are used symbolically, they represent scariness, or evilness. And red can be seen as a gory color, regarding it is the color of blood and can emphasize the feelings of fear and anger. The last technique used in horror movies is more plot related. Often in horror movies the characters tend to make bad decisions in desperate times, and viewers often feel they would make a smarter decision if they were in the same position. I find that horror movies use this common technique within their plot to further the story. For example, in a movie Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the main characters picked up an alarming looking stranger in their car in the woods. And it is obvious that it is a bad decision, but a technique very normalized in horror films.
MARKETING: When the word marketing is brought up, you automatically think of trying to sell something or bring interest in something. Therefore, you use the most wanted trait about your product. And when it comes to horror movies you want to appeal to the people who like scary movies, and a lot of people are looking for scariness and thrill, so that’s what is advertised. Advertisers make trailers, posters, social media posts and other advertisements focused on the horror factor. They use the same techniques in video trailers, and posters. Here are some poster examples.
Not only is social media, videos and posters advertisement, but specific to horror movies, rarely but sometimes in person advertisements happen. In other words, an example would be the new movie smile. They advertised the movie at first by putting actors into crowds of popular places to stand and creepily smile. This drew attention to them ultimately drawing attention to the movie. This is a picture of an actor in the crowd at an MLB game.
SAMPLES: The first example movie is the movie called “A Quiet Place”. This movie a Sci-Fi horror film directed by John Krasinski. It is about an altered post-apocalyptic reality where you can't make any noise or else blind mysterious creatures with amplified hearing will find you and kill you. So, the main characters are a family trying and determined to navigate their lives in a silent world. They faced many challenges such as having young children, giving birth, and show many other struggles that make living this life so hard. They learn to adapt to the world but using other ways to communicate and function. Most of the movie is quiet so it is more of a chilling movie, than gore.
The second sample movie is not a Sci-Fi horror but psychological horror/thriller film, an Anthony Hopkins movie made in 1991. The main character is Clarice Starling, who is a new FBI agent. There is a new serial killer, that kills woman, for their skin to make himself a woman skin/suit for himself to wear. Clarice is assigned to interview a past serial killer Hannibal Lector to try to get information on this nee case. Hannibal was a psychopath who also happened to be a psychiatrist. He got to meet his character, relive his past, and use his information while trying figure out this new murder. It has a suspenseful and thrilling ending of catching the killer and Hannibal on the loose.
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