You Tube video: Evolution of the Horror Film Genre

This video shows how it has evolved and how it relates to society. It is showing how it has evolved from 1920s to the 21st century. This gives you an idea of how its changed this is due to many factors. One of these factors could be that technology has improved to enable higher quality films.

Conventions of Horror

Setting

 

• Urban environments, dark streets and narrow, dark alleyways.
• Abandoned houses, hotels and dungeons/jails.
• Lakes, barns, dark woods, subways.

 

 

 

 

Narrative

Always a hero, a protagonist, a man or girl. Usually the hero must be there to take part in a mission or to solve problems.  There is usually an even that turns the killer insane , or by some childhood issues or bad memories.

 

Character Types





•  The main protagonist (victim/hero) of the movie.
• The villain, which is normally a monster, alien, ghost or a mutated freak.
• Scary children/ psychologically scarred children.
• Zombies or demons.

 

 

Themes



• Good vs evil
• Depression
• Psychological
• Supernatural
• Suicide
• Insanity
 
 
 

 



Horror sub genre

Analysis of fonts in opening titles of films

This is the opning titles to Evil Dead. The main title font is very sharp and pointed and is in red, red has connotations of danger and blood that link to horror. There are trees in the title which make you think of dark forests which makes it feel creepy and dark.  The titles throughout the opening are also in red bold font which stands out. This links to the sequence because there is blood throughout the whole opening which is red. Red links to danger too and there are props that link to danger, nails and a crow bar which could be dangerous weapons.

Font Analysis

This font could be used in a horror film. The audience would like this because the font looks like it has blood dripping from the letters which links with the convention of horror films being gory. This font is classified as being scary from the website www.fonts.com.


This font looks like it has been scratched which is violent and links to the horror genre. It also looks blurred which shows confusion linking to horror again.

Analysis of props

This is a scene from the ABC's of Death(2013), i have chosen to analyse this prop because we are including knives in our opening scene for our horror film. This knife is made to look sinister because of the blood that is on the knife, the red blood automatically makes you think of horror and death, also the way she is holding the knife as affected the way you see the knife. If this knife didnt have the blood and she was holding it in a different way, it wouldnt seem as scary. Also the character holding the prop can effect the way you see the prop.

This is another knife this is shown in The Stepfather, this again makes the knife seem scary and violent. The character effects the emphasis of the prop, as the man has a scared/shocked look on his face this shows that he could be in danger which is why he has a knife in his hand. If the character had a smile on his face and he is cutting vegetables we would think that this is normal so we wouldn't think much of the knife being used as a prop.

This is a bin bag scene, i have chosen this as we are going to use a bin bag in our final task. This makes the bin bag seem quite scary because the colours are black, and its dark outside. Also the character with the bin bag has their hood up this could mean they are trying to hide something or don't want to be seen which creates a sense of mystery.

Media Classification

 

The Film, DVD and video game regulations.

*HORROR is in capitals  and higlighted because my final task is horror so thats what im focusing on.

• 
  Suitable for all
• No discrimination
• No drugs(illegal or the misuse of drugs)
• HORROR- Scary sequences these are mild, brief and also it is unlikely to cause anxiety to young children.
• No dangerous behaviour.
• No frequent bad language.
• Only natural nudity (no sexual content)
• Mild sexual behaviour.
• Mild Violence

• 
  Parental guidance
• Some scenes may be unsuitable for children.
• These films shouldnt disturb children aged 8 years and over.
• Parents are to choose whether the film could upset their children.
• Discriminatory language isn't going to be acceptable unless it is educational/historical or it is clearly disaproved.
• Illegal drug use must have a suitable anti-drug message or innocuous.
• HORROR - scenes shouldnt be intense.
• No dangerous behaviour  that children could copy.
• Mild bad language.
• Natural Nudity.
• Sexual activity should be discreet and not frequent.
• Mild Innuendo.
• No serious issues should condone unacceptable beaviour.
• No detailed violence.

• 
  Cinema release suitable for 12 years and over
• Same criteria as 12.
• The category only exists in cinema films.
• The adult may take a child if under 12 but they must be accompanied.
• HORROR- Moderate. physical and psychological threat may be permited provided disturbing sequences are not frequent or sustained.
• Nudity is allowed, sexual content must be brief and discreet.
• Sexual activity may be briefly and discreetly potrayed.
• Mature themes are acceptable.
• Moderate violence is allowed but should not dwell on detail.

• 
  Video release suitable for 12 years and over
• Same criteria for 12A

• 
  Suitable only for 15 years and over
• HORROR- Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.
• There may be frequent strong language for example ('fuck'). The strongest terms for example ('cunt') may be acceptable if justified.
• Nudity is allowed without strong detail.
• Sex may be portrayed but without strong detail.
• No theme is prohibited provided it is appropriate.
• Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the pain or injury.

• 
  Suitable only for adults
• Any theme
• Violence is allowed in almost any way.
• Sex education at '18'
• Sex works at '18'.
• Adults should be free to choose their own entertainment.
• Any detailed portrayel of violent or dangerous acts or of illegal drug use which may cause harm to public health or morals is not acceptable.
• Sex works is confined.
• Original sex scenes.
• Violence which might, for example, eroticise or endorse sexual assault is not acceptable.

 

 

Analysis of the opening titles of Insidious

Analysing the opening titles for insidious



The opening titles of insidious have many aspects that can establish genre, character and narrative. These aspects are,setting, props, lighting, costume and make-up, movement and framing and composition.

 The mise en scene of the opening titles includes the setting,costumes,lighting,characters,make-up and props. The costumes aren't very clear on the opening titles as we only see ghostly figures and shadows, we see a ghostly lady holding a candle and she is wearing very dark clothing, a connotation of dark is bad and evil so this suggests the woman is evil. The lighting is low key in the opening titles this creates a scary , mysterious feeling to the audience. These feelings link to the conventions of the genre which is horror. The setting is a family home the opening titles show every room in black and white which creates a sense of mystery and spookiness which also links to the horror genre. The characters in this film aren't really shown in the opening tiles, only in a family photo of all four of them together so we can't find out much about the characters in the titles. There are alot of props used in the opening tiles to create a realistic feel to the house of the family. One of the props the grandfather clock is shown alot this could be suggesting importance. We don't see much make-up in the film only on the ghostly woman holding a candle her make up is done to make her look pale which creates a sense of ghostliness. The titles of the film are in red, connotations of red are danger and blood this links to the horror genre. The sound in these titles is there to create a tense feeling for the audience and at the start there is non diagetic sound. The music that cover the rest of the opening titles is eerie and creates a sense of mystery.

The title sequence attracts the audience because we are made to feel like we want to know more as we don't see much of the characters and don't find out much so we want to know more by watching the film. Also the tense feeling and fear gives you a nervous feeling but you also want to find out what is going to happen for example, who is the ghost? why is she in the house? I consider the target audience to be teenagers as they are at an age where they aren't too scared to watch the horror film and they also like to have a laugh with friends being scared at watching it too. The age rating is a 15 so this suggests the main audience age as it is too scary for younger people to watch and it could make them really uncomfortable and frightened. The film is produced by FilmDistrict and this is not shown in the opening titles which could be a bad thing as you don't know who the film is produced by which is an important piece of information.

Analysis of opening titles to The Conjuring

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Preliminary Task Shooting Schedule

SHOOTING SCHEDULE

1. A medium shot of both characters standing opposite each other.
2. Point of view shot Bfrom female's (Lucy's) view looking at the male (Sam) talking.
3. Point of view shot from male's (Sam's) view looking at the female (Lucy) when she replies to same talking. Staying within the 180 degree rule. Shots 2 and 3 will be edited together to show a use of Shot Reverse Shot.
4. Zoom towards the male's(Sam's) face when he sees the female (Lucy) walk through the door and walk across the room.
5. Close-up from behind the female's (Lucy's) shoes when she walks through the door.
6.  A close-up from the front of the female's (Lucy's) shoes when she enters the room. Shots 5 and 6 will be edited together to show use of Match On Action.
7. Tracking shot of female's (Lucy's) shoes as she walks across the room towards the table where the male (Sam) will be sitting.
8. Close-up of Lucy's mouth when she smiles when she sees the male (Sam).

 

 

Analysis of opening titles of ZOMBIELAND

Analysis of ZOMBIELAND opening titles

 setting, props, lighting, costume and make up, movement, framing and composition

 

 The setting for the opening titles of this film is a mixture, it goes from a street in a town to a wedding day. The setting can tell us a lot about the film, well the title tells us a lot as its 'zombieland' but the setting can say a lot about the film too, the setting is a connotation of a zombie film in a town. Some of the props in these film opening titles are, riot shields, crow bar and guns. These are also a connotation of a zombie film as they are weapons and in many zombie films there are weapons as we associate the weapons with the killing of zombies. The lighting of these titles is high key lighting, high key light is made up of more filler lights and produces bright lighting and it looks natural and realistic. The costumes used in the opening titles are what you would expect to see in zombie films , every day wear by the zombies and other characters in the opening titles too. This shows alot about the film because these are the characters that will be in the film as they are being foreshadowed in the opening titles. The make-up is very effective making the actors/actresses look like zombies and look scary which is what people expect from a zombie film. Also scariness attracts viewers to the film as many people enjoying watching horrors and having laughs with their friends as everyone gets scared. Movement of the titles is a very fast pace this is related to zombies. We think of zombies and think of running away or fighting which is fast pace. The framing and composition is very good because most of the time the focus of each shot in the titles is in the centre. For example on the wedding day shot we see the bride and groom in the middle and our attention is drawn to the important part of the shot.

The titles of the film are red, a connotation of red is danger which is what we expect in a horror film so this shows how the titles and film are linked. Overall the opening titles of Zombieland are what we expect to see, running away from zombies, weapons and blood these are all conventions of the horror genre which zombieland is a part of.

 

 

 

 

Representation of People in the media

Conventional Represenatations - What we expect

Mean Girls

• Hair and Make Up
• Pink- related to girls
• Clothes- Skirts and heels
• Long Hair

Representation that challenges stereotypes. - What we dont expect

G.I Jane

• Shaved Hair
• Dark
• No Make Up

JACK WILSHIRE (ARSENAL PLAYER)

 



Here jack is being negatively represented as he is smoking while out socializing this shows that he isn't behaving properly and makes the audience that usually see him as a footballer(below photo) are shocked as smoking can impact his health and others around him.

 

Here jack is being positively represented as a talented football player that he usually is playing  for Aresnal this is what the audience like to see.

Analysis of the opening tiltles of 'Seven'

The props in these opening titles tell us a lot about the setting/location. You can see a lamp and a desk this automatically gives us a connotation of a study or office. The props also tell us about the genre, there are scissors and blades this connotes a horror genre because of the connotations we get from blades and scissors being dangerous and weapons, which are often used in horror films.

Self Evaluation:
I think this work us at a grade low D. This is because i have only given a simple analysis with very little explanation. To improve i need to make sure that i include detailed analysis and expand on my points further to secure a good grade.