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Generic conventions of horror

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The opening scene of The Woman in Black establishes an eerie atmosphere through its use of generic horror conventions. We see three young girls playing with dolls accompanied by unsettling music, foreshadowing danger. Their strange behavior and a mysterious figure in black hook the audience to learn more. Iconography like screaming and the veil associated with death effectively set the horror tone for the film. The target audience is likely those 25 and under who enjoy horror genres, and the film attracted viewers through its young actors like Daniel Radcliffe from Harry Potter.

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Generic conventions of horror
The genre of the film is horror; it includes gore, suspense and fear. One of the generic conventions is set. Horror films are usually set in isolated areas where there is no help for the characters. They also use pathetic fallacy such as rain and thunder and they are often set at night time to exaggerate the themes of isolation and danger. This is shown in Scream as the girl in the first scene is home alone at night and her house is in the middle of nowhere. The props used in horror films usually include weapons, paintings and candles to create an eerie effect and also show danger. In the opening scene of scream scream, when the girl is on the phone to the killer she leans on the kitchen counter and there is a block of knives in front of her pointing towards her head which foreshadows her death later on in the film and this is the weapon the killer uses to kill people. One of the stereo typical characters for horror films is a young blonde and they are usually the first to get killed, in Scream this is also the case as the first one to get killed is blonde teenage girl. The opening scene of Scream includes iconography, as said before there is a blonde teenage girl and there is lots of low key lighting used which are both typically seen in horror films. The intended target audience for scream is teenagers and young adults, CDE demographic and mainly aimed for males. This is because males normally like horror films as they like a thrill and like often violence and gore and all of these elements are shown in Scream. There are lots of teenage girls represented as typical dominant stereotypes which will also attract the young male viewers. Males and females of this age group also enjoy comedy and there is a lot of comedy contained in scream, particularly intertextuality of the film. The gross of the film was $103,046,663 and its budget was $15,000,000. Scream was written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven. Kevin Williamson also created the film ‘I know what you did last summer’ which is also a horror/slasher movie. It is centred around four high school friends who accidentally run over a man and dump his body in an attempt to go on with their lives, the plot focuses on the four friends a year after the accident when they become the victims of a serial stalker. This follows the same patterns of scream and it was also a big hit. He also created the popular TV series ‘Dawson’s Creek’. Wes Craven is also known for his work on horror films, he directed ‘the hills have eyes’ and ‘a nightmare on Elm Street’ which are both popular horror films. Lots of stars acted in Scream including Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette. Courteney Cox plays the news reporter in Scream and she is best known for the popular TV series ‘Friends’ which is a comedy about a group of friends in their late 20s. No credits have been used in the opening scene; it goes straight into the first scene.
+ The conjuring is a paranormal horror and the opening scene immediately sets an eerie atmosphere and the correct mood for a horror film; danger, fright and suspense. We straight away see the expected generic conventions, the first shot is an extreme close up of a dolls face and a girl is talking over the top. A doll is normally seen as harmless and pretty however this doll has scratches all over its face which creates a sense of danger and harm. We then see three people sitting on a sofa and they are talking about something strange that is happening to them. The lighting is very dull and dark compared to the light that is coming in through the window which suggests that they are in darkness and have been taken in to danger. When the girls are explaining what happened they flash back to that moment; when they walk in to their flat it is very dark and the lights are flickering which makes the audience feel nervous and not at ease. Dark and flickering lighting is a generic convention for horror films. There is a high pitched, escalating music in the background which also creates a very sinister feel. The doll is holing a red crayon and there are red scribbles on the wall which symbolises danger and death. There is lots of iconography used in the first scene; there are load sudden noises such as doors slamming and a sudden change in the music. There are lots of jumpy moments and lots of dark lighting which is used to try and scare the audience. The intended target audience is young adults between the age of about 16-27 as they usually like a thrill and the characters in the film are also in that age group. Horror is also one of the most popular genres for this age group. The conjuring is very appealing to the target audience because it has lots of jumpy moments which create a thrill for the viewers. The gross of the film was $137,400,141 and the budget was $20,000,000. The director of the film is James Wan and he was also the executive producer of Saw and the director of Insidious which are both very popular horror films.
+ The woman in black is another very popular horror film. The first thing we see is three young girls playing with tea pots and their dolls and this is accompanied by an eerie, creepy music which is also slow and calm, this puts the audience on edge as it creates a sinister feel and the audience is given notions of death which could foreshadow what happens later in the film. This type of music is a typical generic convention in horror films. The girls are wearing old fashioned clothes and playing with old fashioned toys so we get a sense of when the film is set. The mis-en-scene shows they are also in an attic which helps create the eerie effect and secluded places such as attics are generic conventions of horror films. We then get a medium long shot of the three girls and they all turn their head at the same time to look at something at however the audience cannot see what it is which makes them unsettled and creates a sense of paranormal activity as the girls look like they have seen a ghost. The music also gets louder at this point suggesting it is an important factor and also creates a sense that danger is coming. The next shots we see are of the girls getting up and walking towards the windows, the drop their dolls on the floor and as they are walking towards the window they step on them and crush them which suggests something evil has taking over them as they were previously playing with them and taking care of them. The breaking of the toys suggests danger and death and this is also often seen in horror films. The girls open the window and jump out, this is then followed by a high pitched scream and someone screeching ‘My babies!’ a high pitch scream is very often seen in most horror films. The last shot was see is a long shot of the room and in the foreground on the right is a figure dressed in black wearing a black veil which is associated with funerals and death which foreshadows what is to come. From the opening scene the audience already gets a feel for the film and are already hooked as they want to know who the figure in black is and why the girls jumped out the window. Lots of iconography is used such as screaming, a mysterious figure and objects such as dolls. The intended target audience for The Woman In Black, like most films, is males and females 25 and under. It is appealing to this age group because horror is one of the most popular genres for them and there are lots of young actors in it; the main actor is Daniel Radcliffe and he s famous for his acting in the Harry Potter films which are also appealing to this age group so he will also attracting viewers of that age. The gross of this film was $127,730,736 and the film budget was $15 million. Simon Oakes is the producer of The Woman In Black and he was also the producer of ‘The Quite Ones’ and ‘Let Me In’ which are also paranormal horrors.

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Generic conventions of horror

  • 2. The genre of the film is horror; it includes gore, suspense and fear. One of the generic conventions is set. Horror films are usually set in isolated areas where there is no help for the characters. They also use pathetic fallacy such as rain and thunder and they are often set at night time to exaggerate the themes of isolation and danger. This is shown in Scream as the girl in the first scene is home alone at night and her house is in the middle of nowhere. The props used in horror films usually include weapons, paintings and candles to create an eerie effect and also show danger. In the opening scene of scream scream, when the girl is on the phone to the killer she leans on the kitchen counter and there is a block of knives in front of her pointing towards her head which foreshadows her death later on in the film and this is the weapon the killer uses to kill people. One of the stereo typical characters for horror films is a young blonde and they are usually the first to get killed, in Scream this is also the case as the first one to get killed is blonde teenage girl. The opening scene of Scream includes iconography, as said before there is a blonde teenage girl and there is lots of low key lighting used which are both typically seen in horror films. The intended target audience for scream is teenagers and young adults, CDE demographic and mainly aimed for males. This is because males normally like horror films as they like a thrill and like often violence and gore and all of these elements are shown in Scream. There are lots of teenage girls represented as typical dominant stereotypes which will also attract the young male viewers. Males and females of this age group also enjoy comedy and there is a lot of comedy contained in scream, particularly intertextuality of the film. The gross of the film was $103,046,663 and its budget was $15,000,000. Scream was written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven. Kevin Williamson also created the film ‘I know what you did last summer’ which is also a horror/slasher movie. It is centred around four high school friends who accidentally run over a man and dump his body in an attempt to go on with their lives, the plot focuses on the four friends a year after the accident when they become the victims of a serial stalker. This follows the same patterns of scream and it was also a big hit. He also created the popular TV series ‘Dawson’s Creek’. Wes Craven is also known for his work on horror films, he directed ‘the hills have eyes’ and ‘a nightmare on Elm Street’ which are both popular horror films. Lots of stars acted in Scream including Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette. Courteney Cox plays the news reporter in Scream and she is best known for the popular TV series ‘Friends’ which is a comedy about a group of friends in their late 20s. No credits have been used in the opening scene; it goes straight into the first scene.
  • 3. + The conjuring is a paranormal horror and the opening scene immediately sets an eerie atmosphere and the correct mood for a horror film; danger, fright and suspense. We straight away see the expected generic conventions, the first shot is an extreme close up of a dolls face and a girl is talking over the top. A doll is normally seen as harmless and pretty however this doll has scratches all over its face which creates a sense of danger and harm. We then see three people sitting on a sofa and they are talking about something strange that is happening to them. The lighting is very dull and dark compared to the light that is coming in through the window which suggests that they are in darkness and have been taken in to danger. When the girls are explaining what happened they flash back to that moment; when they walk in to their flat it is very dark and the lights are flickering which makes the audience feel nervous and not at ease. Dark and flickering lighting is a generic convention for horror films. There is a high pitched, escalating music in the background which also creates a very sinister feel. The doll is holing a red crayon and there are red scribbles on the wall which symbolises danger and death. There is lots of iconography used in the first scene; there are load sudden noises such as doors slamming and a sudden change in the music. There are lots of jumpy moments and lots of dark lighting which is used to try and scare the audience. The intended target audience is young adults between the age of about 16-27 as they usually like a thrill and the characters in the film are also in that age group. Horror is also one of the most popular genres for this age group. The conjuring is very appealing to the target audience because it has lots of jumpy moments which create a thrill for the viewers. The gross of the film was $137,400,141 and the budget was $20,000,000. The director of the film is James Wan and he was also the executive producer of Saw and the director of Insidious which are both very popular horror films.
  • 4. + The woman in black is another very popular horror film. The first thing we see is three young girls playing with tea pots and their dolls and this is accompanied by an eerie, creepy music which is also slow and calm, this puts the audience on edge as it creates a sinister feel and the audience is given notions of death which could foreshadow what happens later in the film. This type of music is a typical generic convention in horror films. The girls are wearing old fashioned clothes and playing with old fashioned toys so we get a sense of when the film is set. The mis-en-scene shows they are also in an attic which helps create the eerie effect and secluded places such as attics are generic conventions of horror films. We then get a medium long shot of the three girls and they all turn their head at the same time to look at something at however the audience cannot see what it is which makes them unsettled and creates a sense of paranormal activity as the girls look like they have seen a ghost. The music also gets louder at this point suggesting it is an important factor and also creates a sense that danger is coming. The next shots we see are of the girls getting up and walking towards the windows, the drop their dolls on the floor and as they are walking towards the window they step on them and crush them which suggests something evil has taking over them as they were previously playing with them and taking care of them. The breaking of the toys suggests danger and death and this is also often seen in horror films. The girls open the window and jump out, this is then followed by a high pitched scream and someone screeching ‘My babies!’ a high pitch scream is very often seen in most horror films. The last shot was see is a long shot of the room and in the foreground on the right is a figure dressed in black wearing a black veil which is associated with funerals and death which foreshadows what is to come. From the opening scene the audience already gets a feel for the film and are already hooked as they want to know who the figure in black is and why the girls jumped out the window. Lots of iconography is used such as screaming, a mysterious figure and objects such as dolls. The intended target audience for The Woman In Black, like most films, is males and females 25 and under. It is appealing to this age group because horror is one of the most popular genres for them and there are lots of young actors in it; the main actor is Daniel Radcliffe and he s famous for his acting in the Harry Potter films which are also appealing to this age group so he will also attracting viewers of that age. The gross of this film was $127,730,736 and the film budget was $15 million. Simon Oakes is the producer of The Woman In Black and he was also the producer of ‘The Quite Ones’ and ‘Let Me In’ which are also paranormal horrors.