LS - Genre Analysis

1. Our chosen genre is horror. Within this genre there are many sub-genres including:
- Classic horror e.g. 'Frankenstein' (Whale, 1931)
- Gore e.g. 'Saw' (Wan, 2001)
- Gothic e.g. 'Heart-shaped box' (Hill, 2007)
- Horror of personality e.g.'Psycho' (Hitchcock, 1960)
- Psychological Horror e.g. 'The sixth sense' (Shyamalan, 1999)
- Teen Terror e.g. 'The Final Destination' (Wong, 2000)

Are we following the conventions of the genre?
We are following some conventions of horror of personality as we hope to convey the main protagonist as perfectly human but posseses horrific personalities. We also hope to use the convention of an ordinary location for example Pembury Park. Some films that fit in the the horror of personality genre are:
- 'Whatever happened to baby Jane?' (Aldrich, 1962)
- 'The Shining' (Kubrick, 1980)
- 'Psycho' (Hicthcock, 1960)

2. Techniques and styles from the horror of personality genre that we can use:
'Whatever happened to baby Jane? (Aldrich, 1962)
- The use of a child
- Main protagonist has psychological problems

'The Shining' (Kubrick, 1980)
- The main protagonist having an 'imaginary' friend
- Writing on the door
- The use of photographs at the end of the film

'Psycho' (Hitchcock, 1960)
- Alternate personality
- 'The shower scene'

3. In the horror genre the audience are positioned with the victim of the horror being done. This creates suspense as the character can see the tension between good and bad as they themselves can connect with the good character. The audience also feel sympathetic with the character as they are 'feeling' what the character feels.


4. What characters are conventional to the horror genre?


The victim - This character is usually a woman as the weaker of the 2 genres. They do not always overcome evil

The villain

The Archetypal hero - Usually overcomes the evil

5. Typical locations and settings of horror films
Graveyard

Desolate House

Dark Woods

6. Iconography of the horror genre
Lightning

Shadows

Axe







Creaking weather vane/Sign

China doll

7. Costumes we could use or have been used in the horror genre

Hospital gowns

School uniform

Hooded Cloaks

8. Lighting

The use of low key lighting helps to create shadows and this is an iconography of the horror genre. The use of shadows helps to create tension and mystery as the audience cannot sometimes tell form the shadow whether the chracter is good or bad. We would want to use thie lighting technique as it creates an atmosphere of daner and mystery.

Lighting the background creates sillhouetes as again the audience cannot identify whether the character is good or bad. We would also want to use this lighting technique as it creates mystery.

The use of red lighting connotes blood, danger or murder. The colour red can also connote evil as it is the colour used for the devil.

9. Fonts that could be used in the horror genre