Horror!!!G3nre @naly5is

What is Horror? Horror film is a genre that aims to create a sense of fear, panic, alarm, and

dread for the audience.

These films are often unsettling and rely on scaring the audience through a portrayal of their worst fears and nightmares.

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, extraterrestrials, vampires, werewolves, demons, gore, torture, vicious animals, evil witches, monsters, zombies, cannibals, and serial killers.

Examples of Horror Movies A Nightmare on Elm Street  Saw  Friday the 13th  Drag Me To Hell Van Helsing Sleepy Hollow The Grudge  I Know What You Did Last Summer The Ring

Sub-Genres… Action Horror A subgenre combining the intrusion of an evil force, event,

or supernatural personage of horror movies with the gunfights and frenetic chases of the action genre.

Comedy Horror Comedy-Horror combines comedy with traditional horror movie themes and characters. Comedy-Horror films aim to scare the audience, but also provide comical outlets that let the audience laugh at their fear.

Body Horror  In which the horror is principally derived from the graphic destruction or degeneration of the body. Other types of body horror include unnatural movements, or the anatomically incorrect placement of limbs to create 'monsters' out of human body parts.

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Psychological Horror Relies on characters' fears, guilt, beliefs, eerie sound effects, relevant music, emotional instability and at times, the supernatural and ghosts, to build tension and further the plot.

Slasher Horror Often revolves around a masked or disfigured serial killer who systematically murders high school/college aged teenagers and young adults through violent means.

Zombie Horror Zombie films feature creatures who are usually portrayed as either reanimated corpses or mindless human beings. Distinct subgenres have evolved, such as the "zombie comedy" or the "zombie apocalypse".

CODES & CONVENTIONS!

Horror films are unsettling and designed to cause discomfort to the viewer. It could do any of these things to you : Frighten and make the viewer panic causing heart rate to rise (Jump-

scare horror films) Cause dread and alarm Invoke hidden or even new fears, sometimes lasting longer than the

film Captivate and entertain the audience in a fearful and gruesome manner Conclude often in a way that shocks the audience

Camera Angles Used: Extreme close-ups (emphasize on the subject) Tilt (to create disorientation) Establishing shots (showing locations, stereotypically isolated buildings and

mansions) Hand-held (looks realistic to make it more believable) Long Shots (helps show the danger to the audience {not the character in

the movie} or what the lead character is surrounded by) Tracking Shot (where the camera follows the character either from behind or

front, to make it as seem as if the character is being followed or stalked) Point Of View Shot (the audience sees what the character sees from their

eyes)

Sound: Sounds in Horror films creates a profound effect on the audience, Music adds

tension. There is an audio sequence in horror films that most people recognize. A long

eerie musical build-up of strings or horns as the victim, for example, approaches a closed door, then this is followed by a violent orchestral hit as the victim opens the door to encounter whatever is hidden behind it.

This is a type of musical cue that seems to be quite common in horror films. Whenever the audience hears this build-up, they know that something is going to happen.

There are many examples of other musical cues that are almost subconsciously recognized and identified by the audience.

A long deep tone might indicate tension or a rapid and bright sequence played by a set of strings may indicate stress or panic.

Mise en scène: Settings in a horror movie creates a horror environment which scares the audience. Some of the

settings are below:

Can be set daytime or night but the action in horror movies traditionally occurs in the night.

Often dark places, old and creaky perhaps. Abandoned, ‘middle of nowhere’ buildings, damaged structures crumbling or run-down buildings.

The setting creates mood. If a murder were shot in broad sunlight it wouldn’t have the same scary impact on the audience as if it was shot in the night time.

Examples of some places; Old mines, Derelict houses, Fields, House in a normal neighborhood, Forest, Sorority houses, University grounds, Schools, Old farm Houses, Butchers, Lakes, The countryside.

Visual style in a horror genre is very unique.

In a horror film Clothes are often torn or dirty.

If there is a killer in the horror then they are sometimes wearing things to disguise themselves such as masks.

For example, Michael Myers in Halloween wears a boiler suit and a white mask. Weapons are often used such as bloody knives, guns, clubs and general household objects.