With each genre of movie comes several different conventions which help clearly indicate to the audience that the film is that genre. Normally these differences are very distinct and noticeable, several sometimes exclusive to that genre.
The genre I am choosing is horror, yet there are many more out there to choose from. The genre of horror is rather straight forward using the typical antagonist, protagonist rules. The antagonist in horror films can come in many different forms, for example maxed serial killers, demons, monsters and sometimes the antagonist doesn’t even have to be a living being, for example wide spread disease. Typically in horror films the main antagonist will be someone young, about the age 18, and more often that not a woman. This helps indicate the weak state of the protagonist as the protagonist is usually the one being hunted down by the antagonist. Furthermore, horror films also have predictable shooting locations, for example a run-down old house or a forest.
Other conventions of horror films also exist, such as shock scenes, violent deaths, dark or shadowy lighting, Isolated locations, disruption of the norm and also a sub-plot of a male and female relationship. Shock scenes and violent deaths are two of the main conventions, as they are the conventions that actually strike the horror into the audience. Shock scenes are normally used in an attempt to make the audience jump. An example of a shock scene is a girl is walking through a house, there is quiet if no music and then something or someone jumps out normally with the music picking up. Violent deaths are used to strike disgust into the audience and violent deaths usually follow shock scenes, as demonstrated in this video.
Isolated locations indicate to the audience that the person in this location has no way of escaping, for example, in the film The Hills Have Eyes (2006) when the protagonist is locked in a box with severed body parts. Not only would this make the character feel isolated but also the audience, if the shot is taken within the isolated area with the character.
The genre I am choosing is horror, yet there are many more out there to choose from. The genre of horror is rather straight forward using the typical antagonist, protagonist rules. The antagonist in horror films can come in many different forms, for example maxed serial killers, demons, monsters and sometimes the antagonist doesn’t even have to be a living being, for example wide spread disease. Typically in horror films the main antagonist will be someone young, about the age 18, and more often that not a woman. This helps indicate the weak state of the protagonist as the protagonist is usually the one being hunted down by the antagonist. Furthermore, horror films also have predictable shooting locations, for example a run-down old house or a forest.
Other conventions of horror films also exist, such as shock scenes, violent deaths, dark or shadowy lighting, Isolated locations, disruption of the norm and also a sub-plot of a male and female relationship. Shock scenes and violent deaths are two of the main conventions, as they are the conventions that actually strike the horror into the audience. Shock scenes are normally used in an attempt to make the audience jump. An example of a shock scene is a girl is walking through a house, there is quiet if no music and then something or someone jumps out normally with the music picking up. Violent deaths are used to strike disgust into the audience and violent deaths usually follow shock scenes, as demonstrated in this video.
Isolated locations indicate to the audience that the person in this location has no way of escaping, for example, in the film The Hills Have Eyes (2006) when the protagonist is locked in a box with severed body parts. Not only would this make the character feel isolated but also the audience, if the shot is taken within the isolated area with the character.
Disruption of the norm is the thing that shakes up the film, for example this could be an alien landing on earth, or a serial killer escaping the police. The male and female relationship sub-plot adds more than just senseless violence to the horror film. It gives the audience a reason to get attached to the characters due to the emotional attatchment between the two characters.
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