Genre Research Blog Activity

 Genre: Horror

Typical Target Audience  

Horror movies are mostly for younger people, especially those between 18 and 34 years old. People who like getting scared and feeling thrills usually watch these films. They enjoy the intense feelings that come from fear and excitement, and some horror movies even talk about important social issues.

Genre Conventions – Content

In horror films, common themes are fear, spooky stuff, and things that make you feel scared. The stories often involve haunted houses, monsters, or creepy situations. The main aim is to scare the audience and make them feel uneasy, using intense scenes and a scary atmosphere.

Genre Conventions – Production Techniques

Horror films use tricks to create tension. They often have dark lighting to make things look scary, sudden jumps to surprise viewers, and creepy music to set the mood. These techniques help to build suspense and keep the audience on the edge of their seat.

Institutional Conventions – How Is Genre Marketed  

Horror films are usually advertised around Halloween when people want to feel scared. Posters often show scary images or hints that the movie has lots of thrills. Trailers focus on shocking moments and spooky scenes to grab attention.

Film Sample 1: Get Out  

"Get Out" is a modern horror movie that mixes scares with social issues. It tells the story of Chris, a Black guy who visits his white girlfriend's family, only to find out their dark secrets. The film uses real-life fears about racism and makes the audience uncomfortable in a smart way. The production techniques, like tense music and sudden scares, create a chilling atmosphere.

Film Sample 2: The Conjuring

"The Conjuring" follows ghost hunters who help a family dealing with a scary spirit in their home. This movie uses classic horror elements, like jump scares and creepy settings, to build tension. The strong characters and real-life background for the story make it both interesting and scary.

List of Other Film Examples

1. A Nightmare on Elm Street - A classic slasher film about a killer who attacks in dreams.

2. The Shining - A haunted hotel story with psychological horror.

3. Hereditary - A family drama mixed with supernatural scares.

4. It Follows - A unique horror story about a curse that follows you.

5. Psycho - A classic that set the stage for many horror films.

6. Scream - A slasher film that also jokes about horror movie clichés.

7. A Quiet Place - A tense thriller where making noise can get you killed.

Sound project

 What I've learned these past couple of days from sound lessons and videos is that it is essential to convey the tone and mood during a scene. 

What I had to do for the sound project was make a short video entirely using only sounds with no visuals.

During brainstorming, I thought of different events or places where sounds are essential to how it feels. My outline was a football game and it helped by know what to look for and how I wanted the sounds to be arranged in my project. The editing application that I used was Premiere Pro

What was done well was the order and types of sounds used but what I would like to improve would be the timing of the sounds. 

One Word Film Project

The directions of One Word Film was to create a short film about a given word, using different camera shots and editing techniques to tell the story without any dialogue.  

During brainstorming for this project writing down and story boarding my ideas helped a lot with the creative process. My storyboard helped a lot because it is the idea for what is going to be shown in the film. I edited my project with iMovie. 

I think the stronger parts of the project were the visuals and different shots and techniques. Next time I would like to improve the story and the editing.

One Word Film

Camera Shots/Angles Quiz

 The directions of this activity had students select one or two inanimate objects to create a visual story. Using 15 shots, you have to include particular types of shots in your 15. 

I approached the project's development by brainstorming with my partner and storyboarding each shot we had in mind. 

What I believe I did well was the storytelling and using specific shots at the right times which can help emphasize the story and characters. Something I would like to improve would be the quality of the production like better graphics, props, locations, etc.

I do not have the file as it was my partner who submitted the project on his device.

Why I'm creating a blog.

 My name is Benjamin, I'm creating a blog to post and talk about projects that I work on. I'm excited to share my experiences behind the scenes and create great productions.