Media Studies Portfolio: Genre Research: Horror

Horror is a genre that has the purpose of scaring their audience by introducing fear and terror. Theses films can often have supernatural entities but not always. Within these films, its is often found that the plot will include the disruption of an evil force entering ones everyday world. The horror genre includes several sub genres. These are: science fiction horror, drama horror, holiday horror, slasher, and natural horror. The target audience for the horror genre are young adults ages 15 to 25. This is because this age group is usually more inclined to enjoy thrills rather than older age groups.

Within the Horror genre there are some common types of content used in horror films. To begin with, every horror film has their own variation of a monster. The monster is often what the entire film is revolved around. In most horror movies when the monster die, the film ends. The monsters in these films can vary, some are human beings such as Michael Myers. Others can be supernatural like ghost or Conventional monsters such as Jaws. It is important for movies in the horror genre to have a “ spectacle.” This is generally what people that come to see horror movies for. The spectacle consist of the blood, gore, violence, and suspense within the film. The power of suggestion is also a vital component that makes up a horror film. Suggestion is when the director gives hints of what is happening instead of directly showing the viewers . This allows the viewers to insinuate on what could have happened, rather than have gore and death thrown in their face the entire film.A hero in a horror movie is just a important as the monster. Within horror films, there is always a hero which is often brave, resourceful, and responsible for resolving the situation. The hero gives someone for the audience to root for. Lastly, the horror film is should be relatable to the audience. For instance, the audience would be more drawn to connect with horror film that could be part of their world, such as a demon living with in a house.

In the horror films, there are several production techniques that are used specifically this genre. To begin with, horror film makers often use several close up shots. These are used to truly be able to see every emotion or expression on the actors face, to give the audience a better feel of how they are feeling or reacting to the events in the movie. It is also often seen that directors will choose to take wider shots “through things.” These type of shots are used to show the isolation of the character, ad that someone is watching.The lighting in a horror film is a huge contributor in production techniques. In these films it is common to underexpose the shot, this gives the feeling of mystery. Fog or haze is used in horror movies to give the shot texture, this look gives of a mysterious vibe to the viewers.Color gels are also used during horror films. Color gels help create a sense of emotion, red is a common color gel used in this genre. Horror movies use dutch tilt shot. The dutch tilt is a shot that is taken at a diagonal angle, this produces a feeling of confusion to the viewer. Low angle shots are often used in horror movies as well. These shots are taken from the ground up, the purpose of this is to establish dominance or power of the character. Jump scares are vital when creating a horror movie. There are 3 types of jump scares: Basic jump scare, where the monster pops out suddenly. Next there is a Faux scare, this is when one hears a creepy sound but it turns out to be a normal objects not a monster. There is also Reveal scares which is when the character closes the door or looks in the mirror and the monster suddenly appears.

The movie IT (2017) directed by Andres Muschietti is a perfect example of a horror movie because of the content and the production techniques used throughout the film. To begin with, the movie has a very obvious monster which is Pennywise the Clown. Pennywise is clearly the monster since he is the root of all the destruction and death that is happening in the town. With in this movie there is a lot of gore and blood, as Pennywise has risen after 27 years to kill the town's children. In this film there are two scenes that particularly stand out to me, for the gore it is when Gorgie reaches down to the swear and gets his arm ripped off by the evil clown. A seen that represents the blood aspect of the film is when Pennywise causes blood to spray all over the lead girls bathroom, which covered the bathroom and the character head to toe in blood. In the scene where Gorgie attempts to get his boat back from the clown, after his arm gets ripped of he is dragged into the sewer. This scene is a pristine example of the power of suggestion that is a common occurrence in horror movies. The audience is lead to believe that Georgie would be killed without physically seeing it happen. Another important aspect that classifies this as a scary movie is the jump scares. For instance in the movie IT, one jump scare was during the projector scene, where the kids are watching the projector movie of it but all of a sudden “It” is not on the screen anymore and the clown jumps out if the screen and begins attacking the children. This movie also uses a lot of underdeveloped or low key lighting. For example when Pennywise pops out in the sewer when Georigie is looking for his boat most of his face is still in the shadows, which give the clown a sense of mystery and danger. Lately, Horror movies often take place in “ familiar places “ so that the audience will be able to relate to their story more. The movie IT did this by having the location occur in a small town and within houses in that small town.

Another example that perfectly embodies what a scary movie should be is The Quiet Place (2018) which was directed by John Krasinski. In this film there one can easily guess that the hero is the Father, played by John Krasinski. The father is considered to be the hero because he is very resourceful, as he has found several ways to keep his family alive such as walking along sand paths so that their footsteps are not hear, or blowing up fireworks so that the aliens would hear that sound rather than his wife’s screams as she gave birth. He also has the qualities audience to find him likable and root for him to live. Along with a hero comes a monster, and in this film the monsters are aliens that have inhibited planet earth. These aliens are unable to see, but have a supernatural sense of hearing which is how they hunt the humans down. In the movie, blood and gore are shown in the scene where the father and his son are walking home and they run into an old woman that has her stomach torn open. The power of suggestion is shown in this film, in the scene where the father sacrifices his life for his children's lives , he screams and the alien charges at him. The audience can hear the sound but they cannot see the character actually being killed, which allows the audience to guess that the character is being killed. In the movie the quiet place they use a lot of low key lighting which is common part of scary movies. This lighting gives of a mysterious feeling to the movie. This movie contains a lot of jump scares, one of them in particular is the scene when the youngest child is playing with the spaceship and then the alien snatches the boy.

More of the Horror Genre:

(Click on pictures for the trailer!)

Halloween (2018)