How have we established genre across the three products? Use screenshots from each to show how we have indicated genre across our portfolio productions.
Horror films are typically designed to scare the audience as well as captivating and entertaining us. A few of the best places for a horror film would be abandoned houses, graveyards, woods, cabins, basements, etc. Camera shots are very expressive in horror films as they tightly frame characters emotion. Also, they use different sounds such as diegetic, which is things the characters can hear such as footsteps and trees rustling, and non-diegetic, which is things the characters cant here, such as a heartbeat. The target audience for horror films is often 15+, however most of the time they are 18. Reasons for this are sometimes because of swearing, sexual scenes, etc.
The location of a film is a significant indication of genre and is a part of Mis-en-scene that tends to set the scene of a film. Specifically in our trailer, we have used the home location. This is conventional of a horror where you typically expect to see a haunted house to which audiences may feel the relation where you should feel safe and secure in your home; however the aim of a horror is to subvert this assumption and as a result, scaring the audience. The codes that have been clearly conveyed in our trailer are the bedroom scene where the young girl was asleep; again conveying the idea of safety and security in your own home and own bedroom. The location that we have used in our trailer is effectively portrayed as in a horror, you would typically expect the house to be old and worn down for it to be perceived as haunted. However, the house that we have incorporated into our trailer is modern and this is portrayed through the floral wallpaper and the warm lighting creating the atmosphere of a welcoming home. On our magazine cover, we have followed the codes and conventions again with the location; presenting the 'top 10' horror locations, of which one is a haunted house to which we have conformed to and incorporated into our own trailer.
Another way in which we feel like we have conveyed the horror genre (and followed conventions) is through the use of titles and title fonts. In our trailer, we have used titles throughout as a way of engaging the audience and making them feel a part of our trailer. The titles that we have used are specifically conventional of horrors whereby we have used direct address as a way of making the audiences involved but also to fear them. A specific title that we have used in our trailer is 'face your demons'; and here we have directly addressed the audience and have used the mythological term 'demons' which although is unrealistic; is something that you fear when watching a horror.
The specific font that we have used in our trailer to display the name of our film is basic but effective with the background. The background and font of these credits have immediate connotations of a horror with the dark, dull colours and the faded edges - adding emphasis to the text in the centre. They partially portray an eerie and threatening atmosphere which is an important illusion to have in a horror. The black font on a white background is extremely prominent; the colours completely juxtapose one another... with black having connotations of fear, horror and power - in comparison white portrays the safety, security and purity of the film. We are also able to relate these colour connotations to our characters which is an effective way of creating representations. In our magazine cover we have used a bold red font to which is effective as it is prominent and therefore would stand our to audiences. This font is specifically a code of the horror genre with the red colour having connotations of blood and death - typical conventions of the horror genre - but also with the dropping affect on the 'M' creating the sense of death with the sharp edges.
We have followed the conventions of the horror genre in our trailer where we have incorporated the possessed scene of the young girl - similar to films such as Orphan - this is effective as it creates tension and fear for audiences; and could also make them confused but also more engaged as to wanting to find out what is going on. A convention that we have followed in this specific scene is the fast-paced editing; conventional of a horror and trailers in general, we expect to see alot of fast-paced movement and actions to create tension and fear. In this specific scene of the young girl being possessed, we used the time laps tool on the editing software to speed up the actions of the young girl as she wrote 'help me'. This specific edit made the young girls actions seem abnormal but intense and as a result engaging audiences. This fast-paced intensity is conventional of the horror genre and is effective in engaging but fearing audiences.
Another code that we incorporated as a way of conveying the horror genre was the lighting. We specifically filmed at night due to the scene that we were presenting of the young girl sleeping. Therefore, because of this, we focused a lot on the low-key lighting which gives more of a shadowy effect. This shadow created by the low-key lighting is most effective and conventional in horror films. We weren't able to use natural lighting (daylight) due to the time of day that we filmed so it was important that we used the low-key lighting effectively to convey the horror genre. The side-light that we used in our trailer as the light source is effective and conventional of a horror where it is dim and makes it more difficult to see the actions of the character or the events that may be occurring around it.
Another convention of a horror which we felt that we incorporated well into our trailer was the eerie presence of our antagonist - elderly women. The idea that we wanted to portray to audience was the kind-of 'shes there then shes not' effect. We felt like this portrayal was specifically conventional of the horror genre and the way in which we made this effective was through the match-on-action editing; whereby we filmed the women in the dark as the young girl approached, then used match-on-action as the young girl turned on the light again - to which the women disappeared. This effect of the ghostly presence is conventional of the horror genre and the way in which we have portrayed this in our trailer is most effective in confusing yet fearing audiences.
Another convention of a horror which we felt that we incorporated well into our trailer was the eerie presence of our antagonist - elderly women. The idea that we wanted to portray to audience was the kind-of 'shes there then shes not' effect. We felt like this portrayal was specifically conventional of the horror genre and the way in which we made this effective was through the match-on-action editing; whereby we filmed the women in the dark as the young girl approached, then used match-on-action as the young girl turned on the light again - to which the women disappeared. This effect of the ghostly presence is conventional of the horror genre and the way in which we have portrayed this in our trailer is most effective in confusing yet fearing audiences.
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