Genre Research

                                          

 For this activity, I will be choosing the genre of horror

Marketing: 

A horror film's target audience is typically young adults and teens, usually between 15 and 25 years old. Horror films don't target a specific gender as it is a favorable genre for both. Horror fans prefer gore, jump scares, suspense, and mystery. While some people in the audience do watch for catharsis or to escape into it to get a thrill, other people actually use the medium to face their fears.

Content:

A horror movie typically contains a dark, isolated setting, vulnerable characters, sound and editing with powerful monsters, trauma, human nature, and/or vengeful antagonists that the audience fears and is shocked by.  The point of a horror movie is to build suspense, strike fear, and deliver thrill, and shock to its viewers.

Fear is crucial for a good horror film to have as it is the building block of horror. The main thing that people think about when they think of this specific genre is being scared of all types of jumpscares. Most antagonists in horror films are usually serial killers, dolls, demons, clowns, and beasts.  Most people who see horror films love this fear as it shoots them up with adrenaline and gets their blood going. A good horror production should leave people constantly looking over their shoulders to make sure nothing pops out and attacks them as soon as that film comes off. 

                                           

Ex. The Exorcist was a movie about a mysterious entity(demon) that possessed a young girl and is considered to be one of the scariest movies of all time.

Suspense also builds on fear, it does this by leaving the setting all quiet with a wondering victim and then the suspense gets broken by some sort of jump scare and loud sounds. The most important thing in suspense is the build-up because without that there would be no suspense. The viewers love the suspense in the films and expect it to be a major part of most films, they also love that it puts them on edge and almost craving for the wondering victim to stray right into the hands of the antagonist.

                                                        

Ex. In Psycho the role of silence helped it develop its suspense by the music going quiet and a dark figure sneaking up on Marion Crane while she showered

One key technique used in horror productions is the element of foreshadowing. This element gives its audience hints as to what will be made of the movie as it develops early on.

                                                   

Ex. Jaws uses this element of foreshadowing when Chief Brody trips on an air tank early in the film and later uses it to make the shark explode.

Samples:

Terrifier is a 2016 horror film directed by Damien Leone, focusing on the character of Art the Clown, a demented and terrifying killer whose terrifying antics have made him an emerging icon in the slasher genre. In the film, a group of young ladies on Halloween night cross paths with Art, a mute clown dressed in black and white with exaggerated makeup and a creepy smile. Unlike most antagonists, Art is very unpredictable this could be because he likes to toy with his victims as a part of his sick mind games, he is also very violent and uses strange tools to perform his acts. His character showed dark humor and relentless cruelty as he used several brutal means to torture the victims. Notorious for extreme levels of gore, minimal storyline, and relentless pacing, it has attracted horror fans in search of something disturbing and deep.

                                                    

The Black Phone (2021) is a supernatural horror-thriller directed by Scott Derrickson, based on Joe Hill's short story. It follows the story of a shy, 13-year-old Finney in the 1970s who becomes "The Grabber's" latest victim demented masked man kidnapping kids in their quiet suburban town. Alone, locked in a soundproof basement, he finds an old-fashioned, disconnected black rotary phone. Then all of a sudden it rings mysteriously, and he hears his voice inside and the voices of The Grabber's victims who give him tips to get out of this terrifying fate. He must overcome his fear and listen to the voice of the Beyond to outsmart The Grabber as the countdown to his death has begun. Combining tension with supernatural elements, this horror-suspense film pulls off suspense through its 1970s setting and dirty, unsettling villain. The Black Phone brings out some themes of resilience, fear, and survival all wrapped up in incredibly realistic horror, mixed with supernatural twists for an effective horror story.