AS to A2 work
Christianna Uyiekpen
Media
The conventions of a horror film
After watching a couple horror film I was able to understand that Horror film are designed to
· Frighten and panic
· Cause dread and alarm
· Invoke our hidden worst fears
· Captivate and entertain us in a cathartic experience.
· Often conclude in a terrifying shocking Finale.
Conventions of Characters in a horror film
- There's always a lead character that often results as the survivor in the film.
- The Killer/ monster often has a trademark characteristic in the way he kills, for example the people he kills or the weapon he uses to kill them.
- Its usually good against evil, the two characters conflict.
- The outcome is the good person always survives, or defeats the “bad guy
- After watching numerous horror films I have noticed that the victim always tends to be blond innocent looking female normally a young teenager
- In addition to that I’ve noticed that in a horror film the victim never runs away from the antagonist without falling down, they also tend to run up the stairs instead of out the house.
- Another convention which I have picked up is that non- digetic sounds are used to build tension and suspense in parts in the film
Three different horror films
Orphan
I watched the film orphan, this is a horror film which also followed the common conventions of a horror film there was an antagonist which was a woman in a child body named Ester. There was also a survivor
which followed the conventions of a normal survivor and in the end defeated ester.The grudge
I watched the film grudge this film is a Japanese film. The story line of the Grudge describes a curse that is born when someone dies in the grip of a powerful rage or extreme sorrow. The curse gathers in the place where that person died. Those who encounter this murderous supernatural force die and the curse is reborn repeatedly, passed from victim to victim in an endless, growing chain of horror. The film follows the conventions of a horror films and there are antagonists and also victims. In addition to this there is a survivor which is also a convention of horror films.
Final destination 4
I watched the film final destination 4 and the film is based on a girl who is able to know when something bad is going to happened throughout the film she aims to go around and tell the people to prevent them from dying but in the end she can’t beat fate until the order of how the people are suppose to die is interfered so her and 2 other people survive. This film was a little bit different because the antagonist is fate and we can’t see them and there are many victims and 3 survivors.
Conventions of a horror film trailer
After watching a couple horror film trailers in lesson and by myself I was able to gather a few horror film trailer conventions.
- A teaser trailer is normally very short, resulting in 30-60 seconds long. In that time it will have shown you a basic outline of what the new film is about, included text to ask you questions which could relate to what the film is about, or just take your thoughts away from what the film could really be about.
- The main purpose of a teaser trailer
It is made to make you aware of a new film which is still being edited or produced. Some teaser trailers, such as Train Spotting (1996) show just the first ideas of what they want to produce for the real film – and not necessarily what they will produce when it comes to that stage, as they may decide in the editing that they don’t want to include that particular scene which we have already seen.
- What it does to the audience
The audience are made aware that there will be a film released soon, and, if they like the ‘snippets’ from the film which they have seen, then they will like the real film.
The reason why it is called a ‘teaser’ is because it doesn’t give the audience everything, but enough for them to know some parts of what will happen and manipulates them to watch it.
Conventions of a Teaser Trailers :
After watching a couple horror film trailers in lesson and by myself I was able to gather a few horror film trailer conventions.
- A teaser trailer is normally very short, resulting in 30-60 seconds long. In that time it will have shown you a basic outline of what the new film is about, included text to ask you questions which could relate to what the film is about, or just take your thoughts away from what the film could really be about.
- Some teaser trailers include parts of the film which are not even in the film
- I’ve also noticed that Sometimes in the teaser trailer they may feature scenes from the film but in an alternate version, so it is different to what it would actually be in the final film
- The pace of the teaser trailer is normally fast, or starts slow then picks up.
The main purpose of a teaser trailer
- It is made to make you aware of a new film which is still being edited or produced.
- Gives you a brief insight of what the film is about and leaves you wanting to see more - Contain the minimum amount of footage from the film, so it just teases audiences
- One of the reasons for the name "teaser" is because they are shown usually a long time (one or one and a half years) before the movie comes out
Released long before the film is release
- Another purpose for a teaser trailer is to manipulate the audience into watching the film.
Horror film Director
James Wan
James Wan (born 27 February 1977) is a Malaysian-born Australian producer, screenwriter, and film director of Chinese heritage. He is widely known for directing the horror film Saw and creating Billy the puppet. He also directed Dead Silence, Death Sentence and Insidious.
Before becoming popular in the film industry, he made his first feature film Stygian with Shannon Young, which won 'Best Guerrilla Film' at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival in 2000
ChristiannaUyiekpen
Here is my As to A2 work, i had to take print screens of each page as the diagrams were not able to be put on to blogger
The conventions of horror:
Horror conventions are gatherings of the community of fans of various forms of horror including horror cinema, Goth lifestyle, and occasionally science fiction and fantasy. Camera angles/movement: Low angle, High angle, Extreme close up, Extreme long shot, Point of view shots, tilt, pan, arc, push in pull out, close up.
· Lighting: Profile, under lighting, Low key, back lighting.
· Sound: Eerie/Scary music, stabs, ambient, contrapuntal, demonic laughs, nursery rhymes, incidental music, sinister music.
· Editing: Long takes to build up fear and suspense, sharp cuts, fades, graphic matches.
They also have particular rules for example they need to make sure that the film is scary for the audience and there always has to be a killing within the first 5 minutes of the film to make the film become entertaining from the beginning.
Three different types of horror films:
I researched about three different horror films that I found very interesting;
· Silent hill
· Insidious
· Scream
