Research into horror genre

 In order to achieve our work I did some research on the conventional narrative pattern of Tzvetan Todorov, codes and conventions of the horror genre and different sub-genres of horror genre.

-       Todorov’s 5stages of a narrative structure: the narrative of a movie is what helps the viewer understand the story and the message within that movie therefore it needs to be structured and Todorov’s conventional narrative structure has 5 stages to break down the sequence of event in a movie: estate of equilibrium is defined, disruption of equilibrium by some thing or action, characters’ recognition that there has been disruption, characters attempt to repair and obstacles need to be overcome then  reinstatement of the equilibrium, the issue is resolved.

And 5 of Vladimir Propp’s 7 spheres of action in a narrative: hero (the person who's job is to restore the equilibrium), villain (the antagonist of the movie who causes the disruption), donor (the person who gives the hero something, advice, information or an object), helper (the person who helps the hero with his task), princess (the person at the mercy of the villain).



-       The codes and conventions of the horror genre: horror movies are movies that attempt to bring out fear, disgust, cause panic, horror from the audience and they often have a terrifying ending. They deal with the viewers’ vulnerability, nightmares, hidden worst fear and terror of the unknown although a good adaptation of all this is about supernatural, some other horror films contain plots about morbidity, serial killer etc. the key conventions are haunted house, blood, death, disfigured figures, masks, screaming, killing, there are always a lead character, victims, killer/ monster who has a trade mark; it mainly focuses on the either the hero or heroin like in  Scream where Sydney is continually hunted by the killer (1) or the victims like in Saw where the director draw the audience attention to victims different struggles(2) and even on the antagonist  like Damien in the Omen(3) ; and it’s usually good against evil and the outcome is the protagonist always survives or defeat the antagonist.

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Change of plans!
 Our new chosen genre is going to be a thriller/horror.
The movie I chose to analyse to help me construct our movie is A nightmare in Elm Street. 

The movie starts with the antagonist making weapons with steel or iron objects and this is an index for anger. a stereotypical biginning horror or thriller where the audience is expecting someone to die...
 We have a close up of his burnt hands this stereotypically follows the convention of the antagonist usually having a scar or something bad on their physical appearance.

Here he has a hand made of iron and this steers up the intrigue for the audience as they are excited to find out what he possibly use it for!
And then we have the title of the movie that comes by the 58^th second.

Then there a girl who pops up on the screen looking worried and anxious.
She’s stereotypically blond and white, she’s the damsel in distress that the audience is asked to identify with. The fact that behind is all white and that she’s on the big plan.
shows creates a certain atmosphere where which attracts the audience’s attention even more.
When we see her running away in the next this is the decisive part of the sequence as she’s trying to escape from something of someone. That long shot helps in establishing the location which is a tunnel.  

Regarding the sound, there’s the use of non diegitic score music which helps in setting the creepy atmosphere. And we hear the girl screaming which is of one of main convention of a horror genre.

 

Horror analysis

CODE AND CONVENTION OF HORROR GENRE

Horror genre are unsettling film designed to frightened and panic , cause dread and alarm and to invoke our hidden worst fears , often in a terrifying , shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining the audience at the same time in cathartic experience .www.filmsite.org.
Code and convention is about the detailed ‘rules’ of the genre –that is the micro and macro aspects we expect to see in a particular genre when we hear a genre name.
· Preliminary introduction into ordinary life style.
· Blood is likely to be in the film.
· Types of bizarre murder / death –killer known or known.
· Credit follow horror theme –creepy front, title movement image e.g pumpkin, weapon like axe, knife e.t.c.
· Main character introduced –young vulnerable people e.g young girls and women.
· Teenage kids – easy target also vulnerable, home alone.
· Haunted houses and isolated setting.
· Mysterious phone calls-dubbed sinister voice “who is there?”
· Monster is a standard for horror genre.
· Gore is expected to make the genre scary.
· Ghost is a standard of horror genre.
· Scream is mandatory standard for horror genre.
· Darkness is a standard of horror
· Violence is expected to be in the film.
· Victim unprotected.

Horror Genre

Analyse of the opening sequence of Juno

The m movie start with a mid/wide shot of  girl drinking juice out the a bottle. That helps in introducing the principal character and indicates the audience that she's the character they're meant to identify with.

As she starts walking we get a clear view of her whole body  as the camera pans and the clothes she's wearing shows that she's a normal teenager... her normal shoes, jeans and read jumper gives us a hint a personality, she's not into fashion, very natural, careless and stress free. 

The audience gets a glance of her character from the two  first minutes. When she get to the end of the road, the whole set is transformed into a sort of drawing or carton world through the motion of graphic, it's a bit lie like enter her world with her.

her facial expression is normal, she looks everywhere around her as walking, a smile here and there, she moves her head from right to left as if she was listening to some music.

The intriguing thing about this opening sequence is the fact that we don't really know anything about this girl as she walks around a suburban somewhere in Minneapolis. The setting looks quite peaceful which sets the mood, the drama which is going to take place in the movie.

Juno is a Indie film, the mise en scene which is a suburb, the camerawork which shows a lot of close ups, long shots of her and slow pace, graphic motion editing suggest that it's a comedy drama/adventure -as the opening sequence is about a her long walk- the non dietetic sound, synchronised with the sound of the birds emphasises the fact that the movie is a  comedy-indie or drama!

Analyse of the opening sequence of Rat Race

Rat Race's opening credits sequence introduces all the principal casts as cartoon running in the sky in a childish after an unknown object this helps in establishing the genre, comedy- adventure. 


The ten principal characters are introduced in a way that defines their personalities, from the lazy shy man to hyper lady who pretend not to care and start running as he leaves the screen.
The enigma is what they are running for?  What is the object that procures them so much joy as they are chasing after it!


The sound used is very good indicator of what the movie is about, it doesn't name the object but it warns the audience that the characters  put themselves in embarrassing situation... it's simply a rat race: a pressured urban working life spent trying to get ahead with little time left for leisure!