Dear Fellow Passionate Media Followers,
After I wrote the blog about possibly creating a drama film opener for my media class, I had this thought in my head that I could even possibly do a film opener for a horror film. With that said, I sat down a couple days later and did some research on horror films. This is what I found: I noticed that there are a lot of specific elements that go into producing and creating a horror film. In terms of content, horror films usually are set in isolated areas where there is no help for the characters and finding somewhere to run. For example, in the film Get Out the setting was in a home in the woods secluded from the town. Furthermore, many horror films also seem to use natural elements such as: the use of thunder, lightning, and rain to further enhance the feeling of isolation or intense scenes. Specifically, I noticed that lightning is a specific part of almost every horror film. I did a little research and found that many times horror is use lightning because it gives the effect of something bad is about to happen. For example, shadows and light flickering causes the audience to feel scared and nervous. As well as, lighting helps to cultivate a overlying tone in a horror film. In terms of costumes, I noticed that costumes vary based on the films setting and time period, In terms of props, I noticed that a lot of horror films use weapons or a lot of antiques. Colours used within horror films are usually reds or blacks because they suggest danger and death. Lastly, horror films always use the same stereotypical characters which include: the character that dies first (the blonde character), the character everyone in the film looks for guidance for guidance (the athlete character), and the character that usually survives and isn’t impacted by evil in the film (called the virgin character).
After I wrote the blog about possibly creating a drama film opener for my media class, I had this thought in my head that I could even possibly do a film opener for a horror film. With that said, I sat down a couple days later and did some research on horror films. This is what I found: I noticed that there are a lot of specific elements that go into producing and creating a horror film. In terms of content, horror films usually are set in isolated areas where there is no help for the characters and finding somewhere to run. For example, in the film Get Out the setting was in a home in the woods secluded from the town. Furthermore, many horror films also seem to use natural elements such as: the use of thunder, lightning, and rain to further enhance the feeling of isolation or intense scenes. Specifically, I noticed that lightning is a specific part of almost every horror film. I did a little research and found that many times horror is use lightning because it gives the effect of something bad is about to happen. For example, shadows and light flickering causes the audience to feel scared and nervous. As well as, lighting helps to cultivate a overlying tone in a horror film. In terms of costumes, I noticed that costumes vary based on the films setting and time period, In terms of props, I noticed that a lot of horror films use weapons or a lot of antiques. Colours used within horror films are usually reds or blacks because they suggest danger and death. Lastly, horror films always use the same stereotypical characters which include: the character that dies first (the blonde character), the character everyone in the film looks for guidance for guidance (the athlete character), and the character that usually survives and isn’t impacted by evil in the film (called the virgin character).
Not only do horror films have specific conventions of content, but they also have specific conventions of production techniques. For example, sound is a very important part of horror films, as it is to any other type of film, Foley sound is utilized in many scenes in horror movies to help build suspense. There is also a lot of exaggerated diegetic sound to help build tension in a film and fast and loud non-diegetic sound to make the viewers “jump out of their seats” like in the shower scene in Psycho. Furthermore, a lot of horror films are shot underexposed to give each shot a dark and dreary tone. As well as, many horror films, utilize a lot of extreme closeups, to emphasize certain things in the film. For example, during the bathroom killing scene in Psycho, there an extreme close-up of the womens face when she was killed. The last two big production technique that are seen in almost every horror film is the use of haze and they are usually shot at night.
Two examples of horror films and why they fit in the horror film genre include:
Insidious: The Last Key
All the Insidious movies are horror movies, but I saw this one in theaters. That is why I decided to analyze how this film embodies characteristics of a horror genre. Right off the bat, this film takes place at Ted Garza house which is very isolated from the rest of the world and a very common characteristic in horror films. Furthermore, the main characters in this film embody stereotypic characters of a film. For example, Melissa is the blonde character because she dies first and isn’t the smartest. Elise is the athlete character in the film because everyone kind of follows her lead throughout the whole film. Imogen is the virgin character in the film because she is not impacted by any of the evil spirits throughout the whole film. Furthermore, the majority of the film is shot very underexposed to give it a dark and dreary look. As well as, there is thunder, lightning, and rain in the movie. Lastly, Foley sound is utilized in a lot of scenes to help build suspense and there is a lot of exaggerated diegetic and loud non-diegetic sounds in the film.
The Purge: with Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey
This is another example of a horror film. Right off the bat, you can notice that this film is all about isolation which is a major convention of horror films as stated previously in my blog. During this film, James Sandin and his family have to lock down their house to make sure no one can enter during the Purge, which is a night where all crime is legal. This causes the family in the film to be very isolated from the rest of the world because they only can be in their home. Furthermore, the film was mostly shot at night and very exposed. Like in all the Purge movies, foley sound is utilized in a lot of scenes to help build suspense and there is a lot of exaggerated diegetic and loud non-diegetic sounds in the film. Furthermore, like Insidious, the main characters in this film embody stereotypic characters of a horror film. For example, James Sandin is the athlete in the story because he is the father of the home and everyone seems to follow his orders for most of the movie. Charlie Sandin is seen as the blonde character in the movie because he lets to wounded man in whom shoots at James. As well as, Zoey Sandin and her mother are seen as the virgin characters in the film because they are not impacted by the evil in the film.
Other examples of horror films include:
The Babadook (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5WQZzDRVtw )
Paranormal Activity (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_UxLEqd074 )
Sincerely,
Matthew Liebman
Filmmaker
November 11th, 2018
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