(Research) Assignment 9: Individual Research

By Liam Howse

Slasher: Friday the 13th Conventions within the subgenre:

- Last survivor tends to be the female ‘virgin’.- Game of ‘cat and mouse’. (Killer is always chasing the victims)- Confrontation with killer (Jason Voorhees at the end of the film)- Police always make an appearance in Slashers whether it’s at the beginning, middle or the end.- Main victims are normally teenagers. Some character types in Slashers are the virgin, jock, nerd, over-

sexualised girl etc.- Killer is an outcast in society. Examples of this are Freddy Krueger (NoES), Jason Voorhees (F13th),

Michael Myers (Halloween)- The colour ‘red’ is used within the text in order to convey the sub-genre. It is used to indicate blood.- Shows gory scenes.- Many tracking shots are used within Slashers when victims are running away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqqej9T2gqI

Alice’s confrontation with Mrs Voorhees.Jack’s (Kevin Bacon) neck being impaled.

Ghosts and Spirits: The RingConventions within the subgenre:- The antagonist is normally heavily associated with a particular

object(s). In the Ring, the object is the tape.- Informs the viewer of a death that has already happened. Normally in

the OTS.- The colours of white/black are heavily used in the costume of the

antagonist in order to convey the dark and evil mood.- The story of the antagonist is explained in detail in contrast to other

paranormal sub-genres.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PkgRhzq_BQ

The object inn which the film revolves around, the VHS tape. The colour scheme on the costume is very dull and ragged. This conveys the mood in which is shown throughout the movie.

Home Invasion: The StrangersConventions within the subgenre:- Involves around the protagonist(s) home.- The antagonist(s) face is covered in order to make their identity anonymous. In some movies, this

is done to build up drama as characters will be introduced at the start in order to get the viewer thinking on who it may be and why they are doing this.

- A lot of Home Invasion movies follow a theory known as ‘Todorov’s narrative theory’. This is made up of three sections the Equilibrium, Disequilibrium and New Equilibrium.

- Usually at night when the invasion starts.- Household items such as kitchen knives are often used in these movies. - Establishing shots are often used in these movies as they indicate where the event is going to

happen. - Fast paced editing is used in order to build tension of the chase between the protagonist and

antagonist.

Establishing shot sets the location for the movie in which the event of the ‘home invasion’ will happen in.

The antagonists wear masks in order to hide their identity leaving them anonymous.

Supernatural: The ConjuringConventions within the subgenre:- Normally set in a new house or an isolated location. (The location will normally

look old).- Story revolves around what had happened before they bought the

property/arrived at the location. - Characters in these types of movies vary as in some cases it may just be a female

but in others it will be a family or just a couple. - Profile lighting is used within Supernatural movies in order to create sinister

moods. - Many modern supernatural movies are starting to use the handheld camera

technique. This originated from ‘The Blair Witch Project’

At the start of the trailer, a handhold camera technique has been implemented in order to convey realism.

Old antiques tell the audience that the house they are investigating is very old.

Giant Monsters: The MistConventions within the subgenre:- Normally, the only people that can defeat the monster are people/characters

in the army or who work for the government. - Affects the whole population of a city or even a country. (In other words, the

amount of victims in these types of movies is substantially higher).- Establishing shots may be used in order to indicate where this is taking place. - The monsters in these type of horror movies normally have a ‘signature

sound’. This is seen in movies like Godzilla, King Kong (1933) etc. - Explores what ordinary people would do in extraordinary

scenarios/circumstances.

Establishes the setting for the movie. It tells the audience that this location has a large amount of significance on the story.

Shows that all of these people are in the same position/all of them are affected by this.

Virus: 28 Days LaterConventions within the subgenre: - A disease/ virus that spreads into a most commonly global pandemic.- Apocalyptic/Abandoned world.- Movie will focus around a group of people as there is more sense of a triumph if there is

more people.- Usually a character who makes extremely bad decisions such as opening a door letting

zombies in or abandoning the group etc.- There are a variety of different characters in the group in order to view how they would act

in a scenario like this.- Normally shows what the world was like before in order to create a contrast.- If there are sequels to it, a lot of the time there are left at cliff hangers in order to draw in

the viewer to wanting to find out.

https://youtu.be/c7ynwAgQlDQ

Shows that London is in an apocalyptic state as everything seems to be abandoned.

Tells us through sound and visuals how the virus was unleashed. In this screenshot, there are rats swarming and before this you can hear monkeys.

Comedy Horror: LeprechaunConventions within the subgenre:- It has jokes as well as dark humour within the film in which separates it from

other subgenres. - It’s objective is to both make the audience laugh and also create a dark

atmosphere/mood.- Many comedy horrors take aspects from already made films in order to make fun

of or make light of something that a viewer may have already seen in a darker situation. - The film will start off with an unexpected situation in order to create a story.- Characters in this a much more comedic in what they do in contrast to other

horror movies hence the name comedy horror.

https://youtu.be/0xD8AE8ZcpA