Week 2 Homework Assignment Into Genre
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Transcript of Week 2 Homework Assignment Into Genre
HW 11th September 2015
Week 2 Homework Assignment into Genre The film industry has countless different genres from which there are numerous that I enjoy more than others, these include comedy, drama and horror. My favourite of these to watch when I am with a group of friends would be horror, although I probably would not watch one by myself at home or in the cinema. One of the things that draws me into horror films most is the harsh music that is used at times to signify that something shocking is about to follow. I like this because in that moment there is so much tension and suspense overcoming that you practically hold your breath in anticipation of what will occur. Another thing that I like about the horror genre is the way that they are filmed because they use a lot of camera techniques that are not seen as much in other genres, such as canted angles and other unusual shots that add to the uncertainty of the situation, signifying to the viewer that something is not right. Finally, I like how throughout horror films you have to give so much attention to the narrative and what you are seeing because there are numerous times where things are happening in the foreground where you do not realise there is something (antagonist – ghost, demon etc.) lurking in the background, which you would miss if you were not giving your full attention. An example is in ‘The Gallows’, in this image one of the female characters has been left alone in the school where she has no way of escaping and if you look closely you can see the slight silhouette of the hangman in
the shadows behind her, which could have been easily missed if you were not concentrating. Also from this it suggests that something with this lurking character is going to happen shortly. Many people do not
understand how or why someone could get pleasure from watching a horror film that is intended to highly scare you but the fact is that people enjoy the feeling of being scared because you know that once you leave the cinema (or wherever you are watching the film) that everything will be fine and you will just go back to your lives unharmed. In addition to this, many people – especially teenagers and young adults – seek the adrenaline and excitement that contrasts with their ordinary life, but this need decreases with age as people do not feel the need for this kind of excitement anymore as they now have bigger things to focus on. In addition, through research it has been found that ‘the stronger the negative emotion a person reports experiencing during horror films, the more likely he or
HW 11th September 2015
she is to enjoy the genre’, through the catharsis theory, Sigmund Freud suggests that the horror genre offers you a type of release due to the high amounts of emotions that build up inside of you. From the Uses and Gratification Theory into what pleasures an audience receives from watching a type of media, applies to the horror genre in the form of escapism, where the viewer can escape their ordinary life for the duration of the film and become face to face with things and situations that you could never be brought into in real life, such as being near to a psychopathic killer, a ghost or a possessed human, these things can be appreciated from the comfort and safety of their own home or cinema. Additionally, many horror films come with a sequel or a series, so through this they can build a community of people that enjoy that film and it can become a topic of conversation, from Dyers Utopian Solutions the solution for isolation is community and togetherness and this can be reached through a group of people that like the same line of films as you. An example of this is the Saw franchise where there have been six films in the series, so this would have built up a fan base of people that would watch all of those films. In conclusion, my favourite film genre is horror because they send the viewer into situations that would not be possible for them to encounter in their normal lives, along with the fact that I like to be scared because I know that I will not be affected by it once the film has ended.