Assignment 4: Research on Genre Conventions

Genre conventions are things that make the genre, things you would expect to see in a specific genre. To be able to recognise a specific genre you need to look at the setting, narrative, characterisation and the themes.

A horror film setting normally includes:

- Small communities or isolated places
- Urban environments
- Dark streets
- Narrow alleyways
- Large cities
- New house

Anything that connotes isolation or being alone.


The typical horror film narratives are:

- Revenge from the killer/supernatural creature
- Halloween night
- Friday 13th
- The dead not at peace
- New family moving into old house


The general characters in a horror film are:

- Victim
- Hero
- The villain (often a supernatural creature)
- Stupid immoral teenagers that always get killed
- Creepy children
- Police officers (good/bad)



And finally the themes that occur in most horror films:

- Good vs Evil
- Depression
- Religion
- Death
- Revenge
- Murder
- Nightmares
- Madness
- Envy
- Suicide



Here is a horror film called 'Annabelle' directed by John R. Leonetti produced James Wan:




The settings the trailer show are:
- New house
- Isolated places


The narrative that was shown was:
- New family moving into new house
- The dead (supernatural possessed doll) not at peace


And finally the characters that were shown:

- Victim

- Hero

- The villain (the doll and the serial killers) 

- Creepy children

Themes shown:

- Religion

- Death

- Revenge

- Murder

- Madness

- Suicide

Sound:
- Typical scary music
- Screams
- Scary whispers
- Laughter
- ticking
- Door creaking
- Contrapuntal music
- Sounds louder than normal

Here is another horror film directed by Levan Gabriadze and produced by Bekmambetov & Greaves



Setting the trailer shows:
- In house alone (Isolated)

Narratives:
- Revenge
- Dead not at peace

Characters shown:
-Victims
- Villain (online ghost form)

Themes shown:
- Suicide
- Death
- Revenge
- Murder
- Supernatural

Sound:
- Typing
- Message tone
- Typical eerie music
- Screams
- Gun
- Blender screams
- Scary dialog





This horror film is directed by____ and produced by ____



Settings:
- New house
- Isolated area

Narratives:
- Dead not at peace

Characters shown:
- Victims
- Villain

Themes shown:
- Supernatural
- Death

Sound:
- Scary music
- Dialog talking about seeing things
- Sudden scary music
- Contrapuntal music