My Favorite Genre- Video

 

Transcipt:

So this is an inside look at the horror movie genre. Table of context, we’re first going to go over the genre over, so the definition of the genre, and media codes, including symbolic codes, technical codes, and written codes. We’re going to go over genre components, classic examples, personal favorites of mine, and then common directors and studios that are seen in the horror movie genre. So by definition, horror movies are designed to frighten and to evoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience. The subgenres of horror are slasher, splatter, psychological, survival, teen horror, “found footage”, serial killers, paranormal or occult, the undead, satanic, and monsters. Symbolic codes of horror movies include setting. Most settings for horror movies are dark, isolated, and in grand buildings. Examples of this are in haunted houses where the hallways are large and dark. There is usually climactic music (which is leitmotif) in the background, usually when there is a protagonist approaching the main characters or when a climactic scene is approaching. Acting is a key role in the success of horror movies because the actors are supposed to portray the fear and entrapment that they are usually supposed to be portrayed in in horror movies. If the actor faked a scream through a horror movie, the audience would be able to tell and it would not be able to be sold as easily to the audience. Colors often seen in horror movies are red, orange, and yellow just because they have more ominous undertones. Technical codes: camera work is very important for horror movies. A lot of horror movies use the handheld method only because it makes the audience feel like they are there with the action and it feels like they are looking into the action. They also use a lot of close frames to show the reactions of the actors and a lot of low exposure because low lighting is very important to create the eerie, ominous feeling of horror movies. Special effects and arrangements are often made in horror movies, especially anything supernatural or monster related only because there are some things that are just not possible to be created physically without using special effects. They often have intense dialogue and music, again the music usually speeds up when the antagonist is approaching the protagonist or when a climactic scene is about to happen. They have low lighting, and a lot of old movies have poor quality just because it gives you a scene of: you’re watching something you shouldn’t be watching, and found footage does this a lot, especially with old film where it seems like this is a VHS tape maybe a serial killer had in their basement and you're getting to watch that. So written codes, there is a lot of printed language in horror movies, they usually serve as foreshadowing signs like posters and hints. For example, you may see a zombie apocalypse or a chemical sign. For example, there was a horror movie about teenagers who stumble upon the zombie apocalypse and there might be a hazardous sign on the fence that they cross over. Spoken language. There is a lot of intense dialogue, a lot of yelling screaming, and confusion in horror movies. Lyrical choices: a lot of horror movies actually prefer to have high action scenes with slower songs just because it makes a more eerie feeling, and a lot of horror movies use the typical trope to have the TV news broadcaster in the background. The main characters are not paying attention to the TV new casting, but it’s telling them something important that they need to know for later on. Some classic examples are “Halloween (1978)” and it’s actually inspired 11 sequels, including the originals and other spinoffs made by other directors. They are even now producing a new sequel. It’s usually the same actress. Another classic example is “Scream (1996)” and it has also inspired several spinoffs and adaptions. There have been parody movie series, recreations of the movies, spinoffs, and even several TV series based upon the series. Masked serial killers are often used in classic movies such as Jason’s movies, Scream, and others. A personal favorite of mine is “The Autopsy of Jane Doe.” It is supernatural horror, and it gets a late start because most of the movie is spent introducing the characters and them trying to understand why this girl’s autopsy is not going as it should and why every single time they try to autopsy her, strange occurrences happen. It gets a little bit historic, getting into things like the Salem Witch Trial, the murders of that time, and how witches protected themselves, so it does give a bit of a historic background. A lot of horror movie directors like to base their movies off of things that actually happened, then they add their own supernatural twist to it. Another favorite of mine is “Kingdom Come (2014).” It’s an escape situation with strangers in a supernatural nightmare. It begins with the strangers all waking up in a hospital, and upon trying to escape this eerie, broken-down looking hospital, they realize they are trapped there with a creature that is trying to consume their souls, which is also popular in the horror genre. The movie has a shocking twist, because the entire plot of the movie, in a sense, “didn’t actually happen.” That’s something that happens a lot in not only the horror genre, but horror is frequent to have situations that were either in someone's head, written in journals, or situations that are only seen by the audience while everyone else does not know what is going on. Famous studios that create horror movies are the Safran Company (Anabelle, The Conjuring Universe), Vertigo Entertainment (The Grudge, The Strangers, Death Note, Blair Witch Project), Twisted Pictures (Saw, Texas Chainsaw), Platinum Dunes (Ouija, The Purge, A Quiet Place), and Blumehouse (The Green Inferno, Split, Insidious). Famous directors of the horror movie genre are James Wan (Insidious, the Conjuring Series, Saw, Annabelle, The Nun, Malignant), Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Original Scream Series), Mike Flanagan (Hush, Gerald’s Game, Doctor Sleep, The Haunting of Hill House) and Jordan Peele (Us, Get Out, Nope).