Media Studies: Genre Research Activity

Horror

The Nun, (2018) Corin Hardy

In literature, horror is a genre of fiction whose purpose is to create feelings of fear, dread, repulsion, and terror in the audience, in other words, it develops an atmosphere of horror. Horror feeds on audience’s deepest terrors by putting life’s most frightening and perplexing things like death, evil, supernatural powers or creatures, the afterlife, witchcraft and putting them at the center of attention.

Typical target audience:

The usual age for the target audience of a horror film is 15- 25. The most common reason for this is that young adults and teenagers enjoy thrills. These thrills are more likely to excite a younger audience rather than an older one. Horror films are generally aimed more at males than females.

Production techniques:

-Lighting

Horror movies use all different types of lighting techniques to help the viewer understand the movie with a much deeper meaning. For example, dark lighting puts the viewer in a mood of fear and creepiness. Different lighting schemes are also used to communicate danger, fear, and other horrible emotions onto the screen visually. A lot of the times, fear is transmitted thru shadows which are created using backlighting and angles.

-Costumes and Make Up

The costumes and make up in horror movies are extremely important as they add to the mise-en-scene of the film which will help create a verisimilitude effect. It will also help the film become scarier, and help the audience identify if the character is a protagonist or an antagonist. Costumes in horror films are usually dark and covered with blood, which makes them a crucial part of the movie. The fact that the character is wearing dark clothes represents the tone of the film and makes it more scarier for the audience.

-Sound

Soundtracks could be considered the most important part of any horror movie. Specific sounds can stick to a viewer even after they left the movie theater. A perfect use of sound effect can make your audience squirm and trigger reactions they’ve never felt, expanding their imagination and immersing them completely. One of the most liberating aspects of horror filmmaking is the lack of rules. There’s no set way or clear rulebook to follow in order to make a good horror film.

Marketing:

Marketing is defined as the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, and society at large. Horror movies use their trailers to catch the attention of their viewers, therefore, marketing their movie in a short video used to preview the movie. The trailers include jump scares, creepy sound effects and most of the time, they show just a few characters to catch the attention of the viewer. Horror movies have a tendency of making good movie trailers because the trailers are short and straight to the point, which helps in leaving the viewer with the feeling of wanting more.

Examples:

1.

The Nun is a 2018 American gothic supernatural horror film directed by Corin Hardy and written by Gary Dauberman, from a story by Dauberman and James Wan. The movie is mainly about how a priest with a haunted past and a novice on the threshold of her final vows are sent by the Vatican to investigate the death of a young nun in Romania and are confronted with a malevolent force in the form of a demonic nun. This movie gets most of its horror aspect by the constant use of jump scares, lighting and sound effects. Overall, the Num was rated four stars out of five, making it a fantastic Friday night scary movie.

2.

In 1970, paranormal investigators and demonologists Lorraine and Ed Warren are summoned to the home of Carolyn and Roger Perron. The Perrons and their five daughters have recently moved into a secluded farmhouse, where a supernatural presence has made itself known. Though the manifestations are relatively benign at first, events soon escalate in horrifying fashion, especially after the Warrens discover the house's macabre history. The Conjuring doesn't have many jump scares but still has the right number to give you nightmares for weeks. Furthermore, The Conjuring also uses suspense to build on the horror making it an amazing movie to watch with friends. Its viewers gave the movie a rating of 85% on rotten tomatoes.

Movies for your watch list: