GENERIC CONVENTIONS

INVESTIGATIONTheoretical Research

WHAT ARE THE GENERIC CONVENTIONS OF THE HORROR GENRE? In order to evidence the typical conventions of a

horror trailer I have analysed two different trailers to show how they use the different codes and conventions to target their film to the audience.

From previous research I know that the generic conventions of a horror trailer usually include:- Isolated location- Eerie music (fast and slow pace) (sometimes silence)- Short takes- Supernatural activity- Close ups- Tension and suspense- Religious

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS The Cabin In The Woods is about how five friends go on a break to

a remote cabin in an isolated woods. Paranormal events begin to happen and they have to come together to try and survive. This film goes with typical conventions as the women are weak and rely on the male figures to help them survive. The trailer contains a lot of slow and fast pace music to help create mood and atmosphere. This film adheres with Todorov’s theory of equilibrium and Propp’s theory.

These two screenshots shows the generic isolated location which creates an eerie feeling as they’re far away from society and people are commonly scared of the unknown. Being alone somewhere not familiar with the surroundings can be unnerving and scary.

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS Using typography in a horror trailer is very common as this creates extra

suspense without giving away parts of the film. It is generic to say ‘From the producers of..’ as this creates an inherited audience from previous films.

Using close ups and extreme close ups is a generic convention of horror trailers as it creates suspense and tension without giving away the whole shot. The Cabin In The Woods uses this well as the two main close ups are of women which is a generic code that women are weak and vulnerable.

ORPHAN Orphan is about a husband and wife, who have recently lost their

baby, adopt a 9 year old girl who isn’t as innocent as she first seems. Paranormal events begin to happen when Ester starts acting out of character. This film goes with typical conventions as there is a religious link as well as an typical family home where things go wrong. The trailer contains a lot of slow and fast pace music to create mood as well as close ups to build tension and atmosphere. This film adheres to Todorov’s theory of equilibrium and Levi Strauss binary opposites as the young girls turns from innocent to evil.

Orphan uses generic conventions of location to portrait an isolated feeling. In the first screenshot there are lots of people yet the location is still detached from other buildings whereas the second screenshot is much more secluded once the girl is with them.

ORPHAN In this film there is a strong religious link which is used by many horror

trailers. This is because many people don’t understand old traditional religious views which people find creepy and uncomfortable.

Close ups of items are also popular in the horror genre trailers. This builds tension as the audience doesn’t know what’s going to happen; it creates a series of unanswered question in the viewers head which leads them to wanting to find out by watching the film. In this first screenshot the slow opening of the door builds suspense as the audience doesn’t know what’s going to be behind the door. The second screenshot of the swing moving very fast and the tree in the background not moving shows there is no wind which sparks the question of how the swing is moving violently fast by itself.