Genre Research; Horror

1890 1896: The first horror was film created (The House of the devil) by a French director George Méliés.1920 The most influential films were created, these influenced the next generation of American films.1910: Frankenstein1920: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari1930 Was knows as the ‘golden age for monster movies’.1931: Dracula 1940 Monster movies were no longer successful, they began to introduce sequels such as ‘The Ghost of Frankenstein’, this led on to the introduction of comedy horror which met some success. 1948: Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein1950 Influences from cultural forces such as the cold war. Increasing competition led film makers to resort to other gimmicks such as 3D. 1953: House of Wax1960 Movies were more edgy, featuring controversial levels of violence and sexuality.1963: Blood feast1965: Repulsion

Key EventsTimeline of horror films

1960 Movies were more edgy, featuring controversial levels of violence and sexuality.1963: Blood feast1965: Repulsion1970 Boundaries were pushed and explicit films with graphic sex scenes found success.1978: I spit on your grave1980 The first half of the 80’s was defined by slashers. Whereas the second half was more light hearted, mixing in comic elements.1980: Friday the 13th

1987: Fatal attraction1990 The early '90s brought unrivaled critical acclaim for the horror genre. At the end of the decade, ‘Blade’ foreshadowed the coming flood of comic book adaptations.1991: The silence of the lambs1998: Blade2000 This saw the remake of previous famous films such as;2007: Halloween2009: Friday the 13th

Key EventsTimeline of horror films

• Sometimes there is a main protagonist who turns out to be the ‘hero’ within the movie.

• A villain who can appear in many forms (serial killer, mutant, monster etc).

• A victim who gets killed.• Creepy children.• Ghost.• Psychopath.• Stalker.

Characters

Conventions

• Places that connote loneliness • Forests/woods• Empty, run down cities• Abandoned houses• Narrow, dark alleyways• Graveyards

Usually Horror films are set in places which connote loneliness, isolation, fear and anger. These places create tension for the audience.

Setting

• High and low angles connote fear for the onscreen characters.

• Handhold shots makes it difficult for the audience to understand what is happening.

• Point of view shots allow the audience to see the world from the villains eye.

ConventionsCamerawork

• Editing can create unsettling tension, especially alongside unfamiliar sounds.

• If the editing speeds up you are aware that suspense is building up and someone may jump out for the purpose of fear.

• Sounds being added after filming, like the ambient sound of footsteps creates a further threat for the onscreen victim as well as the audience.

ConventionsEditing

• Footsteps • Howling wolfs• Crows • Screams • Evil laughs • Breaking sticks• Creaking floorboards • Tension building music

Often horror films, have a lot of time in which there is no sound to create tension and fear for the audience.

ConventionsSounds

• Dark ripped clothing• Blood stains • Pale skin• Odd coloured eyes (contacts)• Low key lighting• Knives and other weapons (props)• Makeup

ConventionsMise-en-scene