Codes and Conventions

(http://www.filmsite.org/horrorfilms)

Horror films are said be the focus of the dark side of life and to bring out people's fears and nightmares, alienate us and make us vulnerable inside. This involves peoples fear of death and dismemberment, loss of identity or fear of sexuality. Horror films can often attract and repel the audience at the same time.To do this different sub-genres can also be put together with the genre horror such as; Fantasy, supernatural or science fiction.

The frighten and panic causes the audience both dread and alarm and invokes our fears usually with a shocking finale, also captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience. Horror films are often combined with science fiction when the menace or monster is related to a corruption of technology, or when earth is threatened by aliens. The fact that horror films have made it so successfully even left the genre with different names they are also known as; Chillers, Scary Movies, Spook fests, and the Macabre.

Horror films can also often be combined with other sub genres such as science fiction which is usually a scientific visionary,comic strip like,with imaginative settings with the use of gadgets and advanced technology. Special effects are also at important use when combining the two together.

The supernatural sub genre used with horror is usually the more spiritual side to the films which includes ghosts,miracles, gods and goddesses and other similar ideas extraordinary phenomena.

Fantasy is also another sub genre put together with horror films. However unlike science fiction films that base some of their content on the bases of scientific truth, fantasy takes you to more of a fairytale place where events are unlikely to occur in real life.

Top 50 Horror Movies of all time.

(http://www.buried.com/editorials/top50horrormovies.shtml)

1. Psycho (1960)

2. Alien (1979)

3. The shining (1980)

4. Aliens (1986)

5. Diaboliques,les (1955)

6. Faust (1926)

7. Jaws (1975)

8.Planet Terror (2007)

9. Cabinet des Dr.Caligari,das (1920)

10. Grindhouse(2007)

11. The night of the hunter (1955)

12. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

13. Nosferatu,eine symphonie des Grauens (1922)

14. Testement des Dr. Mabuse, das (1933)

15. spoorloos (1988)

16. Frankenstein(1931)

17. Jungfrukallan (1960)

18. King kong (1933)

19. Dead of night (1945)

20. The thing (1982)

21. Onibaba (1964)

22. The innocents (1961)

23. The exorcist (1973)

24. Invasion of the body snatchers (1956)

25. Dead man's shoes (2004)

26. Rosmary's baby (1968)

27. Kaidan (1964)

28. Repulsion (1965)

29. Shaun of the dead (2004)

30. The invisible man (1933)

31. Night of the living dead (1968)

32. The unknown (1927)

33. Yeux sans visage, les (1960)

34. Dawn of the dead (1978

35. What ever happened to Mary Jane?(1962)

36. The birds (1963)

37. Halloween (1978)

38. The haunting (1963)

39. Peeping Tom (1960)

40. The holy mountain (1973)

41. my name is Bruce (2007)

42. Survie style 5+ (2004)

43. Vargtimmen (1968)

44. Evil dead 2 (1987)

45. Profondo rosso (1975)

46. Abre los ojos (1997)

47. The hound of the Baskervilles (1939)

48.The phantom of the opera (1925)

49. Freaks (1932)

50. Dracula (1958)

Review on the continuity clip

The storyline to this piece was a simple storyline to show that we could film different types of shots from different angles, also by doing this we could show that we know how to use a camcorder. The types of shots that we recorded were:

• Match on Action
• Shot Reverse Shot
• 180 degree Rule.

The storyline was about a boy meeting up with a girl and giving her a gift which was a rose. The expression and body language of the boy and girl were both shown using medium close up shot, close up, and long shot. My partner and i also filmed the boy walking away at a distance from the camera at the end.

We thoroughly enjoyed filming this clip as we had learnt how to use the camcorder in a way that will be relevant to us and our work. However we did not have the smoothest run through when filming this clip as we had a couple of set backs. The first mistake we had made was when we had filmed half of the clip in one lesson then the other half in the next lesson. When we went to film the second half of the clip we had accidentally left a long 2 minute pause inbetween the first and second clip. Because of this we had to delete the second half of the clip and re-film it at the appropriate part of the tape. The second difficulty that we had come across was that we had not filmed our Match on Action clearly so we had to re-film that part as well.When we had done that we had successfully finished filming our continuity piece.

Analysis of the opening to a Horror film: Jeeper's Creeper's 2

The opening credits to the film starts off basic but keeping its leery Ora. The credits are shown in standard white text against a black background, with no music playing just total silence. Towards the audience this gives the 'expect the unexpected' feeling.

This being Jeeper's Creeper's 2, shows that this is part of a sequel. Which is similar to The Grudge, this could be a trend for Horror films. However they did not show clips or flashbacks from the first Jeeper's Creeper's, instead of this they used words showing dates to show the name of the place where the second film was situated and the day, month and year, as that later on during the film has a severely relevant reference to what is happening in the film. This writing is faded on and off the screen in slow motion, which keeps the audience engaged with the screen.

As soon as the film story starts the diagetic sound from the tractor suddenly starts getting louder and louder. Next there is an establishing tracking shot to show the view from across the desolate wheat fields, showing how out of place and lonesome the scene really is. After the scene has been set, more writing appears across the screen stating the day, month and the year once again. Next more diagetic sound starts but this time its the crows, which are suspiciously sat on one scare crow but not the other, this tells the audience things are going to start getting sour.

The young boys father noisily starts up his tractor and starts farming, but there is also an extreme close up of one particular part of the tractor. The normal everyday farming continues showing an establishing shot of the young boy, his brother and their father.

A long shot is then shown of the boy walking away into the dry wheat fields. The loud non-diagetic music starts as the dog barks as loud as he possibly could when he hears unusual rustling in the fields. The dog is used cleverly as animals are meant to have a sixth sense when something is not right. This not only indicates the boys family that something is wrong but it also tells the audience that something is not right but very very wrong.

A behind the shoulder shot is taken from behind the young boy in the feild with the dark mysterious bat posing as a scarecrow. This shot is engaging with the audience making the feel like they're intruding on this horrific event.

A slow tracking shot then shows the monster's face. The none diagetis sound gets louder and louder along with the dogs barking, as the establishing shot from the fathers point of veiw sets the scene of the boy being dragged through the wheat feilds. Then the next shot shockingly shows a veiw looking up to the sky watching the monster fly off with eyoung boy in his claws. The music then stops. This creates fear for the audience of what's going to happen next? A zooming on extreame close up is the the last shot shown of the fathers eyes before the plot is continued.

Analysis of the opening to a Horror film: Scream

The opening to the film is very inviting to the audience because it's filmed as if you are there with the character or the 'victim' of that particular scenario. This illusion is created by the way that shot had been filmed, this was done by using a tracking shot. At first it was a medium shot of Drew Barrymore in the kitchen on the house phone to a stranger, whilst she is the the kitchen she is fiddling with the knives in a wooden chopping block. This creates irony as she is on the phone to a stranger and could potentially be murdered that night. The use of the diagetic sound of the popping popcorn in the background is used to the max as the sound of the popping gets louder and louder, this helps to build up more tension and suspense as to what is going to happen next. The camera then followers her as she walks out of her kitchen and around her her desolate house. This shot is from behind the shoulder and also done with a hand held camera, that looks like the audience are sneaking up behind her.

For the beginning of the film using a medium shot is very enticing for a horror film because it shows its surroundings and the background. For example whilst Drew is talking on the phone she's standing right in front of the garden door windows, where there's just enough site to see a sneak preview of whats going on outside behind her. This gives off the same effect as the 'behind the shoulder peering shot', except you are also able to see the expression on the victims face whilst the unexpected is behind her.