There are many aspects of horror/thriller films that allow the audience to recognise what type of film it is when they view the trailer or see the movie poster.
Some of the main conventions are:
-Blood - Quite often horror movies have a lot of gore in whereas in other genre's you tend not to see any kind of blood or gore.
-Low key lighting - Horror movies use a lot of low key lighting as this creates a scary atmosphere because the viewer can not always see what is on the screen.
-Death - Almost all horror films feature many deaths throughout. The victims are usually quite vulnerable characters and are murdered in quite brutal ways by the same person.
-Serial killers - There is usually one main killer in horror films who we do not know the identity of so we cannot get attached to their character, however in the end it is usually revealed who is doing the killing.
-Weapons - The killers use weapons usually to kill their victims. These are quite often household items like knives, gardening equipment, tools etc.
-Low, loud music or high strings - The music is key in films as it helps to set the mood. In horror films low music is used to create suspense and high strings are used to create a scary, eerie feel.
2. What is suspense?
Suspense is used in all horror films as a key feature. It is the feeling of excited or anxious uncertainty about what may happen. For example, in a horror movie the main character could be slowly walking down the street, however she feels like somebody is watching her and keeps on turning around to see if she can see anybody. This makes the viewer feel anxious about who is watching her and what they're going to do. Suspense is very effective in horror movies as it constantly keeps the viewer interested.
3. Write a definition (with textual example) for each of the 3 shot types - match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.
Match on action - A match on action shot is when something is happening in a scene then there is a cut but the same piece of action is still going on. This is an example of continuity editing and it is very important in helping the audience to understand what is going on at all times.
Shot - reverse shot - A shot-reverse shot is when one character is shown looking at another and then that character is then shown looking back at the first character. Because the characters are shown looking in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.
180-degree rule - The 180-degree rule states that two characters (or other objects) in the same scene, must have the same left/right relationship to each other. For example, if one character is on the left side of the shot they should always face the right and vica versa.
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