Genre-Horror

Definition:

Horror is a film genre seeking to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's primal fears. Horror films often feature scenes that startle the viewer; the macabre and the supernatural are frequent themes. Thus they may overlap with the fantasy, supernatural, and thriller genres.

^{There are many subgenres in Horror they are:}

• Action Horror
• Body horror
• Comedy horror
• Gothic horror
• Natural horror
• Psychological horror
• Science Fiction horror
• Slasher film
• Splatter film
• Zombie film  

Codes and Conventions: 

In most horror films there is what is known as a final girl, who is usually the lead and survives the film. However, anybody can die in a horror film. In horror films partaking in sex and drugs usually leads to death. Also asking "who's there" or anything that doesn't use common sense means that your likely to die according to the genre. The Villain in horror films is usually an outcast and has distinct ways of killing his victims. He/She can not also be killed or defeated easily and the equilibrium that is being disrupted by him/her is trying to be restored throughout the movie. In most horror movies the face is never shown of the killer or it is not completely shown due to a mask, e.g leather-face in Texas Chain Saw Massacre or disfigured. If they are shown this is usually at the end of the film. 

 I also looked at the thriller genre to go and see that blog post you can click here

Genre: Thriller

Some conventions of thriller include:  

•   Quick cuts
• Lots of camera angles 
• Music that gives tension
•  Lighting often high key lighting to emphasise shadows and two sides to a character.
• Often told the story from the Killers POV- allows it to be more menacing
• Use of Flashbacks.
• Use of Black and white
• Use of montage which helps pass time and elongate the storyline.

The primary elements of the thriller genre:

• The protagonist(s) faces death, either their own or somebody else's.
• The force(s) of antagonism must initially be cleverer and/or stronger than the protagonist's.
• The main storyline for the protagonist is either a quest or a character who cannot be put down.
• The main plotline focuses on a mystery that must be solved.
• The film's narrative construction is dominated by the protagonist's point of view.
• All action and characters must be credibly realistic/natural in their representation on screen.
• The two major themes that underpin the thriller genre are the desire for justice and the morality of individuals.
• One small, but significant, aspect of a thriller is the presence of innocence in what is seen as an essentially corrupt world.
• The protagonist(s) and antagonist(s) may battle, themselves and each other, not just on a physical level, but on a mental one as well.
• Either by accident or their own curiousness, characters are dragged into a dangerous
• conflict or situation that they are not prepared to resolve.
  Examples:

•  Psycho (1960)
•  Snakes on a Plane (2006)
• Rebbecca (1940)
• The Shining (1980)