Horror Genre - History, Facts and Figures

Horror Genre Facts, Figures and Statistics

       
The Sixth Sense released 8/6/99 is the highest Grossing Horror film of all time it has a lifetime gross of $293,506,292 and was shown in 2821 cinemas worldwide.

Out of the top ten the film with the highest cinema showings was ‘The Grudge’ which was shown in 3348 cinemas.

The highest opening weekend gross in the top ten was from 3^rd place ‘What Lies Beneath’ which surpassed The Sixth Sense by $3 million reaching $29,702,959 on the opening weekend.

The Earliest highest grossing film from the top ten is ‘The Exorcist’ which was released on 12/26/73 which has currently made just over $230,000,000.

History of Horror

·         The first horror film or depictions of supernatural events appear in the late 1896. ‘Le Manoir Du Diable’ created by Georges Melies is known and credited as the first horror film.

·         In 1910 Edison Studios produced the first film version of Frankenstein, who was the first monster to ever appear in a horror closely followed by Quasimodo in The Hunchback Of Notre-Dame.

·         The first British horror film was ‘The Haunted Castle’ by George Albert Smith which was created in 1897.

·         The first American horror movie star was Lon Chaney who appeared in both ‘The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1923) and The Monster (1925).

·         The 1930’s-40 saw the revolution of talking pictures; this was when Universal studios began creating a series of Gothic horror films. Dracula was its first and was released in 1931 closely followed by Frankenstein. These films were designed to thrill the audience but also incorporate serious elements.

·         The 1950’s-60 bought with it new advancing technology which had a big impact on the horror genre. The first horror sub genres were created:

 The horror of Armageddon which was a sub-genre of science fiction that depicted the end of human civilization because of for example an extra-terrestrial attack or nuclear warfare.  One notable and successful example would be Godzilla (1954).

The horror of the demonic depicted that the world was horrible because of evil forces and that these evil forces could remain as spiritual presences or they could take the appearance of witches, devils and demons.

·         The 1970’s-80 saw the growth of low budget gore horror films. The exorcist (1973) is one of the most famous and was a huge commercial success. This was followed by horrors portraying the devil representing supernatural evil.

·         In 1975 Steven Spielberg began his rise to fame with well-known horror Jaws. Jaws created a wave of killer animal stories. Jaws is often credited as being the first B movie to include elements such as mild gore in a big Hollywood film.

·         The 1980’s saw a wave of gory B class horrors which were not favoured by critics at the time however many became classics and opinions and views were changed in the future years. These include classics such as Fright Night (1985).

·         The 1990’s carried on from the Slasher sub-genre of the 80’s. Many films saw sequels in the 90’s such as ‘Nightmare On Elm Street’, ‘Friday The 13^th ‘and ‘Halloween’.

·         The start of the 2000’s saw a quite phase for the horror genre; The Exorcist released again but extended and was very successful. Final Destination marked a successful rebirth of teen centred horror and has gone on to create four sequels.

Splatter Film- Deliberately focus on the portrayal of gore and graphic violence.

Sub Genres of horror

Action Horror- includes gun fights and supernatural personage of horrors.

Body Horror- Principally derived from the graphic destruction of a characters body.

Comedy Horror- Combines elements of comedy with horror fiction.

Gothic Horror- Contains elements of Goth and horror.

Natural Horror- Features nature running amok in the form of beasts and normal animals turned into killers includes aspects of science fiction.

Psychological Horror- Relies on characters fears, guilt’s and beliefs, often includes ghosts.

Science-Fiction Horror- Killer aliens experiments gone wrong, madmen.

Slasher Film- Often revolves around a psychopathic killer killing a sequence of victims.

Horror Questionnaire

This is an example of the questionnaire I created. I wanted to question people on their favourite conventions in typical horrors so I could base my upcoming movie opening around the most popular results.

1.       Are you male or female?

o    Male

o    Female

2.       How old are you?

o    15-18

o    19-25

o    26-35

o    36-50

o    50+

3.       Do you enjoy watching Horrors?

o    Yes

o    No

4.       Who would you watch a Horror with?

o    Partner

o    Friends

o    Family

o    On your own

5.       Which sub-genre of horror do you prefer?

o    Psychological (e.g. Paranormal Activity)

o    Comedy (e.g. Shaun of the Dead)

o    Slasher (Continuous Killings e.g. Texas Chain Saw Massacre)

o    Gore (e.g. Saw)

6.       What is your favourite convention of a horror film?

o    Blood and Gore

o    Darkness

o    Suspense

o    Violence

o    Supernatural beings

7.       What would be your Preferred duration of a horror film?

o    1 hour-1 hour 30 minutes

o    1 hour 30 minutes- 2 hours

o    2 hours- 2 hours 30 minutes

o    2 hours 30 minutes +

 8.       Which of these typical horror locations is your favourite?

o    House

o    City

o    Isolated Places

o    Abandoned Places

o    Dark areas

o    Woodland/Forest areas

9.       Do you feel music and sound is important during a horror film?

o    Very Important

o    Quite Important

o    Not Important

10.    Which kind of villain do you find the scariest? If other please state

o    Demon

o    Ghost

o    Clown

o    Madman

o    Masked

o    Child

o    Other

11.    Who do you find is the most likely type of victim in a horror?

o    Children

o    Teenagers

o    Adults

o    Elderly

o    Men

o    Women

12.    During horror films which sound do you find most scary?

o    Footsteps

o    Creaking doors

o    Screaming

o    Whispers

o    Supernatural sounds

o    High paced music

o    Quiet

Thank you for completing this questionnaire. The results will be used to inform the choices I make for my practical A Level Media coursework. Although I will analyse and produce a summary of the results, your individual response will be kept anonymous.

Opening Scene - Mission Impossible - Thriller

For my fourth and last film analysis I studied the opening 15 minutes of the 2012 thriller Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol. During the opening scene I have identified different camera angles, mise en scene, editing, sound, characters and plot to see whether I could find common conventions that are seen throughout many thrillers.

The first thing we experience in the opening 15 minutes is in the form of sound, we are introduced into the film by high pitched music that is continuous and the same sound repeated in different pitches. The music gets quicker and quicker the further we get into the opening it also increases in volume and other beats are introduced. The overall sound is mysterious and eerie and the slow increase in pace and volume builds suspense for the audience. This type of music is a common convention in thrillers as the eerie sound and increase in tempo matches the mysteriousness surrounding the film type.

Our first proper shot in the film is an establishing master shot of a city scene, this type of location is common throughout other thrillers I have watched, city scenes are effective in this type of genre because of how many people there are and how condensed and compacted a city is, they are easy places for criminals to hide. In this film especially where everyone is undercover the city location adds to the sense of hidden identity and that the criminal is unknown. This adds anticipation and suspense to the audience as they don’t know where the criminal is or when they are going to show. Our first character is introduced instantly after the music has hit its peak in speed, tempo and volume, the camera reverse and horizontal tracks him running away from potential killers, shooting and fighting along the way, tracking shots are more interesting and effective in chase scenes as it seems more realistic to the audience and the fast camera movement matches the high action scene being shown. 

Gun props are used straight away in the film, where our main character is seen fending off two armed men, they are all carrying guns and attempting to shoot each other,  the gun prop is used early on to show and  tell the audience that the genre of film is going to full of action and violence. Guns and weapons are also common conventions in thrillers because the storyline and plot usually includes a mystery, a criminal and a crime.

The credits are not introduced straight away and our instead introduced after the first 10 minutes of action, this is done because the credits positioning and style match the action scenes from minutes before and are more effective here than if they were shown at the start. The credits are seen flying in from different areas of the screen playing over a montage of high tech equipment and spy gear that links to the film, this is effective as the way the credits are shown links to the high action, high paced type of film it is. The colour of the credits is a shiny silver-white, this also incorporates with the style of the film as there is a lot of futuristic, sleek equipment and the credits match the colour of this high tech gear.

In conclusion the main common conventions I found in Mission Impossible that I have seen in other thrillers are city scenes, used to hide the criminal and build anticipation in the audience, high paced quick tempo music to build suspense and match the action and violence and tracking shots when following the main characters in chase or fighting scenes so the audience get a more realistic, high paced, action experience.

Opening Scene - Candyman - Horror

For my second film analysis I studied the opening 15 minutes of 1992 horror film Candyman. During the opening scene I identified different camera angles, editing, sound, mise en scene, characters and overall plot of the story to see whether I could find common conventions that occur in most Horror films.

In the opening scene we are firstly introduced to two female characters who are talking about a murder, one of the characters begin to tell the story about how this murder happened. As she tells the story it cuts to a separate short clip which is portraying what happened. A young couple are talking in a bathroom and the young female tells the male to say Candyman into the mirror 5 times and explains to him what will happen, the male goes onto say it four times a cowers on the fifth. She tells him to go downstairs and wait, as he leaves the room she says Candyman a final time, as she turns the light off it cuts to black and then seconds after we suddenly see a brief glimpse of a mysterious figure who quickly kills the young female, it then cuts to downstairs where blood is pouring through the sealing. The rest of the clip is mainly the females talking about these killings and who it might be committing the murders. We finish watching the clip when the two females are seen in their bathroom, they both say Candyman into the mirror 4 times and then the main character goes onto say it a fifth, this is when the camera reverse tracks, slowly focusing on the mirror.

We are introduced into the scene with a master shot of the city, this is important to the film as it establishes the setting early on. City scenes are common throughout this film and also other horrors, they add a sense of realism to the audience, everyone can relate to a city of some kind and setting the film in a city rather than a far off location makes the audience have an immediate connection with the film and also make them more scared because of the realistic location. City scenes also add suspense to the film as they are large, well-populated areas. This means the murderer has many places and opportunities to hide and go undercover and because of the masses of people when just one dies at a time it goes unnoticed, making the audience feel nervous and on edge, not knowing when or where he is going to strike next.

The use of lighting in the opening scene, particularly when the murderer is being shown, is very dark and shadowy. This is extremely common in horror films as the directors want to cover up and hide the killer’s identity so the audience are clueless to who he is or what he looks like. Making his identity unknown gives the murderer more power and overall makes him scarier and other characters more vulnerable. Giving the murderer a hidden identity early on in the film is better as it keeps audiences hooked and builds anticipation and suspense for scenes later on, revealing their identity early on means audiences know what he looks like and therefore takes away the suspense a hidden killer brings.

When the credits finish we see editing in the form of a dissolve from one shot to another, it goes from the city shot to a close up of a female characters face, this establishes to the audiences who the main character is going to be straight away, during this dissolve there is also a non-diegetic voiceover which says ‘I came for you’ in a croaky, deep, Sinister tone. These kinds of voices are very common in horrors because they are unearthly and eerie making the audience nervous and uncomfortable which is what horror film directors want to achieve. This gives the audiences clues on who they may want to kill because of the link between the dissolve, close up and voiceover.

One of the main conventions frequently found in horrors is appropriate soundtracks and music. In Candyman the opening soundtrack is a high pitched, squeaky tune that eventually goes into an organ playing, the organ is a common instrument in most horrors as they are very unnerving instruments which links to the genre and feel of the film. It links to Candyman in more depth as Organs are found in churches, churches are religious places, and where Candyman is set, in Western America religion is very important and they believe in heaven and hell, and hell links to the Candyman and his killings. Non diegetic music is also heard at the end of the opening when they are saying Candyman into the mirror. The base and volume of the music increases each time they say it, this builds suspense for the audience as they are awaiting something to happen but don’t know when it will strike.

In conclusion some of the most common conventions seen in horrors are non-diegetic eerie music usually the organ, increase in volume and base in parts of anticipation, shadowy lighting and city settings. All of these conventions are used to unnerve the audience and make their anticipation grow throughout the film, keep them on edge and scare them.

Opening Scene - Notting Hill - Rom Com

For my third film analysis I studied the first 15 minutes of Notting Hill, 1999 British Rom-Com. During the opening scene I identified camera angles, editing, mise en scene, sound, characters and the overall story in the scene to see whether I could spot common conventions in the romantic genre.

The plot and storyline of Notting Hill is a typical Rom-Com story convention of Boy meets girl, we meet both our main characters on separate occasions so we find out background information and what kind of person the character is, and then they first meet together by bumping into each other around a corner.

We are introduced to our first character, Anna, in the form of a video montage which is portraying her life as what seems to be a celebrity. The montage is pieced together using dissolves; I thought that this was used to get across how her celebrity life is always changing and never normal or the same. The different clips and shots in the montage are all filmed under artificial spotlights and there a constant camera flashes, this helps show her glamorous celebrity life and the artificial lighting portrays her fake, fabricated life and that maybe she can’t live a normal, everyday life.

The opening credits roll over the video montage. The credits are stylized and coloured to match the emotions and genre surrounding the film. The credit style is very curly, round and feminine, this expresses to the audience that the film may appeal more to the female gender specifically and that the film will be full of love, romance and fun, these emotions are also expressed by the colour range used throughout the credits, light blues and greens and soft pink and lilac are common and help portray the genre and mood of the film.

In the opening 15 minutes the audience experiences one soundtrack, Elvis Costello ‘She’. The choice of the song heavily impacts the mood and genre of the film and expresses to the audience what kind of film it will be. ‘She’ is a very romantic song which includes lyrics such as ‘She may be the mirror of my dreams, the smile reflected in a stream’. This genre of song is a typical rom-com convention as it brings more romance to the film and links more to what is being shown on screen. The song also however links to the film in more depth as one of the lyrics says ‘’ She may not be what she may seem inside her shell’’ this could be trying to express the main woman character who during the song is being shown on screen and how her glamorous lifestyle acts as a shell or barrier to her real self an inside that celebrity lifestyle she is someone completely different.

Throughout the film there are constant close ups of each main characters face, particularly the mans as we are experiencing his life through the narration. The close ups are used so the audience can see his reactions and emotions in different situations during the clip, such as when he is talking to her in his book shop, we get an immediate close up of his face as the director wants the audience to see his happiness and emotions when he is with her, from this the audience can establish that he is the main character and that his facial reactions should be focused on.

In conclusion the main conventions that occur throughout Rom-Coms are feminine pale, light colours during titles, credits and openings. Reaction and close up shots to grasp and portray the emotions of characters and romantic sound and music with lyrics and instruments to match. All of these conventions are used to match and portray the style and genre of the film. In Notting Hill’s case they are used to represent the love, romance and emotions of the two main characters.

Opening Scene - The Dark Knight Rises - Action

The Dark Knight Rises, directed by Christopher Nolan, is the third and last instalment of the Nolan Batman trilogy and has reached 2^nd in the highest grossing superhero films. It is also seventh in the highest grossing films of all time. As the Dark Knight Rises is predominantly a superhero, action film throughout the feature we see common conventions that match the genre.  Superhero films like The Dark knight Rises have many action scenes, fights and explosions so CGI, SFX and pyrotechnics were a common feature in the film, like all superhero films The Dark Knight Rises has a hero and a villain, the shots are extreme and camera angles, especially aerial shots, are from high, hard to reach angles to really capture the action.

The scene we have been studying is the opening scene of the film, we start in the back of a truck where a group of soldiers have 3 people handcuffed with their heads bagged, these people are then taken onto a plane, whilst on the plane one of the soldiers is trying to get information out of each person by pretending to shoot them, this is where audiences first meet the main character villain Bane, Batman’s rival. After he has been identified a larger plane flies above them and latches onto the smaller plane, this is when Banes army of men take over the plane.
The characters in this scene are all of around the same age, there are no children or elderly people. The soldiers are all middle aged men this shows us that men are seen here as the stronger sex and also are seen more violent and aggressive towards war and conflict. Bane the villain is also male as is his army of men, this also shows men’s strength and power in war and violent situations and that men are more suited to that kind of environment.

In the opening scene we see the villain Bane, in a car handcuffed, the people surrounding him are soldiers. Mise en scene is used here in the form of costume, the costume given to the soldier actors automatically gives them power and authority, the audience clearly establish who is in control at this point and that they because of their army uniform costume have a lot of power over the other actors in the scene. Props are also used in the same scene as the soldiers are holding guns and Bane is handcuffed with a bag over his head, the mixture of army costume and gun props show the audience early on that the film will be action packed and more than likely violent and establish the nature and genre of the film.

Further on in the opening during the plane attack scene we see Bane the villain hanging high up the collapsing plane above the struggling characters, we see this from what would be the struggling characters subjective POV and it is filmed from a low angle looking up at Bane, the low camera angle shows how helpless and weak the other characters are compared to Bane who is safe at the top of the plane and looking down on them, because he is looking down on them, we can see through the Sub POV of the other passengers how intimidating Banes power and dominance in this part is and how they feel helpless and out of control of the situation. The use of different camera angles in the scene helps audience members know who is in control and the most dominant, powerful character and portraying the villain as the more dominant character in the opening stages of the film brings suspense throughout the feature, it is a classic convention in any superhero film, the directors establish the villain as the more powerful character early on so it leaves audiences gripped throughout the film and makes them think how such a powerful person could be beaten.

I feel sound, in this case non diegetic music, is a really important feature in all movies especially movies of the Batman, superhero nature, throughout the early action scene when Bane and the soldiers are fighting on the plane non diegetic music is playing in the background, it is high tempo and quick paced, this kind of music perfectly matches the quick movements of the actors and the overall dramatic feel of the fighting scene, it really establishes what the film is going to be like and goes hand in hand with the movements and positioning of the actors, when a heavy punch is thrown the beat increases suddenly, this tells the audiences that these points in the scene are of more importance and could also reflect the pain and determination of the characters.

Editing is seen right at the start of the film in the form of credits, credit colour could really
portray the overall mood for example red credits in a horror represent the blood and death, in the Dark Knight Rises the credit colour is a metallic, shiny silver, this really matches the mood of the film as it portrays wealth, power and sleekness which are all characteristics that the main character batman owns.

In conclusion mise en scene, camera, editing and sound all play their part in portraying to the audience the genre and nature of the film, they also establish to me and the audience the classic and common conventions that appear throughout The Dark Knight Rises and every other superhero film.

180 Degree Rule

The 180 degree rule is used in film making as a guide line for the actors and camera to show the relationship and distance between the two characters. Directors use an imaginary circle around the two actors; the camera must stay on one side of this circle and only be used around the 180 degrees. They do this so the actors remain on the same side facing the same way for the whole clip, this means the audience do not get confused from changing camera positions and views and can instead easily establish the whereabouts of each character. The only time this rule is allowed to be broken is during high paced, action scenes this is because of how quick it needs to be filmed, cemented positions don’t necessarily have to be established.