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Genre: Horror
By Jade Saunders
How this information will help me:
This information will help me identify what makes a horror film and to
consider its generic conventions. It will also help me to establish how my
film uses the generic conventions . I have studied 5 different film title
sequences as this is what I will be producing, I have looked at Catch Me If
You Can (2002) Quantum Of Solace (2008) Ocean’s Eleven (2001) Dawn
Of The Dead (2004) and 28 Days Later (2002). The final two are relevant to
my genre and the first three are good examples of title sequences.

Looking at these title sequences has helped me look at what makes them
good openings and how I can use similar techniques in my own horror film.
 What are they?
Horror films are designed to unsettle the viewers
by causing fear and panic. They dwell on our fears
to create terror and they focus on the darker side of
life, the unknown, aliens/science fiction and death.
There are many sub-genres of horror: slasher, teen
terror, serial killers, satanic etc.
Dictionary definition: Horror films are films of
the horror genre that are designed to elicit
fright, fear, terror, or horror from viewers.

Sub Genres:
• Ghosts and The Supernatural – For example
The Sixth Sense (1999)
• Alien Horror – Alien (1979)
• Slasher – Scream (1996)
• Sci-fi – War Of The Words (1953)
• Psychological - Se7en (1995)
• Monsters – Frankenstein (1931)
• Vampires – Dracula (1931)
• Werewolves – Curse Of The Werewolf (1961)
• Zombies – Dawn Of The Dead (2004)
•
 What can we expect from a Horror?
Most conventional horror films will have someone dying
throughout the film, this could be in the form of a gory
murder, being possessed or suicide. In most horror films,
the protagonist/victim is normally an innocent character
that we feel sympathy for. The antagonist/killer always has
a motive. The audience for horror films will generally
expect the film to scare them, and most horrors play on the
audience’s fears. Horrors come in many forms, the film
could be about a group of teenagers who are killed by
someone they used to bully (A nightmare on Elm Street,
1984) or it could be a supernatural film that involves a
ghost or demon possessing a person (For example, The
Exorcist, 1973). All these different plots are designed to
scare the viewers.
 Who is the target audience?
Horror films nowadays are generally aimed at teenagers and young adults (Male and female 13 – 25) and
people who like horror, generally because young people like the fear from horror films and find it funny. A larger
percentage of men watch them more than women possibly because they find the gore funny and it is a good
choice of film for a date.

We conducted a survey to find out why people like horror films and what age group watch horror films regularly.
We found that 60% of the participants were aged 16- 18 and more were male than female. One of our questions
was, What age group do you think horror films are aimed at? We found that the majority of people thought horror
films were aimed at 13-15 year olds and 16-18 year olds. We also found that 90% of people preferred to watch
horror films with others.

We are aiming our film at those who are 18+ because we feel that due to the graphic nature of our film, minors
would become disturbed and psychologically harmed.
Horror Storylines part 1:
Depending on the type of horror
film, the storylines vary:
A supernatural horror would
involve ghosts or demons,
primarily in a house and many
involve children : e.g. The
Exorcist, (1973) where the
daughter is possessed by the devil
and begins to act in a sexual and
horrific manner that a child would
not behave normally. Or The
Omen, (1976) where the child is
supposedly the spawn of Satan
and has a 666 birthmark on his
scalp.
A teen horror would generally
involve a group of teenagers
who are killed by someone
they may have bullied in the
past: e.g. Scream, (1996) or
Prom Night, (2008). The
characters are generally
teenagers and the common
victims are girls, most are set
in a school or at a party or a
camping trip gone wrong.
Horror storylines part 2:
A sci-fi horror would involve a
monster or alien: e.g.
Frankenstein, (1931) or Alien,
(1979). Most characters in
these films are monsters and
aliens and the crazy scientist
who created them. Most are
set in laboratories or outer
space on a foreign planet or an
alien attack on Earth.
A gory horror would involve
lots of blood and guts: e.g.
Saw, (2004) or Texas
Chainsaw Massacre,
(1974). The characters in this
are the serial killers who
have a motive and the
victims who are generally
innocent victims but in the
Saw films the characters
have all got a secretive past.
All of the horror films are
designed to cause fear.
 Similarities in Horror Films
The camera angles are all very similar throughout
horror films, close ups are most commonly used to
portray how the character is feeling and so the
audience can see the terror of the character.
Reveals are often used to create suspense and the
antagonist is often revealed to the audience but not
to the victim in order to create fear and suspense.
Most horror films use music to create suspense and
the music usually consists of low sounds or a
mocking song like the Jeepers Creepers, (2001)
song. The lighting in horrors is dark, this is to create
fear and suspense throughout the film.
We plan to use a variety of different camera angles
for our film to capture the characters feelings, we
also plan to use a heart beat noise that gets rapidly
faster to create suspense for the audience.
Generic Signifiers in Horror
Most horror fans would
associate weapons and
masks, blood and killers
into a horror film, or a
crucifix and a bible or ghost
in a supernatural horror.
Scary music would signify
horror and dark creepy
woods or an abandoned
warehouse would be the
ideal setting. Blood and
gore are generic signifiers
in modern horror, with films
like Saw (2004) taking gore
to the next level with torture
scenes.
 Zombie Horror
As I am producing a zombie horror
title sequence, I have studied zombie
horrors and the conventions they
share. While most storylines have
remained the same – a zombie virus
breakout, I have noticed that the
main convention that has changed is
the speed in which zombies move. In
Night Of The Living Dead (1968) the
zombies moved relatively slowly and
this compared to the sprinting
zombies in 28 Days Later (2002) is
not nearly as scary.
Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio and
Tom Hanks
Director: Steven Spielberg
Release Date: 31st January 2003,
USA

I particularly like this title sequence because it has a quirky

animated style which tells the basic storyline of the film without
revealing too much information. Looking at this opening has given
me an insight into how a film showed open and how I should
include not only cast but also crew members.
 Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
Starring: Brad Pitt and George
Clooney
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Release Date: 15th February
2002, USA

Similarly, this title sequence follows an animated fashion and I

especially like these animations because they are a quirky way to
begin a film and keep the audience interested from the very start.
 Quantum Of Solace (2008)
Starring: Daniel Craig and Ogla
Kurylenko
Director: Marc Forster
Release Date: 31st October 2008,
USA

I mainly liked this title sequence because of the non-diegetic

music, I felt the whole animation went exactly with the music and
the music set the theme of the film. I think music is a very
important part of a film and I plan to use music that sets the
feeling of the film.
 Dawn Of The Dead (2004)
Starring: Sarah Polley and Ving
Rhames
Director: Zack Snyder
Release Date: 26th March, 2004

This is the film I have gained inspiration from for my film opening
and I particularly like how it immediately shows the audience the
grand scale of how the zombie virus has affected the whole world.
I also like how the non-diegetic music adds a sense of irony to the
footage being exhibited and this works well by intriguing the
audience and making them want to watch more.
 28 Days Later (2002)
Starring: Christopher Eccleston
and Naomie Harris
Director: Danny Boyle
Release Date: 1st November
2002, USA

I feel this opening sets the genre of the film and the use of the
monkeys is quite chilling. I also like how the opening built
suspense and left me wanting to watch the rest of the film.