Genre Research - Horror

 Why is Horror so popular? 

Genre: Horror

    First, what is horror? Horror is a known genre typically meant to frighten, scare, or traumatize its audience. It appeals to a wide range of audiences but is regularly popular among young adults or teenagers. The entire appeal of horror is that it gives someone an adrenaline rush or thrill from the fear exuded from being scared. Horror films can attract many fans with their long list of different content, such as supernatural, psychological thrillers, or those shown to have a lot of dark meaning. 

Genre Conventions: Content

    There are many genre conventions like recurring elements or styles that are stretched and abused through this genre in films. A common recurring element would be supernatural ones like ghosts, demons, monsters, and many other types of entities.

Ex. of supernatural entities: The demon "Creeper" from Jeepers Creepers.

Another type of element used or genre convention could be psychological horror. This idea is commonly used in horror films to show the mental and emotional states of characters, showing their madness, paranoia, or their fear of what is to come. Most of the time the characters undergo these types of trauma from another type of element regularly found in these films "excessive gore and violence." Horror films tend to have really graphic depictions of violence and bloodshed to add fear and suspense to those watching for that thrill. An element that mixes well with gore and violence would be "jump scares" an extremely popular element that basically gives foundation to scenes meant to scare the audience. In the name "jump scare" the reader could sum up that these are unexpected events that are designed to startle or catch the audience off guard. A decent example to show the idea of a graphic description and jump scare would be this extract I took from the "Jeepers Creepers" Movie (The link I provided does show a graphic depiction so please be advised). Although there are many better jump scares to express this, I feel this is good to show shock in a viewer who knows the actual context behind the clip. The last element I'd like to go over could be explained as "isolation," where characters are separated from help or trapped in situations they can't easily escape from.

Genre Convention: Production techniques

    There are many production techniques used in horror films. In many horror films directors use types of lighting techniques using constant shadows, dimly lit scenes, and low-key lighting to express moments that are meant to show suspense or mystery. Many horror films use eerie sounds and music which are meant to make the film feel realistic as if you were in that situation. For example, a scene showing a monster eating a carcass or dismembering a person or animal would have sound effects of the flesh ripping to show realism. Other sounds could be footsteps, creaking doors, or sudden load noises to enhance jump scares. Films ordinarily use camera shots, and angles to express what's happening like for example a close-up of a monster's face to show what the main character is opposed to. 

Institutional Convention: How is the genre marketed

    Horror films can be marketed in many ways using campaigns, merchandising, premieres, and screenings. For campaigns, many films tend to publish teasers, trailers, or "behind-the-scenes" content to drag people into the experience and want to see more of the movie. Many popular franchises and movies use merchandising to create t-shirts, posters, and other items sponsored for fans to collect. Directors tend to use screenings to bring actual fans so they could want more of the movie. Using these types of marketing it makes more people want to watch the movies on their premieres.

Film Sample 1: 

The film Jeepers Creepers (2001) is a movie featuring Derry (Justin Long) and Trish (Gina Philips) Jenner, two siblings going on a trip to visit their family when they unexpectedly misfortuned into being the next victim of the on running case of disappearances in that county, specifically the road that stretches the entire county. This movie uses supernatural characters like "The Creeper" and horror conventions like isolation and helplessness. The characters are stuck in a country still a long way before they reach their parents while being hunted and preyed upon by their fear of a generational monster that doesn't know defeat. This movie uses jumpscares, Gore, Violence, and Psychological horror to show the deteriorating mental health and trauma shown to these two siblings. The movie uses the iconic song "Jeepers Creepers" in a recurring matter which correlates to the monster to show whenever he's coming for you or has already gotten to you. The movie uses a dark plot with dark eerie sounds, lighting, and camera angles to show the suspense and creepiness the monster is meant to induce in this movie.  The poster shows the Creeper hidden away so that the viewer doesn't understand the full extent of what they're meant to be against. The quote "What's Eating You?" helps identify the monstrous characteristics the creature has, inducing more questions and suspense before you even watch the film.

Film Sample 2:

The movie "Talk to Me" (2022) is a horror movie involving a mysterious supernatural stone "hand" which whenever held on and reciting the needed ritual or phrase would let you see "spirits" or "demons." The plot is about Mia (Sophie Wilde) playing around at a party with a group of friends when Mia accidentally exceeds the limit of the hand, the spirit stays with her, causing many issues to come. The movie explores themes of possession and loss of control, with the constant exposure of the spirits leading to more and more dangerous consequences. The film uses dark lighting and unsettling visual effects to set the creepiness of the movie. The movie uses ideas of isolation and helplessness as spirits start taking over what belongs to Mia, her own body/life. The movie shows many instances of gore and violence while incorporating the mental issues caused by Mias' spirits throughout this entire conflict, and jump scares to show the suspense. This movie is meant to always keep the audience engaged with the constant curiosity played and have them on the edge.

Horror movie film examples to consider:

Representation

     I'll discuss representation in one of my favorite series, Dexter. The show may not seem to have much representation, but it does include its fair share.

    The show Dexter known mainly for its portrayal of a dark vigilante serial killer also shows exploration in representation through characters and setting. The story is set in Miami, a city in Florida normally known for its culturally rich diversity. Dexter uses various elements of diversity, psychological disorders, and representation of family issues. By examining two major characters, Dexter Morgan and Maria LaGuerta we can understand the representation this series shows.

    Dexter Morgan, the series' main protagonist exercises so much complexity and moral ambiguity. Dexter is a sociopath, with a code to only kill others who've killed. Dexter Morgan explores themes of
mental health, identity, and morality. The series uses techniques like "othering" to delve into his psychological state, revealing the struggle between his murderous lifestyle and trying to appeal to normal. Dexter's internal monologues and use of diegetic sounds allow for insight into his mind, providing questions about whether is the right thing to do. This type of representation shows audiences the challenge between issues of justice, and ethics, and represents the overly complexity of his life.

A little audio snippet showing Dexter's problems to appear normal  (the audio might be laggy, but just give it a few seconds)

    Additionally, another significant character that adds representation to the show is Maria LaGuerta, a high-ranking officer at the Miami Metro Police Department. This already adds representation to gender AND ethnicity as she remains high-ranking as a female Latin in a male-dominated field. She shows her strength, by navigating workplace politics, sexism, and expectations from her high-rank. This provides a glimpse into the real-world challenges that women, especially those of color face in hard professional work-places. Although she shows a representation of the strength of women, she steps away from typical stereotypes as she's portrayed as an intelligent, strong, and professional figure.

    In conclusion, the show Dexter expresses its characters and setting to explore ideas of representation, from the complexity of mental health and overall morality to the challenges of gender and cultural diversity. Using these characters the show challenges stereotypes, exploring identity and ethics. Ignoring the idea of the dark, suspenseful nature of its plot, Dexter stands out by provoking the idea of the complexities of human morality and societal structures.

Soundscape Project

     I learnt a lot off this project, I learnt basic transitions when using Adobe Premiere Pro, and learnt ways to merge and manage volumes of sounds throughout projects. I learnt basic skills like mixing audios in with different sounds and how to layer different audios.

    For this project we were required to brainstorm a 1-2 minute video comprising of different audios, sound effects, and auditory techniques. We would have to make our own plot and use only sounds to represent to present and convey the story.

    My approach to this project was developing a story of a character (myself) going to take a test in another class. The brainstorming sheet helped a lot, both me and my teammate were able to note our different ideas and what sounds we would try to mimic during the production using either Foley techniques or online sources. With the outline we were able to organize what sounds would come after another in a chronological order with how the story progresses. 

    For my editing software, I utilized Adobe Premiere Pro to edit my soundscape project.

     I think me and my partner did a good job for beginner when it came t editing and incorporating audios with each other. I think we were able to smoothly transition between sounds and make it feel smooth, but obviously need a lot f work before it sounds perfect. I did struggle a lot with audios and their background noise (ex. white noise, AC, people who aren't apart of the background chatter sounds talking.) but feel on most audios I was able to keep them silent only showing what's meant to be heard. I hope for future projects I'll have enough practice to be able to correctly import audios and transitions even better to smoothly convey the plot.

VasquezBatton_soundscape_per1