Genre Exploration:What key ingredients does the film have to make it a particular genre?

The two genres I chose to explore...

Romance

and

LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT HORROR...

General Conventions of Horror... Dark colours used

throughout Tend to be set at night Daylight signifies that

the victim is safe Usually include a

location such as a graveyard or a haunted house

Music that has an increase in tempo to build the tension

Repetition of sound, lighting and killing method

May include elements of gore 

A victim who is targeted throughout, however, there could be multiple victims

A villain who attacks the victim

A hero who tries to help the victim and may or may not succeed

Could include Levi Strauss' theory of 'Binary Oppositions' such as Good and Evil

Set in the present day Contemporary,

everyday costumes to suit the period the film is set in

Shadows to suggest mystery

Range of props such as murder weapon

Main character is normally a teenage girl who is left alone in a situation...

From the 2009 film ‘Triangle’ directed by Christopher Smith

Camera Work...Lots of close ups

of the victim to emphasize facial expressions

Establishing shot to show the location of the film

Long shots and mid shots help to build tension in the film

Eye line matching to make the viewer feel like they are actually the victim or the killer in the horror film

Jump cuts are used to keep the story line engaging

Fade ups at the start of scenes add a sense of fear to the film

Editing & Transitions...

An example of an establishing shot...

From the 1994 film ‘Shawshank’ directed by Frank Darabont

Enigma...This is the reason why the killer

is after you and is unknown to the viewer. The viewer may be given clues throughout the film to suggest what the enigma is and may not necessarily be revealed at the end of the film or in the first movie, if there is a sequel.

THIS SHORT FILM FOLLOWS ALL OF THE CONVENTIONS OF A TYPICAL HORROR FILM...

LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT ROMANCE...

General Conventions of Romance...Light colours used throughoutTend to be set in the day with some night

scenesUsually include a location such as a school,

shop, cinema or restaurantMusic that follows the build in the plot Two main charactersThe girl who falls for the guyThe guy who hurts the girl emotionally and

then gets her backSet in the present dayHigh key lighting is used Simple, everyday costumes and props

The guy wins the girl back after he messes up...

From the 2004 film ‘The Notebook’ directed by Nick Cassavetes

Camera Work...Closes ups of the

main character, either the girl or guy, who is telling the story

Establishing shots to show changes of location and mid shots to show character interaction

Shot reverse shot to show conversation

Jump cuts are used to keep the story line engaging and make the film move at a faster pace

Text overlaid onto the image to inform us of time passing, key actors and maybe even the title

Editing & Transitions...

Twist...Unlike a Horror, a Romance

doesn’t have an enigmaThere is more likely to be

multiple twistsThe main guy might hurt the

girl’s feelings but changes his ways to win her back

THIS SHORT FILM FOLLOWS ALL OF THE CONVENTIONS OF A TYPICAL ROMANCE FILM...

Overall...Both genres have different codes

and conventions which make them stand out from each other

Sometimes the basic codes and conventions are broken to try and be original

In a short film, the plots need to be simple unless the ending is left unresolved