Genre codes and conventions

The genre of the film trailer i am making is horror, so our group decided to research different types of horror films.

I have chosen Science-fiction horror as the sub-genre i will look at as it is somethnig i am interested in and covers a wide range of popular films.

the typical codes and conventions of the horror genre are:

• Start with an introduction of life how it is normally is
• A progressive breakdown of this reality and lifestyle
• the film would be gory
• scare you and make you jump
• mysterious messages
• isolated setting
• red font (associated with blood)
• dim lighting
• A unique villain
• a signiture weapon

for the horror film to be classed as part of the science-fiction horror sub genre it would need to follow extrade conventions. these are:

• set in a fantasy land or a futuristic timeline
• the villain(s) are a result of an experiment or accident
• mad scientists
• alien invasions

An example of a science-fiction horror is Apollo 18

2011 - Apollo 18 (Gonzalo López-Gallego)

With this trailer you can see it has a more unique style of filming than most horror films. the cameras used to film the astronaughts are set up how they would be in a spaceship and it is reminisent of the film cloverfield.

The start of the trailer uses real footage of a spacecraft launching and describes the backstory to the film setting it up to be a mystery.

The trailer also follows the horror convention of a breakdown of reality as you see them on a normal mission on the moon but slowly they realise someting else is there and it starts to attack them and take over.

It also follows the convention of dim light throughout the trailer as parts of the film is in black and white and in others they only have a small amount of artificial light.

This film shows us that a horror can work even when filmed from a unique perspective of a mixture of vlogs and wall cameras.

We can take inspiration from this film to try a different approach to filming. this can help our film look different from its competition and even be the first of its kind.

2002 - 28 days later (Danny Boyle)

With this trailer it uses the passing of time to emphasise the title of the film and the progression of tension throughout the trailer. It also uses very few images for the first minute of the trailer adding alot of mystery. the trailer is unique as it tells you what is going on in the film but doesnt give specifics about characters/storylines.

we can take alot of inspiration from this trailer to try something more unique as a diferent approach can lead to success and help make our trailer stand out against other horror films.

2004 - Dawn of the dead (Zack Snyder)

This trailer is more conventional you can see this as it is ordered chronilogically and leaves very little to the imagination, with the other trailers I have looked at they have had many elements of a teaser trailer by creating confusion and mystery. this film hopes to attract viewers not with an interesting story but with high budget action scenes and special effects you can see this as it gives alot of information about the story by showing quick clips of the diferent places the main character will visit throughout the film and the challenges she will face. i cna take inspiration from this to try simpler techniques in the trailer we will make as it can be just as effective in advertising hte film and creating interest.