Group Research Paper Analyzes Horror Genre

Group Research
By: Jordan, Karim and Michelle

What is your chosen genre? Provide the history of that genre - Karim
As a group, we all decided to choose horror as our movie genre. Horror is a genre of
fictional films that is designed to frighten and shock the audience watching the movie.
We’ve chosen this movie genre because it is the most enjoyed genre by the public.
Horror is also pleasurable to many people due to it playing with negative emotions
and ability to develop coping strategies to help deal with the negative emotions. The
horror genre always to give the audience a true reality of how it actually feels like to be
scared.
The history of horror came from ancient origins and considerable amount from folk
literature. Examples of some supernatural elements are ghosts, witches, or vampires.
The first ever horror movie to come out is a silent horror movie called ‘Nosferatu’.
Nosferatu was created in February 17, 1922 and it was about a vampire that is
interested of a man and his wife. Nosferatu continues to terrorize them and scare them
throughout the silent movie. In the 1930s, horror movies were labeled as ‘H’ to warn
the public about the terrifying content that will be shown. Horror films were later
banned in the latter years of the Second World War due to people getting scared that
their morale will be damaged. One example of a horror film being banned is The
Exorcist. They banned it because the theatre that hosted the movie caught on fire and
some people killed themselves after watching the movie.

Who usually distributes movies of your genre?-Michelle and Karim
A movie that I have done research on is The Conjuring. The Conjuring has
over 35 distributors such as, 20th Century Fox, Intercom and Warner Bros is
the main distributor. There is also The Conjuring Universe which is an
American media franchise that is a shared universe centered on a series of
supernatural films. They are produced by companies such as: New Line
Cinema, The Safran Company and Atomic Monster Productions. The
Conjuring is a very popular horror movie and the distributors are very well
known as well as very successful. Whereas the production companies are
less familiar, as these companies tend to be smaller.
Horror films distributed by 20th
Century Fox:
● Hide and Seek
● The Conjuring
● The Happening
● Alien
Horror films distributed by Warner
Bros:
● The Terror
● The Invasion
● Trick ‘r Treat
● The Exorcist

What are the typical codes and conventions of your genre?-Michelle
Symbolic Codes Technical Codes Written Codes Conventions
Setting
Mise-en-scene
Characters
Colors used
Cinematography
Editing
Sound
Lightening
Printed Language
Spoken Language
Form Conventions
Story Conventions
Genre Conventions
Technical code examples are: using long tracking shots to create tension, having quiet scenes with sudden sounds to
help create nervousness such as rustling of the trees, loud bangs and a non-diegetic heartbeat. A movie example could
be “A Quiet Place”, the whole movie was silent the only sounds was coming from the monster and this movie had
created a lot of edginous. Symbolic Code examples are: using colors such as red or black as this connotes death, blood,
evil and danger. Props such as weapons to show there is some violence, and that characters need to fight off the evil.
Horror Conventions include: using a stabbing weapon as this indicates a slow and painful death a knife or machete
would be used. The location would be some isolated town or a haunted house. For sound there is lots of non-diegetic
sound to create a mood. There is a lot of sub-genres to consider such as monster, vampire, sci-fi, teen slasher or
religious. Lastly there should be a mix of characters such as teenagers, parents, masked murders, mental patients and
the killer is usually a male person. Thinking about syntactics and semantics, things I would expect to see in a horror
movie are things such as: dark colors being used and when there is a jump scare perhaps flashing and bright lights to
be used to create fear and an uneasy feeling for the audience. I would also expect the colors such as black and red to
be used as they connote death and blood and this gives off the vibes that there is a killer and someone is going to be
killed (part of the 3 act structure there is a part that talks about something bad that is going to occur).

Movie statistics-research some of the best movies from this
genre-what were the reviews? Why were they successful?-Michelle
IT Chapter 1-It was easily one of 2017’s most pleasant surprises and the young cast was excellent. It takes a metaphorical
childhood hopes and fears and gives them literal meaning. But there were many bad reviews such as it wasn’t scary enough.
Their backstories seemed rushed, suggesting it would of been better served as a Stranger Things style mini-series. The box
office success was 701.8 million USD. It became the highest-grossing horror movie of all time.
Saw-There’s something impressively loathsome and extravagantly twisted about this horror. It includes one of the most
unforgettable endings of all time. Although there was not so good things such as it was disappointing and poor. How such a
cruelly empty and infantile movie got made is a mystery enough. James Wan’s horror Saw is full of demented twisted and it is
full of guilty looking actors. The box office success is 104.9 million USD. It became the most profitable horror film after
Scream (1996).
A Nightmare on Elm Street- is a film that succeeds within its own boundaries, it deserves faint praise. It is definitely the best of
the recent released horror movies. There were negative things said such as it being more like a bad dream in Hollywood.
Someone said you had a perfect opportunity to reboot a classic and this is what you guys came up with? It is pretty lifeless.
The box office success is 57 million USD. It is the third highest grossing series adjusted US dollars.
What I have learnt from doing this research is that there is always going to be different opinions on movies, and we should
take these opinions into consideration. I have also managed to understand what and what not to include in a horror movie,
due to the atmosphere it can bring off. The most popular types of horror movies are those that use younger casts and creating
surprises for the audience to see. From previous research as well I saw that audiences like to watch movies that are based of
true events, perhaps as they are able to relate to it.

The Conjuring Movie Trailer Analysis-Michelle:
In the official movie trailer for the Conjuring we are introduced to the Warner Bros Pictures and A TimeWarner Company alongside the
logo. The Conjuring Universe is an American media franchise and shared universe created on a series of supernatural horror films,
produced by the New Line Cinema, The Safran Company and the Atomic Monster Productions and distributed by the Warner Bros
Pictures. For mise-en-scene there is a range of dark colors that are being used such as: black connotes fear, mystery and death. The
color grey connotes depression and loss and silver connotes wealth and power. Looking at the editing it is a fast quick edit cut as it
changes from a black screen to the film institutions logo. The shot is a medium wide angle shot in order to get the logo in the shot and
to show off the background, which is the dark clouds. This was done so the audience can have some ideas and can create some
sceneries in their heads. The sound is non-diegetic with a loud boom when introducing the logo to the audience. According to my
research typical technical codes of loud bangs in a horror movie helps to create nervousness by using sudden sounds.
In the next scene it sends us straight into a medium wide shot. The editing is fast, quick continuous shots, to give the audience some
ideas as to what is happening. There are also some black bars added to the top, bottom and the sides of the screen, so the movie
trailer can fit in the audiences screens without being cropped or stretched. The sound is diegetic as the characters on the screen are
talking, but towards the end there is a non-diegetic sound added, the voices of some children giggling as well as some background
music of a piano playing. For the mise-en-scene, this scene is only being played in black and white. This could suggest that the movie
was using old footage as it is based on a true story, as well as special effects only becoming a feature in movies in the late 1890’s. The
color black connotes death and evilness, but the color white connotes understanding and purity. Perhaps the audience could have
some understanding of what is going on. There are also some static scratches when the scene is playing, which could be used to scare
and bring out the fear in the audience.

The Conjuring Movie Trailer Analysis 2-Michelle:
In the third scene there are a few quick fast edits, to show the audience what is going to be happening. Then we are introduced to a
two-person shot of the paranormal researchers. The camera angle is medium-wide, in order to get both characters in the shot, as well
as for the audience to see their facial expressions. The lady is weaning these colors grey, black and white. White connoted purity and
innocence, black connotes death as well as power and grey connotes a balance and neutrality. On the other hand the man is wearing
beige, brown and black. The color black connotes power, brown connotes strength and reliability and beige connotes calmness and
elegance. The lighting of the shot is clear, in order for the audience to pick up on their facial features and understand more of what they
are talking about. The sound throughout this scene is diegetic as the lady and man are being asked to introduce themselves, so the
people are more aware of who they are and what they do.
Looking at the forth scene there are fast quick cuts of editing as there is a story being shown to the audience. For the shots they are
wide angle shots in order to get the written words in, as well as the story pictures which are being shown.The sound is non-diegetic
which has some background music playing. There is also a lock sound when each picture is being shown, so the audience pays
attention to the details of the picture so they can understand the story. For the mise-en-scene the pictures are being shown in black and
white as well as the writing of the title is shown in black and white. The writing is written in white and the background is black so it can
stand out more. The color white connotes purity and innocence, which could symbolize the family and the fact they are gonna have to
leave the house that their children grew up in due to the dangers of the house. The color black connotes death and evilness which
could symbolize the demons and devils and all the bad spirits that are being recognized inside their house.

The Conjuring Movie Trailer Analysis 3-Michelle:
In the middle of the movie trailer there is a continuous shot for about 10 seconds. The shots are medium close ups in order to see the
facial expressions of the paranormal researchers. The sound is non-diegetic as it is a voiceover of the paranormal researchers
explaining that there is something in their house and there is a little girl saying “she made me do it”. The editing is mainly continuous
but there are some cut shots to get to see each and everyone's facial expressions as well as using the machines to hear for any
movements of the spirits in the house. For the mise-en-scene the characters we can see are wearing the color brown, which connotes
strength and reliability. The paranormal researcher's facial expressions seem scared as she knows there are some sort of spirits in the
house and she has her shoulders raised which symbolizes that she is stressed and very tense. When the characters are shown on the
owners of the house we can see there are tears filling up in their eyes and we can see they are emotionally exhausted.
Towards the end of the movie trailer there is a range of jump scares. The sound is non-diegetic with some music to help match in with
the jump scares. The shot is a medium wide shot so the audience can see the title that is being represented. The editing is continuous
for about two seconds, so the audience can read the title which is being shown. For the mise-en-scene the background is black which
connotes death and evilness as well as power, which could show that the demons and spirits in the house hold all the power and are
starting to take control. The title is in silver which connotes wealth and kindness which could symbolize for the family living in the home
as they care for their house but are not able to live there anymore due to a demon in their house. Also at the end it says “The
Conjuring” which is the name of the movie and so the audience don’t forget the title.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k10ETZ41q5o

The Conjuring Movie Poster Analysis-Michelle:
The camera angle shot is a long shot as well as being a wide shot. The purpose of a wide
shot is to show the audience where the scene is taking place as well as all the surroundings
to help create a spooky atmosphere. For the mise-en-scene there are two dark colors being
used, the title is written in black which connotes death, therefore the title could symbolize all
the demons and devils inside their house. The tree and some patches on the ground are
brown which connotes strength, reliability and safety, this could symbolize the parents trying
to stay strong for their children as they perhaps don’t want to show their fear in front of
them. The tree also has a noose that is hanging off it, this could be there to show that
people have already died there and it could emphasize that it is not a friendly place to be
going. With the noose hanging in the frame, the text is there in order to not let the audience
focus so much on the noose. It is there for people who will pick on it and they can start
creating thoughts in their head and can start making scenarios. There is also the owner's
house in the background to show the audience what the type of environment they are living
in and to be more conscious of the things that they are dealing with. There is also fog which
is white and connotes innocence and purity, this could symbolize the children and the fact
that they are young and don’t deserve this trauma that is being brought to them. The
release date is being shown in the bottom left corner, for the audience to be aware when
the movie is available for them to watch. It also says on the top of the movie poster “From
the directors of Saw and Insidious”, which were two very successful movies, this could
symbolize that The Conjuring is a very powerful movie.

The Conjuring Movie Website Analysis-Michelle:
On The Conjuring official website it doesn’t provide much but does offer things such as: a
synopsis, the Instagram account, the Facebook account and the Twitter account. For the
mise-en-scene on the main page it only says the movie title which is written in the color
yellow and this connotes remembrance and energy. This could symbolize that the audience
will have lots of energy in order to go watch the film and will always remember the movie.
The one line that a main character kid in the movie says “The devil made me do it”, is also
written on the main page and it's written in white which connotes purity and innocence. This
could symbolize that a devil is stuck inside the kid and she is just trying to get it out because
she doesn’t deserve this. She is just a young kid who had this unfortunate trouble brought to
her house. The background is black in order to make all the writing stand out and for the
audience to see it more clearly and to remember it. A synopsis is a brief summary that is
shortening what the movie is about just to remind the audience what they are getting
themselves into and to give them more of an understanding of what they are watching. It
also includes the names of the celebrities that are featuring and acting in the film, to make
the audience more excited to watch the movie as they will be able to see the celebrities that
they know. It also includes all the links to the social media pages of the movie by just the
click of a button, instead of the audience spending their time searching up the social media
accounts and taking up a lot of time they will be more satisfied using the website as it is just
a click away. The social media accounts include behind the scenes as well as pictures and
videos that have been taken during filming to help show the audience the amazing movie
and keep them updated. But what is also important is not showing too much and not giving
away a lot of information, in order to keep the audience on their toes and to help build up
their adrenaline rush and excitement!
http://www.theconjuringmovie.net/

Insidious 1 Movie Analysis - Karim:
As you can tell, the font of the movie title is designed in an
unsettling way so it can create uneasiness within the
audience. It also has the glitchy eﬀect to make it look like as
if the font itself is possessed. The black background can be
used to indicate that maybe some terrible events will occur
such as death, as black represents evil, aggression, death, and
fear. It can also be used to make the title stand out The
non-diegetic sound in the background sounds like a voice
that is distorted which can be used to create even further
uneasiness within the audience.
As you can tell, the font of the movie title is designed
in an unsettling way so it can create uneasiness within
the audience. It also has the glitchy eﬀect to make it
look like as if the font itself is possessed. The black
background can be used to indicate that maybe some
terrible events will occur such as death, as black
represents evil, aggression, death, and fear. The
non-diegetic sound in the background sounds like a
voice that is distorted which can be used to create even
further uneasiness within the audience.

The mise-en-scene shown in this scene suggests that they parents are in a hospital, taking care of their child.
This is a close-up shot of the child in the hospital bed, with the parents of the child blurred. This is done so
the audience can focus on the child and make him the subject for this scene. The shots were done at a
medium pace so the audience can know and understand what happened to the child. We can clearly tell that
the parents care for their child from their facial expressions, as they are looking at him with sorrow and
sympathy. This scene can foreshadow that more unlucky events like this can occur to characters which can
cause the audience to start having a sense of worry towards the characters as they care about them and do
not want them to be harmed/injured.

In this scene, the mise-en scene is set in a dimly lit room with many unorganised objects lying around. The
environment is also coloured grey to symbolise a very boring and tedious environment. The colour grey
connotes dullness, depression, loss, emotionless, and indecisiveness. These can be used to symbolise that
characters might be aﬃliated with these signs later in the movie. Additionally, as the mother is entering the
room to check what is making the creaking noise, the audience can only see a small section of the room, and
as the camera moves slowly towards it, it can put the audience on edge as they think a jumpscare will happen.
This, however, does not happen and the mother ﬁnds the horse rocking by itself. This can create a sense of
confusion and suspense as the viewers will wonder how the horse starting rocking by itself. This can also
foreshadow that there might be ghosts or demons in the movie because of all these supernatural events are
randomly occurring.

In the first photo, we can partially see an unknown entity standing next to the child sleeping. We can tell that this
entity is out of this world and a demon due their claws on their hands and the how they look like, which is shown
on the second picture. The demon is also standing in the shadows, which can foreshadow that he is evil and dark
and a malevolent creature and an enemy to the family. In the first picture, the demon is purposely put there so it
can scare and alert the viewers the presence of some evil creature and cause them to feel intimidated and
frightened from it. In both photos, the body language of the demon clearly tells us that he is malevolent and
wants to do harm by the menacing stance of the demon in the first photo and the facial expression in the second
photo which is used to horrify both the characters and audience. In the second photo, the jumpscare is aided with
a petrifying, sudden non-diegetic sound to scare the audiences more. In the final photo, the trailer ends with the
sudden appearance of an evil spirit, which is used to mimic a jumpscare.

Insidious Movie Analysis Poster - Karim:
The camera angle shot of the poster is a close-up photo with the background
blurred out. This is done so that audiences focus on the boy in front of the poster
and ignore the background. The mise-en scene has 2 colours which are grey and
red. The colour grey symbolizes dullness and lack of emotions and this is
supported by the cloudy weather and the house in the background of the poster.
This suggests that this environment is not very friendly and should be avoided.
The red shirt the boy is wearing and the part of the title “SI” coloured in red can
connote that blood may be spilled as red means blood, ﬁre, danger, war and
sacriﬁce. This can foreshadow that it is a dangerous environment and blood may
be spilled in the movie. The colour red is also emphasized in the poster to help tell
the audience that this is clearly a horror movie. This is evidenced by the sinister
facial expression given by the boy that is standing in front of the poster. This
clearly suggests that the boy is not friendly and is not normal and may be
possessed by some evil spirit intending to do harm. This is also supported by the
look of his eyes. His evil expression can tell us that he may be very malevolent and
may intend to harm or kill someone. His eyes also attract the most attention due
to the eyes glowing and its very hostile look. The fact that his eyes is glowing
could indicate that he has some type of supernatural power.

Insidious Movie Analysis Website - Karim:
The website does not have a lot of information on it but it has some
features that the audience is able to interact with such as the ability for a
consumer to buy the movie in Digital, Blu-ray and DVD form. It also gives
the consumer the ability to check all the chapters of the insidious series.
The website also contains a summary of the story for the Insidious movie.
They also have Insidious advertised on social media platforms such as
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. This will make it
easier for consumers to access their pages and will allow them to view
teaser scenes and photos of the movie. This will cause people to be more
excited to see Insidious and become more aware of it as a result when they
advertise it on all platforms. The mise-en scene of the poster is the same as
all them. The child’s creepy facial expressions and the unsettling, foggy
weather is used to instil fear into the audiences and used to remind them
that it is a horror movie. The overall design of the website is a very dark
theme which can be purposely used to show an edgy atmosphere which
can cause the viewers to feel unsettled and anxious The dark theme can
also be used to denote fear and ignorance and also power. Additionally,
the position of the text is placed in the middle of the page and this is done
to mainly capture the audience’s attention to read the summary of
Insidious. This means that if the audience reads the short paragraph, they
will be more interested to watch the movie and maybe even watch all the
other movies that are related to insidious.

Jordan’s Horror Movie Analysis: IT Movie
The movie trailer that I have decided to analyse is the first chapter/movie, IT.
In the first scene of the trailer, we are introduced to seven kids who are the main actors (and actress) and one of
them explaining his story. The way these kids are dressed could portray to the audience that the kids are middle
class as they aren’t dressed up all fancy nor looking scruffy. There is also a clip of these kids jumping off of a cliff
into a lake in their underwear. This could connote that the kids like to plan adventures last minute and are not
afraid of many things. In a further scene, one of the kids is wearing a cast that originally says “LOSER”, but the S
has been written over and replaced with a V to say “LOVER”. This could suggest that one of the male characters
has feelings for the female character despite this being a different actor to the first actor who we saw in the lake
giving certain looks to the female actress as if he also has a crush on her. The character speaking changes his
tone and the music tension increases as the narrator mentions how there are monsters about. The camera starts
to pan towards a poster of a missing teenager placed upon a telephone pole. This could give the audience a hint
that there is something in the town that is related to the missing teenager that authorities cannot solve. Then there
are a few clips of these older boys who appear to be bullying some of the characters in school and one overweight
kid on the bridge. This could mean that these bullies could play quite a big role within the film after making multiple
appearances especially the one who flicked a knife open.

So throughout the trailer it is clear to know that the clown is stalking and harassing each of
the kids by interacting with them throughout their lives. One example of this is when one kid
is explaining how his grandfather says there is something up in the town and you see in the
background Pennywise’s calling card of someone holding a red balloon. This could mean
that the clown is nearby and stalking them as they discuss their encounters with the clown.
Another example of this is when another kid is in his school’s library flicking through a book
where the clown is present in staring directly at the clown and as it pans out of the book
towards the kid, you can see that the librarian is giving the kid a creepy stare from the back
of the room. This could mean that Pennywise has “possessed” this woman so he can stalk
the poor kid.
During the first moments of the trailer, the music is calming. It then changes to an intense
pace as soon as the narrator mentions monsters in their town. You start here like a
knocking sound that has been edited in. This sound also matches when clips are being
changed. There are a few pauses and dead silences. This is to build tension and get the
viewers ready for a small jump scare. The music starts to build up again following with the
little boy repetitively saying the phrase, “You’ll Float Too”. As this is being said, the boy’s
voice starts to sound even more demonic compared to when it sounded like an innocent
young child.

During the beginning of the trailer, the camera shots mostly used differs between a
medium shot and a medium long shot. These types of shots are normally used to show the
audience the scenery of the setting and/or the characters in the scene. Throughout the
trailer the camera pans through certain scenes. An example of this would be the woman
putting up a missing child poster and the camera panning up towards the poster. Another
example of this being used in the trailer would be when the couple in the car drive past one
of the kids being bullied and finish off the shot with a red balloon appearing in the back of
the car. When the young boy (Georgie) comes across the clown in the rain by the drains,
the shots used between the two are mainly a shot reverse shot and an over the shoulder
shot on Georgie. This is to show the audience a conversation is taking place between the
two characters. Furthermore the way the camera appears in the clown’s position looking
up to Georgie could possibly relate to the clown being a demon in hell looking up at the
innocent child which would represent heaven. After the camera zooms in towards the drain
leaving the audience to wonder what had happened to the clown and the child. For editing
in the trailer, when the trailer shows the production titles, a small red balloon can be seen
lurking from behind it which is known to be Pennywise’s calling card. Also, throughout the
trailer, it shows quick clips within the film mostly of parts that include Pennywise, the
people he affects and his red balloon.

Movie Analysis: IT Movie (Website)
IT the movie has a Instagram page that advertised Chapter One of
It when that was released and now has updated to advertise
Chapter Two of It. The people who control their social media
account on Instagram have also posted their achievements for
example at the time of it being posted (September 9, 2019) It
Chapter 2 was the #1 movie in the world. This is a great way to
show off to other audiences who haven’t seen the film yet and
would most likely watch it after seeing this achievement and its
positive reviews. They also did a countdown on how many months
and days until the release date of It Chapter 2 and showed short
clips of the film to give their audience a little teaser of the film. On
Instagram IT haven’t been posting as much as they aren’t
promoting their movie or giving teasers if there will be a new movie
coming out. Their last post was made 12th of October.
The link in their Instagram bio
takes the user straight to the final
trailer for It Chapter 2. This would
be another way of advertising
customers to have a look at their
film.

Movie Analysis: IT Movie (Website)
Not only does the horror movie ‘IT’ have an
Instagram page, but they also have a Twitter profile.
They don’t post regularly on their Twitter account
with their last post being in October 12th. They don’t
appear to advertise their product anymore, but before
the release of IT Chapter 1 and 2, they had been
hyping up their films and giving their audiences
small teaser clips and images of cast members. They
even did a live Q&A (Question & Answer) on
Twitter, allowing people to ask questions to the
director Andy Muschietti and producer Barbara
Muschietti concerning IT Chapter 2’s trailer.
This creates opportunities for IT to gather
more audience members and is a unique
way of advertising their film.

Movie Analysis: It Movie (Poster)
To the left here, this is the most common official poster advertising It
Chapter 1. You can see the clown Pennywise holding his red balloon
which is like his calling card. Throughout the film, you will see the red
balloon quite often which normally means Pennywise the clown is near
and stalking you. You can also see a young child in a yellow raincoat
who appears to be outside. This might spoil the first scene of the movie;
the child is called Georgie and he goes outside to play with his toy paper
boat to which falls down a drain and is then greeted upon Pennywise.
After Georgie gets taken by Pennywise through the drain. Furthermore a
phrase is said just above the title of the film, “You’ll float too”. This
saying is said quite a lot throughout the film to haunt one of the main
characters who was an older brother of Georgie and grieving from his
loss.

Movie Analysis: It Movie Chapter 2 (Poster)
This is one of many posters where there is an adult standing
behind a red balloon with half a child’s face. These ones are
the children who survived the first encounter of Pennywise
the clown and are now grown up. There is another poster
similar to this with adults who were kids in the first film but
instead of half the face of the kid, it’s half the face of
Pennywise. This could connote that although surviving the
clown’s encounter in the first movie, the kids never really
grew out of their experiences with Pennywise and he still
haunts them.

Questionnaire to find out what your audience wants to see in your genre of film. What about the
trailer makes them want to see the film?-Michelle
Looking at the results from what the audience define horror as, 90% of people were saying scary. Horror
means having a intense feeling, as well a fantasy that leaves you with endless sleepless nights. A way of
making someone feel uneasy through literature or a film. A horror movie means when a bad event
occurs.

Questionnaire to find out what your audience wants to see in your genre of film. What about the
trailer makes them want to see the film?-Michelle
For this question of does a horror movie affect your behavior, most people said yes as you can get
small affects such as sleep problems, adapting characteristics and it can leave you feeling on the edge.
But then also no because, it’s not real events that are happening and it only strikes fear out of you.

Questionnaire to find out what your audience wants to see in your genre of film. What
about the trailer makes them want to see the film?-Michelle
I had asked the audience what is their favorite and least favorite movie. One person said The
Conjuring because, it is based of real events as well as the movie Annabelle as it uses a real life doll
that is locked up in the museum. Majority people said IT as it has a good amount of jumpscares as
well as they enjoyed it due to some comedy scenes. But then for least favorite movies they said IT
because it is more of a comedy than a horror movie.

What should a good horror movie include, according the audience it should have lots of jump
scares as this creates a buildup of tension. Well shot cinematography, unpredictable moments that
are least expected. It should include good character development and it should have a clear
understanding storyline.

I had asked the audience
what age rating they think is
most appropriate for a
horror movie and 0% people
said for PG, 15% said for 12
and 85% of people said a
horror movie should be 15.
But if the children is below
the age of 15 and they want
to watch the movie they
should be accompanied by an
adult. This way children
could be able to watch with
their parents or families.

I had asked the audience
whether they want to see a
girl or boy as the killer.
Majority of the people said
that they don't mind. But a
few said the boys because
they are seen more
commonly as the
dominant ones. The rest
said the girls because it is
least expected and girls are
secretly backstabbers. But
both genders can be brutal
killers/murderers.

After hearing and
seeing these 3 movies
coming up, I decided to
ask the audience which
they think is the most
scariest. For IT Chapter
1 there was 40%, for
Chucky people voted
15% and lastly for The
Conjuring it got the
most votes of 45%.
Mainly because it is
based of a true story
and real events.

After talking to my group I
asked what 4 aspects are
mostly seen in a horror
movie and these are the
ones we were considering to
include. But after the voting
of the audience voted 55%
wanted to see ghosts. I've
done some research and
watched some movie with
ghosts in and I (Michelle)
reckon I could play the
ghost and would look like
the girl in the movie The
Ring.

Audience Profile For Your Movie Genre-Jordan
Different movies aim for different target audiences and to get their target
audience film productions need to produce a film that would reach their
audiences’ expectations and please them. A primary target audience is what
the film producers want their filmed to be aimed at so for example most
horror genre movies are aimed at aged 15 and above and those who don’t
get scared easily. A secondary target audience is when people who don’t
usually watch horror movies try the genre out because maybe they liked the
look of the trailer and reviews or they are trying out a new experience to
watch horror movies.
Most horror movies are aimed at audience who are aged between 15 and 25.
This is because these young adults enjoy thrills and these thrills are more
likely for young adults rather than older audience members and definitely
not younger audience members who can easily get scared from them.

Audience Proﬁle For Your Movie Genre -
Example-Jordan
The Haunting of Hill House is aimed at a mature audience with an age
rating of 18+. There are 5 main characters who adults trying to sort out
their past experiences with the paranormal activities in their previous
childhood home. This would allow the audience to relate or connect
with the characters who are of a similar age.
Another example would be “It” (the ﬁrst movie) and would be targeted
at an audience aged around 15 - 25. This is because the main characters
are 7 kids who encounter and have either a good or bad relationship
with the creepy clown demon. This will also allow the audience of
young adults to connect with the characters and their adventure and
experiences.

Horror movies are typically more aimed at males than females.
This is because of a stereotypical fact that male audience members
enjoy violence and gory ﬁlms whereas females don’t really like it.
Young males are stereotyped to act immature towards horror
movies as they like the blood, guts, and gore, however many young
females enjoy watching horror movies. Horror movies aren’t
speciﬁcally aimed at a certain gender.
Horror movies are typically aimed at gathering a group of young
adults because most people watch movies with another individual
or as a group to enjoy the thrills with.

Most American horror movies are normally set in America, therefore their main target
audience would be Americans. This would be the same if the horror movie was British,
set in the UK, then their main target audience would be Brits (and possibly Ireland).
This would be the same for other countries where their target audience would be
people that are from there or speak the language.
Horror movies don’t really target audience by the class as it is a genre for all classes,
but majority of people that watch horror ﬁlms tend to be from the middle/working
class. This has been said because of their small budget of which they can spend on
ﬁlms that are cheap. You could assume that upper class audience wouldn’t associate
themselves with the horror movies’ characters and themes or be interested in them.

If I was to use a psychometric audience proﬁle to determine what type of audience
horror movies attract, then they would mainly attract “the explorers”. The explorers are
type of people who seek new experiences and adventures, therefore

Group Research Paper Analyzes Horror Genre

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