This document discusses generic conventions for various genres including romance, horror, and thriller films. For romance films, it outlines typical themes of marriage or partnership, characters as average working class people, plots involving unlikely lovers overcoming complications to be together, props like flowers and gifts, and settings like cafes or parks. For horror films, it discusses common themes of relationships, death, supernatural entities as characters, settings like forests or hospitals, props involving religion, and plots involving supernatural occurrences and rituals. For thrillers, it notes themes of unexpected dangerous events and characters facing life-threatening situations to resolve issues.

1. Generic conventions
Victoria Dunn

2. Romanc
eTypical Themes;
Typical themes to a romance often include marriage or the
prospect of getting married in the future or starting a family
whereas it can vary depending on what type of romance it is,
some tragedy romances can end in the two partners having
to separate or an unfortunate event etc. however the majority
of romance movies ends with the theme of marriage or
partnership.
Typical Characters;
The typical characters in Romance films are often realistic,
relatable, working class people that are not expecting to fall in
love or that have a grudge against falling in love for the movie
to then be unexpected or entertaining. These characters tend to
be quite average working class people to relate to the audience
and allow for the viewers to sometimes put themselves in the
places of the characters. Sometimes romances are set in the
past whereby some of the characters tend to be either royalty
or paupers or both, one main character being rich and the other
being poor visa versa.
Typical Plots;
The typical plot of a romance is where two main characters
who are unlikely or unsuited to one another unexpectedly
fall in love along with sometimes various social or literal
complications that have to be overcome before they can be
together. Occasionally in romance movies set in the past
there will be status complications or issues regarding the
two main characters falling in love.
Typical Props;
Typical props that are used in romance films can include flowers,
love letters, gifts to show affection such as jewellery, chocolates,
sometimes teddy bears or something of personal meaning to the
character. Sometimes there are props of wine or other types of
alcohol and occasionally props in romances can include big
performances presumably choreographed by one character to
show the other the extent of their love for them.
Typical Setting;
The type of setting that is usually used in a romance tends
to be places that are quite relaxed and casual every day life
places such as a café or a park or apartment, sometimes
romance films are set in the past whereby a castle might be
the setting or a small village.

3. This movie is a romance however it is a hybrid movie therefore
it is a romantic tragedy, the tragedy being the death of one of
the main characters along with a whole boat full of other
characters. Despite this movie being a hybrid it still follows the
typical plotline of a love story romance in that they fall in love
however their parents or relatives do not want them to be
together, hence complications within the happy ending. It also
follows the typical scene of an everyday, unthreatening
environment of a cruise ship.
This movie is a romance hybrid with a comedy. It follows the typical plotline
of two people seemingly unlikely to fall in love, falling in love and then
meeting various complications in the form of problematic family members
during Christmas time, hence the comedy aspect of the various family's on
both sides. It follows the typical romance scene of taking place in various
houses and follows the typical plotline ending for a romance of childbirth
and the prospect of marriage. The usual typical props of wine and
chocolates are used and the typical characters are included such as big
families and friend characters etc. The typical themes of marriage and
childbirth are persistent throughout which also makes this movie a
romance.
This movie is a romance hybrid with a tragedy, the tragedy
being death. It is a romance due to the typical plotline of the
idea of two opposing households falling in love with the typical
issue of the difference in status, power, and the family
members disagreeing upon the agreement of marriage or
partnership. It uses the typical props of flowers and alcohol as
well as the typical setting of a non threatening environment of
the castles and gardens during the time period.

4. Horror
Typical Themes;
Typical themes include issues within relationships established at
the start of the movie, themes also follow the lines typically of
exorcism or some form of death or sacrifice. Other themes include
an unfolding plotline with a realistic storyline i.e. the woman whose
mentally ill is seeing things and associating it with a crime however
her mental illness is playing a large part in associating some
everyday events and explanations with supernatural or criminal
behaviour. Other themes can include beautiful meaningful endings
where the story unfolds into understanding.
Typical Characters;
The typical characters in horror movies
vary, in some horror movies the typical
characters can be supernatural beings
such as vampires or werewolves (this is
often found in old horror movies) and in
some other horror movies the typical
characters are relatable, every day people
(often teenagers)to allow the viewer to
relate to the characters and therefore give
them the sense of reality needed to make
the movie feel scary. Children often
feature a part in horror movies (more
common in recent horror movies) due to
their vulnerability and immaturity making
the viewer worry more for them. Another
reoccurring typical character in the
modern day horror movie is a priest,
whose usually involved within the movie
due to the close relation to God and
sometimes ends up being the one to
preform an exorcism of either a person or
place. Horrors typically start with many
various characters in order for them to
dwindle down throughout the movie as
they die off.
Typical Setting;
The typical horror movie setting is usually somewhere that makes the
viewer feel uneasy such as woodlands, old castles or mansion
houses, hospitals or derelict buildings. However in most modern day
horror movies the setting is relatable such as a house, an apartment,
a school etc. to make it feel more realistic. Settings of horror movies
can sometimes change throughout the movie to give an eerie sense
of reality to the movie or present the idea of an entity having latched
onto an individual, or the idea of possession.
Typical Props;
Typical props can include the Christian cross which is
usually used as a tool to ‘repel’ the entity or be shown
upside down as a common misconception of the symbol of
hell or a replenishment symbol for the antichrist. Other
props that are used include weapons such as knives or
guns to indicate the inevitability of inflicting injury and add
intensity to the movie. Sometimes other props include the
Christian bible based upon ideas of entities being ‘satanic’
and therefore bible verses holding some form of ‘power’
over the situation. Other props involving religion or cultism
includes the pentagram which is debatably used to signify
hell through it being the symbol for the cult of Satanism as
well as paganism and their belief of the pattern of the star
being used in ritual to open the doorways into other realms
allowing the spiritual and godly figures to enter through and
interact with the human realm.
More props include Ouija boards commonly associated with
hauntings due to the debatable ability to contact the dead
through the partaking of the game. ‘Holy water’ is
sometimes used for exorcisms and candles tend to be a
prop due to their natural flickering lighting and their
occasional necessary presence within pagan and satanic
rituals. Needles and forms of torture can be used in more
gory horror films to make the viewer scared and feel
physically and mentally uncomfortable.
Many of these props that have spiritual, religious or ritual
use are used because of their debatable real abilities and
because people do not tend to know much regarding these
practices and therefore question the realism and the
possibilities of such events. Some of these practices
involving such tools including the pentagram, Ouija and
suchlike have also been considered ‘demonic’ and due to
common misconceptions and the ignorance of many people
they associate such items or symbols with death and evil
doings.
Typical Plots;
The typical plots include some form of supernatural occurrences such as seeing ghosts, death, misfortune, possession,
poltergeist activity, series of unfortunate events i.e. the dog dies, they almost have a car crash and their house manages to
set alight. The usual plotline usually ends with some sort of pagan ritual practice, exorcism of some sort, ‘appeasing’ the
supernatural entity which usually involves a human sacrifice or some form of reuniting the entity with another they might
have lost or want. Or the plot usually ends in death or with their being no resolution to the issue within the movie, leaving the
viewer scared and giving the impression of doom and that there is no end to the horrors of the events. Many plots tend to
slowly unfold throughout horror movies to give the viewer suspense and confusion.

5. This movie has the typical attributes of the supernatural
idea of zombies, the characters being many in number to
allow for characters to die off throughout the movie, and
the typical props of weaponry such as knives and guns
etc. in order to kill the zombies
This movie has the typical prop of the Ouija board and the
typical relatable every day character of a teenage girl
becoming intertwined with the spiritual realm of evil
entities and so on featuring the typical settings of houses.
This movie has the typical relatable character of the average
teenage girl and typically starts off with an average amount of
characters in order to then kill characters off and still have
characters around to finish the story. It also features the
typical death or two and exorcism as well as props of a bible
and a Christianity cross.

6. thriller
Typical Themes;
Typical themes include unexpected and unusual (meaning not every day)
events happening and the character, or characters, being involved in a
potentially life threatening or dangerous situations that involves different
factors in order to survive or resolve the issues. Typical themes involve some
form of, or threat of, violence, some form of being out of control within a real
life situation and sometimes themes of kidnap, hostage situations, home
invasions etc.
Typical Characters;
The typical characters in a thriller tend to be
relatable every day working class people to
then make the storyline that follows more
realistic and exciting as well as unexpected.
Some other characters tend to include people
of power such as police or lawyers or
detective constables etc. and in thrillers there
is typically a person of bad intent such as a
family member or an old friend or someone
you wouldn’t typically expect to do wrong.
There tends to be multiple characters within a
thriller for the (usually complex) story to
unfold. Making the characters and the
characters relationships relatable to the
average person allows for the viewer to
watch the thriller realistically with thought that
the events in the film could happen to anyone
including themselves, therefore making the
fear within the movie real for the viewer.
Typical Setting;
The typical settings for thrillers are in places that are realistic every day places
including a home, a park, a playground, a school, a parking lot, an office, a
bank, basically everywhere that the usual average person could find themselves
in. Typically the settings can change quite rapidly throughout the movie as the
thriller continues further into the storyline, places such as basements, attics,
hospitals, court rooms and graveyards, however most thrillers settings are
realistic and persistent throughout the movie.
Typical Props;
Typical props in thrillers include weapons
used for intimidation or to set the scene of
danger and the idea of injury being
inflicted, weapons such as knives and
guns are often the case but some props
used as weapons in thrillers are not
designed as weapons but more so
household or everyday objects such as a
flower vase being thrown onto a persons
head. These household and every day
objects are used as weapons during the
struggle of fighting desperately, the idea
of being caught unexpectedly and fighting
for your life with whatever you can grab
from around you. Other props include
cars, which, whether classed as a ‘prop’
or not is often used in thrillers during the
chase scenes where a character is
desperately trying to get away and
escape or urgently trying to get
somewhere under serious time pressure,
this adds thrill to the movie at the idea of
pressure and suspense of if the
characters will succeed or get away with
their tasks. Phones are often a very
common prop used for added suspense.
Typical Plots;
The typical plots included in a thriller tend to involve some form of life
threatening situation for a character to be in that is unexpected and
dangerous i.e. a kidnapping, a hostage situation, a person whose gone
missing, a killer on the loose, someone taking revenge from the past,
hostage situations, home invasion situations, or something of that kind.
The plot usually unfolds with some form of background story and with
the numerous twist and turn of plotline in order to keep the viewer in
suspense and ignorance of what could happen next. The plots usually
begin with the characters living their everyday lives to show how the
beginning of the movie is calm and realistic to the average working
class person and to emphasise that chaos that later comes. The plots
usually end in an anti climax by all things returning to normal or an
ordeal coming to an end and the characters being changed to show the
dramatic realistic impact of the events that unfolded during the climax of
the movie.

7. This movie follows the typical storyline of a main character
disappearing and going missing. It uses many different typical
plots including every day household objects used to fight off
characters during a struggle as well as the prop of a car to get
away and many other props including knives and weaponry. It
has the typical characters of power such as a detective, the
police and media such as journalists. It also typically follows
the plotline of a story unfolding and unravelling gradually and
the suspense of not knowing the full story. The settings used
are also typical thriller settings in that each setting is a realistic
everyday setting.
This movie has the typical attributes of a thriller in many ways
including the plotline of a young female character being
kidnapped and it uses the common prop of the phone
throughout the movie to add suspense as well as the props of
cars and household objects being used in self defence
alongside weaponry such as knives and scalpels being used to
inflict injury. The characters involved are also typically thriller
characters, such as the emergency services, detectives and
average man with a typical unfolding backstory that becomes
clear as the movie is being viewed.
This movie follows the typical plotline of a thriller whereby the
characters are all average realistic characters and the storyline
slowly unfolds throughout the movie creating confusion and
suspense. Once again the typical props of household objects
being used in self defence as weapons is used as well as the
props of actual weapons being used including guns and knives.
Typically there are many characters in order to connect the
backstory together and the characters or power include police
and detectives. Also the setting is completely typical of a thriller
in that each setting is an everyday realistic scene such as a
house or a hotel.

8. Musical
Typical Themes;
Typical themes in musicals tend to involve a lot of drama
for there to be a lot to sing about, usual themes are
complicated, hence being sung out in song form to really
get the message through, and mostly the themes are
meaningful and have some sort of considerable depth
due to the fact musicals were based from live
performances and theatre plays. Theme of comedy also
often runs in most musicals despite it not being in all
musicals. Tragedy is also a large aspect of musicals as,
again, the theme often runs throughout most musicals.
Typical Characters;
The typical musical characters often are
very flamboyant and expressive however
this is becoming less and less common in
modern day musicals. Characters in
musicals tends to be many characters in
order for the movie to progress and the
story to unwind within the musical and
throughout the movie and sometimes the
characters get killed off leaving more
characters to continue the story.
Typical Setting;
The typical setting for a musical can really be anywhere
depending on the nature and hybrid of the movie, it
typically is in a school, in a mansion house, out in the
wilderness, the gardens, typical movie settings do not tend
to be life threatening settings however that can vary
depending on the hybrid movie.
Typical Props;
Typical props within musicals vary greatly
depending on the time period and theme
of the musical however in most musicals
many props are used such as umbrellas,
microphones, things that dance groups
can use. Other props include the outfits
and dresses and style of clothing's,
usually greatly exaggerated due to the
flamboyant style the majority of musicals
tend to posses. Props can include
everyday objects as well as unusual
objects, there is no limit to props within
musicals. Cars are often used in musicals
also as means of transport or as status
symbols.
Typical Plots;
The typical plots in musicals are often either meaningful, dramatic,
tragic or comedic. It is debatably one of the most wide ranged genres.
The plots can be any number of things however almost all plots feature
the gentle beginning and climax in the middle to then slow back down
to a steady pace. Musicals tend to be hybrids with other genres
therefore the plot can vary significantly with musical interludes
throughout. There always tends to be a clear definitive between the
‘good’ characters and the ‘bad’ characters to allow the viewer to get
involved and the idea of being emotionally connected to the musical.
The plots usually involve the characters overcoming an issue or
encountering many problems throughout but slowly resolving them or
overcoming them.

9. This movie is a hybrid between a horror and a musical therefore
it doesn’t follow the typical themes of a musical as it is quite
dark. It does however follow the typical style of a musical with
the main characters and the unfolding of the story as well as the
props of the outfit and dresses designs suitable and expressive
for the time period with interludes of beautiful songs and
suspense and horror throughout therefore making it a perfect
combination of both horror and musical.
This movie is a hybrid between a tragedy and musical on account
of a woman suffering various hardships throughout her life. It
follows the typical settings of a musical and it follows the typical
characters in musicals as there are many complex characters
and an unravelling emotional storyline throughout with many
musical interludes and musical speech. The props used are very
typical too in that they are everyday relevant to the time period
props and the costumes are realistic to the time period and
scenario too.
This movie is a hybrid between a musical and a comedy, it
follows the typical musical of a slow growing storyline with
flamboyant and highly expressive characters. Props are
realistic as are the settings, making them typical for the musical
genre and the characters include a trio of signing women who
appear in musical interludes throughout with matching outfits
and props, creating a perfect musical comedy.