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1. LO2 – Horror
Jack Booth

2. Horror Genre
What is the Horror genre?: A film in the Horror genre aims to create the
sense of fear, shock, and nightmares within their audience. The genre has existed
for well over a century, and were initially inspired by literature from authors such
as Edgar Allen Poe, who also helped to develop other genres such as the
detective fiction genre. Horror films often cross over genres for their storyline,
most notably with the fantasy, science fiction, and thriller genres. Plots within
these films often utilise the intrusion of an evil spirit, demon, or alien creature.
Various other archetypes for horror villains include ghosts, vampires,
werewolves, clowns, psychopaths or serial killers. Many early horror films
created social and legal controversy, as they began to push the boundaries on
what was acceptable to be shown at the time. The horror genre spawned
countless sub genres, as well as providing a new and much more real and
terrifying perspective on various historic events, such as the Vietnam War, the
Holocaust, and the worldwide AIDS Epidemic.

3. The Grudge
Production context: The Grudge (2004) was a remake of the Japanese film, Ju-on:
The Grudge (2002), and the film was a box office success, making over $187 million
despite having a relatively low budget of $10 million. The film spawned 2 sequels, with
another set to be released in 2019. The film was distributed by Columbia Pictures, who
were having a very successful year in 2004 with films such as Spiderman 2 and 50 First
Dates, which broke the record previously held by them in 2002 for having the biggest
domestic theatrical gross, which came to a total of over $1.338 billion. At the time of its
release, it became the first horror film to top the Halloween box office since House on
Haunted Hill (1999), and made $39.1 million on first weekend ticket sales. The film had
stars such as Sarah Gellar and Jason Behr, who both made their name through the highly
successful TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as KaDee Strickland and William
Mapother, from Private Practise and Lost, respectively. The film’s production company,
Ghost House Pictures, was founded in 2002 and had no previous films on their resume.
After their debut success with The Grudge, they went on to produce various successful
films like Drag Me to Hell (2009), Poltergeist (2015) and Don’t Breathe (2016).

4. Hollywood Film
Production Context: The Hollywood movie Don't Breathe was a widely popular
film, which grossed over $157 million worldwide. This is an impressive feat considering
the low production budget of $9.9 million, which made the film known as a sleeper hit.
The film was produced by Ghost House Pictures and Good Universe, which are both
companies which have produced other successful films in the past, such as Poltergeist
(2015) and Neighbours 2: Sorority Rising (2016). The film was distributed by Screen
Gems, who have distributed many horror films, such as the Resident Evil film series. It
was also distributed by Stage 6 films, who had worked with many films of the same
genre, such as the Insidious trilogy. The film's director, Fede Alvarez stated that the film
was in a way, a reaction to his previous film's criticisms (Evil Dead (2013)) and explains
how he took a unique twist on the typical horror villain. This could be a reason to why
the film had such a huge success despite a low budget for a Hollywood film, as it had a
unique twist that made it popular. The film's cast were not unknown actors, but at the
same time they were not huge names that would attract people to the film from first
glance. Jane Levy, Stephen Lang, and Dylan Minnette had all had success in film or TV,
with them featuring in Shameless, Avatar, and 13 Reasons Why, respectively.

5. British Film
Production Context: The British horror film Woman In Black was regarded as a big
success, as despite the low production budget it massively exceeded its expectations.
The film had an initial budget of $15 million, and eventually grossed $128.5 million
worldwide. The film was produced by Cross Creek Pictures and Hammer Film
Productions. Cross Creek Pictures were a relatively small production company, but have
gone on to produce major films such as Hacksaw Ridge (2016) and Flatliners (2017).
Hammer Film Productions had a very long history of films, having been founded in 1934,
but in recent years they hadn't been producing many films due to troubles with
ownership. The film was then distributed in the UK by Momentum Pictures, who had
produced previous horror films like Insidious (2011) and Sinister (2012). In the USA it was
distributed by CBS Pictures, who had future success with popular films such as Afflicted
(2014) and Patriot's Day (2016), but they were relatively unheard of before the Woman
In Black was released. The film's lead actor was Daniel Radcliffe, who had just finished
the huge Harry Potter film series, which intensified the hype and excitement for the film
by featuring such a big name. However, the rest of the cast were not as well known or
experienced as Radcliffe, yet their performances helped with the success of the film.

6. US Indie Film
Production Context: 'It Comes at Night' is a US Indie film which was released on the
9th June 2017, and gained $19,000,000 worldwide, which is impressive considering the
budget of the film was only around $3-5,000,000. The film was received positively by
critics, and on the film site Rotten Tomatoes it holds an approval rating of 88%, with an
average rating of 7.4/10. The film's producers, Animal Kingdom, who recently had box
office success with the Horror film 'It Follows' repeated their success by grossing more
than 3x their initial film budget. The company had recently entered a 2 year deal with
Focus Features, who produced various successful box office films including 'Insidious:
Chapter 3' and 'London Has Fallen'. The film featured some big stars such as Joel
Edgerton and Carmen Ejogo, as well as some lesser known actors such as Riley Keough
and Christopher Abbott. Another actor on the film, Kelvin Harrison Jr was nominated for
the breakthrough actor of the year award by the Gotham Independent Film Awards. The
film has various synergies shared with ‘The Shining’, the most obvious being the layout of
the house which is similar to the Overlook Hotel in that they both have a specifically
obscure layout, which is never properly established. The film’s writer and director, Trey
Edwards Shults, said this was used as a metaphor for “the mesh of Travis’ head.”

7. TV Channel; Viceland
Ownership: Viceland is a channel owned by Vice Media, and produces a large
amount of original content. In 2014, Vice announced a venture with Canadian
media conglomerate Rogers Communication to build a studio in Toronto, with the
intention of creating original content aimed at 18-34 year olds. Viceland have
partnerships with 44 different local broadcasters in countries across the world,
but they also release a large amount of online content on platforms like YouTube,
and have large social media followings as well.
How does it generate income?: They are funded by A&E Networks, who own
a share of the company and provide a large amount of funding. They make a lot
of their profits from making content with popular figures in today’s cultures. For
example, they have a long running TV series with the rapper, chef, and
personality Action Bronson, and they recently started a show with Tyler the
Creator, who is also a well-known rapper, both of whom have a big presence in
the younger generations and on social media.

8. TV Channel; Viceland
What online services does it offer?: They have various online services
available to fans of the channel, including an app to watch their shows if you
don’t have a TV, a TV Guide on their website for when all of their programmes on
their various different sub channels for online viewers, and they also feature
many different articles for the audience to read on the companies home site,
Vice.com. The brand has a large social media presence, and are active on various
platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. This means they have a larger
audience to advertise to, being the newer generations who are very active on
social media, who make up a large proportion of the channel’s general audience.
Ofcom issue case study and outcome: OFCOM had an issue with Viceland,
over their show ‘F*** that’s Delicious’ which they felt breached their code on
offensive language. Viceland attempted to mask the word to keep it friendly, but
to no avail. They were warned and Viceland assured OFCOM they would work
more to keep from breaching their code again.

9. What is synergy within the film industry?
There are various examples of synergy throughout the film industry, spanning across various
genres and companies. Synergy is when 2 companies work together for a final product,
which can be done in various ways from product placement, to tie ins or spin offs, or even
making use of existing products from other markets. Product placement is very common in
the film industry, and can be seen in films ranging from Jurassic World with companies such
as Samsung, Coca Cola, and Beats by Dre paying for their products to be advertised in the
film, to less obvious and more fitting companies like in the James Bond series, where car
companies such as BMW and Aston Martin have their cars featured to suit the character of
the secret agent. Tie ins are also very common, with films often producing various other
products with the film’s branding, which can range from video games, clothing lines, or
novels written to cover or build parts of the film’s storyline. Spin offs are similar, but are
generally used to describe narrative works rather than other products. Spin off films often
build on the film’s storyline but telling new stories, such as Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018),
Minions (2015) and Penguins of Madagascar (2014). Another way synergy is used in the
industry is through the use of characters or stories spanning across different film series.
Marvel make use of this often, with their iconic superhero characters often making
appearances in each others films, such as in Avengers Assemble (2012) which featured
characters from many series, like Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America who were all
implemented into one story for an increased profit.

10. What is vertical and horizontal integration?
Vertical integration is when a company looks to acquire the services of a production
company in the same industry. This could be for various reasons, such as reduced
production costs as they would already own the company, to capture more profits from
their products, or to access new distribution channels for their media. There are various
examples of this, such as the Hollywood Studios in the 1920s and 30s, when the studio
owned the actors and directors, production studios, the distribution network, and even the
cinema chains. This allowed them to make more profits and save spending on the
production side of the project.
Horizontal integration is when a company is aiming to merge and grow by effectively
combining the 2 companies into one. This can be done to increase their size and influence
in the market, diversify its products and services, remove or reduce their competition, or
gain access to new customers and markets. A major example of this happened in 2006,
when Disney acquired the Pixar company for a fee of around $7.4 billion, which effectively
removed a major competitor in the industry and allowed the company’s influence and
control to grow. Disney have used this strategy for various different companies, including
Lucasfilm, ESPN, and Marvel Entertainment. These acquisitions gave them a much wider
range of products they could sell, as well as the rights to huge film series like Star Wars, and
the characters needed to create the films for the hugely popular Marvel universe.