Research into comedy/horror genre.

1. Research into
comedy/horror genre
By Chloe Collins

2. The history of horrors…
O Monsters, murderers, demons and beasts
have been around for antiquity. Ghost
stories were told round camp fires. But
horror has been extended from a genre of
literature, that got started in the late
1700s. Horrors were developed by both
British and united states writers, where
stories would take place in medieval
buildings.

3. The First Horror
O The first horror film on record is Le Manoir
du Diable in 1896, created by one of films
earliest visionaries, Georges Melies.
O The first ghoast story was written by the
Roman author pliny the Younger in 61-113
A.D.

4. Horror film companies
1. Benderspink- Previous films: The Ring, The Butterfly
Effect, Kill Theorgy and Isanitrarium. Producer- Chris
Bender and producer/manager- J.C Spink
2. Blumhouse Productions- Previous films: Paranormal
Activity, Insidious, Sinister, The Purge and Dark Skies.
Owner- Jason Blum.
3. Circle of confusion- Previous films: S&Man, Senseless,
Vanishing on Seventh Street. It’s a New York and L.A
based management.
4. Dark castle entertainment- Pervious films: Thirteen
Ghosts (Director- Steve Beck), Gothika (Director- Mathiru
Kassovitz), House of Wax (Director- Jamue Collectserra),
Orphan and the Apparition.
5. Del Toro Productions- Pervious films: Don’t be Afraid of
the Dark. Director- Guillermo del Toro.

5. Horror film companies
1. Ghost House Pictures- Previous films: The Grudge, The
Boogeyman, The Messengers, 30 days of Night, Drag Me to Hell,
The Possession, Evil Dead. Directed by- Robert Tapert and Sam
Raimi.
2. Platinum Dunes- Pervious films: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
(Tobe Hopper), The Amityville Horror, The Hitcher, The Unborn,
Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street. Director- Michael Bay,
Brad Fuller and Andrew Form (created in November 2001).
3. Rogue Pictures- Previous films: Seed of Chucky, Cry Wolf, The
Return, The Strangers, Unborn, My Soul to Take. Industry- Motion
pictures.
4. Twisted Pictures- Saw, Saw II-IV, Saw 3D, Dead Silence,
Monsters Day and Tortured. Founder- Mark Burg, Oren Koules
and Gregg Hoffman.
5. Vertigo Entertainment- Previous films: The Grudge, Ring 2, Dark
Water, Shutter, Quarantine, The Uninvited, Women in Black:
Angel of Death and in a Dark Place. Director- Roy Lee.

6. Awards
O Saturn Award for Best Horror Film- it was
introduced in 1973 for 1972 film year. For the
210, 2011 and 2012 film years, it was
renamed Best Horror or Thriller film. In 2013 it
came back to its original name. in 2015 the
winner was ‘Crimson Peak’.
O Empire Awards for Best Horror- It is presented
annually by the British magazine Empire to
honour the best horror film of the previous
year. Its on its 11th year as it started in 2006.
This year (2016) ‘The Hallow’ won it.

7. Awards
O Indie Horror Film Festival- The festival is produced
by Breaking Fate Entertainment (Director- Willy
Adkins). It has a sister festival in Chicago. In 2016
the festival went on the 15th to 17 April. The festival
features vendors, special guests and awards
ceremony's. The awards given out in this festival
are: Best Feature, Best Short, Best Director, Best
Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best
Supporting Actress, Best Story, Best
Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Editing, Best
Special FX, Directors Choice and The Indie Horror
Screenplay Contest Finalists.

8. Key Features
1. Iconography- these are imagery or symbols which occurs in horror genre or
have been repeated in the history. Examples: Haunted House, Props such
as knife, Blood and dead people, Grace yards, Good against Evil.
2. Setting- horror films are normally set where people feel most vulnerable like
dark places or at night. E.g. Haunted houses, Abandoned warehouses,
during the night.
3. Narrative- a horror genre normally has a good against evil scenario, where
monsters go terrorising a community or a group of people. E.g. The wolf
man.
4. Style- horror genre generally use sound to create suspense, they also use
different type of shot such as point of view shot so you are looking through
the killers eyes to create mystery or terror to the audience.
5. Characters- they usually are supernatural such as demons, vampires,
ghosts, monsters or someone with a mask on.
6. Theme- themes are normally something to do with struggle. For example,
good against evil, loyalty verses deceit.

9. About Horrors
O Horror is a film genre seeking to elicit a negative
emotional reaction from its viewers by playing
audiences primal fears. Inspired by literature from
authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker and
Mary Shelley. Horror films often deal with viewers
nightmares, fears, revulsions and terror of the
unknown. the age for watching a horror movie is
between 15-25. horror movies give more thrill and
excitement to a younger audience easier than an
older one. More males are likely to watch horror
movies than females as they enjoy more violence,
blood, gor as it seeks more thrill. Also people may
go to see horror movies simply because of the
characters in it or one particular character.

10. Top 5 horror movies
1. The Exorcist- Release date: December 26, 1973.
director- William Friedkin. Budget: $12 million.
2. The shining- Release date: May 23th 1980.
Director- Stanley Kubrick. Budget: $19 million.
3. Halloween- Release date: October 25th 1978.
Director- John Carpenter. Budget: $300,000-
$325,000.
4. A Nightmare on Elm Street- Release date:
November 9th 1984. Director- Wes Craven.
Budget: $1.8 million.
5. Alien- Release date: May 25th 1979. Director-
Ridley Scott. Budget: $9-11 million.

11. History Comedy
O Comedy dates back to the era of the silent
films in 1895
O It was difficult for silent movies to be
comical so they relied on slapstick and
burlesque humour.
O Slapstick- is things such as chases,
collisions and practical jokes.
O Burlesque- is theatrical entertainment
which includes sketches and parodies
aimed at an adult audiences.

12. Slapstick
O The first known silent comedy was called
2Watering the Gardener”by the Lumiere
Brothers in 1895. it lasted 49 seconds and
contained the first slapstick comedy.
O Famous slapstick Director- Sir Charles
Spencer Chaplin. Born on the 16th of april
1889. he was self-directing and creating
his own comedy films for a span on 75
years. His first slapstick comedy film was
called “Making A Living” in 1914.

13. About Comedy
O Comedy is a film genre which the main
emphasis is through humour. These films
are designed to make people laugh.
O Comedy films often have happy endings.
O Sound was invented during the 1920s
which changed comedy films a lot.
O Comedy films are focused on individual
stars as they get former stand-up comics,
which makes these films more popular.

14. Key Features
O Funny Scripts
O Comical characters
O Designed all round making the audience
laugh.
O Often amid at families
O Comical scenes

15. Comedy Awards
O The comedy Awards is an annual
ceremony run by American television
network comedy central, honouring the
best of comedy.
O Comedy Icon Awards- for comedy film:
The other guys. Animated Comedy Film:
Toy Story 3. Comedy Acor: Zach
Galifianakis. Comedy Actress: Tina Fey.

16. Top 5 comedy films
O Finding Dory- it’s a comedy-drama/adventure. Directed by- Andrew
Stanton. Production companies was Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar
Animation Studios. Also distributed by Walt Disney Studio and
Motion Pictures. It was released on June 8th 2016. its box office was
$1.06 billion and budget of $200 million.
O Bad Moms- it’s a directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. Produced
by bill block and Suzanne Todd. The production companies where
Huayi Brothers Pictures, Bill Block Media and Suzanne Todd
Productions. It was then distributed by STX Entertainment, its box
office was $179.4 million and had a budget of $20 million. It came
out on July 19th 2016.
O Deadpool- it is a science fiction film/action. Its directed by Tim
Miller. Produced by Simon Kinberg, Rylan Reynolds and Lauren
Shuler Donner. The production companies was Marvel
Entertainment, Kinberg Genre, The Donners’ Company and TSG
Entertainment. It was the distributed by 20th Century Fox. It was
released on February 8th 2016. the box office was $782.6 million
and the budget was $58 million.

17. O Bad Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising- it’s a comedy. It was
directed by Nicholas Stoller, Produced by Seth Rogen,
Evan Goldberg and James Weaver. The production
companies where Good Universe, Perfect World Pictures
and Point Grey Pictures. It was then distributed by
Universal Pictures. The release date is April 26th 2016 or
the 20th of May 2016 in the United States. The box office
was $107.9million and had the budget of $36 million.
O Zootopia- is a comedy mystery film. Directed by Byron
Howard and Rich Moore. Produced by Clark Spencer. The
production companies was Walt Disney Pictures, Walt
Disney Animation Studios. And distributed by Walt Disney
Studios and Motion Pictures. The release date was
February 13th 2016 and march 4th 2016 in the United
States. The box office was $1.04 billion and has the budget
of $150 million.

18. Comedy/Horror
O Comedy/horror is literary and film genre that combines
elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has
been described as able to be categorized under three
types:
1. Black comedy- is a comic style that makes light of
themes that are generally considered serious. Black
comedy corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows
humour.
2. Parody – an imitation of the style of a particular writer,
artist or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic
effect.
3. Spoof- a humorous imitation of something, typically a film
or a particular genre of fil which its characteristic features
are exaggerated for comic effect.

19. Comedy/Horror Films
O Shaun of the dead- is a zombie film. Its directed by
Edgar Wright and produced by Nira Park. Its
production companies was StudioCanal, Working
Title Films and Big Talk Productions. It was
distributed by Universal Pictures and Rogue
Pictures. The release date was 9th of April 2004.
The box office was $30 million and it had a budget
is $6.1 million.
O What we do in the shadows- is a vampire film. It
was directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika
Waititi. It was produced by Taika Waititi, Chelsea
Winstanley and Emanuel Michael. It was
distributed by Madman Entertainment. The release
date was 19th of January 2014 in Sundance. Box
office was $6.9 million and had a budget of $1.6
million.