genre and poster analysis

Conventions of my genre

My chosen genre is horror with a chosen sub genre of thriller and serial killer. The horror genre usually has a narrative structure and theme surrounding death, murder, revenge, religious beliefs, survival or the supernatural.  

The main characters that usually feature in a horror film are: 

- the protagonist: Stereo-typically represented as intelligent and sensible and usually female.

- the antagonist: Played by one main character which tries to kill the protagonist.

- the sex appeal: Played by a good looking woman and is often the first to be killed.

- the unlikely hero: the character which the audience thinks will be the hero due to their skills and role in the film but then gets killed. 

In a horror film the location can be anywhere however it is usually in an isolated setting e.g. the woods or a home in the middle of no where (e.g. 'get out' or 'the conjuring'). This is because these kinds of settings causes the most amount of tension and suspense in the watching audience. 

Costume and props plays a huge part in horror films convention and how they help scare the audience - costumes are usually recognisable to the audience, e.g. the scream mask or pennywise which often become iconic for the audience as when we see these outside of the cinematic experience and atmosphere the film is often the very first thing we think of. 

Colour palette: Horror films often use colours that represent danger, death e.g. red white and black as these often contradict or enhance feelings in the audience - e.g. white is very isolating but also can represent hope if used in the right way as its a light colour. Red stereotypically represents death danger and violence with black bringing in a feeling of mystery or fear. 

This poster for the film 'IT' (2017) directed by Andy Muschietti can be seen to follow the conventions of the horror genre. This is because the colour palette is red, white and black but the way the colours have been used to contrast with each other is very clever, the white has been surrounded by black on pennywise's face in order to make his smile and distinctive features clearly observable while the rest of him is shrouded in mystery (black). The film title and tagline have also been made obvious and distinctive.

This poster for the film 'The Conjouring' (2013) directed by James Wan can also be seen to follow the conventions of the horror genre except this time its focusing more on the setting of the film rather than the character and colour palette.