Genre

Genre 

Genre pleasures

Genre allows audiences to make choices about what products they want to consume through acceptance in order to fulfill a particular pleasure. Theorist Rick Altman (1999) argues that genre offers the audience ‘a set of pleasures’.

Rick Altman – semantic/syntactic approach - 

Semantic -  This is concerned with the conventions of the genre that communicate to the audience such as characters, locations, props, music, shooting style and other signifiers.

Syntactic -This is concerned with the relations between these elements and the structure of narratives in genres.

There is emotional pleasures, visceral pleasures (refers to internal organs, gut instinct) and intellectual puzzles (thrillers and mysteries).

What genre is your media text?

My genre for my media text is a horror film trailer. A trailer is a series of extracts from a film advertising the product (film) but trailers are abbreviated to avoid spoiling the plot of the film but leaving enough to entice the audience to see more, therefore creating hype amongst the audience. Some trailers are made of special shoot footage which is made for the trailer as it gives nothing away to the audience but making the audience hooked and engaged with the film, thus making the audience want to see the film.

The structure of trailers is made up of three parts. The first part consists of the introduction of the plot of the film, introducing the setting and the main protagonists to the audience. The second part further includes more of the plot to the audience which tends to end with a climax. The third part is normally a visual montage of the best and emotional moments of the film. Some trailers may include a voice over or a narrator which can support the plot of the film and what is happening on screen be given in the format of a trailer, which also creates a stronger connection between the trailer and audience as the narrator is talking to the audience, making the audience more engaged with the film.

The type of trailers are teaser trailers which last from 10 seconds to 30 seconds, which is done for the purpose of announcing the product’s existence to the audience making them aware of the product and possibly making them more enticed to see more of this product through curiosity. A teaser trailer shows some of the main protagonists normally, a famous actor/actress to engage the audience even more with the product. The next type of trailer is a follow up of the teaser trailer which is a theatrical trailer which has a longer duration than the teaser trailer which lasts for a maximum of two and half minutes which gives the audience more information about the film and what the film may consist of.

 

How does the genre make you feel?

The genre makes the audience feel exhilaration, fear in which causes discomfort to the viewer in which the viewer may experience dread, anxiety, making the viewer panic thus causing an increase in heart rate, creating new fears or reliving fears, shock the viewer, and the viewer being entertained through a fearful way. This is done through typical fears being reinforced which are common amongst the audience which are: death, fear of the unknown, isolation, phobias and vulnerability.

The overall effect of horror films is like a rollercoaster ride for the audience as they will experience adrenaline and fear through built up tension and intense pacing of the film, which is why the target audience enjoys horror films.

The pleasures that the audience may have is visceral pleasures as it is the stimulus given from the film which creates the response of emotional pleasures which may be fear, anxiety and exhilaration from what the audience sees on screen or by the pleasure of intellectual puzzles which the trailer of the film may create mystery and therefore making the emotional pleasures as a response.  By the trailer being short and containing a lot of intellectual puzzles it makes the audience more enticed to see and creates hype through the fourth gratification of information and learning, which as a result may lead to viral word of mouth as people will be talking about this film.  

What are the main codes and conventions of your genre?

The codes and conventions for the horror genre – camera angels/ shots

Camera angles/shots – The use of high and low angle shots makes the characters either more superior or inferior, the use of point of view shots is to make the audience see through the eyes of the antagonist or even the victim in which the audience can put themselves in the victim’s shoes and empathise with the victim when they are in danger and also makes the audience experience fear and intensity. The use of hand held camera movement makes the audience feel the danger of the situation and it also creates a sense of unease which an example of this is The Blair Pitch Project and REC franchise in which constructs this convention well. Also the use of tilted/canted shot is used to create a sense of unease to the audience, which is also to create an unsettling atmosphere. 

For my theatrical trailer, I will want to include the use of hand held camera movement as it creates a feel of distortion to the situation which will make the audience feel the visceral pleasure (Altman) of unease and a sense of danger which will reinforce the negotiated and preferred emotion (Stuart Hall) that I want the target audience to feel when watching. I will also want to include in my theatrical trailer the convention of mystery as to what has happened? and why it has happened? within the narrative of the theatrical trailer to create intellectual puzzles (Altman) for the audience as it will sustain the target audience's engagement to the text, this can be achieved by using narration to help guide and implant preferred and negotiated thoughts within the audience's head. I will not include a montage as I feel it will disrupt the eerie and mysterious feel that I want to create as I want to reinforce the conventional theme of isolation as the theme is main convention used in all films and trailers within zombie apocalyptic horror genre.   

Film regulations

Film regulations

 According to BBFC,  the age certificates are:

Age certificate U

The age certificate U stands for universal which the universal film should be appropriate for viewers aged four and over.  Universal films should not raise any significant concerns in regards to any discrimination, drugs, language, imitable behaviour, nudity, sex, threat or violence.

There will not be any bad inappropriate language  but some universal films may contain infrequent use of mild language such as words like "damn" and "hell".Universal films usually contain positive messages about, loyalty, friendship, honesty, particularly amongst children. The film normally has a happy ending and the overall tone of the film should be one of reassurance.

Age certificate PG

The age certificate PG stands for parental guidance which means that this film is suitable for general viewing, but there may be some scenes which may not be suitable for young children. A PG film should not unsettle a child aged eight and older. A PG film will not contain any themes which are inappropriate for children. PG works can explore challenging issues such as bullying, bereavement or racism. A PG film will may contain mild language, undetailed and infrequent sex references (which is unlikely), mild violence, there might be innocuous or passing references to illegal drugs, in addition, drug references may be permissible if there is a clear anti-drugs or an educational message that is likely to be understood by children eight years and older.

Age certificate 12

Films that are classified as a 12 contains material that is not suitable for any viewers that are under 12 years old.  Films that are classified as a 12 contains mild/moderate language, moderate sex references which may be briefly and discreetly portrayed, dangerous behaviour may be present but not in large detail to prevent it from being copied from children, there may be frequent sight of drugs. some horror films are classified as a 12 as it may contain moderate physical and psychological threat as long as the horror sequences are not too frequent or sustained as the overall tone is not disturbing.

Age certificate 15

Films that are classified as a 15 contains material that is not suitable for any viewers that are under 15 years old. Films that are classified as a 15 may contain strong violence, frequent strong language, portrayals of sexual activity, strong verbal references to sex, sexual nudity, brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence, discriminatory language or behaviour and drug taking.

Age certificate 18

Films that are classified as a 18 contains material that is not suitable for any viewers that are under the age of 18 years old. Films that are classified as a 18 may contain strong issues such as: very strong violence, frequent strong language or very strong language(may be aggressive) , strong portrayals of sexual activity, scenes of sexual violence, strong horror (may be sustained) , strong blood and gore, discriminatory language and behaviour, may also contain drug taking.

These age certificates are rules in which films made must comply with or otherwise they may be banned or be restricted to a limited audience. 

An example of my genre is the film Attack the Block which is an English mainstream horror film which the BBFC rated the age certificate as a 15, as it uses frequent strong language. "Under current BFC guidelines, where only infrequent strong language is permitted at 12A, the work was automatically therefore a 15 category within the first reel". The film contains strong violence, gore and sustained horror. The film also contains fireworks which was used as weapons and the BBFC "has intervened through cuts in works aimed at young children which features dangerous firework play. However, in this instance, given the work is clearly for older teens and young adults, it did not affect the 15 classification". The film also contains soft drug use as there was a discussion about theportrayal of drug use, drug taking and drug dealing within the film. The BBFC Guidelines at 15 state that 'drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse'. Overall the film passed as an age certificate of 15 as it contained strong language, violence, gore and soft drug use.

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/case-studies/attack-block 

The age certificates of 15 and 18 links in with my film as it will contain material that is not suitable for anyone under the specific age. My film will contain strong horror that may be sustained (which comes under the age certificate 15 and 18), strong blood and gore (which also comes under the age certificate 15 and 18), violence and also maintain some strong language which comes under the age certificate of 15.

So overall my film will likely come under the age certificate 15 as it will not contain all the features that come under the age certificate 18 such as: very strong violence, frequent strong language or very strong language(may be aggressive) , strong portrayals of sexual activity, scenes of sexual violence, and drug taking.

But does come under the age certificate 15 as it contains some of the features such as: violence, strong language and horror but does not contain: portrayals of sexual activity, strong verbal references to sex, sexual nudity, brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence, and drug taking. This film may come under the age certificate of 15 as it does not contain all the features of the age certificates 18 and the age certificate of 15 but does contain some.


For my theatrical trailer, I will aim to make it an age certificate 15 as I want most the trailer to appeal as much to the target audience as possible. I will achieve this by not including very strong language(may be aggressive) , strong portrayals of sexual activity, scenes of sexual violence, and drug taking but by including sustained horror , moderate violence and no strong language which will make this theatrical trailer suitable for all the target audience as i want the theatrical trailer to be as successful as possible. 

Shaun Of The Dead trailer analysis

Shaun of the dead trailer

Mise-en-scene- at the start of the trailer, it started as an informative announcement, static screens suggests isolation and no escapism (which are codes and conventions of horror) in which as TVs are used for escapism from day-to-day life and by the TV being static, it can suggest that there is no escape, metaphorically saying that people have no escape and that they are trapped and isolated.

For the micro-element sound, there was the use of the narrator, which was used to create a survival guide for the apocalypse which was supported by a montage of the main protagonists doing what is said by the narrator but not doing what they should do correctly, i.e. Simon Pegg using a swing ball pole, but hit the zombie with the wrong end (hitting the zombie with the tennis ball, slightly tapping the zombie’s head and causing no harm as a result. Another example could be when the narrator says “don’t attract attention” in which Nick Frost does the exact opposite in which when him and the other protagonists are surrounded by zombies he decides to answer his phone and talks to the person phoning him without a care in the world as if it was just a regular day.   

Also for sound there was the use contrapuntal sound which the music was did not reflect the crisis of the apocalypse therefore being used for comedic effect as it can represent the seriousness of the protagonists when confronting the current situation they are in.

For the micro-element Camera work, close-up shots of the protagonists face were used after each statement said by the narrator during the montage, thereby showing the protagonists’ expression which is done for the effect of humour for the audience i.e. when the protagonist Nick Frost answers his phone, when he should not the camera then shows a close-up of Shaun’s (Simon Pegg) facial expression of him being shocked.

For the micro-element editing, the use of a montage of what the narrator is saying , used to show a lot of things but in a short duration to give an audience an idea of what the film is about and also the use of a montage is perfect as trailers are shown for a  short period of time which the montage can show the main codes and conventions of the film and introduces the main characters of the film therefore as a result will make the audience want to see more as they will see what the synopsis of the film and the characters of the film.

I will include conventional theme of narration which was used within this theatrical trailer within my theatrical trailer as it guides the audience of the direction of the narrative and reinforces the proposed/negotiated emotion for the audience (Hall) as to what the director wants the audience to feel.  

I will not include conventions of humour as my genre for my theatrical trailer as it is a serious, apocalyptic zombie horror as i want the target audience to feel visceral pleasures (Altman) of fear, suspense, anticipation and adrenaline which if the conventions of humour being used within the theatrical trailer, it will distort these these emotions and pleasures for the audience. 

Film production and distribution companies of horror genre research

Film production and distribution companies of horror genre research

The types of production companies for horror films is independent and mainstream. Some examples of mainstream companies is Dimensional Films, Hammer, Lionsgate, Blumhouse Productions, Dark Castle Entertainment, Ghost House Pictures and Rogue Pictures.

The major horror film companies in the UK is Hammer Film Productions and Lionsgate. The main horror film companies in the US is Dimensional Films, Blumhouse Productions, Dark Castle Entertainment, Ghost House Pictures and Rogue Pictures.

Some major films that big companies have made are Scream, Scream 2, Scream 3, Scream 4, The Amityville Horror, 1408 (all from Dimensional Films). The Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula and The Mummy (all from Hammer). Saw and Saw 2 (both from Lionsgate). Paranormal Activity, Paranormal Activity 2, Paranormal Activity 3, Paranormal Activity 4, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, Insidious, Insidous 2, Insidious: Chapter 3,  Sinister, The Purge: Anarchy and Ouija (all from Blumhouse Productions). The Grudge 1 and The Grudge 2 (Both from Ghost House Pictures).




The independent Horror films that has been successful this year (2015) is The Witch which was successful which was made by the independent film institution A24 Films.

The company would make my film is most likely a mainstream film company which is Blumhouse Productions because due to their success from over the years of many horror films that is mentioned above, it gives me great confidence that this is the most likely film company would make my film as my Horror film is mainstream and conveys all the codes and conventions of horror films which has the same/similar codes and conventions as the horror films that Blumhouse Productions have made.