Research: My Chosen Genre

I have chosen to do the horror genre for my opening two minute sequence. I feel that the horror genre is easily identifiable to a niche audience in terms of both it's macro and micro features. For example using horror iconography like a knife is a short hand visual signifier.

The image here, for example is from Scream. Here the antagonist is easily situated within the horror genre because of the scary mask and use of weapon. The use a Dutch angle serves to heighten the sense of menace around the killer. The knife is also a part of the slasher sub genre which would further appeal to fans of this type of film.

The target audience is often teenagers who enjoy being scared by films like this. Often it can be seen as a badge of honour to watch a horror film and not be scared. Quite often the majority of this niche audience will be male. There are theories (see later post) that this is often down to the excessive use of violence or gore that boys seem to prefer. Part of my decision to pick the horror genre was that I have access to this group through my peers and will therefore have the chance to experiment with my ideas and research into the likes and wants of the target audience. To do this I am going to look at a couple of effective horror film openings and then conduct some primary and secondary research into why teenagers watch these types of films and what specifically they are looking for in an effective horror film opening.