What is HORROR!

Movie: Scream/ Chainsaw Massacre/ Halloween

TERRIFIER 2, David Howard Thornton, 2022.

Movie: Terrifier

The target audience are usually teenagers or in the younger generation and the reason for this is that young adults and teenagers enjoy thrills. These thrills are more likely to excite a younger audience rather than an older one becuase its a unique and unusual perspectives to confuse and frighten the viewer. The point of horror thrills is for the audience to feel nervous and tense by the dark, spooky, unsettling feeling when watching it. The visual persepctivr of the film,s arent the only reason why they're so unpleasing but the audience is frightened by the use of sound, such as a high-pitched key. In a horror film, suspense contributes to the creation of terror. The movie would not be as moving without suspense. The utilization of suspense contributes to creating the excitement and anxiety that moviegoers seek out in these productions. The audience is on the edge of their seats as a result of the tension, waiting for the big scare or moment. Another common element in many horror films is the jump scare. This increases the dread while simultaneously keeping the audience engaged throughout the entire movie.

2,063 Scared Audience Stock Photos, Pictures & Royalty-Free Images - iStock

Institutional Conventions used in opening scenes

Openings are very common and important in horror movies The movie's opening scene is supposed to draw the viewer in and keep them watching. It's to provide indications about the story and give you a sense of what the movie will be like.

The very first frame features Film Institutions. identifies the producers of the movie, usually two institutions to divide the cost. Institutional logos may occasionally be used to fit a movie's theme and to include references to the title and story.

Ex: Warner Bros Logo

Setting shots are utilized to inform the spectator of the time and place. We are introduced to important figures and locations, including the forests from The Shining. Themes are introduced through speech, and references to the main plot are done without giving away too much. The film's most significant contributors are listed in the opening credits. This group consists of the people who appear most frequently on screen: directors, cameramen, authors, and major actors. To display the name of the movie, the film's title is displayed on the screen. This will have to relate to the viewers that will consider when imagining the plot. The font and color of the film title and credits relate to the genre and theme of the movie.

Ex: The opening scene from the Shining

The Sounds: One of the most important aspects of making the audience feel truly uneasy while watching is the use of sound effects in scary music. It's crucial to have high-quality sound effects since fake cries or creaky door effects make it difficult to create tension and actually make the viewers jump. Music is a strong convention used in opening credits. Music intrigues people and interests the audience to keep watching. It also works well to build tension or create a mood to go with the start of the film. Commonly in horror films music of non-diegetic sound is used to start to unease its audience. The pace is built and credits and titles are presented in time with the music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ivn2erlFwoQ

Here are some examples of how sound effects really bring life to the film and how it connects with the audience by driving suspense and a feeling only the sound can create. Imagine a horror film with no music or sound effects... it wouldn't be as good right? That's why having sound is super important in the horror industry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg3E8NhyJ74

Opening scene to Halloween(1978)

This is a perfect example of how convictions connect with the audience. this is probably one of the most chilling movie openings in cinema history. While we don’t know his family’s background that well, they didn’t seem to be the type of people that would have treated Michael badly, sending him down this path, and at the beginning of this scene when Judith says “Michael is around here someplace” it just shows that it was a casual night, and everything seemed fine until Michael turns into this killer, and when he grabs the knife from the kitchen drawer, he moved like he knew exactly what he was going to do like he had planned it for a while, even if he most likely didn’t plan it, and he was just going with the moment. The fact that we seem to have a normal family here, and they were caught off guard when Michael kills his sister, also suggested that he was a normal kid before, and that really makes the mystery of Michael Myers even more frightening, and interesting.