Horror, a Unique Genre

The horror genre is defined as "a genre of fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten or scare. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which are in the realm of speculative fiction" according to Google. It is usually targeted at younger audiences, generally of the age 15-25. These films and other pieces tend to utilize long, drawn-out scenes to increase the suspense of the consumer. In the movie and TV industry, they can use many different aspects, but some of the most common techniques are darker shots, weird angles, creepy music, wide shots, and sudden stings. While not all films utilize these techniques, many do as most of them add to the creepy nature of the genre. Many people enjoy this genre due to the adrenaline and thrill they get from the pieces. The viewers can get a rush that can lead them addicted to the genre. Due to its unique and exciting nature, horror has become one of, if not the most popular genre out there whether it be from Mike Flanagan's The Shining or Steven Spielberg's Jaws, the horror genre is beloved by many.

The Shining by Mike Flanagan

Horror Content

The horror genre is vast in characteristics, so therefore it is reasonable to assume that there are millions of different pieces of content used in millions of different films. One of the most common pieces of content used, is suspense. Throughout all of the horror films on the planet, you can find at least one moment of suspense in each. Suspense is used to build up the fear in the viewers to increase the thrill of the moment. Many films capitalize on suspense and use it many times throughout their pieces.

The Silence of the Lambs heavily uses suspense in the piece

Another piece of content commonly used in horror films is jump scares. These are quick moments of fear that often follow up long moments of suspense and break them. It normally is used by showing something quick on the screen or something sudden happening in the movie. Many pieces of visual media capitalize on this like films, tv shows, and video games. One example of this, is the series of video games called Five Nights at Freddy's. This game places the player as a security guard protecting themselves from haunted animatronics. If anything goes wrong in the game, the player loses by getting jump scared by one of said animatronics.

GIF of Five Nights at Freddy's jumpscare

Production Techniques

Horror tends to consist of many different aspects. The first of which is the common use of dark shots. Darker shots are used to invoke a sense of fear and suspense in the reader, but also a sense of mystery. If horror films used only highly saturated shots, than a lot less people would be afraid as higher lighting is often used for holyer pieces. Lighter shots also drain the mystery and suspense from the piece which can lead to less fear in the viewers taking away from the adreniline rush of thrill that the viewer is having.

Shot from It (2017) shows the use of a darker shot.

Another important aspect of the horror film-making process is the choice or creation of music. Music is a very powerful tool for filmmakers, as it can allow them to control the viewer's emotions. If upbeat and energetic music is used, then the viewers will probably be feeling the same way. If a slow and low-energy song is used, then the viewer may feel sad. Overall, music is a very powerful tool for all filmmakers, but horror filmmakers especially. In a scene where something big is about to happen, the filmmaker can use slow music to enhance the suspension, and if the antagonist is killing or hurting someone, the filmmaker can use quick and nerve-racking music to create more of a rush in the viewer.

The movie Psycho is well known for its creepy soundtrack

Marketing

Many films in the horror industry tend to cater their pieces to young adults from the ages of 15-30. This is primarily due to the fact that teens and young adults tend to be the audiences that enjoy fear and the rush of thrill that horror movies provide. Horror films tend to mass market their films by putting adds all over to enable more people to recognize and acknowledge it leading to a larger audience watching the piece when it comes to theatures.

Analysis of Horror Films

The first film I'm going to analyze is the film mentioned earlier, Jaws. This piece was the film that led to Steven Spielberg's big break in the film industry. Released in 1975, many viewers were absolutely terrified of this piece. This piece was so scary for its time that the amount of people that went to the beach in the summer of 1975 decreased by a significant amount. This movie highlights a large shark found on the coast of a beach, and throughout the film, many people try to hunt it down, most of which die in the process. Spielberg was a revolutionary as he was one of the first filmmakers to use an animatronic that large to get the shots he wanted. Due to the sheer size of the animatronic, it malfunctioned many times, but Spielberg persevered because he wanted the shark to look as lifelike as possible to build on the fear in the viewers. He utilized the dark scenes mentioned earlier to create a large sense of suspense and fear in the viewers throughout the piece, and overall, he revolutionized the film industry with this piece.

The next film I'll analyze is the 2016 movie, Split directed by M. Night Shyamalan. This movie focuses on the story of a man with multiple personality disorder, who kidnaps three girls. Throughout the film we watch how his many personalities interact with one another as if they are different characters. This builds on the creepy factor of the piece. In the film, three personalities take over the host body and attempt to torture, and hurt the three kidnapped girls. As the movie progresses we watch the girls attempt to escape several times, learn more about each of the personality, and watch the story slowly unfold. The director utilized many suspenseful moments throughout the piece to build on the fear of the viewer. He also utilized the psychotic seaming nature of multiple personality disorder to create an uneasy feeling in the viewer. Overall, Shyamalan does an excellent job of manipulating the disease to scare the viewers.