Genre theory is a way to categorize films based on the conventions. Each genre of film is very distinct and has specific features that fit it into that genre. Genres are what help to separate films from each other. Below I have written what you would expect to see in each genre:
Horror:
- This genre is designed to scare and unsettle the audience
- Things to make the audience jump are common
- Blood and gore sometimes appears- depending on the sub genre, e.g Slasher
- Some are really far fetched and have gruesome monsters or zombies
- Others are closer to home and have things linked to fears that people may have such as the dark
- Death is often a very strong theme, as generally someone will die in every horror film, or someone has died
- Locations include abandoned and/or isolated places
- Ambient diegetic sounds such as footsteps or creaking doors
I have created a table with some typical horror film conventions listed to the left. Some of the conventions apply to sub genres such as slasher or psychological horror, which is why I chose the films I did, as for example, The Blair Witch Project is a psychological horror and The Collector is a slasher. I put ticks next to the conventions that each film has so that I can show that a horror film doesn't have to have all of the conventions to be a horror film. It's also showing that each horror film has different conventions, which I think is a good thing because sometimes certain horror films get a bit repetitive as you'll know what to expect and it won't be scary.
Action:
- Are usually very energetic
- Stunts and special effects such as explosions are in certain action films
- There's often use of weapons such as guns or swords
- There are sometimes chases either on foot or in vehicles
- Sometimes they're based on actual events such as natural disasters and war.
- In some films there is good vs evil
- Fighting of some sort often features in this genre- whether it be metal fights or physical
Western:
Comedy:
Sci-fi:
- These films often feature lots of use of guns or swords
- In early westerns transport is by horses
- In later westerns set in later times, transport is usually by early cars
- Locations are often dusty towns with wooden saloon doors on the buildings
- Sometimes it is cowboys and Indians, such as in the 1953 film "War Arrow"
Comedy:
- These films are created to make the audience laugh
- Events that occur in these films are often very stupid
- Most of the time situations are exaggerated for comical effect
- Something will usually have gone wrong and the characters try to resurrect it in a hilarious way
Sci-fi:
- These films are often very imaginative and unique
- These films occasionally feature alien like creatures and different far away planets or robots, like in the film "Alien" which features scary creatures and "Star Wars" that features robots
- They can be very futuristic and have lots of interesting technology and inventions
- They're often expressing the damaging effect that humanity is having on itself
Psychological horror genre
I have chosen to look further into the genre of psychological horror, as I have been looking at the conventions of this genre for another project, so I thought it would help me to look into it in further detail. I am also a big fan of horror films, particularly the psychological ones, as they tend to scare me the most.
Psychological horror films are always set in locations that the audience have easy access to, some examples are: houses, forests, hospitals, cabins and schools. These locations make for a creepy setting due to the audiences link to them. All of the audience will have a house, so they will be able to relate to the film. It will also scare them that the film is set in a location like this, as the horrible events in the film could easily happen to them. In the film "Insidious", the setting is in a very normal house somewhere in America. There's nothing particularly different about the house, but the film is terrifying as you can just imagine all these ghostly creatures in your own home trying to possess you. Another film set in a homely location like this is "Orphan", this film is set in a big beautiful modern house in Canada. This setting isn't stereotypical as the house is so big and modern, however the overall film is still quite scary and effective for its genre.
Psychological horror films are always set in locations that the audience have easy access to, some examples are: houses, forests, hospitals, cabins and schools. These locations make for a creepy setting due to the audiences link to them. All of the audience will have a house, so they will be able to relate to the film. It will also scare them that the film is set in a location like this, as the horrible events in the film could easily happen to them. In the film "Insidious", the setting is in a very normal house somewhere in America. There's nothing particularly different about the house, but the film is terrifying as you can just imagine all these ghostly creatures in your own home trying to possess you. Another film set in a homely location like this is "Orphan", this film is set in a big beautiful modern house in Canada. This setting isn't stereotypical as the house is so big and modern, however the overall film is still quite scary and effective for its genre.
Something else that is common in psychological horrors are their muted colour palettes. This makes things harder to see and everything sort of blends together which helps to make jump scares more effective. It also makes the film feel very unnatural and unsettling as something is not quite right. They're also quite dark which makes shadows sharper and stand out more which again adds to the creepiness of the film. These types of films tend to have a specific colour cast over the film. So on the left is a screenshot from "Insidious" and you can see that its a very cool greenish colour, and then on the right is a screenshot from orphan and you can again see that it's a very cool blueish colour. Psychological horror films don't usually have warm hues, as this tends to insinuate feelings of safety and happiness which is something you really don't want in a horror film.
What separates psychological horrors from your typical slasher horror are the "killers". In a slasher horror, the "killers" are generally masked and wielding some kind of horrible weapon, like Leatherface in Texas Chainsaw Massacre for example. In psychological horrors however, the killer tends to be more unsuspecting and weapons are scarce, as the horror comes from within the "killers" mind and abilities. Child "killers" are also extremely common on this genre as they're so innocent. The reason for me writing killer in quotation marks is because often they don't kill people, but cause horrible things to happen around them or cause harm to people.
In the film "Insidious", the "killer" is a young boy named Dalton who can travel into the dark depths of the spirit world while he sleeps. One night he travels too far and he becomes spiritually detached from his body, so his body becomes an empty vessel for evil spirits. When these evil spirits are attempting to posses Dalton's body, they cause terrifying things to happen around the families home, such as doors opening on their own, apparitions of some of the spirits and horrible noises. The idea of something being able to possess you while you sleep is extremely unnerving due to how vulnerable and unaware you are whilst you sleep. This concept alone fits this film firmly into the psychological horror genre as the audience could easily imagine it happening to them.
In the film "Orphan" the killer is also a child. Esther is nine years old and was adopted by a family from a orphanage near by. The orphanage don't know very much about Esther other than the fact that she doesn't make friends/get along very well with other children her age. Regardless of this the family adopt her- which is something they later go on to regret when she tries to seduce the farther, then fails and goes on to try and murder the entire family. What makes this character so creepy is not only her murderous actions, but her unusual appearance. She has black hair and always appears to be watching everything closely around her to see how she can cause trouble. At the beginning of the film, she seems quite sweet as she wants her new stepmother to teach her how to play the piano and such. However she then turns on her and get's to her mother psychologically by reading her journal and cutting up the memorial of her still born child- causing the mother to become hysterical- much to the pleasure of Esther.
Below are some clips from Insidious and Orphan. The clip from "Insidious" is showing how the evil spirits are haunting the house. The clip from "Orphan" is showing the scene where Esther has destroyed the memorial for her mother's still born child.
What separates psychological horrors from your typical slasher horror are the "killers". In a slasher horror, the "killers" are generally masked and wielding some kind of horrible weapon, like Leatherface in Texas Chainsaw Massacre for example. In psychological horrors however, the killer tends to be more unsuspecting and weapons are scarce, as the horror comes from within the "killers" mind and abilities. Child "killers" are also extremely common on this genre as they're so innocent. The reason for me writing killer in quotation marks is because often they don't kill people, but cause horrible things to happen around them or cause harm to people.
In the film "Insidious", the "killer" is a young boy named Dalton who can travel into the dark depths of the spirit world while he sleeps. One night he travels too far and he becomes spiritually detached from his body, so his body becomes an empty vessel for evil spirits. When these evil spirits are attempting to posses Dalton's body, they cause terrifying things to happen around the families home, such as doors opening on their own, apparitions of some of the spirits and horrible noises. The idea of something being able to possess you while you sleep is extremely unnerving due to how vulnerable and unaware you are whilst you sleep. This concept alone fits this film firmly into the psychological horror genre as the audience could easily imagine it happening to them.
In the film "Orphan" the killer is also a child. Esther is nine years old and was adopted by a family from a orphanage near by. The orphanage don't know very much about Esther other than the fact that she doesn't make friends/get along very well with other children her age. Regardless of this the family adopt her- which is something they later go on to regret when she tries to seduce the farther, then fails and goes on to try and murder the entire family. What makes this character so creepy is not only her murderous actions, but her unusual appearance. She has black hair and always appears to be watching everything closely around her to see how she can cause trouble. At the beginning of the film, she seems quite sweet as she wants her new stepmother to teach her how to play the piano and such. However she then turns on her and get's to her mother psychologically by reading her journal and cutting up the memorial of her still born child- causing the mother to become hysterical- much to the pleasure of Esther.
Below are some clips from Insidious and Orphan. The clip from "Insidious" is showing how the evil spirits are haunting the house. The clip from "Orphan" is showing the scene where Esther has destroyed the memorial for her mother's still born child.
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Another convention of psychological horror films are the jump scares. These jumpy moments are essential, as they scare the audience and often make them scream. When I went to see Insidious at the cinema, I remember during the jump scares whole rows of seats would lurch when everyone jumped, and people screamed. Jump scares need to have a build up in order for them to be effective. Without the right build up, the jump scare will be ineffective. It also needs to be unexpected. Often with psychological horrors, you'll be able to tell when a jump scare his coming- which is not always a bad thing. As I have seen "Orphan" and "Insidious" many times now, I won't be able to recall accurately how their jump scares scared me, as it has been years since I first saw them. However, during Insidious, there is one particular scene that still manages to make me jump even though I have seen it countless times: (feel free to comment if this made you jump)
To conclude, a films genre defines the film. For the film to be successful in it's genre it needs to follow the conventions of its genre. This is why there are good horror films and bad horror films, as some of them tend to be too predictable and it takes away the scariness. Or sometimes they'll be too bright and cheerful and the dark horror element will be lost. I always think its a shame when a horror film with a good scary concept fails at scaring you. I watched a film called "Catacombs" which sounded very scary as there are lots of myths and such associated with the Catacomb's in Paris, however they put a plot twist at the end that the whole film was a set up, which made it so much less scary.
Comparison of genre theory to auteur theory
Auteur theory and genre theory have a few similarities in that certain features of a film make it to be the thing that it is. With genre theory, it is individual conventions that make up the genre, whereas with auteur theory it's lots of different features. Some of the conventions of genre are similar to the features of auteur theory, so for example, some auteur films will have certain colour palettes, just how certain genres such as horror films stick to certain colour palettes.
What sets them apart is that genre films are created by lots of different producers and directors who usually all stick to the conventions of their genres. Auteur films are created by the same director, the films may also be different genres, however they will all have distinct features that link them to their director. Auteur films will have lots of the same features such as the same lead actors, and sometimes the same colour palette.
You could argue that some genre films are the same, such as most horror films using the same colour palette, similar settings and similar narratives. However most of them have their own individual flare depending on who directed them, where as with auteur films, there will be a set of films, and even if they are different genres you can clearly link them.
To conclude, in my own opinion, I think that genre theory and auteur theory are more different than the same. With genre films, generally you can tell exactly what genre they are based on conventions that link to that genre. Auteur on the other hand may fit into a certain genre, but when you compare it with the director's other films, you can see that it is of the same style as their other films. You don't get that kind of style with genre films, yes they fit into a category and can be recognised easily, but they don't have a distinct style.
What sets them apart is that genre films are created by lots of different producers and directors who usually all stick to the conventions of their genres. Auteur films are created by the same director, the films may also be different genres, however they will all have distinct features that link them to their director. Auteur films will have lots of the same features such as the same lead actors, and sometimes the same colour palette.
You could argue that some genre films are the same, such as most horror films using the same colour palette, similar settings and similar narratives. However most of them have their own individual flare depending on who directed them, where as with auteur films, there will be a set of films, and even if they are different genres you can clearly link them.
To conclude, in my own opinion, I think that genre theory and auteur theory are more different than the same. With genre films, generally you can tell exactly what genre they are based on conventions that link to that genre. Auteur on the other hand may fit into a certain genre, but when you compare it with the director's other films, you can see that it is of the same style as their other films. You don't get that kind of style with genre films, yes they fit into a category and can be recognised easily, but they don't have a distinct style.
Sources:
http://www.main-vision.com/richard/genre.shtml
http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1148204/locations
http://www.main-vision.com/richard/genre.shtml
http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1148204/locations