Genre

What is a genre?
Genre is a way of categorising a particular media text according to its content and style.
There are Hybrid and Sub genres

Hybrid Genres:	Rom Com (Bridget Jones)	Action Thriller (Taken)	Horror Thriller (Sweeny Todd)	Action Comedy (Knight and Day)
Sub Genres:	Drama- Soaps (Eastenders)	Horror- Slasher (Scream)	Drama- Coming of age (Juno)	Supernatural (Twilight)

Our chosen Genre - Horror - Sub genre - PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR.
My inspiration for Horror comes from the fact Horror is a genre people are myseterious about, the curiosity of being terrified engages many people including myself. Psychologically horrors are gripping and people like to divert from reality to see what a dangerous thrilling world could be like. It can prevoke many emotions and stay in peoples mind by them thinking what will happen after this? They empathise with the characters in the situations and violently shout at the screen 'Hes behind you!'.
Codes and Conventions
Codes are system of signs which create meaning. They can be divided into two categories
Technical codes are all the ways in which equipment is used to tell the story in a media text for example camera work in a film.
Symbolic codes show what is beneath what you see. e.g. how the character acts and his/hers actions determine their feelings.
Conventions are the generally accepted ways of doing something
There are general convetions in any medium such as the use of inteviewee quotes in a print article but convetions are also genre specific.

Conventions of the Horror genre
Stranded location - The characters are in a location where no one can help them e.g. in a wood. When the evil comes callin'. You know what they say about space. (Alien) The setting tends to be dark and sometimes is set where the character has a dark past.
Technical conventions
High and low angles - dominance and innocence
Point of view shots - see it through the creatures eye
Handheld - feel or terror and realism (Paranormal activity)
Extreme close up for victims
Ambient diegetic sound - footsteps and heartbeats
Fear of death
Typical characters - Usually a form of a Hero or Protagonist in the piece which must embark on a form of mission to kill/solve the problem at hand. Traditionally this role is taken by the male yet from time to time it can be taken on by the female.
other typical characters include the villian and creature itself.
Age and Character - Children are often portrayed as sinsiter in horror movies, they interact with the demon or even cause the event to happen. E.g the Ring and Let the right one in. In this way they are juxtaposed as normally they are represented as innocent.
Type of monster -Psychopath, Ghost, zombie, werewolf.
Props - E.g. Knife, chainsaw, razors (Sweeney Todd)
In some horror films there are connections with the Supernaural world e.g. Oujia boards to connect with the Spirits, or objects to awake the dead e.g. The Mummy.
Religion and Horror movies - Religion is nearly always intercepted in Horror films and props are a big hint to give religion away - E.g. Crucifix or Bible in an exorcism.
Fear of monsters help the audience to relate to the characters with dealing with them. The monsters that are Human may be psychopaths or even serial killers who have mental health problems. The horror movies can convey them as bad which may be an issue to consider.
Typical Themes
Revenge
Childhood issues
Depression
Science gone wrong
Religion
Insanity