The Horror GenreDefinition - horror;

An intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust. A thing causing such a feeling.

- horror film genre;‘Horror films are designed to frighten and to invoke our hidden worst fears,

often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience. Horror films feature a wide range of styles, from the earliest silent Nosferatu classic, to today's CGI monsters and deranged humans. There are many sub-genres of horror: slasher, teen terror,

serial killers, satanic, Dracula, Frankenstein, etc.’http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html

Famous Horror Film Directors

Alfred Hitchcock;

- Psycho 1960- The Birds 1963

The above films are possibly two of the most famous horror films, and gave Hitchcock his prestigious name within horror film making.

Psycho created many conventions of horror film, such as in the shower murder scene.

Wes Craven;

- The Hills Have Eyes 1977- A Nightmare On Elm Street

1984- The People Under The Stairs 1991- Scream 1996- The Last House on the Left 2009

Craven is most well known for his Scream series of films, they revolutionised the horror genre in many ways, highlighting the humour in many conventions of horror. He is most successful with his thriller horrors.

John Carpenter

- Halloween 1978- The Fog 1980- The Thing 1982- The Silence of the Hams 1993- The Ward 2010

The list of horror films directed, as well as produced and written, by Carpenter goes on. He is one of the most consistent and successful horror film genre directors.

Real Media Horror ExamplesSome of the most famous, successful or well- known horror films include; They all follow horror conventions

although much of their sub-genre, filming style, script and storyline are all incredibly different. The most important factors to consider for making a Horror/and it’s trailer is the intended audience and the horror conventions it follows or alternatively breaks. As no matter how different the film and it’s trailer will be it’s success depends largely on these things. If not done properly the trailer will not be effective.

Before deciding on my final trailer sub genre and plot I must therefore look into the Horror conventions, and the many extremely successful examples of them.

Teaser TrailerThere are many different style’s of movie trailer, and Horror has its own personal style from the rest, within this style there are always new and different techniques being used to make a film stand out,;- The ‘Cloverfield’ trailer is presented as if filmed all on a handheld cam-corder with it’s

shaky presentation, similar to the style of ‘The Blair Witch Project’ one of the first films to use this film style , making the film extremely successful not only for bringing new conventions to horror movie, but also for the impact the filming style had on the storyline- making the film more believable with many believing when it was released that it was real footage increasing the films terror levels.

- Most Horror trailers are comprised of lots and lots of fast shots of action, with a voice over! Showing lots of scenes from the film, but usually not in any chronological order therefore not giving any of the storyline away.

- All trailer, with any film, have a few very important shots of the movie title, film producer, certification and the company logo, such as a the film 4 one. As well as important information such as actors names etc.

- ‘The Shining’ broke conventions with it’s horror trailer, focusing on one shot- of an elevator- the camera remained still throughout with all the information moving across the screen, and then just at the end gradually building impact blood starts to leak from the elevator, shocking the audience but not with the usual fast impact changing shots like most trailers.

Real Media ExamplesThe link below is a website, listing what they believe to be the best 10 horror film trailers, and the reasons for this;http://www.screenjunkies.com/movies/genres-movies/horror-films/10-best-horror-movie-trailers/

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1476002073/ ; Video URL for ‘The Shining’ 1980

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi78774553/ ; Video URL for ‘Cloverfield’

Real Media Examples Cont..http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1135609113/ ; Video URL for Paranormal Activity

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi330039577/ ; Video URL for Halloween 1978

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi128385305/ ; Video URL for Final Destination 2000

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1768686105/ ; Video URL for The Nightmare on Elm Street (the remake of the original)