Research and Planning: Film Genres.

Films are given genres so people have an idea/expectation of what the story plot may contain. Genres also help categorise films so it easier to find a specific type of film that you want to watch.

Common Genres:
- Horror
-Romance
- Comedy
- Thriller
- Fantasy
- Documentary
- Teen
- Western
-War
-Action/Adventure
-Crime
- Sci-fi
Some films can consist of more than just one genre, for example a Rom-com(a combination of romance and comedy). An example of a rom com is 'Valentine's Day'.

Each different genre has it's conventions.
For example, the stereotypical conventions in a horror movie are :
- The setting is dull (reflects negativity)
- Story plots can involve hauntings and demonic possession presented in the film 'The Conjuring'. Story plots can also involve mindless killing in films such as 'Saw'.
- In a horror genre movie, you would expect the film to be frightening, unexpected, creepy, mysterious and jumpy perhaps.
- In horror movies you would always expect there to be a specific victim or group of victims that are usually targeted on by evil character(s) such as demons or monsters for example.
- In terms of film certification, horror movies are generally classified as 15 or 18 because the content is too inappropriate and overwhelming for younger audiences.
- In terms of camera shots and editing, the shots are short and jumpy to create a dramatic effect and  suspension.
- Music is usually dramatic and creepy


This image is from the horror film 'The Conjuring'. This image shows the setting of the film, as we can see it is very mysterious and threatening which are typical conventions of a horror genre movie.

Looking in to film genres has made me think about what genre I would like my own film opening to be. Out of all genres that I have researched, horror and crime appealed to me the most and hopefully I can apply the conventions of these genres in to my film opening once I have planned everything.