Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

We have now uploaded our movie to Youtube to allow for some quick feedback and also to see whether it has successfully appealed to our target audience.  Our video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RtH0oiBerk

The Youtube annotations highlight the conventions of the genre and explain the characters, plot and setting.  By sticking to these forms and conventions of popular films of the genre; we have hopefully appealed to audiences that enjoy horror movies, especially those mentioned to be most influential.



The characters in our movie (teenagers) are suited to audiences of similar ages as they will relate to them.  The conventions we followed have resulted in our movie fitting the horror genre very well which has drawn attention from audiences fond of the thrills of a good horror movie.  Our soundtrack is arguably our strongest device and is best appreciated with good sound-system. For these reasons I think our movie would make a very good 'date movie' (mainly teenagers) for cinemas and even home cinemas.

After having our sequence on the YouTube for 2 days, these demographics show that it is very popular with male audiences and of ages 18 - 24, successfully reaching our target audience.

Evaluation question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions?

Conventions that our product follows and where they were sourced:

• Ominous soundtrack - Halloween/The Thing (John Carpenter)
• The titles - The Thing (John Carpenter)
• The enigma - Jaws (Steven Spielberg)
• The antagonist - Halloween
• The Setting - Eden Lake (James Watkins)
• The 'Final girl' - Halloween

The Soundtrack

The soundtrack we created for the sequence was very much inspired by John Carpenter's work; simplistic and repetitive.  For this we used GarageBand's on-screen keyboard feature to compose a grand piano score inspired by a soundtrack of Halloween. This was accompanied by a very deep 'throb' soundeffect similar to The Thing's opening sequence.  This made for a ominous, disturbing theme which indicates to the audience that something is about to happen; a popular device of horror movies to build suspense and tension.  Below are the soundtracks mentioned above in descending order: Halloween and The Thing.

The Titles

The titles were designed to be very plain; white on black, to conform to the conventions of a horror film; examplified in the opening of The Thing shown above.  The titles needed to be in capitals, fade-in and fade-out smoothly and the order of appearance was based on those of The Thing and Jaws.  The opening sequenceto Jaws can be found here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8SnZmUjhAA (embedding disabled)

The Enigma

The enigma we decided was going to be 'who is the man in the forest?' But after getting some early feedback from audiences the most common question was actually 'what happened to the couple?'.  By choosing to cut the murder scene from the sequence we have unintentionally altered the enigma, but an enigma nonetheless.  This has therefore challenged the form of the enigma as the fate of the characters' are of greater importance to the audience than the motives of the killer.

The Antagonist

The 'killer' we designed was based on Michael Myres of Halloween.  As you can see below the similarities are quite remarkable.

• Costume: plain; black/grey
• Props: A white mask - to hide his identity
• Weapon of choice: a kitchen knife - convention of the slasher sub-genre

The noteale differences between the two are obvious age/height; our actor was younger and shorter than Michael Myres; played by Tony Moran.  The mask we used was semi-transparent, had blackened eyes and drops of blood instead of Michael's plain white, full face mask - this was because we didn't want him to be mistaken as a copy-cat killer of Michael; we wanted something slightly original.

The Setting


The setting we chose was a secluded country park with a lake.  This was inspired by the setting of Eden Lake as well as one scene from Zodiac.  The lake is used as a point of interest for the couple and is associated with relaxed, calm and romantic emotions making the nature of the murder scene more dramatic and shocking.  A comparison between these examples and our own setting is that it had snowed the night before our shoot, giving our sequence a unique look.  Below is a shot from our sequence (top) and from Eden Lake (below) showing the similarities and differences of the settings.

The Final Girl

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_girl

The final girl is a trope in thriller and horror films (particularly slasher films) that specifically refers to the last woman or girl alive to confront the killer, ostensibly the one left to tell the story. The final girl has been observed in dozens of films, including Halloween, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, Final Destination, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and its remake, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Hellraiser, Alien, The Strangers, The Ring, The Grudge, and Terror Train. The term was coined by Carol J. Clover in her 1992 book Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film. Clover suggests that in these films, the viewer begins by sharing the perspective of the killer, but experiences a shift in identification to the final girl partway through the film.


A common plotline in many horror films, particularly prior to the 1990s, is one in which a series of victims is killed one by one by a killer amid increasing terror, culminating in a climax in which the last surviving member of the group, a girl or woman, either vanquishes the killer or gets away. According to Clover, the final girl in many of these works shares common characteristics: she is typically sexually unavailable or virginal, avoiding the vices of the victims (sex, illegal drug use, hedonistic lifestyle, etc.). She sometimes has a unisex name (e.g., Teddy, Billie, Georgie, Sidney). Occasionally the final girl will have a shared history with the killer. For example, in Halloween II, Michael Myers is revealed to be the brother of Laurie Strode and in Scream 3 the killer is revealed to be Roman Bridger, half-brother of sole survivor Sidney Prescott. The final girl is the "investigating consciousness" of the film, moving the narrative forward and as such, she exhibits intelligence, curiosity, and vigilance.


Studying the above, it is clear that the female character in our sequence is suitable to be the final girl for the whole film; to face the antagonist in the climax.  Below is a screen-grab of our intended 'final girl' (above) and a shot of Jamie Lee Curtis becoming the final girl of Halloween (below).  These images show that the emotional development of the character would alter the audiences interpretation of them.  Jamie's character Laurie Strode, would likely be used as a mould for our potential final girl.

Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The characters in the sequence were designed to encourage a wide range of audiences to associate with them, not a specific stereotype or social group.  The costume for both characters was designed to look very casual and quite fashionable; note the snoods which are popular amongst teenagers at the moment.  A comparison for my couple is observed in Eden Lake (2008) and Zodiac (2007).  Below are the couples mentioned in descending order: Zodiac, Fear and Eden Lake.

You'll notice how all three couples are quite intimate in these scenes as for the audiences to recognise them as a loving couple.  The killer becomes threatening when those in danger are observed as innocent people.  This makes the crisis even more effective and poignant for audiences who sympathise with the characters affected.  No props were used for these characters and only a small amount of make-up was used for the female character, no more than the actress would usually wear as to give her credibility.

Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Below is a presentation I created using Prezi online zoom editing software to illustrate our potential target audience and what other products might be of their interrest.

Target Audience on Prezi

Question 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?

(Left) our production logo
(Right) proposed suitable distributor

Sourced from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StudioCanal_UK

StudioCanal UK (formerly Optimum Releasing/Home Entertainment/Classics) is a film distributor company working in the UK andIreland. The company releases many films, including foreign language films, anime releases such as Studio Ghibli's films and independent British, Irish and American films in the UK and sometimes Ireland.

Optimum was acquired by StudioCanal, a subsidiary of Vivendi SA, in 2006. Since StudioCanal bought Optimum, the French company distribute their large back catalogue of classic British films (many from the Cannon and EMI catalogues) through Optimum releasing under the strand 'Optimum Classic'.

Optimum Releasing (also known as StudioCanal UK) are an ideal distributor for our film.  They have recently distributed numerous low-budget, British horror movies such as:

• The Awakening (2011)
• Attack the Block (2011)
• Kill List (2011)
• The Silent House (2010)

What does the distributor actually do?

Helpful information on film distribution: http://www.skillset.org/film/jobs/distribution/article_4958_1.asp

Film distribution involves launching and sustaining films in the marketplace.  Because the film business is product driven, Film Distributors must connect each film they release with the widest possible audience.  As every new title is distinctive and different, Distributors must be strategic and knowledgeable about promotion and publicity in order to entice audiences to see their films, utilising successful film release plans, created in collaboration with film production and/or studio company personnel, marketing teams, publicity departments and exhibitors (cinema operators).

Some film distribution companies are affiliated with Hollywood studios, and release studio products in tandem worldwide.  Unaffiliated film Distributors (Independents) primarily handle films financed outside the Hollywood system, which are usually country specific, i.e. they oversee films only in their home country.  Regardless of affiliation, all Distributors are allowed to compete for films with available rights in such areas as theatrical, television, satellite, DVD, etc. 

Ideally, a film's distribution plan is taken into consideration during the scripting stage.  The more Distributors know about a production, the more informed are their choices when deciding how to publicise the film, and about its marketing campaign, release strategy, promotional tie-ins, etc.  However, in the independent sector, Distributors often become involved only after films premiere at film markets or festivals such as Sundance, Cannes or the American Film Market.   Film Sales Agents represent such films when they are seeking distribution, and broker deals between filmmakers and Distributors.

In general, the more money Film Distributors spend on a release, the more interest is generated, which should also heighten what every Distributor wants from the public - publicity by word of mouth.  Distributors position films, making the decisions when and where to release a new film, this is decided through a combination of market knowledge, experience and judgment to gauge the target audience for each film.   Roughly 350 feature films are launched each year in the UK, and most don't make any money during their theatrical runs.   P&A (prints and advertising) represent the largest expenditure items for Distributors, often amounting to the equivalent of between a third and half of the film's original production budget.  Risks are high.  A film's opening weekend revenue often brings in as much as 25-30% of its entire box office earnings, and is vitally important to its long-term fiscal profitability and sustainability.   

The Film Distributor's Association (FDA) is the trade body that represents UK Theatrical Film Distributors.  It seeks to promote cinema going in preference to other leisure activities.  It is also involved with such important issues as anti-piracy laws, stopping the production and sale of counterfeit DVDs, and planning for the future when digital projection replaces 35mm film.

Eden Lake (2008, James Watkins) has some notable similarities to our film (a British horror with a similar protagonist in a similar setting) and was distributed by Optimum Realsing.  The movie was shown at 184 screen in the UK and made £192,000 on it's opening weekend.  I think would be a realistic target for our film.  Below is an example poster I made to promote our film (left) with influences from the Eden Lake Poster (above) and from the horror classic The Thing Poster (1982, John Carpenter) (right).

 

Question 6

I have answered this question on a PowerPoint Presentation, uploaded it to Scripd and then embedded it to this blog -incorrectly titled Question 4.Question 4

Above is a screen grab taken during the creation of our soundtrack on the program GarageBand. Below is a screen grab of our final edit of our opening sequence. The bottom section is the 'Timeline' and the green bars are the audio tracks used in the sequence.

Question 7

Preliminary Task

The 2nd shot in our preliminary task technically breaks 180 degree rule, but the match-on-action edit makes it unnoticeable. We should have kept the camera on the same side of our actor, unless shown crossing the 180 degree line in the edit. Below is a video I found on YouTube which helps explain the 180 degree rule. Despite this minor error, the task was very successful and taught me the basics of production and editing.



Opening Sequence

Once I had logged the footage onto the computer I realised we had some serious problems with the footage:

• Our footage had no audio
• Some shots were not level
• We needed a reaction shot from a character
• We broke 180 degree rule (again)

We were advised to re-shoot the film but because of prior commitments we were forced to make do with what we had.  

No Audio

To solve the issue of having no audio I returned to the location with a camera and recorded a wild track.  Doing this gave me more control over what sounds we have during each scene; giving me the opportunity to avoid unwanted sounds e.g. aeroplanes, dogs barking and also allowed me time ambient sounds that would subtly help the dramatic structure of the film e.g. ducks, birds.

To accompany the wild track, I wanted to add some folly sounds to give the diegesis credibility.  For this, I used a bag of cornflower to imitate the sound of footsteps on snow.  It proved very hard time the audio with the images but after getting some feedback apparently it is fine.  After adding the soundtrack, we have 6 layers of sound during the majority of the sequence which has taught me a lot about audio construction in films and for that I am grateful we made the error in the first place.

Wonky shots

The 'wonky' shots in the sequence were corrected during the edit by altering the radius of the frame.  Working out how to do this lead me to discover other modifications that can be made such as 'zoom' which came in handy for the ambiguous shot of the killer which I felt should have been shot at a medium shot instead of a long shot.

Reaction Shot

To get the reaction shot I had to contact the actor and schedule a quick shoot with her wearing the same costume as to keep with continuity.  The shot was used in the draft which can be seen below but ultimately we decided it wasn't good enough and the whole ending to the sequence was cut from the edit.



180 degree rule


Having broke the rule already in our preliminary task and still getting by with the footage, we decided to us a match-on-action edit to help the mistake go unnoticed.  The shots from the sequence below show the of the rule; where the characters appear to swap sides momentarily because of the camera placement.  If both character would have been standing the footage would have been unusable as it would be too disorientating for the audience and the film would lose credibility.

1st Draft

This is a draft of our movie (now titled Fear). The final version will include some more sound effects and most importantly a sound track and will hopefully be finished and uploaded by 16th March.

Post-Production Update

I have now made the decision to cut the film down signification, removing much from the middle and more importantly; the ending.  Our footage of the murder was very amateur and badly done compared to the rest of the footage and so I thought it best to cut it.

The sequence is now under 2 minutes long and I have moved the film title to the very end of the clip instead of the beginning.  This does consequently make it seem a bit like a trailer but this is actually quite common of horror films.

If the story were to continue, the girl seen in the opening could:
Be found wondering, traumatised by the events unseen to the audience - Texas Chainsaw Massacre
10-20 years into the future the killer returns - Halloween
She wakes up from the 'dream'  - Nightmare on Elm Street
Her body is discovered and the killer continues to find victims - Scream

Actor Credits

The credits I have created, are in Ariel Black, white on a black background and slide from opposite sides of the screen. I also added the earthquake effect to them which increases or decreases in effect towards the end.  I added the soft focus effect to the 1st credit to make it appear as if the two credits are on different layers, giving the image more depth.  I'm considering adding a 3rd credit as there is space at the top of the screen.  These sequences lasts 4 seconds.

Titles

I kept my titles simple as it seems to be a convention of the genre to have simple white text on a black background, with a fade in and out effect. I used Ariel Black font and they each last 4 seconds. I also used the soft focus effect again on these titles which loses effect in the middle, in the same way the film title does.

Film title

This is my film title, shown 5 seconds into the movie. The text was created on Photoshop then imported to FinalCut. I then added 2 effects to the text, earthquake and soft focus, which simultaneously lose effect in the middle of it's duration to make the text clear to read. The clip is faded in and out to black to make the movie smooth, keeping with conventions of the genre.

Post-Production update

I have added a wild track along with sound effects to the footage but I now need to shorten the length of it by 30 seconds before I can add titles, and a sound track.  The titles will be added later today and then I'm left with just needing a score for the movie.

The titles are likely to be as follows:

A Country Park Production
Directed by Ben Aldis
Starring Martina Bassenger
Lee Squires
and Lewis Prior
GHOST FACE
Music by Bobby Dunning
Edited by Lee Squires
Screeenplay by Ben Aldis

Final Storyboard - by Ben Aldis

Post-Production Update

When watching our footage back we quickly realised that we did not record any sound (wrong setting on the camera).  We were pleased enough with the footage to stick with it rather than shooting it again.  I am going to record a wild track this weekend at the same location (Hornchurch Country Park) as well as additional sound effects such as screams, yells, laughter, foot steps to create our ambient sounds for the footage.  In the edit I will cut all dialogue scenes to avoid needing to dub voices, which would be difficult.  We plan to write our own score track which will run the entire length of the movie.  This combined with ambient sounds and sound effects will hopefully provide enough sound for the movie, dispite our initial mistake.

Ultimately, what we have learned from this is to do a quick test of that everything is working (e.g. microphone) before proceeding to shoot our movie.  I have now started the editing of the movie, mainly conventrating on removing dialogue scenes and perfecting match-on-actions before I incorporate titles or audio.

Preliminary Task

We have uploaded our short movie to Youtube


The first time we shot the sequence we had the wrong audio setting on the camera, resulting in no sound, so we needed to shoot again. The room we used for our location was very small and restricted our camerawork significantly. Technically, our 2nd shot breaks the 180 degree rule, but the match-on-action edit makes it unnoticable. The editing of the clip was fairly simple and straight forward, but we could have spent more time on it if nessacery to shorten the length of the over-the-shoulder shots, which seem a bit slow.

Reflecting on the task, we should have used a larger room and kept the camera on the same side of our actor at all times, unless shown crossing the 180 degree line in the movie.

Script

EXT. PARK - DAY

A park at twilight hour. A group of teenagers are hanging around, some sitting on logs, talking, laughing. Two of them, a Jason and Lucy are sitting together away from the others. Jason stands up suddenly and walks off.

LUCY

Where are you going?

Jason pauses and looks at her.

JASON

C'mon I'll show you!

Jason speed walks down the path. Lucy follows from behind. They reach a lake with the sunset shining over
it.

EXT. LAKE - DAY

JASON

Here we are

They both look out into the horizon 

LUCY

Oh wow. Its so nice

They remain silent for a while. She takes his hand and they kiss. Suddenly someone comes up from behind and stabs Jason in the back. He drops to his knees and the killer is revealed behind him. He is wearing a mask and carring a large knife. Jason groans in pain on the ground. Lucy backs up terrified, too shocked to scream.

JASON (Shouting)
Lucy, run!!

Lucy turns quickly and runs. The killer stands there watching her leave while Jason is dying on the ground. The killer raises his knife again and finishes off Jason as the screen cuts to black.

Location

Our 'sunset above lake shot' idea is endangered by construction work around the lake and the high likeliness of it being too cloudy. We are working on a back-up plan if things do not work out.

Location

It's forecast to snow again tomorrow (the day before shooting) and so we have considered altering the script to suit the conditions if we do get snow.

Risk Assessment

Production crew tripping over
We will minimze the risk by clearing the pathway for the crew prior to shooting of sticks, rocks etc and having 1 or 2 grips to support the cameraman.

Weathering damage to equipment
We will make sure a member of production has an umbrella at all times whilst outside, incase of rain, snow etc.

Production Schedule

Saturday 11th February

11:00 - 13:00 Rehearsal
13:30 - 14:00 Establish shot
14:00 - 14:30 Filming of the 'party'
14:30 - 16:30 Filming Lucy & Jason's dialogue
16:30 - 17:30 Filming the murder scene

Equipment List

Camera
Tripod
Microphone
Skateboard (for dolly shot)
Fake knife
Mask
Watch
Fake blood
Umbrella

Shot list

Once the 'party' has arrived (13:00 - 14:00 with high natural light)

1 - Establishing shot + pan to 'party'
2 - Point of view shot of party (from behind trees)
3 - Dolly shot around party 25-30 seconds
4 - Long shot of Party (Lucy's POV)

Shots of Lucy & Jason (14:00 - 16:00 natural light fading and sunset)

1 - Long shot
2 - Medium shot
3 - Close up (Jason)
5 - Over the shoulder shot (Jason)
6 - Over the shoulder shot (Lucy)
7 - Medium shot - Jason getting up
8 - Long shot - from Jason's new position
9 - Medium - Lucy looking at Jason, then to party, then back to Jason
11 - Long shot, pan (following Lucy)
12 - Medium shot of Jason walking (Lucy following in the background)
13 - Point of view shot from behind trees (of couple)

Shots with the Killer (Lower natural lighting)

1 - Two shot at destination - long take (looking at sunset, taking his hand, kiss & stabbing)
2 - Close up of hands
3 - Close up of Lucy kissing Jason
4 - Point of view shot (sunset)
5 - Point of view shot (killer behind trees)
6 - Close up of Killer (stabbing motion)

Shots with applied fake blood (Low natural lighting)

1 - Low angle inverted shot (of killer)
2 - High angle inverted shot (of Jason from Lucy's pov)
3 - Low angle medium shot (behind Lucy stepping backwards)
4 - Close up (Lucy)
5 - Medium shot (behind Lucy)
6 - Close up of knfe
7 - Low angle shot of killer (Jason's pov)
8 - Long shot (behind Lucy)

Draft Script

LUCY

 Where are you going? [Reluctant to follow]

JASON

I wana show you something [Running ahead, glancing back at her]

LUCY

[She nervously swigs at her drink and walks with some urgency]
[Looking out at the sunset]

[Lucy looks down for a moment and then back at the view. She takes his hand, they look at each other and kiss]

[They release each other and Jason is stabbed from behind]
Jason: Ahh! Ahhh! [Dropping to his knees]

[Frozen for a moment, she covers her mouth in shock]

[Jason is stabbed again, he tries to fight back but is overpowered and is stabbed again]

Jason:[In tremendous pain] Run!
[Lucy is slow off her feet but she gets away from the killer]
[Jason yells in pain]
[Lucy stops and slowly turns. She looks horrified]
[The killer stands up straight and stares back at Lucy, but doesn't move]

-Black-

Planning the Production/Call Sheet

Shooting on the 11th of February at Hornchurch Country Park.

Cast required
1 male, 17-20 yr old - costume: winter coat, hat, jeans, boots.
1 female, 17-20 yr old - costume: winter coat, hat, gloves, scarf, jeans, boots.
1 male, at least 6 foot tall - costume: white hoody, light-colour trousers, scary mask
8, mixed, 17-20 yr olds.

Production crew
Director, cinematographer, key grip/sound man, prop supplier.

Cast
Lucy - Martina Bassenger
Jason - Lee Squires (Myself)
Killter - Michael Chamberlain

Call Sheet
Ben Aldis - 07503735637
Lewis Prior - 07512030888
Lee Squires - 07809614467
Martina Bassenger - 07963722769
Michael Chamberlain - 07817706886

Our opening sequence

Combining ideas from my chosen opening sequence (Jaws) and Ben's sequence (Halloween), we've decided on our plot, setting, enigma, characters and some camerawork were going to use.

Setting: Park/forrest; Hornchurch country park. (Quiet, eerie, dark)

Enigma: Who's in the woods? Why does he kill the boy?; point of view shots of the murder. (similar to Halloween)

Characters: A group of teenagers, 1 boy and 1 girl are privilaged by the edit and have the only significant dialogue in the sequence (similar to Jaws). The killer is anonymous.

Plot: The first shot is hand-held/steadicam through dense forest. Cut-away to a group of teenagers are observed sitting around a fire in a park late at night. A dolly shot from behind the characters, creating silhouettes of the character's backs, giving us a good image to place the titles on. A boy and a girl are shown looking at eachother in a shot reverse shot and a long shot shows the two sneaking away unnoticed. A series of pans show the two running towards dense forest, including the character's dialogue. The two are shown against a tree in a two-shot and a series of close ups and insert shots follow. The next shot is back to handheld/steadyicam from the killer's point of view and we see the boy being murdered from the killers persperctive.

We now need to discuss and research on which soundtrack, sound effects and techniques we're going to use.

Further research on Jaws

This book gives good information on all stages of the film of the opening sequence

Plot idea #2 - rough storyboard

Copying the conventions used in jaws' opening sequence-previously analysed.

Horror Genre

Horror Film - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_film

Horror films are a movie genre seeking to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus they may overlap with the fantasy and supernatural genre. Horrors frequently overlap with the thriller genre.
Horror films deal with the viewer's nightmares, hidden worst fears, revulsions and terror of the unknown. Although a good deal of it is about the supernatural, if some films contain a plot about morbidity, serial killers, a disease/virus outbreak and surrealism, they may be termed "horror".

• Body horror - In which the horror is principally derived from the graphic destruction or degeneration of the body. Other types of body horror include unnatural movements, or the anatomically incorrect placement of limbs to create 'monsters' out of human body parts. David Cronenberg is one of the notable directors of the genre. Some body horror films include The Invasion, The Fly, Rosemary's Baby, Eraserhead, The Thing, Re-Animator, The Human Centipede (First Sequence), Cabin Fever, Virus and Teeth.

• Comedy horror - Combines the elements of comedy and horror fiction. The comedy horror genre almost always inevitably crosses over with the black comedy genre. The short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving is cited as "the first great comedy-horror story".^[30] Examples include The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Gremlins, Bad Taste, Beetlejuice, Arachnophobia, Scary Movie, Eight Legged Freaks, Shaun of the Dead and Slither.

• Gothic horror - Gothic horror is a type of story that contains elements of goth and horror. At times it may have romance that unfolds in the setting of a horror tale, usually suspenseful. One of the most earliest horror movies were of this sub-genre. Examples include universal horror films such as The Phantom of the Opera, Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy. Modern gothic horrors include Sleepy Hollow, Interview with the Vampire, Underworld, The Wolfman, From Hell, Dorian Gray and Let Me In.

• Natural horror - A sub-genre of horror films "featuring nature running amok in the form of mutated beasts, carnivorous insects, and normally harmless animals or plants turned into cold-blooded killers."^[31] This genre may sometimes overlap with the science fiction and action/adventure genre. Examples include The Birds, Jaws, Mimic, Deep Rising, Them!, The Swarm, Pet Sematary, Lake Placid, Primeval, Anaconda, Snakes on a Plane, The Cave and The Ruins.

• Psychological horror - Relies on characters' fears, guilt, beliefs, eerie sound effects, relevant music, emotional instability and at times, the supernatural and ghosts, to build tension and further the plot. Examples include The Uninvited, Dark Water, Gothika, The Ring, The Exorcist, Session 9, Silent Hill, The Others, The Mothman Prophecies, The Blair Witch Project, 1408, The Shining, Stir of Echoes, The Innocents and The Sixth Sense.

• Science Fiction horror - Often revolves around subjects that include but are not limited to killer aliens, mad scientists, and/or experiments gone wrong. Examples include Alien, Pandorum, Event Horizon, Apollo 18, Pitch Black and It Came from Outer Space.

• Slasher film - A type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe. Slasher films may at times overlap with the crime, mystery and thriller genre. Examples of this genre include Black Christmas, Halloween, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Friday the 13th, Child's Play and A Nightmare on Elm Street.

• Splatter film - Often called torture porn, these films deliberately focus on graphic portrayals of gore and graphic violence. Through the use of special effects and excessive blood and guts, they tend to display an overt interest in the vulnerability of the human body and the theatricality of its mutilation. Not all splatter films are slashers, and not all splatter films are horrors. Examples include Cannibal Holocaust, Piranha 3D, The Midnight Meat Train, The Final Destination, Saw, Guinea Pig series, Hostel, Borderland, Audition, Wolf Creek, Captivity, Martyrs, Inside, Antichrist, The Collector and A Serbian Film.

• Zombie film - Zombie films feature creatures who are usually portrayed as either reanimated corpses or mindless human beings. Distinct sub-genres have evolved, such as the "zombie comedy" or the "zombie apocalypse". Examples include Resident Evil, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, The Evil Dead^[32], I Am Legend, Land of the Dead, Night of the Living Dead, Quarantine and The Return of the Living Dead.