Genre research summary

In the genre of horror, the titles used follow a general pattern. Many titles are red to connote red or danger. They also seem to be quite slow pace to create a sense of suspense and tension. The contents of the titles is usually quite little, where it would perhaps only contain the name of the film and possibly a few producers/directors names.

The music used in opening sequences tends to be quite slow paced to create an eerie and spooky atmosphere and therefore creating tension. However, there is sometimes no music at all, with possible some talking or diegetic sound, this also builds a sense of tension.

Usually, in opening sequences, we see very stereotypical characters, this allows us to know a fair bit about the character without the film having to show their background. However, sometimes we get the opposite where the characters are quite plain so there is nothing really to know about them apart from if they're male or female. This allows the story to show who the characters are and what they are like.

The settings of horror film openings generally tend to be places that are isolated , where no-one is around to help  or seem what is about to happen, therefore a sense of isolation and vulnerability is created. The lighting is usually quite dull, mainly because it is at night that most openings happen but also so an eerie and spooky feel is created.

Nearly all the time in horror openings the enigma theory of creating questions and a mystery is employed. For example in the opening to '28 days later' we see the main character alone in empty streets in a large city. This makes the audience want to know more and to watch the rest of the film.

Editing can vary in horror film openings, it can either be very fast paced to connote a sense of panic, but also it can be quite slow to create a spooky and eerie atmosphere. The kind of shots used tend to be close ups of characters so that not too much of the character is given away. However in ' The shining' for example we get an extreme long shot of the car, but this is also used so that not much is given away.