Jake Mayhew

Proposal

The brief has asked me to create three short films (2 minutes) to reflect 3 sub-genres of
horror by the 15th December. I want to show the sub-genres slasher, psychological and
paranormal. I chose these as they are my personal favourites and all have unique
conventions. For example, slasher has a distinct soundtrack: high-pitch ambient sound
effects and classical, tense soundtracks to build an atmosphere. This will be good to shot
because the antagonist is a human being, they also required simple movements so it should
be easier for unexperienced actors. In psychological horror, detailed narratives, often with a
twist are used. Therefore, when Im planning my psychological short film I will need to work
hard on my script to make sure its interesting and makes sense. I will take inspiration from
films like IT (2017), Psycho and The Shinning. To understand how these films were made so
well, I researched their conventions. I found out by analysing films scenes how simple
cinematography and less special effects/animation are used compared to other genres like
paranormal.

Key points I learnt from my secondary research:

Psychological: Simple editing; less special effects; intense soundtrack and narrative
Slasher: Human antagonist; extreme high or low pitch sound effects/music to build
tension; high use of reaction shots & POV;
Paranormal: Often lots of special effects; antagonist is not a physical being,
spirits/poltergeists etc; similar soundtrack style to slashers, however a slower build
of tension with less definitive peaks
Key points I learnt from my primary research:

Most of my peers enjoy watching horror

The most popular sub-genre is comedy/parody and psychological
IT (2017) was the most popular film
Modern horror is preferred to classic (however many said they prefer neither)