Unit 10A: Film Production

MISE-EN-SCENE; the term means 'put into the scene'. Describes the arrangement of scenery and stage properties in a frame.

ELEMENTS
Product design- responsible for building and dressing the set, they report to the director and together they conceptualise the look of the film well before rolling

Set design- refers to the decor of the set or how its dressed, comprising of mainly furniture, props and the set itself. instead of just placing objects here and there, the director must be savvy to fathom how these elements may bear significant in a deeper level, while also emphasising themes, creating meanings and provoking thoughts

Location- where each scene would be filmed- in a barn, house, street, hospital etc

Studio- there can be a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production company. or there are independently owned film studios who sell their own studio space

Costume- costume in narrative cinema is used to signify character, or advertise particular fashions, or to make clear distinctions between characters

Properties (prop)- prop refers to any object used by actors or set decorations in a film. it generally refers to items used to define character her or to advance the story line. for example, a cane or gun that helps defines a character is a prop, while a tree or chair is considered set decoration

Colour design- colour is an important expressive element for film makers, often mobilised by means of costume, while has the advantage of a direct association with a character, it might, however, be a feature of the lighting, the set decoration or particular props

Casting- casting directors liaise with both the director and the producer, who rely on the casting director to assist them to assemble the perfect cast for the film. they are resposnsiblefor matching the ideal actor to each role, based on a number of factors such as there actors experience, ability, reputation, availablity and box office appeal

Makeup- the use of makeup is divided in to three categories.
Basic; designed to compensate for undesirable changes in appearance introduced by the            television process.
Corrective; designed to enhance positive attributes and downplay flaws
Character; which introduced major changes in appearance

Why does genre exist? 

- to make money

- to attract an audience

- audiences uses genre to construct their own identities 

- humans like to categorise things to make sense of the world

Why do audiences like genre?

- its easier to market

- its easier to make

- its easier to guarantee target audience

- its easier to source and attract your star

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BAD GUY - BILLIE EILISH
Settings and props-

initially starts with an all yellow/mustard backdrop which matches Billies all yellow outfit. Billies blue hair and the guy standing next to her stand out against the yellow. Filmed in multiple rooms all with solid colours surrounding them. 

Setting also flips to them being outside on small toy cars and bikes, suggesting that they're all kids at heart and linking also to the creepy aspect. 

Then it changed to a circus, clown type of theme, this is then heavily contrasted with the childish outfit Billie is wearing.
At the end of the video the scene changes completely to a dark, shadowed and devil look.

The shots are filmed in very isolated and dead places which can represent her mood and characteristics.

Body language and facial expression-

Creepy, slow movements which create a sense of uncertainty and unpredictability.
Her face remains very serious and basic until the odd times she laughs.
The constant straight scary face helps to highlight the occasional laugh placed in.
During the circus type theme billie is seen to be rolling around like a child, this is unsual and somewhat creepy to an audience.

Lighting and colour-
Bright, exposing lighting contrast with the dull, dark, mysterious lighting in other scenes. This creates a sense of uncertainty throughout with a split personality, reflecting the artist herself.
The video includes single bold colours which hardly contrast with each other.
Simplistic feeling throughout.
At the end of the video the lighting goes completely dark, lighting Billie up with only a red spotlight and some candles in the background. this helps to give a Satan, devil feeling which would make the viewer feel uncomfortable, despite this it matches with the tone of music in the background. 

Costume, hair and makeup-

Clothing to match the scene, baggy over sized hoodie and trousers. reflecting how she prefers to cover up rather than show off her body.
Stand out blue hair which contrasts with her, helps the audience to instantly be drawn to her. Simple, goth, edgy like makeup which matches with her edgy style of clothing.
Multiple chains around her neck as well as large black solid boots.
Helps to paint the imagine that she's an independent, rebel girl rather than the princess type.
Billie also wears outfits that would make her stand out, for example; she wears a pure white shirt which stands out against the bright solid blue colour, this helps to keep our attention on purely her rather than her being lost in the setting. 

Her makeup is corrective, designed to enhance positive attributes and downplay flaws
She dresses in some brightly coloured outfits and then some dull, dark coloured outfits.
This split tells her how she could have a split personality, she displays two types of people.

Positioning of objects in the frame-
Props are massively featured in this video, the props match the sense of a weird and eary atmosphere. The video features a number of toy cars darting at the screen.
Despite the amount of props used majority are featured in the background which helps billie stand out.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CRAZY IN LOVE - BEYONCE & JAY-Z

 The music video ‘crazy in love’ starts off with Jay-Z and Beyoncé in two very different and contrasting scenes. Here you can see that Jay-Z is presented in a very shady, dark and mysterious way you can see this because it opens only showing half of his face and the other half is covered by a cap, presenting his personality. This tells is that he is a very serious rapper and wants people to respect him rather than joke around with him etc. The audience are then intrigued and want to unveil his identity. 
He is then shown here in a rap verse he stands tall, covered head to toe in bling. 

Beyoncé walks up to him, and begins dancing around him, telling the audience that he is powerful, rich, and desirable. By doing this, Beyoncé becomes objectified. She is presented as something in the background who features only to make the man seem powerful. Beyoncé has initial power, as she is the focus of the video, which revolves around her.



However, as Jay-Z appears, she becomes viewed as an object around Jay-Z. Jay-Z throws his lighter to the floor, starting a fire and making him appear as fearless.
Despite this, Beyoncé regains her power by kicking open a fire hydrant, essentially putting out Jay-Z's fire and regaining her status, having the final power.
Her outfits are revealing, yet extremely flattering, making her a desirable female icon to the majority of people. She wears lots of jewellery. The body jewellery portrays her as a sex icon and the video concentrates on her stomach/hips and belly piercing throughout in order to make Beyonce seem enticing and sexy. Her costume also features a fur coat, along with the jewellery, telling the audience she is rich and classy.

The video features the imagery of a photo shoot, as Beyoncé poses for the cameras. It is done through flashing lights and also shows the concept of a camera through a frame-within-frame shot. This tells the audience that she is widely recognized as famous and has celebrity status as people always want to take her picture.

Beyonce is portrayed as seductive through her dance moves and gestures. At the beginning, there is a low angle that looks up at Beyonce's body as she walks past, which fantasises her body and shows her as desirable

When focusing on Beyoncé, the music is extremely fast, therefore the shots are constantly cutting, and are rarely static. This is representative of her hectic and 'crazy' life now that she is in love.

Then in Jay-Z’s solo the pace of the video begins to slow, and the clips are cut longer. This is representative of the control that Jay-Z has over his emotions, and how women have uncontrollable hormones.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LAURA MULVEY MALE GAZE THEORY 1975 

Laura Mulvey (born 15 August 1941) is a British feminist film theorist. She was educated at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She is currently professor of film and media studies at Birkbeck, University of London. She worked at the British Film Institute for many years before taking up her current position. 

In the male gaze, woman is visually positioned as an “object” of heterosexual male desire. A key idea of feminist film theory, the concept of the male gaze.

Laura Mulvey states that the role of the female character has two functions
1. as an erotic object for the character within the narrative to view
2. as an erotic object for the spectators to view

Gender roles within films;
The character that look at other are seen as the active role (male)
The characters that are to be looked at are passive (female), they are under control of the males gaze and only exist for visual please
Females often slow the narrative down , they act as inspiration for men to act.
Males on the other hand, push the narrative forwards to make things happen and are seen as active

Mulvey discussed the term scopohilia, the term literally means 'love of watching'. Movie-making and movie viewing have long been analysed as socophilic practices. We sit in a darkened movie theatre and observe the activitives of people on the screen who are unaware that they are being watched.

Patriarchal society- men dictate the rules Mulvey argued we live in a patriarchal society in which men sret the majority of rules and construct and represent the ideal visions, roles and male dominance over women. A passive audience will be influenced by this representation of reality and copy it.

Male gaze does/shows us;
-A constructed representation of reality 
-The post production of the film has edited
-Vignette
-Hyper reality
-A masculine voyeuristic position
-Objectifed female

example of male gaze in film; Transformers

One film which stands out when considering this theory is Michael Bay‘s Transformers franchise. Firstly, these movies have a huge difference in the male/female character ratio, instantly making it an unrepresentative movie as it doesn’t depict 50% of its audience. All the women Bay casts in this franchise are sexualised in some way, and it has no relevance to the story line, or as Mulvey would put it: it is just to please the heterosexual male, rendering it a movie with touches of irrelevant objectification and misogyny.

Bay clearly went into this franchise with sexual objectification in mind as he cast some of the most sexually objectified women in Hollywood. For example, in the first movie, Megan Fox plays Sam Witwicky’s love interest, and who can forget that memorable scene where Fox is in a tight, low-cut top bent over a car engine? This degrading scene is also followed with a variety of other camera angles and shots which are clearly only included in the movie for sexual gratification targeted towards the heterosexual male.

This unoriginal and predictable character archetype did not stop at the first few films either, as Bay continued to cast limited women in his films, and all the women included in the franchise are deemed stereotypically attractive, as their careers in acting are secondary to their modelling careers.

For example, model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley plays the role of Sam’s girlfriend in Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) and she has a variety of scenes where she walks around with minimal clothing on. Or what about Nicola Peltz in Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), who is also objectified with minimal clothing and worms-eye camera angles, letting audiences see a lot of skin, indefinitely more than a male actor would reveal in this franchise.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SOUND;
- sound enhances the imaginary world
- provides depth and emotional response
- establishes character and environments
- can be used to introduce a new scene
- cues the audience to important information

Sound is important because it can tell us about character, place, and time. It's important because it informs us and moves us in ways visuals can't, and because certain combinations of sound and visuals can evoke what neither can do alone. It's also potentially important because it can help to determine what we see.

Diegetic sound is any sound that the character or characters on screen can hear. So for example the sound of one character talking to another would be diegetic. 

Non-diegetic sound is any sound that the audience can hear but the characters on screen cannot. Any appearance of background music is a prime example of non-diegetic sound.

Foley- these are sound effects that are designed to be synchronous with the actions of a character on- screen. this is to provide realism to whats happening to the scene. examples of synchronous sound bites are: the sound of people walking, the sound of a door opening, the explosion of a bomb etc.

Dialogue- the dialogue brings forth the story by showing the communication and interaction between two or more characters in the film. The dialogue is derived from the film script.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IT FOLLOWS
I chose the following two tracks to match the scene from 'it follows' because they were both scary and eary pieces of music which make the audience on edge and builds up tension. They both help to raise the audiences heart rate and make them scared of the unknown.
I think the music in the film fits in a nice way. The energy level and the emotional level, it graduates in different areas of the film and gets more and more weird and creepy and psychological, and in some of the bigger scenes the music gets really bombastic, and kind of freaky and unpredictable. I think we’ve prided ourselves on doing a score that had a lot of depth to it, and a lot of different feels to it, like emotional feels.

My chosen two pieces of music to match the scene below was;
Dark Surveillance - Gledden / Bussey 
Shell Shock - Bradley / Sanchez / Dymond

i cihose

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BADABOOK TRAILER SOUND ANALYST

This trailer uses both diegetic and non-diegetic music. the diegetic sounds used in this trailer are in this trailer are in forms of dialogue, prop sounds and other extreme noises such as screaming. screaming its used effectively in this trailer as it is used to place the audience on edge because the screaming sounds are enchanced.

The dialogue from the creature is enchanced to change the pitch and tone of the voice. this therefore gives the voice a much deeper and slower tone, this is used to make the audience feel uncomfortable and as if there is a supernatural presence involved. 

The non-diegetic music used in this trailer uses sounds such as the turning of pages and other ambient noises like chimes to create a horror atmosphere. these chimes are used in a drone throughout the trailer to create a constant presence in the narrative, this never ending chime places the audience under constant threat of jump scare. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Editing
Good editing can help a movie move at a good pace suiting the story and establishing a proper engagement with its audiences. When scenes are edited well emotions, tensions and mystery can be colligated in the right shot. Good editing can turn a sad scene into a high-voltage drama showing the emotions in full light.

Techniques:

PACE - The speed at which shot transitions take place. The guide the audience in their emotional response to the scene. Rapid pacing suggests ion tensity and excitement. lower pacing is more relaxed and thoughtful

CROSS CUTTING - two or more separate (usually concurrent) scenes are woven together. This links the narrative and add excitement and tension to the scene.

SHOT/REVERSE SHOT - The most common technique to show interaction between two characters. enables the audience to see both sides of the conversation. often enabling reaction shots to be used.

MATCH ON ACTION - an action commence in shot A is complete in shot B. Hides the edit. creates notion of 'invisible editing'

JUMP CUT- a cut to later on in the same shot creating an effect (discontinuity). Draws attention to important moments. can show that something is not right (non-linear)

180 DEGREE RULE- the 180-degree rule is a basic guideline regarding the on-screen spatial relationship between a character and another character or object within a scene. By keeping the camera on one side of an imaginary axis between two characters, the first character is always frame right of the second character. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Babadook trailer analysis

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Romantic Comedy Genre

MICROanalysis - editing, sound, MES and camerawork.
MACRO - genre, narrative, representation.

1. What are the conventions of a romantic comedy genre?
Romantic comedies are movies with light-hearted, humorous dramatic stories centered around      romantic ideals such as a "true love" able to surmount most obstacles or the "perfect couple." Romantic comedy films are a sub-genre of comedy films as well as of romance films. 
                         

Characteristics of a Romantic Comedy

• Contrived Meeting. The first time the main characters get together is usually in a contrived and overly comic situation
• Polar Opposites. A couple in a romantic comedy will have different personal viewpoints, an unequal social status or a cultural conflict
• Ordinary Problem
• Comic Friends
• Happy Ending

2. What genre is clueless?
Teen Romantic Comedy

3. Is clueless influenced by any other films?
Clueless is an American comedy film loosely based on Jane Austen's Emma. it stars Alicia Silverstone as the main character 'Cher Horowitz', who is the appropriation of Jane Austen's Emma Woodhouse. Cher is a beautiful, wealthy and popular student, daughter of a very known lawyer and whose mother is long since dead.
Mean girls and legally blonde
Iggy, fancy video

4. Can you find any examples of other media products that have been influenced by clueless? that references outfits, shots, quotes or character types?
Christian references jason priestly and james dean

5. When was clueless made?
20 October 1995

5a. Cultural facts (what did people believe at the time in the UK and US? ideas about gender, ethnicity, class, age, disability. what prejudices did people have? how are things different now?)
Lack of respect for and inadequate promotion and protection of the human rights of women. Stereotyping of women and inequality in women's access to and participation in all communication systems, especially in the media.

The World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995 defined an inclusive society as “a society for all’, in which every individual, each with rights and responsibilities, has an active role to play. Such an inclusive society is equipped with mechanisms which accommodate diversity, and facilitate/enable people’s active participation in their political, economic and social lives.

5b. Political facts (what was happening in UK and US politics at the time? Who was in charge. Key news stories)
Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. The Conservative Party lead parliament.
U.S. President Bill Clinton was the president of US in 1995

Major Events of 1995:

• Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin assasinated.
• Mexican bailout.
• Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City destroyed by terrorist bomb.
• OJ Simpson verdict - "Not Guilty"

5c. Social facts (what did people do together? How did they relax? What games/TV/ films/fashion was popular?)
popular films in 1995: se7en, clueless, braveheart, apollo 13, golden eye

popular tv shows in 1995: friends, star trek, ER, simpsons, law and order

popular games in 1995: Donkey kong, mortal kombat, warcraft 2, command & conquer

popular fashion in 1995: A very popular look among young women and girls from 1994–1995 was the "sexy school girl" look. This trend consisted of tartan minikilts, undersized sweaters, short slip dresses, baby doll tees, knee highs, thigh highs, miniature backpacks, overalls, tights, pantyhose, and chunky shoes.



6. Outline Todorov's narrative theory below. Think of an example of film that you know well that fits to this theory.

Todorov studied classic fairy tales and stories. He discovered that narratives moved forward in a chronological order with one action following after another. In other words, they have a clear beginning, middle and end. Todorov also suggested that the characters in the narrative would be changed in some way through the course of the story and that this would be evident by the resolution.

This traditional story arc format is known as a linear narrative:

Steps	What happens
1	The narrative starts with an equilibrium
2	An action or character disrupts the equilibrium
3	A quest to restore the equilibrium begins
4	The narrative continues to a climax
5	Resolution occurs and equilibrium is restored

Most episodes of Sherlock follow this traditional narrative structure. Sherlock and Watson are relaxing at the start of the episode, then an action or character will do something that creates a case for them to solve. They begin their quest to find a solution and apprehend the villain. The narrative continues until they confront the villain at the climax. Once the disruption is resolved and the equilibrium is restored, Sherlock and Watson can relax again. That is until another case comes to their attention in the next episode.

7. Watch mean girls and decide whether it conforms to, or subverts Todorov's narrative theory.
Yes it does as it presents us with the fact that the two main characters don't exactly see eye to eye initially but then at the end they both fall in love.

8. Outline propps' character types blow.


9. Narrative enigma. What narrative enigmas are created in the opening scene? (what questions are planted in the audiences minds to encourage them to hook them into the narrative?) 

Narrative enigmas - Theses are codes that limit the audience to information, it lets them have to figure what is going off in the story. They have to figure out the puzzle, things the audience should think about are who,what,when,where,how? This keeps the audinece attention to what they are watching.

The narrative enigmas created in clueless's opening scene is Cher's character. The audience is confused as to whether she's a good or bad character, the mix between a do gooder and a stuck up rich girl. 

10. What themes run through clueless? What important message does the film have?

• social class

Social class is incredibly important to Cher, and for this reason is a major theme in the film. From the start, Cher is depicted as a character with a huge amount of wealth and privilege. She has giant closets filled with designer clothes, lives in a mansion, and has a fancy car just for learning to drive. The film both satirizes and glamorizes Cher's privilege. She is depicted as blissfully unaware of how spoiled she is, yet she is also the film's lovable protagonist.

Class is tied to popularity at the high school. When Tai expresses an interest in Travis, a "grungy" skateboarder, and Cher attempts to steer her towards rich, popular snob Elton. Cher's aim is to raise Tai's social status by pairing her with a wealthy classmate. Status is firmly tied to one's social circle and also to one's outward appearance, which is why Cher maintains such a seemingly superficial opinion of others. In order for Tai to become more popular, Cher must give her a makeover so that she appears to belong with the high school's social elite.

• appearance 

As the viewer can see from the start of the film, Cher is invested in presentation and appearances, above almost anything else. When we first see her at home, she goes through a giant closet of designer clothes, and even has a computer program that helps her match different parts of an outfit. When her father confronts her about a revealing dress she is wearing, asking "what is that?!" Cher responds with the brand name, Calvin Klein. Even when held at gunpoint and told to drop to the ground by a mugger, Cher does not want to, because as she says, "You don't understand—this is an Alaia!" A running gag is that Cher is constantly interrupting more important matters to go shopping

• Giving Back and Doing Good

When Cher decide to fight for better grades, she determines that the best way to do so is to help two lonely teachers—Mr. Hall and Ms. Geist—fall in love. When that plan works out, and she sees the happiness that she created between the couple, she is motivated to do more good deeds. She gives frumpy new girl Tai Frasier a makeover and tries to set her up with popular boy Elton, to disastrous results. Cher's plans are botched because while she believes she is doing good, she is actually not doing what is best for all parties involved.

• Control 

Control is very important to Cher. When she wants to give Tai a makeover, Dionne explains, "Cher’s main thrill in life is a makeover. It gives her a sense of control in a world full of chaos." In taking control of Tai's look, Cher feels like she has control over her environment and the people in her life. While Cher learns later on that taking control of others doesn't always end well, her desire to argue her way to influence is one of her defining characteristics and an organizing theme.

• Virginity

Tai is shocked to discover that Cher is still a virgin. Dionne corrects her, calling it "hymenally challenged," and Cher explains that she is not a prude, just picky, comparing the choice of a suitable mate to picking out new shoes. While Cher is more worldly and sophisticated than Tai, when it comes to sex, she is much more innocent. Cher's virginity becomes a way that she feels more and more alienated from her social circle.

• Responsibility 

Cher thinks of herself as a sophisticated adult, buying chic designer clothes and keeping tabs on her father's health, she can barely drive on the correct side of the road and has many struggles behind the wheel. Cher's horrible driving is a running joke throughout the film; in the first ten minutes she completely obliterates a potted plant, and later when she takes her driving test, she nearly hits a bicyclist and takes off the side-view mirror of a nearby car. 

• Love 

Love is a major theme in the film and many of the subplots revolve around romance. We are given evidence of Cher's gift for clever manipulation when she matchmakes two lonely teachers in order to raise her grades. With just a few suggestive comments, a love note with Shakespeare, and the encouragement to share coffee, Cher sows the seeds of love between the teachers.

11. Apply Stuart Hall's reception theory to the film

Preferred reading: how the producer wants the audience to view the media text.
The producer wants the audience to see clueless as the traditional romantic comedy

Negotiated reading: This is when a member of the audience partly agrees with part of the product. e.g Film, documentary, TV programme.

Oppositional reading: When the audience rejects the preferred reading, and creates their own meaning for the text. This can happen if the media contains controversial themes that the audience member disagrees with.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
History of horror

Fears

• shadowing figure who gets you in your sleep
• human disorders/ dibbled circus people 
• good vs evil
• depression
• religioon
• childhood issues
• disorders
• supernatural
• revenge
• beyond death
• zombie
• nightmares
• insanity
• lust
• envy
• making you question what is real and what isn't
• science

Significant films

• phantom of the opera
• frankestien
• Dracula
• freaks

Conventions of horror
setting- small communities or isolated areas, urban environments, dark streets and narrow alleyways. Anything that presents us with the idea of being alone. 
often places with dark history, like abandoned houses, hotels or insane asylums 

Tcehniques- camerawork is low or high angles to show fear and nightmares.
point of view shots are important to allow the audience to experience it for themselves too or from the monsters eye. 
handheld shots make it hard for the audience to make out what's happening, feeling of terror and unknown. 
disturbing sounds are very important in a horror movie, sounds like footsteps and non diegetic sounds like a heart beasts for example. 
extreme close up to show reactions and identification of fear and horror
editing to crest suspense and tension. fast and slow paced. 
dark colours, shadows and lighting which is non relative, props like masks, guns etc. 
iconography of monsters creating extreme dfears; mummies, vampires etc

How horror has changed over time

Literature helped establish it with the “gothic novel” – dark stories with supernatural elements unfolding in gothic settlings, like castles with winding hallways and trapdoors

Mellies created what is widely believed to be the first ever ‘horror’ movie in 1898, complete with cauldrons, animated skeletons, ghosts, transforming bats and, ultimately, an incarnation of the Devil.

The Golden Age of Horror- Widely considered to be the finest era of the genre, the two decades between the 1920s and 30s saw many classics being produced, and can be neatly divided down the middle to create a separation between the silent classics and the talkies.

The first movies to really make an attempt to unsettle their audience. 

Once the silent era had given way to technological process, had a glut of incredible movies that paved the way for generations to come, particularly in the field of monster movies – think the second iteration of Frankenstein, The Mummy and the first color adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde .

The 30s also marked the first time in the industry that the word “horror” was used to describe the genre—previously, it was really just romance melodrama with a dark element—and it also saw the first horror “stars” being born.

And as well as unnerving its viewers, the genre was starting to worry the general public at this point with heavy censoring and public outcry becoming common with each release. Freaks  is a good example of a movie that was so shocking at the time it got cut extensively, with the original version now nowhere to be found.

The shock value of Freaks is one of the few that has aged well up until present day, and is still a highly disturbing watch.

Freaks was banned for thirty years in the country that really came into its own during this period: Great Britain.

The Gimmicky Years-  3D glasses, Electric buzzers installed into theatre seats, Paid stooges in the audience screaming and pretending to faint? Everything and anything was tried during the 50s and 60s in an attempt to further scare cinema audiences.

This penchant for interactivity spilled over into other genres during the period, but quickly died down in part due to the massive amounts of expense involved.

For horror in particular, this gave way to the opposite end of the spectrum: incredibly low budget productions.

Occult was the flavor of the day beween the 70s and 80s, particularly when it came to houses and kids being possessed by the Devil.

The reason for this cultural obsession with religious evil during this period could fill an entire article on its own, but bringing it back into the cinema realm we can boil the trend down to two horror milestones: The Exorcist and The Omen

The Slasher Years- If there’s one trope that typifies the 80s, it’s the slasher format – a relentless antagonist hunting down and killing a bunch of kids in ever-increasing inventive ways, one by one.

Arguably kicked off by The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in 1974, the output became prolific over the next decade. For every ten generic slashers, however, there was one flick that would end up becoming a cult classic even if critical success was mixed at the time—Halloween, Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street are the most prominent examples, which became so successful that they spawned their own long-running franchises

The Present Day- The state of the horror industry is hotly contested. With the genre seemingly relying on churning out remakes, reboots and endless sequels, many argue that it’s languishing in the doldrums once again with little originality to offer a modern audience.

The resurgence of ‘torture porn’ is also derided as a subgenre, having come back into the fore in the wake of the 2000s Saw and Hostel franchises with no signs of slowing down.

On the other hand, glimmers of hope shine through with examples of extreme originality and artistry. Cabin in the Woods has been heralded as this decade’s Scream, and the recent releases of The Babadook and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night  have breathed new life into the genre.

How are the audience's expectations of Rom Com and Horror different?

A romantic comedy is a film that presents romance in a comedic way and the genre horror is a film that seeks to elicit fear for entertainment purposes. Horror may also overlap with the fantasy, supernatural fiction, and thriller genres. Horror films often aim to evoke viewers' nightmares, fears, revulsions and terror of the unknown. 

The characteristics between romantic comedies and horror are very contrasting. Romantic comedies present us with two main characters; commonly attractive, girl is shy and down to earth, very realistic, love at first sight with some sort of obstacle to over come. with a hint of laughter and jokes to make the audience laugh and feel happy watching it. Horrors on the other hand present audiences with the fear of death, scary scenes and things that make most people uncomfortable, suspense and spookiness. 

Clueless supports the idea that it's a realistic warming film with an obstacle for the main characters to over come. Babadook however presents the characteristics of horror films; dark,  creepy, engages with people deepest fears and makes the audiences feel on edge.