Codes and Conventions of the British Drama and Horror genres

Horror
We have watched two classic horror movies, 'Scream' and 'Halloween', with the aim to find recurring or iconic codes and conventions within them.

• An initial introduction into 'normal'/socially accepted daily life.
• A grotesque or unexplained death, with the murderer either known or unknown.
• Teenagers/youths in an iscolated setting, either physically or just 'home alone'.
• Enigmatic phone calls or other form of communication.
• An iscolated, vulnerable victim
• A killer that does not die successfully (leaving ending of the film open for speculation/sequels)

British Drama

We have watched two British Drama films with different ‘feels’ – Trainspotting and Four Weddings and a Funeral - to find the common factors within them.

• Smoking and drinking 
• Violence
• Regional dialect
• British scenery – for example Big Ben
• The typical British sense of humour –Dry jokes, swearing

Benefits and constraints of horror and British drama

Horror
Benefits:

• Low budget
• Often dark scenes so fewer lighting problems
• Popular with teenage audiences
• Can use quick flashes for effect so perfect continuity is not essential
• Don't necessarily need a lot of actors so it is easier to coordinate

Constraints:

• Can look tacky/ poor quality/ obviously low budget
• Can be hard to find a suitable location
• Hard to create a unique storyline
• Need to find appropriate actors which could be difficult

British Drama
Benefits:

• Setting- we're already in Britain!
• Gripping, high action

Constraints:

• Need lots of people and a range of cultures
• Continuous shots- could present continuity problems
• The higher level of action would be hard to film (fights, driving etc)
• Generally set more in the north than the south, so would present travel and accent issues

This research shows that it will be easier for us to promote a horror film rather than a British Drama.