Research- Picking a Subgenre

   So after all of that excessive research on different genres, I concluded that horror would be the way to go. I wanted this project to be stress-free but also a good learning experience. With comedy, I felt like it would be a lot harder to convey to the audience that it's a comedy film without it being a bit corny. And with romance its kind of the same concept, but also, not many people (that I know personally) would want to act in a romance film. 

Picking A Subgenre

For the subgenre of my film, I already ruled out the supernatural/paranormal horror because of how difficult that would be to make it look professional - same with monster/creature horror. I was leaning more toward psychological horror, slasher horror or

Psychological Horror- Madness

I found that a big part of a psychological horror opening is grabbing people right away by making them feel uneasy or weirded out, instead of starting with a long explanation of the story. Good horror openers drop you into a moment that feels off with just a few clues, so the audience starts wondering what is really happening and feels pulled into the mystery right away. It might be a strange noise in the background or a character acting in a way that does not make sense yet, which makes people curious and a little unsettled as the viewer keeps watching. I specifically chose to research about madness psychological horror because I love the feeling of emotions/sanity being toyed with.

I learned make people feel really uneasy in a psychological horror opening, visuals are very important. Dark lighting, weird shadows that hide more than they show, and camera shots that zoom in on details without explaining anything can make viewers feel like something is wrong. Little things like silence and then an unexpected noise or creepy background sounds can make people feel jumpy or on edge because they're waiting for something to happen, but don’t know what.

Sources say spooky music and quiet moments that suddenly change can make people’s hearts beat faster because our brains know something might happen even before we see anything scary. Weird camera angles and dim lighting can make familiar places feel wrong or creepy. I can use this to my advantage because I can use a place that is accessible to me, while also looking like a professional setting for my film.

Slasher Horror

For this subgenre, I was thinking about using the idea of a killer/maniac to heighten the psychological mood of the film. This was shown in the movie Bring Her Back. In that movie it mixes grief, trauma and uncertainty that plays with the victims minds using techniques like gaslighting to slowly drive them into madness. 

In slasher horror films, human-like characters are usually featured- they sometimes have supernatural powers that help them to achieve their ultimate goal. The antagonist typically hunts down a group of people (teens being the most common) and kills them in unique, gory, ways. Movies that display this would be the ENIRE Terrifier Series. The most recent of the series "Terrifier 3" uses survivors from the last two movies who are struggling with trauma and Art the Clown- the relentless killer clown. The way that Art goes about killing his victims are in  the most gut wrenching ways I've EVER seen! It makes the movie both unbearable and interesting. It keeps the audience guessing on who he will kill next. 

Sources:

Horror

https://shotsofhorror.com/2025/04/02/franchise-title-card-evolution/

https://seanbassfilm.wordpress.com/2019/06/07/opening-title-sequences/

Romance

https://nicolesimmonsmedia.blogspot.com/2014/04/codes-and-conventions-of-teen-drama.html

https://beckygroarkesblog.weebly.com/titles-and-credits-conventions.html

Comedy

https://alottolearn.home.blog/2019/02/06/titles-fonts-and-representation/

https://www.printmag.com/article/typography-movie-poster-design/