Genre Research

Genre Research

Our short film "Sweet Dreams" takes inspiration from many subgenres of horror, including Psychological Thriller and Supernatural. Our idea is to somewhat confuse the audience and create a sense of ambiguity within the entirety of our film. We hope to invite audiences to question what is real and what is simply a figment of Jamie's imagination.

I've selected a few examples of these subgenres to demonstrate how some techniques will be similarly used in our film. 

Slasher

Slasher films tend to merge aspects of the action and horror genre. These films take clear inspiration from the extravagant action blockbusters that were released within the golden age of Hollywood (80s and 90s). Slashers tend to be more jovial than other horror sub genres and more often than not include some aspect of comedy. The 'Chucky' films and 'Wolfcreek' series are a prime example of this as both films are crude and unapologetically violent. Slasher films tend to follow the story through the perspective of the antagonist who is causing the destruction in the film. Audience's are positioned to feel sympathetic towards the victims, however the 'monster' is made purposefully to be liked by the audience and is relatable in some way or another. When discussing theory, it is evident these films could cause a viewer who may not have the capacity to decipher between real life and Hollywood to act violent in response to these films. Blumler and Katz' Uses and Gratifications Theory suggests that a viewer will most likely have role models they look up to and take inspiration from in the media. Arnold Schwarzenegger was seen by many children in the 80s as their 'hero' thus causing them to be more obsessive over body image and the idea of being masculine. This too could happen if a person with an under-developed brain is subject to watching a lot of slasher films, except they may feel the urge to copy the villain and become more aggressive and violent. In light of this argument, our film crew has decided to give equal screen time to both our protagonist/victim 'Jamie' and our antagonist/villain 'El Cucuy' so that audiences can hopefully relate more towards Jamie's suffering thus causing them to act out of sympathy like Jamie, rather than out of aggression like El Cucuy.

supernatural

As our story largely takes place in Jamie's dream, we leave the audience questioning what is real and what isn't which is exactly what Supernatural films tend to delve into. For many people, the mixing of the real world and the dream world where they have no control over frightens them to their core.