One of the tasks set to us was to analyse the conventions of a particular genre. I chose horror, and my analysis is on the movie Paranormal Activity 2.
The film starts with a black screen with the white text "Paramount Pictures would like to thank the families of the deceased and the Carlsbad police department." in the centre of the screen. This is fake and made up by the creators of the film, but has been included to break the fourth wall. It is conventional for horror movies to break the fourth wall in order to scare the audience, to convince them that the events in the film actually happened and therefore have them believe that the sort of danger featured in the film, in this case, ghosts, is real. The font of the text used is similar to the type of font used in an old typewriter, which can make the audience link it to an old police report, which used typewriters, as the text mentions the police. This enhances the element of danger, especially as the text also includes the word "deceased".
The film then cuts and fades into a neighbourhood scene. A credit in the middle of the screen, in the same typewriter font, states "Carlsbad, CA", continuing the idea that the following footage was used by the police for an investigation, linking the film to danger again. The camera pans to show a car driving down the road and then a house. A woman is narrating, and it quickly becomes obvious that the camera is from the point of view of a handheld camera and the woman is the person holding the camera. Diegetic sounds effects such as the wind and the car driving past are heard, making the footage seem like a realistic "home recording" which creates verisimiltude for the audience. As Paranormal Activity 2 is a sequel of Paranormal Activity, the audience will likely be familiar with the "found footage" style of the film, where the whole film is made up of video camera footage. This "found footage" type of film is automatically associated with horror films as it sprouted from the horror movie "The Blair Witch Project", which can create a sense of fear in the audience, and can therefore be considered a convention of horror films. The idea that you are watching from a camera that is directly in the film rather than a camera that is not can make the audience feel part of the film and therefore vulnerable.
In the beginning of the first film, a car pulls up into the driveway in the opening of the film. The same happens in the opening of this film, so the audience can relate the fear they felt watching the first film to that of watching this film.
The camera often makes cuts, as if several home videos have been pasted together, so can include many different shots. While with a camera that wasn't within the film, having a close up shot would allow us to see the character's facial expression more clearly, a close up shot would not only do this, but also have an impact on the character. For example, having a camera in their face could make them uncomfortable. This can have the same effect on the audience.
Below is the trailer as I am unable to upload the video:
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