Genre: Horror

Generic conventions of a horror film:
   - Blood
   - Wiseman/helpless female/surviving female/cocky guy/supernatural being/serial killers/enquisitive character
   - Haunting
   - Low key lighting
   - Haunted/abandoned house
   - Urban areas
   - Needles
   - Masks
   - Knives ~ some sort of killing equipment
   - Low quality filming
   - Slow/fast camera movements

Possible non-diagetic sound ~ Music
   - Dark
   - Mysterious
   - Tells the audience how to feel
   - can be slow and creepy or upbeat and terrifying

Possible diagetic sound
   - Slicing
   - Sharpening of knives
   - Car crashes

Pros of a short film in this genre
   - Building up of tension is not ruined by an anti-climax and is more effective within a smaller time frame
   - They don't get caught up in an inappropriate storyline
   - They focus on the scare element

Cons of a short film in this genre
   - Audience may feel like they're not part of it as not connection is built with the characters
   - We do not know much about the characters ~ we do not know how they wil react.

Themes
   - Bullying
   - Cliques
   - Sexuality
   - Religion

Textual analysis of "Virus" By Simon Hynd

Virus is a short horror film which follows many of the generic conventions of a horror film. The very first shot in this short is an establishing shot. This shows the lcation being a large business place, which at night time (the time it is set) is going to be empty, except for the last few people that hadn't finished their work for the day, and the security guard.The eerie glow which is apparent on this short, and the slant of the building adds a sense of mystery to the opening, leaving the audience wondering where the film is going to go. The long shot of the shutter door closing would (in a daylight situation) be a normal thing to happen, but due to the low key lighting, and the follow up close shot of it hitting the floor, it creates a eerie/creepy mood assisted by the lack of noise other than the shutter closing. The multiple pan shots throughout the short, whether they're the normal filming camera or the "security camera", gives the audience a sense of knowing everything that is going on. Pan shots enable the audience to feel as though they are within the film as they are able to look at it from all angles. The close up shot of the mouse when he is on the computer gives us a slight insight into the electornic device possibly having a major role within this clip ~ which we later find out to be true.
During one of the pan shots, it has a short break where the camera supposedly goes behind a pole in the office and then when it comes back out, it is closer to the main character. This could be a signifier that the danger is approaching him.
The close up shot of the mug filling with coffee is a stereotypical shot due to the majority of horror films showing insignificant shots to try to lead you off track in what might happen to the main character. This increases the scare factor as the audience is not fully aware of what might happen.
As far as sound is concerned in this clip it is kept minimal. Throughout the film, the audience is inrtoduced to the sound of a computer monitor ~ this being an underlying give away as to the main component of his danger. When the title flashes up on the screen, due to Virus also meaning something that can spread across humans, the fact that they have a computer monitor noise of the top, assists the audience in know what kind of Virus the short is about.
Another sound which is evident in the clip is the hoover. Due to it being so loud, the cleaner would not hear anything that happened to the office man. This shows how alone he is, as the security guard is also asleep, and how easy it was for the killer to get in.
In this film, Virus is displayed in both forms. A computer virus, as it is passed around from computer to computer, and the other form as each individual that recieves the email gets a nose bleed which causes them to tip their head back which then results in their death.

Treatment for a horror short
Family go on a road trip to an old part of the west country. They find themselves in a ghost town, with the only inhabitants being the dead. By eight o'clock each night, the dead comes back to life, and hunts down to torture each member of the family, until there is no one left.

Short Film Recreation: The Big Shave: Plot Synopsis

This short film is a metaphor for the Vietnam War. A man walks into a meticulously clean and sterile bathroom, concentrating on the polished porcelain and shiny metal motif. He then proceeds to shave. When his face is clean, however, he only continues to shave until he pierces through his skin. Blood covers him and falls around him, the red contrasting the perfect spotlessness of the bathroom.