Conventions of Horror Films

Conventions of Action Films

•         Protagonist gets shot in the stomach; perfectly fine.
•        Evil henchman gets shot in the foot; instantly dead.
•         Unlimited ammo.
•         A bomb is diffused with one second left.
•          Explosion with no adverse effect to anyone.
•        Unnecessarily chiseled good guy with a six pack made of concrete.
•         Equally unattractive bad guy. If he’s ugly he must be evil!
•          Big guns.
•         Car chases.
•         Veteran cop/solider.
•         One last mission.
•        Women being useless.
•         Women being objects.
•         Conversely, women being badass and beating up 7ft bodybuilders.
•         The hero ‘dying’ only come back at a crucial moment.
•         Happy ending.
•         Having a weak/useless yet loveable sidekick who finds his courage.
•          More explosions.
•         Villain capturing hero and explaining his plan, only to have the hero escape.
•         British/Eastern European villains.
•      Enigma codes.
•         Villain falling into/off something while screaming something along the lines of ‘This isn’t over!’

Genre Conventions

Genre	Conventions	Film Titles
Action	Hero, villain, guns, fights, explosions, car chases, love interest	Transporter, Die Hard, Expendables
Superhero	Super powers, hero, villain, fights, tight costumes, bright colours	Avengers Assemble, Batman Begins, Thor
Romance	Romantic, couples, drama, love	If I Stay, The Notebook, Love Actually
Sci-fi	Robots, lasers, spaceships, aliens, hero, villain	Terminator, Star Trek, Blade Runner
War	War, drama, battles, action, death	Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List, Apocalypse Now