Whilst researching and watching different films that centred around aliens we discovered that they generally fall into 2 different genres. Below I complied these genres and some of their conventions and common reoccurances.
Horror
Nearly every early film that had an alien was a horror movie and even still today many alien films heavily incoporate horror aspects into their films.
Horror is a genre seeking to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's primal fears.
Conventions:
There are endless sub genres of horror such as pyschological, gore, zombie, body horror, action horror, comedic and gothic.
But we found for most alien films they were either slasher(alien, the thing) or pyschological(the fourth kind, UFO).
For slasher horror the main staple storyline for this would be a group of characters (typically teenagers or young adults) would be one by one hunted down by the alien threat until there are only one or two remaining who have a final showdown with the alien in a climatic and suspensful battle.
The location typically seen in this type of film would be a secluded area like an abandoned house, forrest or in space. Theses types of locations are typically chosen to increase tension as there is little hope of rescue and the characters are isolated from the outside world.
A common convention but a negative trope of this genre was the way characters often act irrationally to increase the suspense of a scene. Films like halloween have characters who will constantly fall or act stupid so that the killer will catch up to them or kill them. Whilst this increases supsense we also found that it ruins immersion as characters behave in a manner that does not reflect real life.
Editing tropes:
For these types of films the editing is usually methodically and slow at the start. There are well paced establishing shots of the location the characters will be staying or even a tracking shot showing characters travelling to the location. Everything is slow to reflect the calm atmosphere before danger emerges.
paced and frantic with many jump cuts and quick pans to reflect the tension ramping up and the characters frightened mind set as they are met with danger and peril.
There will often be many close up shots of characters face to show their heightened emotions as they deal with each situation. In some horror films the cinematography becomes shakey and hand held shots are employed to give the film more realism and enhance the momentum of intense scenes. The close up shots characters also increase the fear of the unknown as the audiences view is obscured from any surrounding threats. We found this worked especially well in scenes with dark key lighting as the audience is given even fewer clues to the setting and they feel empathy for the character as they know as they know as little as they do. Barthe's enigma code can be applied to this technique as elements of the scene are held back from the audience which frustrates and intrigues the audience.
The sound design in these films is also an important aspect which is used to increase the tension or set the mood in horror films. The soundtrack in these films is usally dark and menancing with heavy percussion strikes to reflect the danger or action in a scene. Loud stings are used when the alien appears on screen and are used when a 'jump scare' happens to quickly frighten the audience and capture their attention.
Thriller
The 2nd biggest genre which encompasses alien films is thriller.
Thriller is a film genre that revolves around anticipation and supsense. The goal for a thriller is to keep the audience alert and on the edge of their seat. The protagonist is face with a problem such a mystery, an escape or a trail.
Conventions:
The tropes of the thriller genre are usually employed to enhance the suspense and action of the film. The film usually resolves around a resiliant character who seeks to resolve an equilibrium much like Tordorov's equilibrium film.
Realism is a big focus in these films. The tension will be increased if the audience thinks the events in the movie can happen to them and this furthers the immersion they will feel. There are many typical professions and characters that feature in
thriller films such as law enforcers, marines, detectives, spies and criminals.
A negative trope/convention of this genre is the contrived nature of many situations that occur in the film. Many main plot points will usually be the result of something extremely unlikely or a chain of concidences that result in a character having to go on the run or try to clear his name.
Editing tropes:
The editing in thrillers is usually complex as there is often many things occuring at once that needs to be effectively conveyed to the audience. Cross cutting is often used to build suspense as different plot points interwine and the action progresses. Many different camera angles are used to build momentum in a scene like over the shoulder shots, point of view shots, low/high angle shots and tracking shots. The varitey of coverage seen in a thriller film is often used so that frantic action happening can be conveyed in a precise and logical sequence so the audience is engaged and not confused.
Below is an example of this from the film collateral when the antagonist shots two side characters and the gun shot sound is heightened with an echo effect so that audience feels the impact of the violence.
https://youtu.be/oEFPcljAXgs?t=1m10s
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