Post on 05-Dec-2014
description
List as many codes
and convention
s of the horror
genre seen in:
Compare with other ‘types’
• Halloween – Slasher• Saw – Torture Porn/Gore• Scream - Slasher• Friday the 13th – Psychological/Slasher• Texas Chainsaw Massacre - Gore• The Descent – Monster/Gore• The Exorcist - Religious
Horror films are unsettling and designed to cause discomfort to the viewer. It could do any these things to you;
• Frighten and make the viewer panic causing heart rate to rise.
• Cause dread and alarm.• Invoke hidden or even new fears, sometimes
lasting longer than the film.• Captivate and entertain us in a fearful and
gruesome manner.• Conclude often in a way that shocks the
audience.
Typical fears reinforced by the horror genre
Any good horror film should play on at least one of the following;• Nightmares - something everyone has experienced once in
their life• Vulnerability - the inability to withstand the effects of a hostile
environment.• Alienation - being alone is one of the scariest things for
everyone• Fear of the unknown - even something simple like a low lit
room• Death - the inevitable and also unknown, it’s never certain
what will happen when you die.• Loss of identity - losing everything you once were
Horror Conventions
Location/Setting
Props
Characters
Victims
Isolated places
Sound/music Sub genre
Countryside Woods
weapon
Usually stabbing weapon never a gun
Knife AxeMachete Chainsaw
Weapons that inflict a slow and painful death
Killer (usually a male character)
Killer/monster never dies
Killer
Monster Sci-fi Vampire
Teen slasher
Religious
Villain/Killer
Cave
Isolated Town
Haunted/Abandoned House
Mental patient Monster
Evil twinPsycho
Outcast
Masked murders
Ghost/Demon
TeenagersParents
Children
Uses a lot of non-diegetic sound to set a mood
The slut( promiscuous girl) gets punished for being sexual active
The Virgin survives as long as her virginity
A group of people, the audience can relate to
Key film language to use in your essays
• Convention• Narrative• Genre• Mise-en-scene• Lighting• Editing• Performance• Camera – movement
• Shot - angle/tilt• Framing• Composition• Sound• Colour• Iconography