codes and conventions of a horror
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Codes and Conventions of a Horror
Subgenre research – Supernatural Horror
Horror definition
Horror fiction is a genre of literature, which is
intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its
readers, inducing feelings of horror and
terror
Traditional Horror scene
History of Supernatural
HorrorsSupernatural horror has its roots in folklore and religious traditions
on death, the afterlife, evil, the demonic and the principle of evil
embodied in The Devil.
These were manifested in stories of witches, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and demonic pacts such as that
of Faust.Traditional devil as a
cartoon interpretation
Eighteenth century Gothic horror drew on these sources in such works
as Vathek (1786) by William Beckford, The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) and The
Italian (1797) by Ann Radcliffe and The Monk (1796) by Matthew Lewis.
A lot of horror fiction of this era was written by women and marketed at a
female audience, a typical scenario being a resourceful female protagonist menaced
by fiends in a gloomy castle.
History of Supernatural
Horrors continued…
Gothic Horror
Supernatural in FilmSupernatural Films tend to
have themes including gods or goddesses, ghosts,
apparitions, spirits, miracles, and other similar ideas or
depictions of extraordinary phenomena.
Traditional image of a ghost
Design of horrorHorror films are designed too:
• Frighten and panic its audience• Cause alarm and dread
• Invoke its audiences hidden most/worst fears
• Captivate and entertain its audience in a liberating manor
• Often concludes in a shocking yet terrifying finale
General reactions of audience watching horror films
Horrors create fearsDepending on the audience
watching, horrors can create different types of fear:
• Vulnerability• Terror of the unknown
• Nightmares• Alienation• Revulsions
Propp’s spheres of action – within
a horrorLead character – can either be the victim or the villain
Victim – often results as the survivor in the film
Villain – Tends to have a trademark characteristic as to how they kill e.g.
weapons used, who they killBinary opposition – good vs. bad (conflict)
Sticks to ‘Propp’s spheres of action’ by usually starting of with an equilibrium, followed by a disequilibrium then finishing
with a new equilibrium (but can change due to certain circumstances)
SoundSound used within supernatural
horrors tend to base around:• Fast pace music for tense scenes
or action scenes• Common use of choir singing
• Common use of a beat in the time of a drum/heart
• Piano/Organ music – whether it be fast or slow it has a spooky feel
LocationLocation used within supernatural horrors tend to be based in places
such as:• Churches – huge relation to
supernatural and Christ (main base for supernatural genre)
• Barns/farms – deserted, dark, old (very traditional horror theme)
• Fields, country roads – deserted, associated with creepy looking
surrounds e.g. trees, animals and birds etc.
Other…• Credits – credits follow horror
theme - font, title movement, images etc
• Shots – many handheld camera shots; quick zoom ins and outs; birds eye for establishing shots;
dirty shots
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