horror genre:codes and conventions

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