The conventions of Horror

Chloe Bowen

Setting

• Forest, woods • Houses, mansions, castes• Churches, cemetery's • Abandoned alleys, subways

Areas such as these above would build up tension if set at night.

Camera angles

• Dutch tilt • Point of view • Extreme close up • Dolly zoom • Over the shoulder

By using weird unnatural angles, it expresses fear and tension to the audience which lives up to the expectations.

Iconography

Definition: The visual images and symbols used in a work of art or the study or interpretation of these.

Colours: red and black to emphasise the link to death, danger, blood etc. or blue is commonly used to give it an eerie effect.

Props: weapons such as axes are a famous cliché prop of horror films, fake blood, makeup etc.

Character types

• The villain: monster, killer, supernatural characters • The main protagonists: heroes, villains, victims • Antagonists: normally killed off at the end, can be big or small characters • The wise one: tend me old, the ones who know all the past• Ditzy friends: either doesn’t survive, or doesn’t help in sticky situations• The favourite: tends to be funny, down to earth and stands out against the rest in

some way

Themes

• Religion • Revenge • Supernatural • Good vs Bad • Suicide • Insanity/ madness • Apocalypse e.g zombies • Envy, jealousy