Horror Conventions

The Setting

Isolation

Darkness

Abandoned

trapped

Remoteness

Examples; Graveyard, alleyways, old houses, barns, woods, lakes..

Technical Codes

Camera shots/ angles:

High angle, low angle, point of view, close up, extreme close up, over the shoulder.

Shots to show the emotion of the victims as well as show the dominance of the villain or hero.

Editing:

Fast editing creating suspense, Tension is

also created by using a pause making the

audience know something is about to

happen.

Technical Codes

Sounds:

Silence is used mostly to create suspense

until a loud or obscure nice breaks the silence.

Technical Codes

Iconography

Visual Image:

Black or red colours used to show darkness

or blood.

Lighting:

Dark or non- naturalistic light. Low- key

lighting.

Props:

Weapons, cars, costumes.

Film can be left on a cliff hanger however most movies end with the villain being defeated.

Hero protagonist or a “final” girl. Hero has to either kill, rescue or solve problems.

Villain is shown to have either psychological or mental heath.

Narrative Structure

Character types

Hero

Villain

Teenagers

Possessed child

Police officers

Immortal characters e.g. vampires, demons,

ghosts, werewolf.

themes

Good vs evil

Revenge

Childhood issues

Insanity

Envy

Science experiments