Horror Conventions

Characters

Family- protective mother/ father, no one believes the

children till its too late, family house and lifestyle e.g.

mom is housewife, father works

Mentally ill/ possessed-

isolated, alone, helpless,

depressed, drained

Young children- Pure, Innocent, Communicating

with spirits, target for evil

Teens-Sexualised, impure,

rebellious, uncontrollable,

partygoers

Mise-en-sceneProps

-The Crucifix-Holy water

-Sharp items e.g. knives, chain saw, axe…

-Dolls/ Old toys-Noose-Mirrors

-old books/ photos

Make-up/ Costume-Blood

-Ripped clothing-White garment

-Contact lenses (black)-Long hair

-Black gunk

Location-Forest

-Farm house-Church-Cabin

-Old mansion

Music and Sound

Diegetic-Screams,

barking, wind, rain,

Thunder, laughter, crying

Non-diegetic- demonic voices,

drums (heartbeat),

children's music (nursery/ lullaby)

Music- piano, violin, high

pitch, low dead tone

Example 1 (clip in description)https://youtu.be/jsd8xsgPIqA

Opening scene to sinister

Characters:

Typical family- Father, Mother and two children. They appear to be dressed well and we know from the movie that thy lived family sized house.

Mise-en-scene

Though not set in a forest there is a lot of coverage from trees and bushes creating an isolated area where no one can see in. There are also bags placed over each one of the family members heads to add to the torture. Nooses are another common piece found in a lot of horror movies. This is because of their link to death but also witches and black magic as most witches were known to be killed from hanging.

Music and sound

There is a constant dead drone sound in the background as well as occasional crashing sounds (non-diegetic). There is also the diegetic sound of a camera rolling which makes us as an audience experience it as though we were really happening

Example 2 (clip in description)https://youtu.be/nM4dyGgTllc

Characters:

Here we have our ‘typical teens’. There is Marty who plays the rebel against society as he constantly smokes cannabis. Jules who is the over sexualised character in the movie and plays a stereotypical blonde.

Mise-en-scene:

The location is a cabin in the woods as the title says. This setting again provides the isolation and coverage needed for bad things to happen to the characters. The lighting of the room is dull and it is furnished with old and antique objects such as candle holders, old books, fire place and lamps.

Music and sound:

Even though there is nothing frightening happening in the scene the music is quit dark and dead tones are still used to make us expect the worse