Horror films are unsettling, terrifying and frightening which can cause panic and provoke audience’s hidden fears. Horror films often expose our deepest nightmares and vulnerabilities. Film genres have different codes and conventions that separate them from one another. This allows a target audience to immediately identify which genre is being presented. There are often many codes and conventions which are continuously used within horror films. However some also challenge them and create originality and uniqueness making them in some way unpredictable. Nonetheless, you couldn't challenge them to the point where the codes and conventions used are not in some way linked to the horror genre. These codes and conventions can be seen through a number of things including setting, characters, costumes, sounds, events and occurrences, lighting, weapons and camera shots/ angles. Below I will briefly explain some of the codes and conventions used within the horror genre.
Settings: Settings immediately set the scene, giving off a certain mood and atmosphere allowing the audience to identify the genre. For example some typical horror settings include abandon houses which characters can explore and investigate , large spacious areas e.g. forests for a character to be in the middle of nowhere and to find hiding spaces during an intense chase, churches or grave yards linked with the supernatural aspect, barns and farms as they are deserted and often associated with creepy looking objects e.g., trees/animals and sometimes it can be set in homes which have a alter ego of looking cosy and inviting but really have an eerie presence.
Other characters include the loved up couple who are typically away from the group when the murders first taker place, and is frustrating to watch from the audiences eyes when they don't realise their deaths are near. A character who is known as the non believer, they are often cocky and overconfident, reassuring other characters but normally end up being the first to be killed. Or even the female lead character, this character is normally the last girl standing in films and can be seen as the hero, clever, resourceful and brave.
Lighting: Lighting is used to set a different atmosphere or tone depending on the circumstance. There are different lighting's for each situation eg. low key lighting or back lighting.
Mise-en-scene: Costumes contribute massively to the horror genre, as different types of clothing can reflect different emotions as they help the audience to determine which character they are watching. For example a killer would predominately be dressed in dark clothing and show little facial features whereas the victim would be wearing light coloured clothing, the main reason being as it shows blood or other stains easiest.
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