HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
I had to have a post on Halloween about something to do with horror, so here are some conventions of the horror genre...
ICONOGRAPHY
Mise-en-scène (lighting, setting, location, props, costume)
- darkness, shadows
- low-key lighting
- attics, basements
- long empty roads and corridors
- deserted buildings
- big houses
- woods, forests - Gothic settings - remote places, crumbling/derelict buildings - castles, mountains
- dark places
- haunted places
- the ordinary - home, school, etc.
- knives
- creepy toys
- mirrors
- curtains
- cupboards
- torches
- guns - shotguns, pistols
- fake heads, hands, body parts...
- masks
- gloves
- chainsaws
- calling card
- candles
- daggers
- blood
- villains - disguise - masks, cloaks etc., smart
- victims - nice clothes, often inappropriate e.g. dresses and high heels, become torn , bloody
Framing & Camera-work
- close-up range, ECUs
- jump cuts
- off-centre framing
- dutch angles (rolling)
- changing levels, LAs and HAs
- tracking shots
- pans, whip pans, and tilts
- hand-held shots, shaky movement
- ambiguous shots
- POV shots
- dark, slow movements followed by fast cuts
CHARACTERS
Personalities & Characteristics
- victims
- villains
- lots of victims - high body count
- personality extremes
- [blonde], stupid, ditzy, pretty girl - victim
- 'final girl' (the girl who starts out being terrified and screaming all the time, and then turns detective & works out what's going on etc., and is left alive at the end)
- damsel in distress
- the boyfriend/love interest
- the clever guy
- psychopaths
- vampires
- zombies
- witches
- possessed children/toys
- spirits of children
- children in general
- ghosts
- devil
- demons
- natural - animals/creatures, but with a paranormal twist?
- stupidity - falling over, going towards creepy noises, not running away, locking themselves into small spaces with no escape and no weapon
- young, beautiful people
- teenagers
- useless/corrupt police
Characters' Emotions & Feelings
- doubt
- vengeful - both victims and villains
- confusion
- panic
- desperation
Habits & Behaviours
- villains - may leave some kind of calling card
- victims may have had a particular lifestyle or done something which incited the wrath of the villain, e.g. in James Wan's 2004 film Saw
- obsessions by the villain with something/someone
- when the film revolves around teenagers, partying, drinking, and drug-taking often occur & sometimes start of the film
Costume & Dress Codes
- ditzy stupid girl - nice hair, makeup and clothes
- female victims tend to be wearing nice clothes which are inappropriate for running away and hiding, e.g. dresses and high heels
- makeup will get smudged, mascara will run, clothes will be torn
- villains tend to disguise themselves; wear dark clothes
- the clever people wear glasses
NARRATIVE
Plot & Motivation of Characters
- someone's out for revenge
- coincidence
- being trapped somewhere alone with no help
- murders & death
- vengeance
- obsession
- jealousy
- confusion
- mental illness
- love
- hatred
Structure
- closed narrative
- starts off happy, ok, even jovial
- people start dying or disappearing or weird things start happening
- police [or similar] are useless/uninterested/corrupt & think it's a coincidence or nothing's wrong
- some characters try and work out what's going on
- things get progressively worse, more of them become unable to help either through disappearing/being killed/being injured/going crazy etc.
- remaining character/s become determined to find out what's going on [e.g. the 'final girl'] because they can't just escape
- either: - they die
- they work out what's going on [or do they?]
- they escape [or do they??]
- everything's ok [or is it??]
- often things aren't tied up at the end completely, or all is not as it seems, to leave room for sequels if the film does well
Action & Events
- running away
- hiding
- being saved
- escaping
- being trapped
- murders
- torture
- psychological games
- chases
- discovery
Sounds (dialogue, music, etc.)
- creaking
- silence
- screams
- bumps
- wind
- weather
- contrast between sounds
- high pitched frenzied strings
- constant/stopping & starting low pitched strings
- maniacal laughter
- howling
- sudden bass drum noise
- gunshots
- scrabbling, scratching
- breathing
THEMES
Ideas Underpinning The Story
- love
- obsession
- jealousy
- mental illness
- twisted sexuality
- [heroism]
- possession
- secrets
- concealment
- following, stalking, secretly watching, observing
- claustrophobia
- moral lessons
- supernatural
- being trapped
- isolation
- pursuit
- traps
- death
- gore, gory detail
- premonitions
- lawlessness
Audience's Reactions & Emotions
- visceral pleasures - quickened heartbeat, jumping
- emotional pleasures
- intellectual puzzles
- fear
- shock
- panic
- disgust and revulsion
- anger
- shouting at screen e.g. at stupid people who go towards creepy noises, or to tell them something...
- tension
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