HORROR GENRE

HorrorSettings

- Graveyard- Haunted house - Asylum - Isolated- Hotel/motel/bnb- School- Cabin/campsite- Theatre - Hospitals/psychiatric hospitals - Deserted islands- Forests/woods- Ships- Warehouses - Ghost towns- Caves - Abandoned places (towns/houses/hospitals)- A ordinary setting (home)

Hospital setting from the movie ‘dark floors’ Abandoned town from the movie ‘silent hill’

Narrative structure

• Horror films follow to generic conventions • Start with murders to make the characters

aware of an evil presence, the main characters then get picked off one by one and the end is often a battle of good vs evil where good normally looses.

Technical code • Use of CGI, FX• High production values but many low budget horror films • Use of low key lighting • Low angles shots • Large use of close ups • Handheld shots often used/ point of view shots• Distorted use of diegetic sounds

Iconography

• The iconography of a horror film can be symbols which recur throughout the whole film such as: haunted houses, masks, the phallic murder weapon (knives, chainsaw) also the audiences expects blood and body parts (body horror)

Character types

• Female victim- portrayed as venerable and needing protection

• Non-believer- normally first to be killed, overconfident

• Hero- usually main character, not many horror films where the good overpower the evil

• Evil character-often wear masks, take on many forms such as serial killer, ghost, monster

• Couple- often not aware of the killer as too occupied with each other.

Themes

• Fear • Fear of the unknown • Female vs male dominance • Law and justice • Creatures (human and non-human)