Horror ConventionsRory Dickson-Stringer

Setting

Small communities or isolated places like large cities, ghost towns, countryside (farm like places).

Places with a dark history, like abandoned houses, asylums, hospitals, hotels, stores, camps etc…

Typically locations – lakes, the countryside, farms, abandoned houses, forests, cabins, cities, subways/underground, hotels/motels, cornfields.

Technical Codes

Camerawork is not natural and is very expressive. High and low angles can connote fear and terror.

POV shots are useful as it allows the viewer to gain a first person experience and make the audience a part of the film.

Handheld shots are useful in horrors as it makes more real for the viewer and due to the constant jerking and movement it gives the viewer uncertainty.

Low key lighting is important in a horror because emphasises the darkness in the film.

Quick cuts are typical in a horror trailer to show the pace and the danger of the film.

Props

Weapons – knifes, axes, baseball bats, guns, chainsaws, machetes, swords, scythes

Body Parts – blood, limbs, guts, heads Clothing – standard teenage clothes for victims, letterman jock jacket Masks – Hockey mask, plain white mask, human skin mask

Slasher Conventions

The final girl is always the virgin, starts as the innocent girl and throughout the film builds more confidence an then turns into the “badass”.

The killer/monster’s identity is usually unknown. They wear a mask to hide their faces. The mask is there hide the identity or the disfigured face. Creates fear and tension among the audience as they wonder what hides behind the mask.

The location is usually a quiet suburban town. Helps create fear in the audience as it shows people being murdered in a place supposed to be safe. Like Woodsbourgh in Wes Craven’s Scream. Also the killer destroys the victims means of escape e.g. slashing the tires of the car.

Usually a girl who dies first. This sets meaning and sets the audience into the film setting by giving everyone the warning that the killer is here.

Victims are usually young adolescents, so teenagers between 16-19.