All films are made up of certainly rules and conventions that define which genre and sub-genre they will fall into. I have been studying the conventions of the horror genre and what makes a horror a horror. Elements to take into consideration are settings, technical code, Iconography, narrative structure, character types and themes. Horror settings are typically set out of the way, for example somewhere like, the suburbs, this allows for any kinda of secret organization of evil or mutant race to exist in complete secret. Of course everything needs to happen at night time, or out of hours, so for example someone stays late after work, only to be axed to death with no one there to save them. Secrets, innocence and ‘the past’ also play a big part in the conventional settings of horror. A school has that feel of innocence which is why it remains a popular choice of horror films. There are clear examples of secrets and the past in a lot of horror settings, for example in the “Amityville Horror” the house is built upon an Indian burial ground, this exact same idea is also used in “The Shining”, as the hotel is also built on an Indian burial ground, this helps to show just how conventional the rules of setting in a horror film are.
In horror films the technical code is very distinct. The camera work often uses weird and unconventional techniques of filming, for example strange and expressive angles causing disorientation. POV’s and ECU’s are very common in horror films, because both shots allow us to relate with the victim or sometimes with the monster. The editing is never smooth in a horror film, it’s very jumpy and eerie, adding fear and tension to scenes, and the sound often backs up the cutting, by including a high stab note with the cuts. Musical techniques are also very obvious in horror films, the minor key is always used! For example, when tension is building up in the film, the orchestra would play an ascending scale, incorporating a crescendo, and then end on a non perfect cadence; this leaves the audience with the feeling of, what next?
The horror genre itself is iconic, and this comes from the iconography within the films. The colors red and black directly represent horror, simple denotations of these colors would be darkness, evil, blood, pain, anger, danger and the unknown; all of which are big elements in the genre of horror. Low key lighting is also used to create the iconic idea of shadows, connoting hell, primitive instincts and death. The topic of innocence is also an iconic part of horror; we can see this with the use of nursery rhymes, and songs sung by children.
Narrative structure takes a big role in the genre of horror, many horrors use Todorov’s theories. There is never a simple hero; they are always a victim/hero who is in some way mentally or physically scared.
In all horror’s there has to be a few character types included to make it fit completely into the genre of horror, first we have the main protagonist, which is usually a ‘final girl’ and in slashes she is often a tom boy who is virginal. There’s the ‘Monster’ which is often some kind of beast that doesn’t die, leaving room for a sequel, the monster often has some kinda of creepy past, which has left them mentally scared and often with a desire to kill! Silly teenagers that are anti social and not ‘morally correct’, who get punished for this by being killed. There is also Scientists or doctors that make a mistake in an experiment, the ’have a go hero’, that gets killed, those who refuse to believe, who often finally accept the truth just before there death, children, for the added sense of innocence and useless policemen, or some type of law enforcement, e.g. security guards or doormen.
Lastly I will discuss themes. In the horror genre there is the theme of binary opposites, the most obvious being good vs. evil, which is the foundation of all horrors, but there are more deeply imbedded binary opposites, such as, natural vs. unnatural, known vs. unknown, strong vs. weak, and life vs. death. Horror is often close to sex, this is what a theorist called Freud said, and in most horrors we see some kinda of sexual or maybe rape scene, making sex a big theme in the horror genre. The biggest there themes date all the way back to the three classic novels, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein’s Monster. Those three themes are, what lie's on the other side of death? The hidden evil inside of us, and science gone out of control. Some believe that ALL horrors even made are based on one of these three stories.
In horror films the technical code is very distinct. The camera work often uses weird and unconventional techniques of filming, for example strange and expressive angles causing disorientation. POV’s and ECU’s are very common in horror films, because both shots allow us to relate with the victim or sometimes with the monster. The editing is never smooth in a horror film, it’s very jumpy and eerie, adding fear and tension to scenes, and the sound often backs up the cutting, by including a high stab note with the cuts. Musical techniques are also very obvious in horror films, the minor key is always used! For example, when tension is building up in the film, the orchestra would play an ascending scale, incorporating a crescendo, and then end on a non perfect cadence; this leaves the audience with the feeling of, what next?
The horror genre itself is iconic, and this comes from the iconography within the films. The colors red and black directly represent horror, simple denotations of these colors would be darkness, evil, blood, pain, anger, danger and the unknown; all of which are big elements in the genre of horror. Low key lighting is also used to create the iconic idea of shadows, connoting hell, primitive instincts and death. The topic of innocence is also an iconic part of horror; we can see this with the use of nursery rhymes, and songs sung by children.
Narrative structure takes a big role in the genre of horror, many horrors use Todorov’s theories. There is never a simple hero; they are always a victim/hero who is in some way mentally or physically scared.
In all horror’s there has to be a few character types included to make it fit completely into the genre of horror, first we have the main protagonist, which is usually a ‘final girl’ and in slashes she is often a tom boy who is virginal. There’s the ‘Monster’ which is often some kind of beast that doesn’t die, leaving room for a sequel, the monster often has some kinda of creepy past, which has left them mentally scared and often with a desire to kill! Silly teenagers that are anti social and not ‘morally correct’, who get punished for this by being killed. There is also Scientists or doctors that make a mistake in an experiment, the ’have a go hero’, that gets killed, those who refuse to believe, who often finally accept the truth just before there death, children, for the added sense of innocence and useless policemen, or some type of law enforcement, e.g. security guards or doormen.
Lastly I will discuss themes. In the horror genre there is the theme of binary opposites, the most obvious being good vs. evil, which is the foundation of all horrors, but there are more deeply imbedded binary opposites, such as, natural vs. unnatural, known vs. unknown, strong vs. weak, and life vs. death. Horror is often close to sex, this is what a theorist called Freud said, and in most horrors we see some kinda of sexual or maybe rape scene, making sex a big theme in the horror genre. The biggest there themes date all the way back to the three classic novels, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein’s Monster. Those three themes are, what lie's on the other side of death? The hidden evil inside of us, and science gone out of control. Some believe that ALL horrors even made are based on one of these three stories.
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