Horror codes and conventions

 

Horror films are unsettling used to frighten and panic their audiences as well as entertain them. In the media codes and conventions are used to define the film genre and sub-genre. Usually, a typical horror would follow the general codes and conventions but the film company might choose to challenge this making the film more unpredictable for the viewer. The codes and conventions are made up of Narrative, characters, settings & lighting, costumes & colour, props, and sound.  

The narrative of any horror film follows the general conventions of a beginning, middle, and end. In a typical horror film, the beginning focuses on the main protagonist and the beginning of their venture, the middle of the film is when there is the evil is up on the main protagonist and tension start to build. At the end of the film, there would be a tense climax as the evil will start to strike at the protagonist. Normally a horror would play a sequence of events in chronological order with the possibility of a few flashback scenes. The narrative features of a horror movie include fear, shock, and mystery.

The stereotypical characters you would encounter in a horror movie would be the protagonist, joker, nice guy, popular person, nerd, and antagonist. 

Horror Movie locations are usually located in isolated areas such as forests or abandoned buildings. This is used to isolate the Protagonist and connote that they are on their own with no help around them. Another reason why these settings are used is that the locations connote mystery because it's not a place that is used or known by the protagonist or protagonists. Another location typically used in a horror is a cemetery. The graves are a symbolic code of death creating a perfect horror setting. A horror would predominantly be located in a stormy, misty, dark, or rainy environment to give a sense that darkness has fallen upon them metaphorically. 

The most iconic props in a movie of this genre would connote death or harm e.g. fake blood or a type of weapon. This would associate danger and ruthlessness prominent to the genre. Graves could be used to symbolise a warning to the protagonist that the situation they are in likely to end up in death. Props like ropes or chains refer to torture scenes that are common to sub-genres.  

Depending on the period in which the movie is set their clothing could vary from more dated costumes to more modern costumes to give a sense of realism. When establishing a costume age is taken into account as a fashion between different generations changes. Predominantly the antagonist would be wearing black, this is symbolic of death and the protagonists would be wearing lighter colors to symbolize goodness. In a horror movie, the antagonist could be seen wearing tattered old clothing to connote that they aren't afraid to get their hand dirty or go to extreme measures to inflict suffering upon the main character.

The use of sound can greatly impact the mood of a scene depending on how well it is used. A horror would usually have piano or violin background music and the sound effects would include doors creaking, screams, or crying to create a sense of danger, evil, and suffering. For a climax typically the music would start to get louder and the music would start to get eerier until the jump scare popped out then there would be a loud burst of sound to make the audience jump but when the scene sad there would be lightly played music.

The target audience of a horror film is about 15 to 25 this is mainly because young adults and teenagers enjoy thrills more than the older generations. Stereo typically this genre is aimed more at males than females. This is because stereo typically violence appeals more to the male audience.

The differentiates between both themes thriller and horror is that a thriller is more psychological and requires more thought and explanation as to what happens within the film, whereas a horror has mainly blood and gore with careless actions of violence. Thrillers are also known to be more realistic than horrors.