THE CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF HORROR

FILMS

Sujata Gurung

CHARACTER TYPES

Propp found that there were certain characters in films and stories

with certain functions:

The hero: character that goes on a quest and saves the day

The villain: evil character that causes the disequilibrium

The helper: character that helps the hero in the quest like a

sidekick

The victim: at the mercy of the villain

The donor: someone who has something special which will help the

hero

ICONOGRAPHYI M A G E S A N D S Y M B O L S A S S O C I A T E D W I T H G E N R E

Lighting is expressive & non-naturalistic

Low key lighting (dark): Unfamiliar shapes in the blackness, this can be created through lighting from bonfires, torches etc.

Heavy makeup

(Before low budget film’s used rely on this but because of technological advancements SFX)

Gothic setting

Visual style: Black and Red-these are colours linked to evil and Blood (gore) relates to danger

Symbol’s of devil e.g. the triple 6

Monsters: vampires, mummies, shadow, werewolves (these also connote fear, disgust, terror etc.)

Props:

Knives

Axes

Chainsaw

Costumes

Religion

Psychopathic issues

Revenge

Supernatural

Nightmares

Insanity

Lust

Envy

Depression

Good vs Evil

Self-consciousness (make you question what is real of

not-playing with the mind)

Gender (women/men)

they are often seen to be the victims or in Slasher film known as ‘final girl’ the

character is often a virgin and innocent e.g. Laurie from the film Halloween.

In Slasher films there are violent attacks against women, particularly those who

had sex. The women are terrorized and slaughtered

“Most monsters tend to be in fact male, especially in so far as the object of

their desire are almost exclusively women. Simultaneously it is women who are

their primary victims” Neade, 1980

Robin Wood stated Slasher film were a “misogynist genre”

Authority:

Most of the time authorative figures shouldn’t be trusted e.g. cops

Race:

In Slasher films the main girl tends to be a white girl or women.

Age:

The main protagonist usually are young adults or specifically in Slasher films it

will be a teenager.

THEMES AND REPRESENTATIONSThemes Representations

SETTINGS

Urban environment & isolated places e.g. haunted house

Large cities or ghost towns

Somewhere with an eerie feeling

Dark & gloomy

Farms/barns (mostly western)

Dark woods

Houses

Cemetery

Dingy places e.g. narrow alleys

Places with hidden past e.g. a story behind a mysterious place

Basements

hotels

NARRATIVECliff hangers at the end

This is because it is usually left for a possible sequel. Most horror films are a franchise e.g. Scream, Halloween etc.

The victims attempt to free/escape from the villain. This ignites some hope for the audiences watching.

Valdimir Propp a Russian critic interested in the narrative of folk tales, he noticed that often many folk tales were similar in some areas. He

identified the theory about characters and actions as narrative functions. And according to Propp characters have a narrative function and they

provide a structure for the text.

Todorov’s narrative theory (structure)states that most story’s or plot lines follow the same pattern or path. There are 5 steps in this pattern.

1. Equilibrium (balanced, normal state)

2. disequilibrium

3. Realisation

4. Restored order

5. Equilibrium again

Claude Levi-Strauss suggested that all narratives had to be driven forward by conflict that was caused by a series of opposing forces. This theory was called the Binary Opposition-it describes how the main forces in narrative have it’s equal and opposite. E.g. good/bad, right/wrong, light/dark, man/women (these opposites create conflict)

Camera work expressive and not natural

High and low angles to connote fear

P.O.V shots (this allows the audience to see the

world from the monster’s eyes e.g. clown face

movie (find it later)

Sometimes with films such as the Blair Witch

project, hand held camera work is used to

capture a more realistic feel to the film.

S O U N D

The common feature of the sound in horror films is

to build tension and make the audience feel fear

The pace of the sound or music can reflect what is

happening in the scene e.g. if a character is running

away really quickly from a monster the score playing

would be faster

The tone of voice of the characters are different.

Some monsters will speak in an unnatural tone. Maybe

something strong or husky e.g. whispering

Camera Work/Visual Codes