The Repertoire of Elements

Supernatural Horror

iconographyIconography is an important aspect of genre. It is when we see certain objects on screen that we associate with the genre and expect to see. It is ‘the visual images and symbols used in a work of art or the study or interpretation of these.’

Typical Iconography Supernatural Horror Films:• Crosses/rosaries/bibles (religious symbolic items)• White clothing on ghost/demon • Doors slamming, lights turning off, furniture moving on its own• Jump scares, loud sounds – windows opening, wind, bangs• Fast paced trailer, with a bit of background to the story• Skulls and cob wells • Candles • Old fashioned creepy dolls• Overgrown weeds• Cracks/dampness in walls

charactersA character is a person in a novel, play or film. They are actors/actresses who play a role of a different person in order to make the audience feel a certain way toward them and make the novel, play or film relate to a certain genre or demographic. They are what the audience relate to the most and so make the novel, play or film realistic. In supernatural horror the characters usually work together to get rid of the supernatural being/s.

Typical Characters in Supernatural Horror:

• Ghost/Demon – main character needed for it to be supernatural. Creates fear within the other characters and the audience.

• Priest – to get rid of evil spirits/demons

• Unbeliever – This character is the one that doesn’t believe anything being said about the supernatural and is naïve.

• Previous sufferer – there is sometimes someone who also experienced supernatural beings who comes to help, or who tells their story.

• Possessed/haunted character – The character that is taken over or followed by the demon/ghost. The one that needs saving, usually young/naïve/vulnerable.

settingThe setting is the place or type of surroundings where something is positioned or where an event takes place. The setting is used to make something appear more realistic. In horror the setting is very important as it has to make the audience suspect bad things when they first see it and feel fear whenever the characters go to this place. A key element of supernatural horror is that the protagonist is isolated while dealing with the supernatural. For that reason, the typical setting of this subgenre is also isolated.

Typical Supernatural Horror Settings:• Isolated and remote places such as an old cabin, village, small towns, haunted

houses, and forests• Usually in isolated areas in a house that are hard to escape from e.g. cellar, attic • Old fashioned house or one room in house that is old and untouched

(dusty/cob wells)• Overgrown garden/lots of trees outside house • Dark lit rooms

ideological approachIdeology is usually defined as a body of ideas reflecting the social needs and aspirations of an individual, group, class, or culture. The term is generally associated with politics, but it can also mean a given set of values that will impact an audience, like filmmaking. Ideology goes against already existing conformity within society and tries to alter the audiences views. Horror focuses on frightening the audience through the mysterious and unknown, death and loss of identity. Examples of Ideological Approach within Supernatural Horror:• Possession and the Catholic Church• After life

narrative structureNarrative structure is how the story is portrayed. There is three theories used to describe a films narrative; Todorov’s theory of equilibriums, Levi-Strauss theory of binary opposites and Propp’s theory of spheres of action. The structure of supernatural horror is very much linear as the story is usually in chronological order, however sometimes it shows flashbacks to previous victims of the demon/ghost or the story of the demon/ghost’s origin. The structure usually begins with a introduction to the protagonists’ life before the introduction of weird things happening and then the action where the antagonist is battling with the other characters until the antagonist ends up dead or captured and then the protagonist can try and get back to normal life. However they usually end with a twist which leads to them resurrecting leading to the potential for a sequel. In most horror films there is a ‘damsel in distress’ character which is rescued by the male lead.