Horror Film Convention.

Horror Film Conventions. 

Setting.

In most horror films the setting is normally: Isolated, abandoned or it has some kind of past story. Seeing a setting like this instantly creates tension to the viewers as we already have an idea of what the character is putting themselves into. Normally, the characters that are targets are alone or with a group of naive friends, in most horror films this usually occurs during the night time, but there are occasions that it’s set during the daytime.

EXAMPLE: Supernatural season 1 episode 17: Hell house 

Characters.

In every horror there are stereotypical characters that appear.

In most films of this genre there is always a target, usually it’s a woman so that it portrays the vulnerability and the need of protection. This character is normally very stupid and annoying, but they are never the first to die but they do get killed later on. All horror movies have this character as they build-up suspense and tension due to the fact that they are so easily scared.  

EXAMPLE: Opening of scream- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3lSvJ5RXKA&safe=active

Every horror movie has a hero, they are nearly always a male that is strong both physically and mentally, and this allows them to protect themselves and the other characters. They normally are able to stay strong and concentrated through most of the film. In more recent horror movies they have started to make a female the hero as this goes against older traditional horror movies.

No horror movie would be complete without a villain, typically the villain is portrayed as a serial killer, monster or ghost. On the other hand, if they are human they will wear a mask to hide their real identity whilst they are murdering someone, so that not even the audience has a clue of who the villain could possibly be. This makes the audience more frightened due to the “fear of the unknown”.

There is always a person that doubts that they are being attacked and these people normally die very close to the beginning of the film, they always state that “there is no such thing as…” or “there is nothing here”. After they say this they are usually killed which leads on the killer to carry on killing everyone else.

In a lot horror films there's a teenage couple, they normally wonder off by themselves and that’s when they are killed, most of the time the viewer’s get very on-edge and frustrated at the young couple when they leave the group because we know that they shouldn't separate from the group as the consequences are that they are going to end up dead.

EXAMPLE: Opening of Halloween - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELF1DCf1ChA

Most horror movies have a fake helper that pretends to help the hero but really they are giving help and information to the villain, normally we find out who the fake helper is near the end of the movie when the villain has also been discovered, usually it’s a shocker for the audience when the figure out who the villains sidekick is as it’s a very unusual person and the views see him as a second hero.

Costumes:

For the humans in the horror films most of their costumes are dark to fit with the scenario, but usually the characters that uses black or dark colors represent the evil in the movie, white is also a color that appears a lot during horror movies, white is usually to represent the hero’s and the good people in the piece, and sometimes the victims.

On the other hand, when there is a monster in a horror film their costumes give away what they are. Zombies usually have blood dripping down them and ripped clothes, vampires typically have very long capes and their fangs. Werewolves normally are covered in fur after they transform, with the help pf these costumes the audience is able to pick up on what they are.

EXAMPLE: Supernatural season 1 episode 1: Pilot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKtE0l0J0uA&safe=active

Camera Angles:

Horror film directors and producers like to use different camera angles to show us every little detail to freak the audience out more. They like to use high and low angles to portray who is the most dominate character and who is the less dominant, this has an effect on the audience because we really get the understanding of who has the upper hand.

Another popular shot is the point of view angle so that we can see through the characters and monsters eyes, this impacts us because we are able to experience the things that they see.

They are also fans of using extreme close ups, usually of the victims so that the views can really see the expressions and emotions that a certain character is feeling. 

EXAMPLE: The ring

Sounds:

During the horror films we hear a lot of back ground noises that make us more anxious and scared. In most horror films we hear owls if the characters are wondering through the woods, most horror films like to include ambient sounds and non-diegetic such as footsteps and heartbeats, this causes and impact on the viewers as we feel like we are in the characters shoes and were the ones being chased. All horror films have suspense music in the background to really make the audience frightened and build-up tension and suspense.