Horror means intense and generally includes a gothic character. This gives the audience uncomfortable atmosphere because strange and unpleasant settings often crate terrifying moods which is typical for the types of genre. Horror Movies often portray that humans are weak and often suffer pain, mistreatment, fear and cruelty. Horror Movies also have certain themes that are associated to horror such as; death, psychological and mental illness.
Saturday, 20 February 2010
Conventions of Horror
Conventions of Horror | Associated to Horror |
1. Sound | · Non Diegetic Sound: scary music in the background · Diegetic Sound: screaming, dialogue, |
2. Camera | · Point of view shot: from the characters perspective · Hand held shot: filmed from the cameraman’s own hands, for e.g. The Blair Witch Project · Tracking shot: Following characters actions · Extreme long shot: shot of scenery and making the villain unknown and unseen · These camera shots are used frequently throughout Horror Movies |
3. Lighting | · Often dark lighting, for e.g. The Descent · Hard Lighting: darkness, naturalistic and realistic · Colour Temperature: colour generating different moods, for e.g. the colour red signifies blood and murder |
4. Editing | · Fast paced editing: creating tense exciting atmosphere (happens in most horror movies) · Dissolve/ Mixes: signal a flashback or a change of consciousness, for e.g. Saw |
5. Target audience | · Teenagers and adults · Not suitable for children |
6. Mise En Scene | · Isolated scenes, such as: forests, caves, deserted island or house |
7. Mood of Narrative | · Frightened, panicked, cause dread alarm, invoke our hidden worst fears, captivate and entertain us in a cathartic experience and concluding a shocking and unexpected climax |
8. Connotation: Representation of Gender | · Women: are seen as weak ,helpless, vulnerable and seem to be the victims · Men: seem to be the murderers or the villain |
9. Two Broad Categories | · Wet Horror: known as the ‘splatter movie’, involving lots of blood and gore for e.g. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre And The Descent · Dry Horror: tends to be more psychological in the fear it creates for e.g. The Shining and Psycho |
10. Popular subjects for Horror | · Disgust: more psychological, for e.g. The Shining · Sadism: wanting to cause pain, for e.g. Saw · Insanity: scare of certain people and portraying them negatively · Cannibalism: eating human, for e.g. Wrong Turn · Religious: for e.g. The Exorcist · Supernatural and evil |
11. Fears created by Horror | · Nightmares, our vulnerability, alienation, revulsions, terror of the unknown, fear of death, loss of identity and fear of sexuality |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)