Foundation portfolio in media Toby Longley 8064: 02. Research

Some of the main codes and conventions that you will see in any horror films that lean more towards supernatural/psychological ideas are as follows:

Weapons: These types of horror films do not usually use a physical weapon, but tend to use the mind of a killer instead. In this way the killer uses fear to impact the victims mind instead of having to use a physical weapon.

Settings: Usually the main types of settings seen in these horrors are ones in which the audience can relate to (e.g. houses, schools and hospitals) or ones that are totally isolated in the middle of nowhere (forests and abandoned ware houses). This means it can create a sense of realism for the audience and allow them to relate themselves to these sorts of environments.

Sights: Very often in this horror genre, flashbacks are used to show the audience about the killer's past, and what has made them become what they are now.

Sounds: A very typical type of sound used is contrapuntal Sound; this is sound that doesn’t match the action that is on screen. Horror films use eerie music, like other sub genres to build up tension and to create suspense.

Characters: The main antagonist in these films are normally either disturbed and/or tormented. The victims can be different in the films, however the majority of the time they tend to be more female than male. Even when the film uses children to be the killers or tormented ones, females are still the victims. This could have something to do with the fact that mothers are maternal and the female audiences watching will be able to relate to the character in some way.

Lighting: The types of lighting used in these horrors are: Low key lighting, back lighting, under lighting and shadowing. These types of lighting are all able to frighten the audience as it gives off a sense of the unknown and only lights up part of the scene (e.g. the killers face) this means all attention will drawn upon the killer making it easier to make the audience feel discomforted.

So overall, these codes and conventions used make it fairly clear that horror films (which are either psychological and supernatual) are more subtle and less blood and gore will be shown/used compared to a slasher film, this is due to the use of the mind acting as a weapon.

The films that we felt suited the codes and conventions best were The shining, Case 39, Insidious and se7en.

The shining: