Assignment

1. Unit 10: Fictional FilmCodes and Conventions
Genre 1:Horror
I am going to analyse how the stylistic and narrative codes and conventions of the horror
genre are displayed, focusing on the two films, Paranormal Activity 3 and The Woman in
Black.
Steve Neale’s theory of repetition and difference states that every genre contains repetition
and difference. Difference is key to the economy of genre. He believes that a genre is
successful as the audience gets pleasure in recognising familiar sets, sounds, props and
current or returning characters.
These ideas of repetition can be saw clearly Paranormal Activity 3, as some of the
recognisable props and characters from the first two movies return. Paranormal Activity 3 is
the third instalment of the Paranormal Activity series however chronologically it is the first
as it serves as a prequel almost 18 years prior to the events of the first two films. This
follows Neale’s theory of repetition as it allows the demographic of the Paranormal Activity
movie franchise to know how the characters from the first two films got to where they are.
The most iconic scene from Paranormal Activity 3 is when Katie is pulled by Toby, the ghost,
while Kristy screams for him to leave her alone (Reference 1), this scene is iconic because it
is the first time that the ghost is violent towards any of the family members. The scene is
also iconic due to the great camera angle as well as the superb lighting and detail. These
features of the scene come together with great direction and superb action in order to
make the great scene which it is. The contrast of light and dark in this scene follows the
stylistic conventions of a horror movie because horror movies usually use low-key lighting.
Low-key lighting is used in this genre due to the effect that it creates, and the small bit of
light creates shadows which is suited to the genre because having the shadows there
misleads the audience. The lighting creates tension due to its mysterious and dark
atmosphere, controlling how much the characters and the surroundings are revealed. The
use of the rumbling sound in this scene builds suspense and allows the audience to identify
that something is going to happen. This is because after hearing thunder lightning usually
follows, likewise, something is going to follow the ‘thunder’ in this scene.

2. Reference 1
Paranormal Activity 3 uses found footage in order to make the film realistic and therefore
scarier as its not meant to be a film, the camera work is almost amateur. This makes the film
scarier as it tricks the audience into believing that the footage shown in the film is real. The
use of unsteady camera work as well as CCTV footage is used to further make the movie
realistic, and scare the audience, who believe this could happen to anyone. The characters
in the film are just ordinary people who have been put into an extra-ordinary situation and
this makes the audience think that the happenings in the filmcould happen to anyone.
The sound in Paranormal Activity 3 is mostly diegetic, not once in the film is there a use of
sound that can’t be heard by the characters. This further adds to the realistic concept of the
film and if non-diegetic sound was used, it would take away the realistic factor of the film.
The filmuses sounds such as creaks, footsteps and noises to scare the audience as they’re
constantly listening for noises out of the ordinary.
The mise-en-scene of this movie follows the codes and conventions of a horror movie. The
location is set in a large house, which is quite clearly haunted. As well as this, the filmuses
props to suggest horror throughout the film. Props such as knives are used to suggest horror
and make the audience scared of the possibility that the ghost could get the knife. A mask is
also used in Paranormal Activity 3 to add a joke factor, this is when the wife of the man
hides in a cupboard and scares him when she believes he is going crazy. As well as humour,
this adds a jump scare to the filmwhich is a typical convention of the genre. The filmalso
uses sound effects throughout to create an apprehensive atmosphere in order to keep the
audience on the edge of their seats. An example of this is the constant thunder-like noise
throughout the scene where Toby drags Katie. This is used in this scene to build suspense
and it keeps the audience waiting and questioning what happens next.
Some themes that are found in most horror movies include, death or murder, revenge,
religion, supernatural and survival. Of these, Paranormal Activity 3 contains supernatural
occurrences and death. People expect horror movies to follow these themes as they’re
common in the genre. Paranormal Activity 3 mostly goes against the typical narrative codes
and conventions of a horror film as what you see is not what you expect from a typical film
from this genre. For example, we see in the beginning of the filmthat the ghost is friendly
with the children, and speaks to them. Although that changes as the filmprogresses, it is
still not what you expect to see in a horror film, the victims befriending the supernatural,
the enemy.
Tzvetan Todarov’s narrative theory suggests that all narratives follow a three-part structure
where they begin with and equilibrium until something comes along to disrupt the
equilibrium until finally it is resolved. Paranormal Activity 3 follows the first to parts of this
narrative structure however it totally goes against the third part of it. The disruption to the
equilibrium is when the family realise something paranormal is going on, but the film never
seems to resolve the problem and the filmends with the family ruined, and many dead. This
fully goes against Todarov’s ideas because the film doesn’t resolve the issue and the
audience are left wondering what will happen next. However, it is common in the horror

3. genre for a film to end open-ended as it leaves the audience feeling uneasy and questioning
the whole film.
Paranormal Activity 3 does not follow Vladimir Propp’s Character Theory. Propp’s theory
suggests that every film has 7 character types that are portrayed. Paranormal Activity 3
marginally contains some, if any, of the characters that Propp’s theory states are in every
film. This is surprising because most films actually follow Propp’s theory and contain these
characters. Some of the characters in paranormal activity could suggest Propp’s theory, for
example the ghost as the villain, or the dad as the hero, however this is pushing it as these
characters hardly display the conventions of these characters.
Paranormal Activity 3 also doesn’t follow the linear structure. The linear structure shows
that a filmshould have a beginning, a middle and an end. In the beginning the audience
should be introduced to the characters and story, followed by the build-up in the story as
the film progresses into the middle. Finally, in the end the film should have a closure.
Paranormal Activity 3 doesn’t follow this as it doesn’t have a closure. The filmfinished open
ended and leaves the audience trying to piece the story together. Therefore, the narrative
structure that Paranormal Activity 3 does follow is the open structure theory. This theory is
where a film leaves the audience are left wondering what happens next and are left to make
sense of it all by themselves.
Moving on to the second filmI have chosen to analyse, The Woman in Black. Firstly, it is
noticeable that Steve Neale’s theory of repetition cannot really be found in this film though
the use of characters. This is mainly because this is the protagonist’s, Daniel Radcliffe, first
film in the horror genre. This goes against Steve Neale’s theory because he believes that in
order to make a filmin a genre appealing, recognisable characters to fans of that genre
should be included. However, the film also contains many props that are generally found in
many horror films. Some of these props include headstones, old trains and candles. These
props are stereotypically found in films in this genre as they add an eerie atmosphere and
are recognised by the audience. The Woman in Black displays many typical conventions of a
horror movie in order to attract an audience because as Neale’s theory suggests, an
audience will always return to a genre they enjoy for similarity, as well as difference.
One of the most well-known scenes in The Woman in Black is the opening scene (Figure 2).
The opening scene fully goes against the typical narrative structure of a horror film. Most
horror films start of slow, and gradually build into the story, whereas this film begins with
three young girls jumping out of a window. This immediately grabs the attention of the
audience due to the shock factor of it. This scene is well-known as we are first introduced
with a close-up shot of children playing with tea cups accompanied by eerie, creepy music,
which is stereotypical of the horror genre. From the use of the tea cups, the audience are
automatically given the idea that the film is going to follow the stylistic codes and
conventions of the horror genre. This is suggested immediately through the use of the high-
pitched music. As well as this, the film seems to be set in a large house and the little girls are
seemingly posh. This is suggested due to the props displayed in this scene. The girls’
costumes along with the glass toys suggests that they’re posh and therefore live in a large
house, which is also a convention of the horror genre. The mise-en-scene suggests that the
film is set in old-fashioned England, this is shown by the bedroom, which looks extremely

4. old-fashioned. As well as this, the use of tea set suggests that the film is set in England
because tea is stereotypically an English thing.
Figure 2
Unlike Paranormal Activity 3, The Woman in Black uses common camera work to make the
film. Where Paranormal Activity 3 uses found footage The Woman in Black uses camera
shots. For example, The Woman in Black uses many close-up shots (figures 3 and 4) to show
the facial expressions of the characters. This helps the audience identify how the characters
are feeling and allows them to understand the film more than they could perhaps if there
weren’t as many close-up shots. There is also quite a lot of establishing shots (figures 5 and
6) which are used to reveal the setting of the scene to the audience. Establishing shots also
capture different aspects of mise-en-scene, for example props, setting and lighting. These
shots successfully help the audience understand the setting and immediately allows them to
further understand the scene which is about to unfold. Finally, the film uses many point of
view shots (figures 7) which are taken from the eyes of specific characters and allows the
audience to see what’s happening from their point of view. These shots can cause jump
scares for the audience due to the sudden view of the action from the character’s point of
view.
Figure 3 Figure 4
Figure 5 Figure 6

5. Figure 7
The Woman in Black uses both diegetic and non-diegetic sound. Firstly, unlike Paranormal
Activity 3, The Woman in Black uses high-pitched, eerie music to suggest horror because.
This helps build suspense as it keeps the audience on edge and waiting to see what is going
to happen. The audience are waiting to see what happens because eerie music is usually
used in horror films just before something happens, which suggests something is about to
happen. An example of this being used in The Woman in Black is the opening scene, High-
pitched, creepy music is used just before the little girls jump out of the window. Diegetic
sound is used in The Woman in Black in the form of dialogue and sounds orientating from
objects on the screen, such as footsteps or something dropping.
The mise-en-scene of The Woman in Black also follows the codes and conventions. Firstly,
much like Paranormal Activity 3, the setting of the film is mainly in a large house which
seemingly looks abandoned and haunted. The setting is originally revealed to us through the
use of an establishing shot which shows a dark house and creates a feeling of horror for the
audience, who can immediately recognise the genre. Like Paranormal Activity 3, there aren’t
many props used in The Woman in Black, however the main prop we see is a large candle.
The candle itself signifies that there is little light available in the house where the film is set.
In this film, the main character, portrayed by Daniel Radcliffe, wears a long black suit
throughout. The colour black connoted death and evil as well as mystery, which represents
the character of Radcliffe in the film well as he visits the house where death, evil and
mystery have occurred. As well as this, the black costume could suggest his feelings due to
the fact his wife had died, suggesting that he is upset as people usually wear black suits to a
funeral. The lighting throughout the film is very dim and in a similar way to Paranormal
Activity 3, the only light available comes from props, such as candles and matches. This
shows a contrast of light and dark which is a typical convention of a horror movie. This use
of lighting creates suspense as the audience are not able to see all of the surroundings, and
are led to believe something may be lurking in the dark.
The main themes of The Woman in Black are fear, isolation, influence of the past and
revenge. This differs from Paranormal Activity 3 as unlike that film, The Woman in Black
follows the codes and conventions of themes in a horror film and displays typical themes
which isn’t displayed in Paranormal Activity 3. Firstly, fear is presented through sweating,
pounding hearts and weakness. This emphasis the power that The Woman in Black has to
control people using their fear. Isolation is shown in The Woman in Black in two different
ways. Firstly, isolation is shown through the characters Keckwick, the caretaker, and Mr

6. Jerome, the agent, who are both isolated in their own fear. Secondly, fear is presented
through the main character Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe) who is sent far away from his
home and family to the setting, Eel Marsh House, which is physically cut off from the rest of
the community. Finally, the influence of the past is shown in this film as Kipps tries to leave
his past behind and seems to feel secure at the beginning of the film. However, when he is
reminded of his haunted past, he is quickly transported into a state of fear. The woman in
black is also trapped by her past. Because she was unmarried, her child was taken away
from her as society demanded at the time, and she was heartbroken by this injustice. This is
made worse when her child dies in an accident. Initially her blame is directed at her sister,
but after death she takes revenge on the wider community as well. This also displays the
theme revenge because the woman in black only leads the path she does as a ghost because
of what happened to her in the past.
This filmgoes against Tzvetan Todarov’s narrative theory because at the very beginning of
the film, 3 young girls jump out of a window. This totally disobeys Todarov’s theory because
he states that every film starts in an equilibrium, where everything is normal and calm,
followed by a disruption. However, in this film, we learn about the disruption very early on.
This shocks the audience as they do not expect the film to be disrupted this early. The film
also ends with the main character’s wife and son dying. This goes against Todarov’s theory
as he states that every film ends in a new equilibrium when the disruption is solved, however
the problem in this film is never solved.
The Woman in Black, a lot like Paranormal Activity 3, goes against Propp’s character theory
as the only character it contains that follows his theory is the enemy, the woman in black.
This, however, is common in horror films as they often end open-ended and there is no
resolution at the end, and therefore no hero to fix the problem. This immediately reveals that
Propp’s theory doesn’t apply to this particular film because the characters: prize, dispatcher,
hero, the donor and the false hero, leaving only the villain in the film.
The narrative structure that The Woman in Black follows is the story-within-a-story structure.
There are three stories shown in The Woman in Black- the story of Jennet Humfrye, inside
the story of the young Arthur Kipps, framed by present day Arthur Kipps. This structure has
a disorienting effect and leaves the audience confused into which story something is
happening in.