2. Setting
- Isolated locations or environments, Dark Streets, narrow alleyways, Deserted towns –
locations that suggest isolation or being alone; often places with ‘dark’ history, such as
abandoned or ‘haunted houses’, hotels, insane asylum’s ect.
-Locations commonly used in horror films are: Abandoned farms
houses, forests, woods, attics, basements, underground, deserted islands, locations
near/surrounded by water (lakes, rivers, at sea).
-Weather is also used to help set the scene in horror movies, or may even contribute to their
misfortune ( being stranded in a location due to snow/blizzard), bad weather such as rain is
used so set a darker and more depressing tone to the film.
-Horror scenes also tend to occur at night or in dark locations, as dark colours (black) have
‘evil’/’scary’ connotations, and helps to build suspense and fear when you can’t see who or
where the ‘villain’ is or what is going on.
3. Technical conventions
• High angle shots are commonly used to portray/show fear in the victim and to show weakness, innocence
and defencelessness.
• Low angle shots are used to show power, commonly the power that the antagonist has over the
victims, they are also use at the end of the film, when perhaps the villain has been defeated and the
power has been transferred to the survivor (survivor standing over antagonists dead body, using a low
angle shot to show that the power has changed).
• Point of view shots, are significant to horror films as they helps us to see the world from the ‘monsters’ or
‘villains’ view. They are sometimes used near the end of horror films to help us to sympathise with the
villain.
• Handheld shots make it hard for the audience to fully see/understand what’s going on, and therefore help
to create suspense. An example of when this is used is in ‘Cloverfield’, the entire film is shot with a
handheld camera to help promote the feeling of terror, suspense and the unknown.
• Ambient dietetic sounds such as footsteps and heartbeats are pivotal in horror movies to help create
suspense and fear.
• Extreme close-ups on the victims face are commonly used to help the audience identify with the fear the
victim is feeling. They also help with the exclusion of threats (if we cannot see the threat it makes it more
terrifying for the audience.
• Slow paced editing is commonly used just when coming up to a scary scene or a scene that will make you
jump as you are unprepared for it, as the editing will change from a slow and steady pace to a series of fast
paced shots and cuts.
4. Iconography
• Visual style: often dark colours such as red and black, which have connotations of: blood, gore
horror, fear, danger ect.
• Lighting is expressive and non-naturalistic. Low key lighting can be used to create dark shadows and
unfamiliar shapes in the darkness, this is used to create suspense and fear of the unknown.
• Props can help us further identify the horror genre and even with specific horror movie villains, for
example ‘Freddy Kruger’ from ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ has his distinct ‘Claw gauntlet's’. Other props we
can associate with horror are commonly weapons such as: Knives, chainsaw, firearms, machetes ect.
• Other common objects include masks, such as ‘Hannibal Lecter’s’ Iconic restraint mask from ‘Silence of the
Lambs’, Religious symbols/ cult signs/ icons of the supernatural ect.
