2. What is horror ?
Horror films are films aimed to trigger an emotional response from their target
audience. They do this by playing on the audience’s most primal fears. They
contain scenes which may startle the audience through the supernatural or
macabre, and can have the effect of mental paralysis, working their way into
the minds of the viewers.
There are various types of horrors:
• Psychological horrors: Rely on the audience’s
fears, fears, guilt and emotional
stability/instability. They also rely on eerie sound
effects to build tension within the film.
•Slasher horrors: Usually involves a
psychopathic killer, and killing a
sequence of victims in a brutal manner.
Slasher horror films tend to overlap with
the crime and thriller genre.
•Gothic horrors: They contain a
combination of Goth and horror. May
contain romance which unfolds as the
movie goes on, but tends to be more
suspenseful.

4. •Don’t
•Ignore
•Setting
•Technical codes
•Iconography
•Narrative
•Characterisation
•Themes

5. Setting The typical settings for horror films are isolated and
abandoned locations with a hidden past (which the
audience gets to hear as the film progresses). The
setting is part of mise-en-scene which helps to create
mood. Settings in horror films vary and can be set at
almost any location at any time of day. However, the
typical setting takes place during the night, at which
the character(s) is placed alone in a certain location.
This helps make a bigger impact on the audience.
Setting conventions:
•Isolated
•Urban
•Dark streets/ alleyways
•Basements
•Run-down towns
•Lakesides
•Countryside
•Woodlands
•Deserted ships at sea
•Old mines
•Warehouses
and many more..

6. Technical codes
Camerawork is important as it helps the
audience to understand what is happening,
each shot tells a story.
• High and low angle shots can be used to
connote fear, as well as dominance and
innocence.
• Point of view shots allow the audience to
see through a characters’ eyes and place
the viewer in the film, thus creating more
tension and suspense.
• Handheld shots can be used to put the
audience in the heat of an action and
create a more terrifying experience. They
often make it difficult for the audience to
make out what is happening , and so the
audience is kept interested as they’re eager
to find out what happens next (fear of the
unknown).
• Extreme close-ups – usually of the victims.
They show the audience a characters’ facial
expressions so that the audience can
emphasize with how the character is feeling.
•Sounds are extremely important in
horror films as they help to create a
scary atmosphere, and build a
mood. They can put emphasis on a
specific action or character.
Ambient diegetic sounds like
footsteps and non-diegetic sounds
like a heartbeat can place the
audience in the film and draw them
in so much that they think what’s
happening in the film is actually
happening around them.
•Editing can also create mood, and
can help indicate what is about to
happen next. If the editing hasn’t
been paced up for quite a while
then that usually indicates something
bad is about to happen. Editing can
help create unsettling tension and
suspense amongst an audience.

7. Iconography
• Lighting - this is an important part of
iconography in a horror film as it helps create
fear amongst an audience. Mainly low lighting is
used as a representation of the unknown.
Lighting can be used to create shadows and
unfamiliar shapes in the darkness. It is used to
spark the audiences’ imagination which in
return can bring out fearful emotions.
• Props – used within a horror film to help identify
the style or particular genre. Props can help the
audience identify each character (victim or
villain?). Common props associated with horror
films include: chainsaws, religious symbols, facial
masks, ropes, icons of the supernatural, etc.
•Visual style – Horror films contain
dark tones and highlights.
Consistent relations between
colours such as red and black
throughout the film are visible to
the audience. These connote
death, dear, evil, and danger. The
colour white is often associated
with the supernatural (ghosts etc).
The use of colour is therefore
imortant in horror films as it suggest
to the audience what type of
horror it is and gives them a clue
as to what they can expect.

8. • The protagonist – Usually a female role. Out of a
Characterisation
group of characters she is the smartest and
most morally standing; survives almost each
time in order to pave way for a sequel. Not
always the hero in the film, instead she’s used
more to create a bond with the audience
instead of saving herself or the other
characters.
• The sex appeal - A promiscuous woman. One
of the first few characters to die at the
beginning or middle of the film.
• The antagonist – the bad guy, who is revealed
at the very end of the film. They are usually
killed of by one of the ‘victim’ characters , but
in some cases is left to live in order make room
for a possible sequel.
• The unlikely hero – a character whose actions
or appearance created the illusion that they
are the antagonist.
and the list goes on ...
There are always certain characters
we expect to see in a horror film:
•The one who survives throughout the
whole movie and faces the
demon/killer in the end.
•The clever character who figures
everything out and tries to warn the
other character of the dangers.
•The rescuer
•The dumb character who falls
straight into the trap, and gets either
killer, tortured or captured at the very
beginning of the movie. This is done
to provide entertainment for the
audience.
•A main character or group of
characters who are haunted down.
•The victim hero
•Creepy children
•Psychiatric patients
‘The human centipede’ = antagonist
‘The
house of
wax’ = the
sex
appeal

9. Themes Typical themes that can be seen in horror films,
include:
• Good vs. Evil
• Depression
• Religious beliefs
• Revenge
• Supernatural
• Childhood issues
• Science gone bad
• Zombie apocalypse
• Nightmares
• Insanity
• Lust
• Envy
• Suicide
• Haunting
• Serial killers
• ‘Self-consciousness’ – making you question
what is real and what’s not
The themes found in horror films
are used to scare, thrill and
entertain the target audience.
Horror films focus mainly on the
dark side of life, and are based
around strange/ forbidden
events.
At a large, the themes of horror
films are based on societies
fears at the time of the movies’
creation.

10. So what are the limitations?
There are various limitations of creating
a student video from the horror
genre.
1) It will prove very difficult to create
and choose the right sounds to go
with each little scene. Sound is
extremely important in horror films
as it’s vital in creating meaning,
and bringing out wanted emotions
amongst the audience. In order to
be successful in this we would have
to create the different sounds/
music ourselves. This can take us a
very long time to get right, and
may end up taking a large portion
of our post-production time.
2) Choosing the right location can
also turn out more difficult than it
seems. Due to living in London (a
busy city) it will be very hard to
find an isolated or abandoned area
(which is where horror films are
usually set). This means there are
limited possibilities as for where I
can record my film opening.
3) Mainly dark lighting is required in
horror films. This can be difficult to
achieve as some people in my
group may not be allowed out
late. This means we may have to
rely on editing, and edit the lighting
in our post-production process. On
the other hand, due to now it
being the winter season we are
able to encounter this limitation, as
we’re able to get the necessary
lighting at around 5 pm.