Audience fear conventions

1. Representation and fear
analysis
Amelia Brandon

2. Common fears and phobias
• Common fears that are shared with audience now
include:
• Spiders
• Death
• Torture
• Clowns
• Dolls
• The Dark
• The Unknown
• Bee’s
• Heights
• People in Masks
• Silence
• Isolation
• The Stranger
• Pain
• Old Places
• Disease
• Thunder/Lightening
• Snakes

3. Codes and Conventions
• Antagonists wearing masks
• Isolated locations / recognisable
locations / derelict buildings
• Antagonist & Protagonist
• A group being persecuted
• Final girl
• Hunted or haunted
• Weapons (they are specific to the sub
genre)
• Low key lighting
• Toys that move on their own
• Telephones (used to represent fear)
• Spirits can be classed as the weapon
themselves if in a paranormal horror
• Recognisable costumes for protagonist
and stock characters (creates more fear
as the audience can now identify with
the characters)
• Antagonists / Spirits tend to wear tatty
or old clothes.

4. Conventions of fear
Elements that are commonly found in films within the horror genre to create
fear…
• Antagonists wearing masks is a convention of
creating fear, it is more commonly shown in
slashers. This fears audiences as it links with the
common fear of the stranger, and it also goes
with the fear of the unknown as it is unknown as
to who is behind the mask.
• A convention that creates fear is the
commonly used locations of
isolation, recognisable locations or
derelict houses. This creates fear for
the audiences as it looks back at the
common fear of old places and
again looks at the unknown. If it is
set in a recognisable location then it
is the unknown as it shows that you
never know what could happen.
• A group being persecuted is a convention of all
horrors. This fears the audiences as it is the fear
of pain, death and torture which is something that
fears most in today society.
• By the protagonists and stock characters wearing recognisable costumes, in itself that
creates fear for the audience as they can now identify with the characters on a personal
level. Being to identify with the characters on a personal level creates fear as they begin to
put themselves in the characters position throughout the film.

5. Silence
• Silence is a convention of horror and is used in all films. The silence creates
fear as it makes the audiences uncertain of what is going to happen next. It is
common for the sound a telephone ringing to break the silence as the
audience recognise it as a representation of fear or danger.
• The 2016 film Hush is an example of a film that uses silence throughout the
whole film. In the film there is no sound as the audience is viewing is viewing it
in the victims perspective and she is deaf. This is a very popular film that thrills
the modern audience as it is very jumpy and uses the fears of the unknown
and strangers to its advantage.

6. Disease
• Disease is a common fear shared between audience members as it is a narrative that consists
of elements that could be real and happen at any point. It also uses the common fear of the
unknown to its advantage as they have no idea what is going to happen to the characters and
it scares them because they begin to put themselves in the characters positions and then they
start to think about themselves being in this scenario.
• The 2010 film The Crazies is an example of a film that uses disease throughout the whole
narrative. In the film there is a plane crash in a small town, in the plane was a secret biological
weapon that was released in the crash, this then infects all of the residents in the town and
turns them all into homicidal maniacs. This narrative is fearful for the audience as a plane
crash is something that unfortunately is common to hear about which means they begin to
think that it is possible for this to happen to them.

7. Clowns
• Clowns are a common fear within todays society. Clowns are a common fear as they also
link with the fear of the unknown and a stranger as you cant see the clowns face and
have no idea who they are. The voices clowns use in real life and in films are quite creepy
as they aren't a normal voice so even that is unrecognisable.
• The 1990 film IT is an example of a film that has a clown as the antagonist. In the film
there is a clown that has an unknown identity - he is only know as ‘Pennywise the
Dancing Clown’. This clown terrorises and occasionally kills the children of a town in
America. This creates fear for an audience as it is set in recognisable locations and the
characters can be identified which opens up a portal for the audiences to put themselves
in the scenarios of the characters and begin to feel what they feel.

8. Old places
• Old derelict places are a common location used in all films within the genre. The location
creates fear as the audience don't know where it is and when they begin to put
themselves in the characters perspective the common fear of the unknown pops up again
as they have no idea of what is going to happen next.
• The 2001 film The Others is an example of a film that uses old places as the location
throughout the whole film. In this film the audience are put into the perspective of the
‘monster’ throughout the whole film and that is only revealed at the end. The family in the
film are made out to be the ones being persecuted by a ‘monster’ however this is flipped
around at the end when the audience realise that the family are actually the persecutors.
Neale’s theory summarises the protagonists in all horror films.

9. Neale’s Theory
• Neale’s theory identifies that all horror narratives have some form of ‘monster’ and it
is the ‘monster that creates the fear for the audience and the characters. He has
summarised it into 3 monsters and they are…
• The Outsider - This is when there is an antagonist that brings fear into a community.
An example of this would be the antagonist in The Conjuring as although it is a spirit
I would say that even though it might have been part of the community, it isn't
anymore and it never will be.
• The Man Made Monster - This is when man have created a monster within a
community. An example of this would be the antagonist in Frankenstein as this
character was created by Dr. Frankenstein.
• The Insider - This is when there is an antagonist already present in a community that
creates fear from within the community. An example of this would be the antagonist
Scream as they are a psycho from within the community.

10. Films where the antagonist
crosses between two monsters
• Nightmare on Elm Street: This is a cross over as
the antagonist was burned alive in the beginning
of the film and is taking revenge on the children in
the community, it is a cross over as he is both
insider and man made monster.
• Saw: This is a cross over as he is created by his
child dying and him deciding to then take revenge
on the community that he is also a part of.
• The Conjuring: This films antagonist is a cross
over because the mother who is an internal
member of the community is turned into the the
monster by creation as she was possessed.