2. Genre translates to the type
of film. A horror film is
supposed to appear scary
and sinister to the
audience.
3. Themes:
Horror films centre around the dark side of life; the strange, forbidden and
alarming events.
The typical themes of horrors include:
• Revenge
• Haunting
• Demons and exorcisms
• Gore
• Apocalypse (zombies)
• Serial Killers
• Ghosts
4. Mise-en-scene:
• Lighting: Low key, lots of dark contrasts shadows and silhouettes, puts the
audience on edge and creates mysterious or sinister situations.
• Props: Violent weapons often feature in films as a main aspect such as in Texas
Chainsaw Massacre (the chainsaw). Antiques often also feature in horrors to
give a sense of mystery to the film.
• Setting: Often an isolated location where there is no escape, for example in the
woods. Setting is also in grungy, dark conditions to give off a sense of unease.
• Costume: Often are iconic and represent the whole character or film, for
example costume in the Scream franchise is now well known. Masks are often
used as hiding a killers identity adds tension and mystery to the film eg. ‘who is
the killer?’
5. Settings:
Setting often include areas such as:
• Graveyards
• Asylums/ Hospitals
• Basements/ Attics
• Isolated areas
• Run down cities
• Woods
6. Cinematography:
• High and low angles are often used throughout horror films to show
power. For example to convey to the audience that a character is
inferior a high angle shot, looking down on them, will be used.
• Close-ups are also used to display emotions to the audience and
allow the audience to match a characters feelings.
• Point of view shots are also widely used within horror films. This is
because it keeps the audience involved, therefore when something
shocking occurs they also become scared.