Horror Genre Conventions

1. Finlay Willicott
HORROR GENRE CONVENTIONS

2. Don’t
Ignore
Setting
Technical
Iconography
Narrative
Characterization
Themes

3. • Small communities, dark streets and narrow alleyways, derelict buildings,
isolated places. That is why the trailer is set on a farm far away from
civilization.
• Somewhere that has a curse, is haunted or has a bad history. That is why
the trailer is set with a lumberjack who previously worked the farm hung
himself.
• Locations good for a horror genre: creepy hotel, underground tunnels,
abandoned shopping center, asylum, blizzard, basement, space station,
lakes, countryside, farms, barns, dark woods, abandoned houses, cabins,
destroyed cities, graveyard or cemetery, science lab, factory, attics etc.
SETTING

4. The camera work must be very unnatural, lots of shaking and high and low angles,
anything that can cause the viewer to become disturbed e.g. extreme close ups.
POV shots are very important as they allow the viewer to see things as if they are actually in
the film causing it to become more real and therefor more scary.
Handheld shots help to disorientate the viewer and make it difficult for them to see what
happens, making it more intense.
Sometimes framework uses the depth of the field making it harder for the audience to see
what is happening in the background e.g. when the monster comes up behind the victim.
Using lots of unnatural and distorted noises/sounds/voices will help to make everything
seem more intense.
Types of shots used on certain victims can cause the audience to get a certain idea about
them. E.g. lots of low angled shots can cause the person to seem inferior whereas high
angle shots cause them to seem superior.
Editing can create certain tension e.g. quick changes between shots can cause everything to
seem intense.
TECHNICAL CODES

5. Visual: often dark colours like red and black give conatations to evil and bad
things e.g. blood, danger etc.
Lighting is expressive and non-naturalistic. Low key lighting can help to create
dark shadows and unfamiliar shapes in the darkness. Using fire lighting or or
star light makes things much eerier than actually lighting.
Props help to identify horror. Specific props such as chainsaws, machetes,
knifes etc.
Certain iconography of the monsters help to connote extreme fears, disgust
fear, disgust and terror e.g. werewolves, vampires, mummies etc.
ICONOGRAPHY

6. Classic narrative structure largely made applicable to the horror genre but it
can either be left for closure or maybe leave the room for sequel and therefore
enable and franchise.
There’s always a hero protagonist, a man or girl of the film, keeping with the
normal conventions of the genre. Usually the hero must embark on a mission
or quest to kill or solve the problem.
Some narratives are very formulaic and this is practically present in in sub-
genres. Mostly after an event which causes the killer to come insane e.g. a
childhood problem or a medical issue. This then causes the person to go back
to their hometown or somewhere significant where they will kill people with
some kind of relation to their problem or their past. There is then always one
person to survive who solves the situation.
NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

7. • The main protagonist, often the victim/hero of the move.
• The villain is often mutated or in some form abnormal.
• The stupid character who is naïve and always dies.
• Creepy children.
• Police Officers that can be corrupt or not.
• Other random character to add to the effect e.g. sidekick of the villain or
people who follow him.
CHARACTER TYPES

8. • Nightmares
• Science gone bad
• Childhood issues
• Good vs evil
• Lust
• Envy
• Madness
• Zombie apocalypse
• Beyond death
• Revenge
• Supernatural
• Religion
• Selfcontiousness
THEMES