This document discusses conventions of horror film posters for creepy kid films. It outlines 8 key conventions: 1) costumes and makeup of pale, ordinarily dressed children, 2) settings of family homes and children's homes, 3) plots that start happily but reveal signs of something wrong with the child, 4) props like toys and dolls used to create suspense, 5) technical elements like nursery rhyme sounds and high camera angles, 6) themes of good vs evil, the supernatural, and madness, 7) character types of victims, villains like monsters or serial killers, and creepy children, and 8) camera techniques like POV shots, depth of field, and low-key lighting to create fear and

1. Conventions of Creepy
Kid Horror Film
Posters
By Fazal Mahmood
Vincent Mendy

2. Conventions - What does it mean?
A convention is something that suggests the genre of the
movie/film such as the:
• Props
• Costume
• Make-up
• Setting
• Camera shots
• Editing

3. Creepy kid - our sub-genre
This subgenera involves the role of children used as the main focus of the film and usually they are
“evil/possessed”.
As a group we decided to chose 3 films to use as examples which were created very different times, from the 70’s
to the 2000’s. We did this so we could have a diversity in conventions and to see if it had changed over time.
1976 2002 1984

4. Convention 1- Costumes and Make-up (Pale and too
ordinarily dressed)
• The kind of costumes used in this subgenera has developed over the years due to the
advances of fashion. In most films of this sub-genera the “creepy kids” are dressed too
ordinary to suit their roll to deceive others of their innocence.
• As for the Make-up, the mutual style is vary pale yet still believable to still seem like an
innocent child. this adds to the effect of tense and uncertainty as of who these children
are in the films.
• This plays a big part to build the characters in these films.

5. Convention 2- Setting (Family home, children’s home)
In most creepy kid films the setting
of the film is usually in the family
home or a traditional home, places
where children would live. For
example the Omen takes place in a
family home. The audience then
believe that creepy things can
happen to them as it occurs in such
ordinary environments which
therefore creates tension within the
audience.
The Omen
The RingThe Children Of The Corn

6. Convention 3- (Plot)
The story in creepy kid film usually starts with a happy family; having said that at the
beginning of the movie there is usually signs that there is something wrong with the
child. The child is then seen to be experiencing supernatural events; but the family at
this point are still hesitant as the whether the child is making things up. But as the
story progresses the parents start to realise that something is wrong and they try to
investigate and try to fix things. This typical convention presents the films plot as an
issue that any family would face, increasing the realism and suspense of the
situations that occur within the film.

7. Convention 4- (Props)
Props in a creepy kid horror often include children’s toys, dolls
and puppets. These are mostly used to create suspense and
mystery. Sometimes drawings by the child are also shown to
scare the audience. This increases the realism of the film and
also highlights the horror aspect of a creepy kid subgenre.
For example the use of an axe connotes that this
is the weapon the villan will use within the movie.
Other common objects include:
weapons, masks, icons of the
supernatural/religious etc.
Props help us to further identify horror genre. Specific
props can be identified with a certain villain or
character (e.g. machetes, knifes, costumes)

8. Convention 5- (Technical Conventions)
Sound: most sound in creepy kid films
consist of nursery rhymes and laughter.
These sounds are very childish.
Camera: most camera shots consist of
high angle shots to emphasise the
characters helplessness.
The Ring
The Children Of The Corn

9. • The themes for this sub genre are:
• · Good vs Evil
• · Depression
• · Religion
• Childhood issues
• · Revenge
• · Supernatural
• · Beyond death
• · Nightmares
• · Madness
• · Insanity
• · Envy
• · Suicide
• · ‘self-consciousness’ – making you question what is real and not.
Convention 6- (Themes)

10. • The main protagonist, often the ‘victim/hero’ of the movie.
These are usually the parents of the children
• The villain, often a monster, mutated freak, alien or serial
killer – tend to have a trademark characteristic as to how
they kill (e.g. weapons and who they kill) they usually have
control over the children in the film. Sometimes it’s the child
who is the main villan such as in the ring
• Creepy children
• Police officers (either good or bad)
Convention 7- (Character types)

11. • Camera work is very expensive and not natural; high
and low an angle connotes fear.
• POV shots are important because they allow the
audience to see the world from the child's eyes.
• Sometimes framework uses depth of field, makes it
harder to see the child creeping up.
• Low-key lighting can help to create dark shadows and
unfamiliar shapes in the blackness.
Convention 8- (The use of the Camera)