This document summarizes some key codes and conventions of the thriller and horror genres seen in the films The Hateful Eight, Mad Max: Fury Road, Eli, and Hereditary. It discusses iconic opening scenes in The Hateful Eight and Mad Max: Fury Road that set tension through the use of music, shots, and lack of characters. It also analyzes a chilling scene late in Hereditary where the character Anne's headless body hovers up a treehouse to unsettling music, making the audience feel vulnerable. Both films examined employ elements common to thrillers like an imbalance of power, tense music, and unnerving visuals and settings to disturb audiences.

1. Fictional films codes and conventions
Genre: Thriller
For my assessment Iwill analyse is some stylistic code and conventions of the thriller genre,
focusing in on two movies, The hateful eight and Mad Max: Fury Road
Theorist Steve suggests that genres are instance of repetition and he believes the audience
gets pleasure in recognizing props, sets and current or returning characters.
In The Hateful Eight, there is an iconic opening scene of the carriage coming forward with an
amazing score setting the audience up for a rigorous journey and to build up hype for the film
they are about to watch.
Ref 1
In the opening scene (Ref 1) we are introduced to a carriage and a statue of Jesus in some
thick heavy white snow, which is being backed by a thrilling tense score called “L'ultima
diligenza di Red Rock” The shot with the carriage moving in that white hell, with the mountains
and the blizzard in the background and the Jesus cross near the screen is already very amazing, and
when joined by that Morricone's heavy tune, it passes the impression that the blizzard represents
impending doom, like if it was death being brought with the wind, it gives you that idea that
everybody is going to die, including you, and it unnerved me and kept horrified until Samuel L
Jackson showed up.
Also, the use of the establishing shots with the use of the score gives you an uneasy feeling or a
sense of emptiness. This is backed up by the lack of life which is not present until we are introduced
to the lonely carriage and it’s passengers
In the thriller genre the protagonist is often a brave male who seeks to restore equilibrium. The
antagonist or antagonists will have a hidden identity that the audience will progress throughout the

2. film. There is lots of close up of the protagonist, this is often to show us the characters emotions.
Also, can be used to focus on props to aid the narrative.
The shots of the antagonist will be cut quickly and will aim to hide their true identity.
In the film there is a minimum amount of cut to make you feel unnerved and to build up suspense.
Music is essential to any film to understand the tone of the character of a scene of a film. In a thriller
it will often start at a slow pace and then builds up to make the shot more dramatic for the audience.
For the mise en scene: The location is important and in the opening scene as is helps the audience
establish the theme. Lighting is often low key.
The character Major Marquis Warren wears dark clothes mixed with light colours which could tell
the audience that may be anti hero.
In the introduction of the strangers in the shack Major Marquis Warren is at a disadvantage as there
are four strangers two bounty hunters one confederate and a prisoner, and we don’t learn about their
alignments until further into the film.
In the flashback scene the four passengers killing spree, we see where all the characters are. In the
beginning of the scene we see them reaching for their weapons and low tense music begins to play,
the close up shots focus on the guns and also the characters faces to show us what is going on in their
head. After the massacre we get a master shot which shows the strangers casually talking after
murdering everyone, which tells the audience that these people are cold blooded murderers. The next
couple of shots are low angled facing the strangers from below then cutting to them shooting for
dying owners of the establishment.
The narration of this film is set years after the American civil war, bounty hunter Major Marquis
Warren is transporting three dead bounties to the little town called Red Rock in Wyoming. He
hitches a ride on carriage been drivin O.B Jackson. Aboard on this stagecoach is a famous bounty
hunter called John Ruth otherwise known as the Hangman, and handcuffed to him is fugitive Daisy
Domergue. John Ruth is escorting Daisy to Red Rock as well. Ruth and Warren are previous
acquaintances who bonded over Warren's personal letter from Abraham Lincon. Former militiaman
Chris-Mannix persuades them to give him a ride to Red Rock as he is the new sheriff. Then the storm
is to powerful and dangerous so they go to a lodge and meet some mysterious folk.

3. Ref 2
In Mad Max: Fury Road the opening scene is Max on a sandhill (Ref 2) narating to himself and the
audience. There is no score just the sound of Max, then suddenly he grabs his stuff and his car and
gets out of there. All we hear is his car and then the horde of warboys in thier’s. The use of not using
a score in the right moment can immerse the watcher more if it done well. The tension in this scene
brings a similar feeling to what you get in the opening scene of The Hateful Eight, which is the
warboys “the blizzard ” represents doom and death. Also, the sound of the warboys car which is done
to a similar effect as “Morricone’s tune” which makes you feel anxious for Max to see if he lives,
gets captured or escapes.
Ref 3

4. Also, in the opening scene of the film, the background is pretty similar to The Hateful eights
opening scene, just swap out snow for sand.
The narration of this film. The former policeman Max is captured by the war boys tribe, commanded
by immortal joe and is forced to be a blood donor for wat boy nux who is sick. However, during this
Furiosa is driving a truck to collect fuel for Joe. However, her true intention is to flee Joe with his 5
concubines, and to take them back to her homeland. Immortal Joe commends a war party to track
them down and bring them back. Max is chained to nux car who is chasing Furiosa. She then heads
into a sandstorm but nux continues the pursuit, after the storm Max joins Furiosa and attempts to
escape.
After Max is captured he is forced to donate his blood, he then makes his escapes (Ref 3 ) The
editing in this fast pace and quick cuts to build up the tension and to make it obvious to the audience
that this is the thriller genre. In this scene the music is fast and hard, its quick deep beats what
compliment the tense tone the film has. The use of diegetic sound is great in this film as you can hear
every grunt, thud and bump which makes it more thrilling as it sounds more realistic and relatable.
The set design is great, the mountains he’s trapped in are like a maze and make you feel
claustrophobic. Also, the lighting is amazing, the dark caves barely lit by torches and sparks from
welders make the tone and feel of the movie more tense and thrilling.
Also, during the flashback scene where Max may of got his daughter killed, the use of exposition
gives the audience some backstory on what may of happened and keeps the audience guessing and
captivated.
At the end of the scene we see Max jump from the mountain onto a hook in a great practical effect,
before he jumps the music ramps up until he jumps where time slows down and music goes to this
slow high pitch noise to compliment the jump he made, to further improve the tension we the
audience are feeling at that moment.
Both The Hateful Eight and Mad Max Fury Road clearly show code and conventions linking towards
the thriller genre. This allows the audience to easily identify what genre they are watching, according
to Steve Neale it gives the audience pleasure in recognizing familiar forms. In both films mise-en-
scene creates a sense of tension and thrill, ( The Hateful Eight is set in a desolate winter waste land
and Mad Max Fury Road is set in a post-apocalypse desert. These will both give the audience the
feeling of uneasiness and it could be thrilling.) The use of cinematography techniques align both
movies to thriller genre. This is because the use of low angle shots give the audience a feeling of
weak and not in charge. Also, the use of close up shots of characters faces to allow more emotion or
lack of emotion. The use of sound (The most commonly used sounds in thrillers are dark, eerie
sounds. The music usually starts off at a slow pace at first whilst gradually speeding up the
pace helping create the tension and build up climax) is also a key to a thriller movie and we see

5. this in both films. Also, the use of equilibrium or lack of can be seen in both films. In The Hateful
Eight we can see the equilibrium between Warren, Ruth, mannix, O.B and then the others Gage,
Mobrey, Bob and Domergue, this changes throughout the film switching from side to side to build up
tension and to make the film more thrilling and captivating. In Mad Max Fury Road, in this Max and
Furiosa are against a whole War Boy party os they are at serious disadvantagement.
Fictional films codes and conventions
Genre:Horror
For my assessment Iwill analyse is some stylistic code and conventions of the horror genre,
focusing in on two movies Eli and Hereditary
Theorist Steve suggests that genres are instance of repetition and he believes the audience
gets pleasure in recognizing props, sets and current or returning characters.
The most iconic scene in Hereditary is at the end when Annie headless body is hovering up the
tree house in this unnatural unnerving spine shivering way which reveals some codes and
conventions of the horror genre, such as:chilling soundtrack, creepy visuals and jump scares.
In the infamous ending scene of Anne’s headless corpse ascending up the treehouse (Ref4)
backed the song called Reborn by Colin Stetson gives the scene a quite chilling fighting yet
beautiful scene a blissful angelic tone which is quite ironic given the movies demonic setting.

6. Ref 4
This scene was the most terrifying in the whole movie and I think that is great, I think that this
was the most off putting disturbing sight for audience to bare with, I also think that this would
make the audience feel worried to see what happens to the character Peter.
The use of a long shot makes the audience feel small and vulnerable which makes it more
chilling rather than it been and close or a medium shot.
Also, the use of diegetic lighting is immaculate and gives it more of a realistic and close to
home feel which makes it that more eerie and sets up the ending of the film.
Narrative structure and themes is horror films
Death and Murder
Revenge
Religious beliefs
Survival
Supernatural e.g curses
The narrative of Hereditary is when the matriarch of the Graham family passes away, her
daughter and grandchildren begin to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about
their ancestry, trying to outrun the sinister fate they have inherited.

7. Ref 5
In one scene before Peter wakes up we see the house in a long shot during the day, then it
switches to night where there is loads of naked cultist are standing around his home. This is
very different from a regular horror films. After that Peter wakes up to see some ominous light
coming from the tree house, which is odd as Charlie Peter’s recently deceased sister favorite
spot. In this scene there is no music we only can hear Peters moans and groans. When the shot
changes from a close to a long shot of Peter rising from bed we can Annie (his mum) in the
corner of the ceiling (Ref5). When Peter rises from bed he slowly turns around in bed when the
audience sees Annie crawl along the wall in complete silence in an eerie unnatural way, while
this is happening Peter is none the wiser.
Ref 6

8. In the film Maniac, there is a scene which is gruesome and horrifying to everyone.
In this scene we see Frank sneak into a girls hotel room, this is backed by some classical music
which gives us the serial killer vibes which is very creepy and further resembles the codes and
conventions of the horror genre. We then see Frank slowly follow her, unnoticed he creeps into
the bathroom while she relaxes in her bath. The use of POV in this film is to make the audience
feel like there committing the crime are just seeing through his eyes. When she reaches for her
glass of wine, Frank slowly moves it towards her, unknown to her of his presence. He then
reaches into the bath and suddenly realises and he pushes her head under the water as the
classical music amps up and the screams fade. After she appears to drown, it then cuts to a
reflection of Frank in the window then pans around to reveal she is not dead and tied up on the
bed while Frank is talking nonsense to her. Then he brings out a knife his iconic weapon and
drags it all over her back and her head toying with her. The use of the knife always tells the
audience the murders about to begin. Also, the routine what he does of scraping the knife
around them and then scalping them shows that he is a sick guy who is trying to fulfil his own
agenda. She then manages to get her gag and begs for her life which is a cliche, but then he
slowly climbs on her and music builds up to this tense methodical sound that amps up every
second, and then it pans from a POV to medium shot of Frank holding the knife to her head,
and then he scalps her (Ref6). He begins to talk to her thinking that she’s his mother and then
proceeds to rip her scalp of. The music then amps up to a loud fearful tone backed with the
woman's scream. Also, we see the blood spray onto the wall showing us how strong and
terrifying Frank is.
Theroist Tstezvan Toddorv suggest that films will have a beginning middle and end in five
transformations.
It could be argued that most horror films follow a similar pattern. However there is clear
evidence that suggest Hereditary and Maniac does not always follow the generic horror film
path. Both have well thought stories that not relying on cheap jumpscares and insanely loud
music.
In Hereditary the movie is actually scary unlike most horror movies which is a refreshing
surprise, this is done how? Creepy atmosphere, gruesome gore, amazing score and great
acting. Also, the movie throwback to the creepy grandmother/cult leader which could prove
Steve Neale right.
Hereditary and Maniac both have closed endings we know what happens to everyone which is
pretty rare for horror films.
However, both of these films clearly show the codes and conventions of the horror genre This
allows the audience to easily identify what genre they are watching, according to Steve Neale it gives
the audience pleasure in recognizing familiar forms. In both films mise-en-scene creates a sense of
fear and tension, (Hereditary gives us a look into a broken family who are being forced into a satanic
ritual by a cult which is pretty scary, and Maniac gives us a look into a criminally insane man's

9. head while he goes on his scary creepy menacing killing spree.) The use of cinematography
techniques align both movies to horror genre. This is because the use of shooting through things such
as windows are fences make the audience feel like they are getting stalked. Underexposure as this
will leave more areas of the frame to be in the shadows and this makes it even more eerie. Also, the
use of dutch tilt are low angled shots of a characters face to make that more scary and to make the
audience feel unnerving.