The document discusses various themes and conventions commonly found in horror movies. It outlines typical themes such as revenge, hauntings, demons/exorcism, serial killers, and religious beliefs. It also describes common character archetypes and how camera work, visual style, settings, lighting, and sound are used to scare audiences and advance the plot. Horror films aim to thrill and entertain viewers by focusing on the dark and frightening aspects of life.

1. Violeta Herrera as media studies

2. The themes found in horror movies are made
to scare, thrill and entertain the audience. The
horror movies normaly are focus on the dar
side of the life, that part of the life that no one
expect to see ever.
Typical themes of horror movies:
 Revenge
 Haunting
 Demons or exorcism
 Serial killers
 Religious beliefs
 Ghosts

3.  Gothic film: this is a type of sotry that
contains elements of goth or horror, it
may have romance that unfold whithin the
horror film, but it´s usually suspensefull
 Slasher film: this if the type of horror
movie containing a psychopathic killer
stalking, and killing a sequence of victims
in a violent overlap with the crime and
thiller genre.

4.  Psychological horror: this subgenre relies on character´s
fears, guilt, beliefs, emotional instability… this is used tu
buils tension within the film and to further the plot.

5.  The protagonits: this is usually the most morally standing and
smartes of the group, they almost aways survive in order to
pave way for a sequel.
 The sex appeal: this role is often filled by a promicuous woman,
who is often the first to be killed and are the first to expose their
body.
 The irritating character:this role is often partenered with the sex
appeal and often the first to go.
 The unlikely hero: this character is generally the one the
audience suspects to be the antagonist due to their actions or
appearence within the film.
 The antagonist: the bad guy of the film is usually revealed at the
end opf the film. They are usually killed of at the end, or in some
cases left wounded to make room to a possible sequence.

7.  The camera work in horror movies is really
important, through this convention, the audience
can easily be understood to what the film is
trying to say.
 Weird angles and canted cameras are most
common in horror films. Also, the often use
extreme close ups and point of view shots in
order to make de audience feel more involved, to
build tension or even to express fear.

8. The visual styiling of horros is what easily identifies the audience
with it´s genre.
For example:
 Dark colours such as black and red, these key colours connote
danger and the most obvious assumption, blood. The repeated
use of these colours are usually seen withing posters of horror
movies.
 The colour white is often asscoiated with supernatural horror
movies. Therefore, the use of colour is a powerful form because it
allows the audience to identify what type os message the film is
trying to send.
 Props are one of the main indicatros of the horror genre. When it
comes to identifying a certain character or villain, props such as
costumes, machetes, knife, chainsaw, rope, etc..

9.  Small communities or isolated places. Urban
environments, darki streets and narrow alleyways.
Large cities or run down ghosts towns, anything
that connotes isolation.
 Often sometimes places with dark history, like
abandoned houses, hotels and insane asylums.

10.  Lightning is expressive and
non-naturalistic. Low-key
lightning can hel to create
dark shadows and
unfamiliar shapes in the
blackness.
 Lightning can be motivated
in the world of the film (like
bonfires, fireplaces and
torches).

11.  Disturbing sounds in a
horror movie is very
important, ambient
diegetic sounds such as
footsteps or non diegetic
like heartbeats.
 Exagerated diegetic
sound will allow tension to
be created in the film.
 Fast and loud non-diegetic
sound can add to making
the audience jump or feel
scared.