media unit 10

1. Unit 10: fictional film codes and conventions
Genre: Horror
Film A: Scream (1996)
Film B: You’renext (2011)
The first genre I havechosen is the horror genrebecause as it’s the most
distinctive and recognizablegenres in film and has lots of stylistic codes and
conventions such as; camera angles, music/sound, props, secluded locations
and fears that make up the genreand I’vespecifically chosen to analyzethe
sub-genreof Slasher Films. The typicality of this is whatappeals to fans of
horror films. For the films I am analyzing they are Scream (1996) and You’re
next (2011) I specifically havechosen these films becausethey are at different
ends of the slasher film crazethat scream helped popularize and ultimately
revolutionised the sub-genre, however both being 15 years apart they still
manage to keep the core characteristics, narrativeand stylistic of the slasher
sub-genre.
Steve Neale suggests that genre cinema which is made up of repetition and
difference means that audience expects some familiarity to the genre while
also somedifference meaning what sets the film different from the other films
within that genreand what makes that specific film unique
This theory is very clear in both scream and you’renext both of which show
many recognizable stylistic and narrativecode and conventions
The start of screamis a perfect example that reflects Steve Neale’s repetition
and difference when we are introduced to Casey Becker portrayed by Drew
Barrymorein her perceived safe middle class Suburban home, werealise that
the place we would class as safeis in fact not and that the film does center
around a gothic castle or an isolated house in the middle of nowhere like
typical slasher films normally do. The film primarily generates fear through the
invasion of the familial and domestic, thus making the invasion much more
intimate and intense. drew Barrymore’s character dies at the startof
the movie which was so different from typical slasher movies at the time
therefore going against the stylistic codes of typical slasher films especially for
as big as an actor shewas, this reinforces SteveNeale’s theory of repetition
and difference, the audience would expect Drew Barrymore’s character to play
a huge part in the film for being very popular, but by not this shows thatWes
craven wanted to differ this film from other slasher films

2. The opening scene of Becker’s murder also provides lots of examples of the
ominous Mise-En-Scenecharacteristics of a horror film. She can be seen
moving around the housedimly lit by lamps with providepockets of light and
shadow , the open view house full of windows show into the darkened outside
which is both frightening to the viewer and Becker becausewe cannot see the
killers whereabouts and rely on the killers ominous and cryptic words to figure
out where he is, the lack of illumination can be regarded as both literal and
metaphoric becausewe do not know what lurks in the darkness outside, there
is also a scenewithin the opening sequence whereCasey looks out the window
to see mist over the pool which provides an example of disorienting the Mise-
en-scene. The suspensestarts to take off when Casey has seen her boyfriend
tied to a chair and stabbed to death in which the killer shows himself equipped
with a knife. The knife is iconic to the scream franchiseas it is his primary and
only weapon, knives and other hand held weapons are very popular in horror
films (mainly slasher) becausethe killer must attack from close quarters and
must stab the victim many times heightening the fear and pain. Wes craven’s
other films mostly use hand held weapons e.g. Freddy Kruger who’s trademark
weapon is a bladed glove. The killer dressed in a dark robe and the iconic mask
(ref 1.), the killer sticks to this ‘uniform’ until the last sequencewhen the killer
is revealed, which is also key for iconography becauseit’s helps distinguish the
killer from the victim and fromother slasher films and for anyonethat has
seen slasher films this concept is very important narratively, killers in horror
films usedisguised as a means of disorienting the viewers and obscuring the
killer’s identity until the end of the film to create a twist of sorts.
(ref 1.)
Another stylistic code used in screams opening sequence is the non-diegetic

3. sound used in the scene, the music used reflects the tension between Becker
and the killer and also helps build tension for the audience, the music is loud
and sudden as Becker is chased through her houseand then when she is
outside making a run for safety, she is caught by ghostface and stabbed to
death the music reaches a climax as one last sharp noiseplays as she is given
one final stab to the heart, then while her parents look for her as she is
stabbed the music becomes less sudden moremelancholic until her mother
finds her dead at the end of the scene, to reinforce the horror of her death,
another non-diegetic sound of thunder played, both sounds used are
pleonastic as it intensifies the action on screen for an audience.
The editing of the open sequencealso differentiates to match the non-diegetic
music, when Becker is getting chased by ghostface it shows rapid cuts as from
Becker’s view, and shows a multitude of jump-scares,this thereforeis a typical
stylistic code becauseit helps build tension and immerses for the audience as if
they were Becker. As the music gets slower so do the cuts as Becker is chased
down it is one continuous cut as she is stabbed and then it cuts to her parents
and then cuts back to her, sheis then on the ground as ghost face takes his
final stab in which the director purposely does a full close up shoton the silver
knife in air, in which this matches the music as it does its final sharp noise
plays, the music then continues to be melancholy as a long cut shotof Becker’s
dead body being dragged across thegrass as her while this is happening it cuts
between her parents trying to find her, the last few shots of the scenes are
handheld shots to show the real ness and horror of the events that have
unfolded (ref 2.), and the previously mentioned thunder effect to amplify the
horror, so both the sound and cuts are stylistic codes that lean on each other
to immerse the audience

4. (ref 2.)
Likewise, ‘You’renext’ features a lot of the same stylistic features that scream
does and yet it also differs fromit and follows typical slasher codes that
screamdoes not and also has some unique features itself as well it is very
modern for a slasher film in terms of stylistic codes, it could be said that
screamis like a blueprint for the direction ‘you’renext’ wanted to take.
Firstly, I wantto look at the dinner table scenein ‘you’re next’ becauseI feel
like it resembles a lot of the samestylistic features that the opening sequence
of screamdoes in the scene I’vechosen Is relatively far into the start of the
film (approx. 30 mins in). a few things to mention before I look into the scene
for context; The location of you’renext takes place at the large family home in
the middle of the woods, itis late at night and large extended family are all
around a dinner table to celebrate the parents wedding anniversary butalso
an attempt to mend the family’s broken ties set up by the parents. The
location alone can be seen as following the stylistic codes and not at the same
time, unlike screamit doesn’ttake over a period of time and is set in one night
and one location which is typical for a multitude of horror films however
typically these films are set at high schools or an abandoned home however
because our main character Erin is unfamiliar to this home so it plays on the
typical convention in a new way. This film doesn’tplay around a whole group
of teens isolated in their own world of teenage troubles and the untrustworthy

5. parents trope, this family has grown up in a senseand are pastthat they all age
fromdifferent ranges from20 – 60 which goes againsttypical codes for a
slasher film (narrative).
The lighting of the dinner table scene is achieved by low-key lighting to create
a gloomy and somewhatdark look (ref 3.). Some shots you can see outside into
which it is pitch black like the opening scene of scream and contrasts against
the dimly lit dining roomin which the family are enjoying their meal and
overall throughoutthe film the lighting still remains the same to symbolisethe
safety of the housein contrast to the dark outside (good vs evil). This is the
same for typical horror films and scream which also rely on low-key lighting to
help hide the killer and the monster.
The camera shots for the dinner sceneresemble the shots used in scream both
scenes use handheld shots. Theshots are used throughoutthe dinner to
immerse and impact the audience which is a typical stylistic code for a horror
film. What you’renext does that scream doesn’tis usewide shows to create
brief moments of suspensesuch as the shot of the house lit up from
perspectiveof the woods to also reinforcethat there is danger out in the dark.
Horror films.
(ref 3)
The killers in most slasher films rarely useguns instead knives, axes,
crossbows, bats, machetes and other weapons that use organic forceare the
typical key for bloodshed otherwisekilling people would be deemed too easy
and the gore would have less impact and lack less of the ‘oomph’ factor.
‘You’renext’ uses a plethora of weapons ranging from wooden logs to
blenders (ref 4.) as some of the more out their tools of death ‘you’renext’ is
the home alone of slasher films as our heroine Erin conveniently grew up in a

6. survivalistcompound. This convention is met becauseall the deaths by these
weapons makeit that more satisfying (and gruesome) for an audience’s
pleasurein comparison to scream the deaths in scream are much more
‘boring’. In the film there is justnot one killer however 5, 3 main killers
throughoutthe film with masks and who do most the killing (ref 5.), this is
typical for horror films for killers to be wearing masks becauseit conceals their
identity creating a mystery and as well having 3 killers is unusualfor a slasher
film because it is normally one killer with a motive. Scream also introduced 2
killers in their film which was unusualfor slasher films at the time this goes
against typical stylistic codes.
(ref 4&5)

7. The music in ‘you’renext’ is much less prominent in the dinner table scene
than it is in screamboth are non-diegetic pieces, however it still follows the
normal codes of horror films becausewhat the music is doing is help the cut of
the film and also building suspensejustlikescream and other horror films.
So as seen both screamand you’renext both possess a selection of stylistic
codes and conventions linked with the horror genrebut there are some things
the films do that goes beyond the stylistic codes this allows the films to go
beyond what is expected and branch out the genre and be creative but it also
links back with Steve Neale’s theory of repetition and difference, the audience
expect the base conventions of a slasher film which both films do successfully
in terms of stylistic codes however the difference partallows the directors to
be creative and try different concepts, camera angles , lighting , etc. which
both films manage to do and it not only justlets them be creative it makes the
films unique and out there while still keeping the coreof what slasher films
are. In both films we see the useof multiple killers which are non-conventional
(difference) and both films usehandheld shots and low-key lighting to create
an immerse and frightening feel to the film which is conventional for horror
films (repetition)
The narrative
Alongsidestylistic codes it is possibleto view and compareboth films in terms
of narrative. TheoristTsetzvan Tordov suggests that narrative will have a
beginning, a middle and an end through 5 transformations; equilibrium
disruption by an event, recognition disruption has taken place, an attempt to
repair the disruption and a return to equilibrium.
Arguably mostif not all horror films follow this pattern, there is proof that
shows screamand you’renext can adapt to this as a whole. Both follow
disruptions to the equilibrium caused by a death of someoneclose to the main
antagonist’s life. Screams casewas the death of Casey Becker at the startand
in you’renext it was the sudden death of Tariq however You’renext is a tricky
one to apply to tordovs theory because it takes place in one night leaving no
roomfor Erin to process the situation or for events to unfold and have their
moments instead taking instinct and fighting off the killers the film could be
classed as fastpaced an attempt to repair the disruption could be applied to
Erin fighting off the killers and the same goes for screams casebecause in an

8. attempt to repair the disruption, Sydney does the sameand instead of fleeing
the houseshe decides to fight the killers and try reveal who ghostfaces
identity is and put an end to the mass spree of killing.
Both films succeed at demonstrating a return to todrovs ‘equilibrium’ – in
‘scream’ Sydney finds peace at stopping ghostface in which also it is revealed
that ghost face killer her mother, a sub plot, this finishes off Sydney’s character
arc to find peace at the killers of her mother and the end of terror that ghost
face had trailed behind them.
in your next does not return to an exact ‘equilibrium’ becauseit ends on a
cliffhanger, in the end it is revealed Erin’s partner had a hand in the killing in
his family, in which in anger shemurders him and then right after the police
arriveand when a police officer enters the door he sets off a trap set up by Erin
earlier in the film, as the axe swings down on his head the screen cuts to black.
The equilibrium can only be assumed by the audience that Erin is ok and alive.
Therefore, by such a dramatic ending you’renext is subverting narrative
conventions, as an audience however we would expect Erin to be safeand
have a happy ‘closed’ ending but it doesn’t, it leaves us on the note that she
has killed an innocent police officer so it being classed as an ‘open’ ending, its
ambiguous to assumewhathappened so in turn it goes againstnarrative
conventions of a slasher film becauseeven if on an open ending slasher films
will typically set it up for the next film but what you’renext does is leave the
audience no information for the next film but in comparison to scream we
leave on a closed ending, the monster is ended and the character arcs have
been completed, the film ends on gale weathers delivering a news reporton
the story aboutghostface she has been searching for the whole film therefore
proving herself as an excellent investigator journalist and the ending shotof
the sunriseover the clouds (ref. 6) this could be seen as symbolism for a new
beginning/end of a chapter. This ending can be linked with Todrovs return to
equilibrium and also be linked with typical horror film conventions.

9. (Ref. 6)
Another typical narrativeconvention that both films fall victim to the ‘final girl’
narrative, it is trademark for slasher films to feature the final girl/female
antagonistin their films. Theorists carolclover, Linda Williams and Laura
mulvey are all theorists on feminism in film that have collectively suggested
that the final girl is a symbiotic double for both the victim and the monster.
Williams compares the monster to monsters of earlier works of horror films
wherethe monsters weresympathetic creatures this refers to the likes of
Frankenstein, king Kong and the mummy. The meaning of this theory as a
whole means that the ‘final girls’ of horror films lack conformity/confidence
within and her pureheart she is different becausethose around her are
tainted ways sheis not and shehas the determination and will to fight back. I
also find this idea as being a symbolfor the fate of the Final Girl to be resting in
her own hands. Being that sheis also the monster in the piece, she is the most
powerful, even if shedoesn’t usethat to her advantage, nor is she probably
awareof it. Her being different is her greatest asset, and everyoneelse’s
biggest fear, so if sheis able to outsmartthe supposed and harmfulbeing, she
has outsmarted everyone.
I feel as if this idea is the most relevant to You’re Next becauseErin is the
epitome of this bi-symbiotic theory. Erin could be deemed as the monster in
this film because she is broughtinto a houseof judgment. She is still a student
and her partners family feels as if she doesn’tbelong in this environment. She
is the victim becauseshe is broughtinto this housewhere three men in masks
are killing those around her. They supposed harmfulbeings and/or monsters
within the film, and Erin is able to outsmartand defeat them, thereforemaking

10. superior, as shewas able to outsmartthe family, the three masked men, and
indefinitely, herself and ultimately survive. (Ref. 7)
(Ref 7.)
Itis also applicable to screamin a way because Sydney could be deemed as an
outcast to the rest of her friends, this could be argued becauseof her mother’s
death which throughoutthe story it is an underlying plot point for her and is it
a major part of her uniqueness to everyoneelse as well as that the film plays
on the innocent virgin trope Sydney is constantly pestered about her virginity
by her soon-revealed serial killer boyfriend , the movies post-modern narrative
also gives Sydney a upper-hand than most ‘final girls’, sheis awareof what
happens in horror films and in turn self awareof her surroundings and overall
smart, smartenough to escape death many of times throughoutthe courseof
the film.
So both films can link back the final girl theory because they both possess that
vulnerability and pure ‘heart” that the victim part of them possess whilethey
also possess thatsurvivalinstinctand cold nature that the monster part of
them possesses

11. Genre 2: Psychological/Drama
Film C: black swan (2010)
Film D: fight club (1999)
Genre theory/part1
The reason I have chosethese 2 films is becauseI think they are both similar In
their approach to mental health and the struggle of living in a harsh world
Fight Club is a drama set in America in the late 90s and Black swan is another
psychologicaldrama set it the late 2000’s. From my analysis of thesefilms I
identified that all the stories were grounded in realism to someextent, acting
as a reflection of real life situations and extreme ideals in these cases. Because
of this, dramas use characters that the audience can relate to and follow along
a journey of development fromthe opening scene up until the last. This is how
these films move audiences emotionally which is the purposeof the genre.
ThroughoutFight Club we are taken on a journey of a cooperate drone (the
narrator/real Tyler Durden), and the inner struggle Edward Norton's character
has with differentiating between his mild-mannered self and the more
unhinged, charismatic cult leader image he has built for himself, which is Tyler
Durden personified. So, by having all these codes and conventions in its story,
it contributes to Fight Club finally achieving a drama's purposeof evoking
emotion through climaxes and the eventual realisation that the narrator has by
the end.
In Black Swan we follow a ballet dancer (Nina sayers portrayed by Natalie
Portman) obsessed with greatness of performing the infamous role of the
black swan and the struggles and sacrifices that Nina must endure to become
the role of the black swan. Nina is challenged with the precision of the role and
threat of being replaced by lily and by pushing herself she starts to descend
into madness eventually reaching a state of psychosis and starts to see lily, the
personification of her doubtand insecurity actively menacing her,
overwhelmed fromthe torment Nina must evolve from the vulnerable white
swan to the volatile and explosive black swan. Sheeventually loses control and
hits the pinnacle of her destruction at the climax of the film when sheis about
to start her firstperformance, and slips up in the performance, which she sees
as the ultimate failure and then when it comes to act 2 of the performance
,Nina sees her lily and kills her, which in turn completes her transformation
into the black swan. Sheperforms exceptionally as the black swan and when

12. she comes back to her dressing roomto find that she had not killed lily and she
was merely a figment of her imagination but that shehas mortally wounded
herself her decent into madness was her greatestfailure however Nina carry’s
on to the final act as the white swan in which she delivers the greatest
performance, the film ends on her falling onto a mattress and smiling as the
screen turns white knowing she has reached a level of greatness
Black swan possesses allthe same codes and conventions as fight club it
evokes the emotions of the audience by relating and sympathising with the
struggles of Nina and her road to greatness.
Using Steve neales theory on repetition and differencewe as the audience
expect the core conventions of whata drama film In, the audience expect
there to be unique stylistic choices that set it apart from other drama films and
that’s when the film gets to be creative and subvertgenre expectation with the
use of; Mise-en-scene , cinematography , editing , sound and characters
The first film I want to look at is fight club, specifically the ending, in this scene
we see the narrator shothimself in the cheek and then his currentgirlfriend
Marla is broughtto him by his gang, in shortthe narrator tells his gang to go
away as Marla and The narrator hold hands at watch the chaos (set up by
anarchist/alter ego tyler dunden) unfold as buildings collapse in frontof them.
The scene is regarded as an iconic piece of cinema and features a lot of codes
and conventions
The lighting of the shot is a lot of lowkey lighting, the scene is very dark as they
are in an abandoned building overlooking the city, the scene relies on the city’s
lights and construction lights to light the scene , it is typical for drama films to
use this kind of lighting because it is trying to show the realism of these films
The setting also follows and does not follow the codes and conventions of the
drama genre because while typically dramas will be set in a wide range of
locations which FC does and real life environments such as towns, estates and
famous/land marks and cities, FC takes place in a city but mostly focuses on
sub-locations as the fight club basement(ref 8.) and the abandoned building
but the film does this is because it reflects the gritty and harsh natureof it

13. (Ref 8)
Music is an essential part to drama films to enhance whatis going on in place
the scene, drama films often create their own music so that whenever the
music is heard it can be linked with the film e.g. the titanic theme song. In this
particular scene of fight club they already usean existing song called “where is
my mind” by the pixies but the song had a huge cultural impact and is often
linked with the film anyway the song is the perfect representation of the
climax of the film and reflects the narrators character a lot.
The editing and cinematography of the film follows a lot of the conventions of
the genre and in this scene they use a lot of shots that the genre knows a lot
for example they use a 2 shotto show the juxtaposition between the narrator
and Marla then they use close up of a shot reverseshot this shotis common in
all types of film typically used in conversation it allows the audience to see
each characters reaction to the action on on screen in which this is used
perfectly in fight club as weget a shot of Marla being scared as the first
building being blown up wethen get the famous wide shotof Marla and the
narrator holding hands as the building blows up in frontof them. (Ref 9)
OverallFC follows the codes and conventions of a typical drama film with its
use of cinematography and editing and the mise-en-scene

14. (Ref 9)
The scene I want to look at in black swan is also the ending dance scene, in this
scene we see nina do her final performanceas the white swan after injuring
herself she manages to continue dancing and when shefinishes her dance and
falls onto a mattress off stage she utters to herself the words “I was perfect”
knowing shehas reached greatness the screen turns white as wehear the
crowd chant her name
In this scenewe see that the use of lighting is very different from the restof
the film, throughoutthe film it uses low-key lighting but the final scene takes
place on a stageso the lighting is stronger and brighter so it subverts the
expectations and conventions of the genre
The setting of black swan also follows typical conventions of genre film, it takes
place within New York and shows reallife locations such as ninas dance
company is based at Lincoln centre for the performing arts which is
manhattans premiere dance studio (ref 10)

15. (Ref 10)
The music in black swan justlike fight club is non-originalmusic produced by
the chemical brothers in the final scene the music is Diegetic unlike fight club
who’s music was not, because its set in a theatre it was a live band performing
the scorefor the final scene however the film does feature somenon-diegetic
music as well for example the club scene
The editing and cinematography of black swan usea lot of shotreverseshot
and in the final scene they usea lot of close up shots to show the emotions of
Nina as shedances and as well a key shotof her is a wide shotfrom the
audience POV which shows Nina on a flight of stairs doing the last few seconds
of her dance (ref 11) we then get a shotreverseshot of Nina looking at her
mother and a shotof her mother crying and then another shotof Nine she
then falls onto the mattress and a close up of her face as shesmiles. the
editing resembles a lot of whatdrama films do and black swan follows these
conventions showing the emotions of these characters to help audiences
understand the struggles of Nina as she sustains herself through the pain of
her wound.

16. (Ref 11)
Both black swan and fight club both follow the typical conventions of a drama
film we can relate this to Steve neales theory of repetition and difference, the
audience come into the cinema expecting this film to be unique from other
drama films but while still keeping a relatable but yet melodramatic experience
because the melodrama is whatkeeps dramas entertaining, both films do this
they “repeat” in their useof cinematography, they both usetypical shots e.g.
close ups and shotreverseshots but in where they differ is that in black swans
case it uses non-original diegetic music whereas mostdrama films do not and
in fight clubs caseis its setting, it doesn’t‘lean’ on its setting as much and
more of its story to tell a narrative
The narrative
Alongsidewith stylistic codes and the cinematography as a whole I wantto
look at the narrativeof the films and compare and contrastwhat they follow
and whatthey subvertwhile looking at theorists
Both the narratives for the films are restricted narratives wefollow 2 people’s
decent into madness I would like to link this theory with Lèvi-Strauss said that
narrativestructuredepends on binary oppositions this means when 2 opposing
forces are at work throughoutthe Story and it causes conflict that is essential
in moving the narrativeforward, these2 forces can be represented through;
characters, conflicting ideas and themes. This theory fits both these theories
perfectly becausethey are pitted against a figurative alternative version of
themselves , in black swan it was lily a new dancer in the company who

17. personified ninas insecurity and doubt and was everything she wasn’tand in
fight club it was Tyler, the narrators morechaotic and explosive self.
To further advance my point in black swan, Nina is looked at in various binary
oppositions through the film, she is seen as being good in Levi-Strauss’ theory,
as she plays the white swan very well and has the personality of the role of the
white swan. Thereforewe know this character as being good, however the
binary opposite of good vs evil is within the character of Nina as shealso has a
dark side to her as shetries to find the black swan within herself. The idea of
reality vs fantasy is explored as an audience we areleft wondering wether
most of what is seen is just a fantasy from ninas imagination for example the
scene whereNina kills lily (ref 12.) and when she comes back to her dressing
roomninas body is nowhereto be found. The last binary opposite created is
old vs new the woman the year before who played the swan queen can no
longer play her because she has been deemed as old and Nina is represented
as the newer younger girlwhich in turn makes the old queen attempt to
commit suicide.
(Ref 12)
In fight club the binary opposites presented are chaos vs order, the narrator
represents the order, a man who slaves to the corporatesystem job after job
struggling as underpaid worker when he meets Tyler on a flight who
represents the Chaos both characters are Friends over their hate for the
corporatesystem until their interests diverse and Tyler takes a more extremist
approach when it comes to taking it down whereas the narrator prefers order
in a way of taking it down But the twist is when the film takes on the theme of
fantasy vs reality justlike black swan but tackles it in a different way when

18. Tyler and the narrator are justthe Same person and that the narrator really
suffers from BPD, the narrator doesn’trealise whathe does or even if he is
doing it or living his own life for example he was the leader of the gang the
entire time instead of Tyler he is the one orchestrating everything
So both films link with binary opposites theory it could be argued that they
both follow this theory and that the films both revolve around the idea of
fantasy vs reality