Horror Film Conventions



 

 

The setting in a horror film is very important. it has to grab the audiences attention and make sure it looks scary so they want to watch it. The setting and places in a horror film can change, they are usually either in the middle of nowhere/deserted place or somewhere unusual. for example; abandoned houses/hotels/hostels, woods, lakes, mental asylums etc. i think the producers use these places, because people know that they can be dangerous and most people in the real world tend not to go to these places alone and if they do you can just tell that something is going to happen.

 

 

 

         In horror films there is usually a dark setting. Lighting shows a very dark lonely place. In horror films the lighting is very dull, there isnt much lighting at all, light resembles an open space, happiness, freedom which is why producers don’t show light in horror films. The colours that are most common would be red because red best describes danger, blood and death. Also black because black signifies darkness, alone and possibly death too. in some horror films there are narrow alley ways aswell, this is usually when a character is starting to be followed the producers will show them alone in the pitch black with perhaps just a little light. This allows the audience to try to imagine themselves being in the characters position and how they would feel.

 

 

There are all different themes in horror movies. in most horrors there is some sort of killing and blood, because it would be a horror movie without a bit of blood! what i think is good about horror movies, is that in most of them there actually is a good storyline. unless its something like saw or wrong turn because they are just gruesome. the storyline is usually revealed at the end of the movie or in the middle and then everything happens at the end of the movie. directors in horror movies make sure that the main storyline is usually at the end to keep the audience on edge throughout the whole film.
Sometimes Devils, Demons, Ghosts and Exorcisms make the film more intense, because people dont know what to expect. Religious Beliefs are sometimes in horror movies, these are very good how they are portrayed.  

 

   Special Sound Effects; Music, Banging, Rustling, Creaking, Screaming, Foot steps. All these build Emotional Tension, gets the Audience involved with the genre of the film.

 

  Props; usually in horror films there is some sort of prop or weapon that the 'bad guy' uses to either torch their victim or even kill them. props such as knives, ropes, guns, blades etc are most common in horror films.

 

Costume; the costume in most horror films can be quite old. usually there can be some old freaky characters and they can be dressed in quite old clothes, such as long dresses and tatty suits. the long dress effect can be quite spooky because in some films this may indicate a spirit of some sort.
in some films such as paranormal activity, the costumes that the characters wear can be quite normal because they try to prove that its a true story. But on the other hand in some films such as wrong turn and saw, the costumes can be quite tatty and usually have blood stains on them. Also part of a costume can be a mask. alot of films introduce masks, and this can be all sorts of masks that scare the audience.