Wednesday, 9 October 2013

The horror genre, exploring the conventions

Mise-en-scene 
  • Isolated setting or domestic settings 
  • Bad things often happen in the night time
  • Dark atmosphere, created by expressionistic lighting, shadowy lighting 
Camerawork and editing 
  • Crosscutting for suspense sequences 
  • Faster cutting for violent action 
  • Point of view shots for those being watched 
  • Hand held shots for chase scenes 
Characters 
  • Hedonistic teenagers 
  • Innocent girls 
  • Victims become heroes 
  • Monsters 
  • Final girl 
  • Psychologically damaged adults 
Icons
  • Blood 
  • Gore
  • Knives
  • Shadows 
  • Darkness 
  • Masks 
  • Ghosts 
  • Deformities 
Music and Sound 
  • Heartbeats 
  • Atmospheric suspense music 
  • Psycho strings 
  • Loud bangs and crashes 
  • Screams 
Narratives based on issues/themes emerging
  • Good triumphing over evil 
  • Conflict played out as a battle between good and evil 
  • The supernatural haunting an individual 
  • Unfinished business with a villain coming back for revenge 
  • Confusion with identity 
  • Unsolved murders 
  • Unexplained events 
Narrative structure 
  • Conforms to Todorov's equilibrium, disruption, restoration of equilibrium 
  • Propp's character theory 
  • Binary oppositions between good and evil, life and death, supernatural and natural - leading to resolution of those conflicts but often with a twist at the end suggesting all is not well
  • Victims using their skills to solve the crime and reveal/overthrow the murderer 

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