Horror conventions

How we used horror conventions

Lighting:

It is conventional in the horror genre to have a large majority of scenes with dark or dim lighting. This creates an enigma code as only part of the scene is visible leaving the rest to the audience’s imagination. It also often creates shadows which gives the impression that there is someone or something hiding in the darkness. Therefore we have chosen to use low lighting throughout our trailer, following convention, to create the mysterious and scary atmosphere associated with the horror genre. There will also be exaggerated shadows in the scenes set in the woods from the shape of the trees which will create a heightened sense of fear as the audience wouldn’t be able to tell where the antagonist is or could be hiding- he could be anywhere. However rather than using pitch black lighting, which is common in the horror genre, we are going to use a dim half-light. We believe that this will be more effective as it will create more shadows and play more with the audience’s vision.

Characters:

The stock characters we are using in our trailer follow normal horror film conventions. We have two female victims and a creepy male stalker type antagonist. These are very common characters in conventional horror films, for example there is a similar set up in ‘The House at the end of the Street’; the victim is a female character who is lulled into a false sense of security by a male character who becomes her friend and then locks her up and attempts to hurt and even kill her. We have chosen to stick with convention in this case, because this is what our target audience would expect from a horror film and they may be disappointed and find it unrealistic if the victim is male or the villain female. With only three main characters to our plot it is difficult to relate it to Propp’s Theory. However we do have hero and villain style characters with a struggle between them, with the two females being the hero’s and the male antagonist the villain. But this still does not fit completely with the theory as the villain is not overcome and the heroes are not victorious in any way. It is conventional for horrors to go against the theories and conventions associated with other narrative genres so that the end cannot be predicted.  The two victims in our trailer are sisters. This is conventional in the horror genre as the victims tend to have a close bond of, friendship, love or family. This adds to the overall effect as the characters loyalty to each other makes awful events more tragic and adds to the dramatic effect- hence why we chose to follow convention in this way. However we have chosen to challenge convention in relation to the character that survives the longest. It is common for one strong, and often male, character to survive the length of the film, but in our story neither victim survives. We chose to go against convention in this way to emphasise the lack of hope in the characters situation. 

Themes:

We have attempted to incorporate many conventional horror themes into our trailer, for example death, darkness, mystery, crime and fear. We have chosen to follow convention through the use of themes as we know this is what our audience would expect and accept from a horror and without these themes the film would not meet their expectations. The themes of the horror genre are really the foundations of what makes a horror film a horror film. Due to this if the elements of fear and darkness were not included then the desired mysterious and scary atmosphere could not be attained, making the themes vital for our trailer and its overall effect.

 Sound:

In our trailer we are using mostly quieter, eerie sound effects and music rather than loud and over dramatic music, so that it doesn’t end up sounding gimmicky or over the top. If we overuse sound then it may end up ruining the air of mystery and fear as there would be no sense of realism. This challenges convention in a way, because especially in older extremely conventional films there is a tendency to use much louder, more obvious sound effects and music. However there are also conventional horror films that use a similar technique as it creates a creepy atmosphere and puts the audience on edge. Another sound effect that we have chosen to use is low whispering and laughing, as if it is coming from a small child. This is a common and conventional technique which is very effective at creating the desired atmosphere necessary for a horror film, which is why we chose to use this effect in our trailer.

Location:

For our location we have used very conventional and stereotypical areas, the reason for this is because we wanted to meet the ideas of the viewers. Also these areas help to create the type of atmosphere that we are aiming to create. The first location that we have used is a small garden area with a church in the background. The reason for using this location is because we wanted to use the church to create a morbid and mysterious atmosphere. Then next locations that we have decided to use are both isolated and desolate, these are stereotypical of horror films. The reason for this is because they create the idea that the people who are in these places have no help and no way of getting out of the danger that they are in and we wanted to create this very same atmosphere. This is why we have chosen Brean down and abandoned bunker as they create the suspense that we are looking for.

As you can see from the two above pictures the locations that we have chosen fit they stereotypical idea of a horror location and would meet the audience’s expectations as well as us being able to create the atmosphere that we want.

Mise en scene:

To fit the typical horror conventions of props used in horror films we have been very specific on what we have chosen. The knife that we have chosen is large and gives of the impression of a stereotypical murder weapon, the use of having the knife in the first place gives the impression to the audience of how dangerous our antagonist is. It also reveals part of the story line to the audience, this is because a knife in this genre of film represents death giving the idea that he is going to kill the victims. The next prop that we are using is a candle and this is going to be in the memorial scene at the start, however we have specifically chosen the candle to be white. The reason for this is because the white represent the innocence of the two young girls.

We have also taken mise en scene into account when organising the costumes for the victims and the antagonist.  We are going to have the victims wearing light clothing to represent their innocence and then the antagonist wearing dark clothing to represent his impurity. The reason for having this clothing Is because these are the typical conventions of how the two different people would be represented.

Editing:

The typical conventions within a horror trailer are the use of very quick cuts and for it to not be in order. The reason for this is to create suspense in what is happening and to only reveal small parts of the main story. We have used this typical editing convention as it is the most effective and we want the audience to be in suspense when watching the trailer to then make them want to watch the films itself.

Narrative:

In horror trailers the main story line and certain aspects are left out of the trailer. The reason for this is to leave the audience in suspense and to make them want to watch it. In our trailer we have also left out certain aspects as this isn’t a convention that we wanted to challenge as if we did we didn’t think we would incise the audience into then watching the final film. The main details that we have left out is what the antagonist looks like and why he is after the girls and what sort of trouble they are in. This is because this would be the main story line and if we were to give away the main details of this then the trailer wouldn’t be creating the suspense and mystery that we would want it to. However we have shown the audience the main action parts however out of order to create confusion and make the audience want to watch the film even more.

Industry details:

Within Horror trailers they don’t tend to show the actors name within the trailer, we have also decided to go along with this. The reason for this is because we want the audience to feel as close to the characters as possible as we want them to feel the fear of the villainous character. By showing the audience the names of the actors then they may not see them as the characters and there may be no sense of realism. Within horrors captions are often used, they are either to tell part of the story line or link to the action on the screen. We have used caption screens in our trailer to give an idea about the storyline without giving away too much. This fits in with convention and is effective as it gives away enough to interest the audience but leaves them with questions meaning they will want to watch the full feature. We have also decided to have the captions throughout the trailer and not all at once because we don’t want the audience to be overwhelmed with information at once with information.