Studying Horror Films

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Studying Horror Films

• The Conventions

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So You Think You Know Horror

• Name the films that the following characters
  appear in

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The Conventions of Horror Films

• List the conventions of horror movies
  (conventions are the elements you expect in a
  horror film)
• Complete the conventions sheet attached

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Horror Movie Conventions 1

• Blood
• Death
• Killing
• Villain
• Victims
• Haunted houses and isolated settings
• Monsters
• Evil

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Horror Movie Conventions 2

• Weapons
• Darkness
• Storms
• Chase sequences
• Gore
• Violence
• Screams
• Ghosts

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Suggested horror movies to watch

• Scream
• The Ring
• Gothika
• The Others
• Blair Witch

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Narrative and Character

• Narrative most, according to Propp, film
  narratives follow this structure
• Equilibrium disequilbrium a new state of
  equilibrium
• According to Propp again, there are certain
  characters in films and stories with certain
  functions
• the hero the one on the quest and the one who
  saves the
• day
• the villain the evil one who causes the
  disequilbrium
• the helper a person who helps the hero on
  their quest/the sidekick
• the victim at the mercy of the villain
• the donor someone who has something special
  which will help the hero
• Complete the narrative and character worksheet
  on the horror movies that you watch

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History of the Horror Movie Condensed

• Horror movies have been around since silent
  movies (Nosferatu). Obviously being scared is
  something the audience want. The horror movie
  received a huge revival in the late 70s early
  80s (Omen and Nightmare on Elm Street) but died
  a sad death in the late 80s and throughout most
  of the 90s.
• However, with the advent of the horror smash
  parody Scream the genre is, once again, extremely
  popular.
• What was frightening back in the silent movie
  days and what is frightening now may well have
  changed. As society changes so do our fears.
• For example, when moving image was first invented
  footage of a moving train caused fear in the
  audience because people really believed that the
  train would come straight out of the screen
• www.darkwebonline.com/top100horror1.asp
• The web address above will take you through the
  top one hundred horror movies.

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Camera Angles

• Extreme Close Up
• This is used to
• Emphasise something.
• What is this image
• Emphasising? In other
• Words, what is the
• Connotation of this
• Image?

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Camera Angles

• Close Up
• This is where the
• subject fills the frame
• it shows emotion.
• what is the connotation
• of this
• close up?

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Camera Angles

• Dutch Tilt
• Where the subject is
• tilted. Often used in
• horror to create
• disorientation. What
• is the connotation of this
• Dutch Tilt?

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Camera Angles

• Extreme Long shot
• This is where the setting
• Fills the frame. It is
• An establishing shot which
• Sets the scenewhat is the
• Connotation of this shot?

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Camera Angles

• Long shot
• this is where
• we see the subject
• in relation to their
• surrounding
• the setting dominates.
• what is the connotation
• of this image?

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Camera Angles

• Medium long shot
• this is where the setting
• and the subject are
• in equal proportion.
• What is the connotation
• of this still?

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Camera Angles

• Medium Shot this
• is when the subject is cut
• off at the waist. You
• can still see their costume
• but also some of their
• emotions. What is
• the connotation of this still?

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Camera Angles

• Medium Close Up
• When you can still see
• some of the subjects
• physique but their emotions
• are clearly evident. What
• is the connotation of this
• still?

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Camera Movement

• Zoom when zooming in the camera does not move
• Tracking (dollying) the camera moves smoothly
  towards or away from the subject
• Pan the camera moves from left to right
  following a moving subject.
• Hand-held camera produces a jerky movement,
  creating a sense of reality/chaos
• Steadicam a hand-held camera worn with a
  harness to achieve a steady shot

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Editing

• This occurs everytime that a film is cut. A film
  is never shot in the order that the events
  happen. This would cost a fortune all
  sequences with the same location will be shot at
  the same time regardless of where they appear in
  the narrative. Sometimes the opening sequence to
  a film will be the last sequence to be shot.
  When a sequence has high octane action the
  cuts/editing is fast and numerous
• Chase sequences are very good to demonstrate this

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Soundtrack and Sound effects

• Soundtrack this is the music playing in the
  background. It can be diegetic or non-diegetic.
  If the sound is part of the narrative, the action
  (eg a radio playing in the shot) it is
  diegetic. However, more often than not, the
  soundtrack is non-diegetic. Music playing in the
  background which is not evident in the action.
• Sound effects these are the effects added
  during post-production. For example, explosions,
  birdsong
• Jaws watch a shark approaching sequence without
  the sound and then with the sound!? Notice the
  difference

www.filmsound.org       
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Costume

• Costumes tell you something about the character
  (the genre too)? What are the
• Connotation of the following costumes?

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Props

• What are the connotations of the props in these
  images?

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Lighting

• What are the connotations of the lighting used in
  the stills below?

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Mise-en-scene

• If you were to pause a moment in a film, that
  frame would be mise-en-scene. Textual analysis
  of elements within this frame, in terms of
  denotation and connotation, is mise-en-scene.

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Mise-en-scene