Summary of Findings

Generic Codes of a Horror Movie

-Dark/Low Key lighting

-Dark Clothing for the villains.

-Possibly brighter clothing for the heroes.

-Isolated setting – feel as though the victim is trapped, or has nowhere to go.

-Props – blood, knives, guns, masks, general household objects

-Cameras shots – close ups to see emotion of characters

-Camera movement is very fast paced when victims are fighting or escaping/running.

Generic Conventions of a horror movie.

-Helpless Victim – tries and tries to escape but the villain always manages to catch them.

-Naïve teenagers – don’t know what’s happening until it actually happens.

-Usually relates to the victims life in someway. But sometimes it is completely random

-Villain has a problem with victim or something about them

Theories

Propp

-Victim – usually a helpless teenager, but sometimes an adult.

-Villain – the person that sets out to kill the victim for some reason.

-Helper (good) – tries to aid the victim in some way, but is usually thwarted.

-Helper (bad) – they aid the main villain in trying to catch the victim.

-Hero – the one that eventually manages to kill the villain, could possibly be the victim.

Todorov

-The films start with a normal scenario, which the audience can relate to. The Equilibrium.

-This is then disrupted by the Villain intervening somehow. The Dis-equilibrium

-The victim manages to escape or kill the villain somehow and tries to return to normal life. New equilibrium.

Sound

-The sound used in generic horror movies is usually a low tined music which helps to create tension and mystery. The music usually comes in when we are about to see something change in the narrative e.g. someone attempting to kill someone.

-The music can get louder and louder when nearing a point of importance. This is how the film makers let the audience know this.