AS Film Horror Induction

Fraser McKean

Enrolment Task

 

Horror genre

The horror genre is a popular choice of filmography that relies on the viewer's state of mind to be shocked or otherwise horrify to the point of inflicting a negative reaction from them.

 

The horror genre is one of the most successful genres of films with various sub genres that apply to different viewer's taste, the classic types of horror films are Slasher and Supernatural and remain to be one of the most popular sub genres, however with the modern age genres such as psychological and torture have been highly praised.

 

Codes and conventions that associate with the horror genre are typically low-key lighting, abandoned/isolated areas, vulnerable females, complex monsters and a hero.

A classic story arc that is shown perfectly in Scream (1996) consists of the following cast of characters:

⦁ The hero.

⦁ The jock.

⦁ The stoner.

⦁ The horror film buff.

⦁ Minority race.

⦁ The virgin.

⦁ The slut.

⦁ The killer (known to the group).

 

The horror genre is most famed for providing chills and making the viewer feel tense and is perhaps the most efficient form of escapism for ninety minutes as it gives insight to another person's perspective, and the fact that that person is most cases in great peril it provides entertainment as well as the social interaction to feel fear and abhorrence amongst other viewers in the room.

 

Another recent horror film that received high praise despite the film not following conventional aspects of the horror genre is the Paranormal Activity (2009).

Although the film is a ghost story, it relies on the use of handheld cameras; immersing the viewer, actors that aren't well known; making the story feel real, minimalistic plot; allows viewer to be more open to scares and not rational thought.

The film has received praise for bringing found footage horror  into the mainstream spotlight with countless films copying the style, the antagonist is never seen during the film, but their presence is aware such as furniture being moved, bed sheets being blown over or dragging a victim into a closet. As far as technical codes go, lighting is mostly green night vision, this is essentially low-key as the amount of visibility is limited and what is shown as bright is consistent with high-key lighting. This helps keep the lighting aspect of the film simple but effective.

 

 

 

Another sub-genre of horror is a chilling ghost story, a film I feel represents this greatly is The Woman in Black (2012).

This is a supernatural horror which was a blockbuster hit based on the classic ghost tale of the same name.

The way in which this sub-genre  terrifies the viewer is through a vast amount of tension building up twenty five percent from the film's start, one of the aesthetics is jump scares which are essentially cheap moves in where a ghost is very quickly and unexpectedly shown on screen, usually screaming or shrieking, this shocks the viewer and puts them on the edge as the main scare builds up soon.

The lighting of this film is mostly low-key (aside from the daytime scenes) which in a story setting works as the film is based in the early nineteen hundreds and therefore did not have the disposal of lighting that we have today, this means that the only source of light that the character has is a torch that he must set a flame.

The conventions remain vastly similar such as a protagonist is a painful past, an abandoned/isolated area, a vulnerable female (in this case the ghost) and the monster.

 

The next horror sub-genre I will dissect is the psychological horror (my personal favourite).

The codes and conventions for this are typically the following:

 

The setting:

The setting needs to relate to the audience, therefore it must be in a place that is a familiar sight to the viewer, this includes:

⦁ Schools.

⦁ Hospitals.

⦁ Forests.

⦁ Mansions/Large estates.

 

Characters:

The antagonist is typically a disturbed, tormented or psychologically damaged person who tries to harm his victims in various ways; the protagonist(s) do not have to be in anyway related to the antagonist, they can just be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A running trend is that female characters are becoming more often the antagonist; this may have something to do with how traditionally the female roles are seen as the damsel in distress or the sexual icons. Children in this sub-genre are also popular as it gives off the impression of innocence to the viewer but they are deceived once the true intentions of the child, an example of this is in the film Orphan (2009), where the antagonist is a child.

 

Defences:

The protagonist(s) are at the most, largely the victim of this sub-genre as they are reliant on their wits to survive. The antagonist however, are typically the character with the weapon, be it supernatural or conventional weapons of a blade of a blunt object, an example is this is Orphan (2009) where the antagonist's main weapon is deception.

 

 

 

Visuals:

Again, like most horror sub genres, low-key lighting and in this particular sub-genre assets such as black and white filters (mainly used in flashbacks) are signature, examples of this are The Sixth Sense (1999) and The Human Centipede 2 (2011) which negates all forms of colour and life, this along with night vision is an alternative for low-key lighting effects and works rather well in keeping the audience immersed in the film.

 

Audio:

An element of psychological horror is Contrapuntal Sound, which is a sound that does not fit with the actions that are shown on screen, this is very much a contradiction to what is occurring, for instance, eerie music and diminished notes are used to build tension quickly in a scene (most commonly in trailers) to hook the viewer and make it apparent that something is about to happen, the audience just cannot predict when.

 

Psychological horror is more of a mental horror rather than a physical horror as it dwells on the audience's mind long after they have left the theatre, questioning what they have been through, this horror is very close to home in terms of realism.

 

A scene from a horror film that affected me personally was the main twist of The Sixth Sense (1999), although it by present day's standards not a horror film, when I was younger it opened my eyes to the psychological aspects of films and I can remember going into school the next day with that scene playing over and over again in my mind, in my opinion it is one of the most classic and spoilers that must be experienced and not told.

We are drawn to the horror genre is the excitement of not being able to take our eyes off the screen in sheer terror or engrossment, the idea that we are drawn to what we are scared of is fascinating, personally I love how such a monstrous idea can spawn form a person's mind, it is a sick, guilty pleasure to be terrified over and over again, from Dracula (1958) to The Human Centipede (2009) horror fans just love to be disgusted and have their spine chilled, a phenomenon that I agree with but also do not understand.