Setting
Small communities or isolated places. Urban environments, dark streets
and narrow alleyways. Large cities or run down ghost towns. Anything
that connotes isolation or being alone.
Often sometimes places with “dark” history, like abandoned houses,
hotels and insane asylums.
Locations often include:
Lakes, Roads, Highways, Countryside, Barns, Farms, Dark Woods,
Woodlands, Houses, Cabins, Cities, Subways, Gloomy Underground
Tunnels, Creepy Hotels, Abounded Houses, Haunted Houses, SpaceStations (for Sci-Fi Horror), Graveyard, Dungeons, Deserted Ships at Sea,
Space Ships, Alien Planets, basements, attics, meat factories, science lab,
London Underground, Shopping Mall, Cornfield, Pirate Ship, Tundra,
Asylum, Deep Water, Blizzards and many other dark locations.
Technical Codes
Camerawork is very expressive and not natural. High and Low angles can connote
fear and nightmares.
• Point of View shots are important because they allow the audience to see the
world from the monster’s eye. This happens roughly at the end or in the middle
of typical horror film.
• Handheld shots make it difficult for the audience to make out what is
happening. Sometimes framework uses the depth of field, makes it harder to
see the monster creeping up behind the protagonist.
• Disturbing sounds are very important in a horror movie. Ambient diegetic
sounds like footsteps and non-diegetic sounds (like a heartbeat).
• Extreme Close Ups are used to highlight emotions such as fear on a character's
face
• Editing can create unsettling tension and suspense. If the editing hasn’t been
paced (sped) up in a while then you know that something very bad is about to
jump out and scare you.
Iconography
• Visual style: Often dark colours like red and
black (links to evil, blood and danger).
• Lighting is expressive and non-naturalistic.
Low-key lighting can help to crate dark
shadows and unfamiliar shapes in the
blackness. Lighting can be motivated in the
world of the film (like bonfires, fireplaces
and torches).
The iconography of the
monsters help to connote
extreme fear, disgust and
terror: Werewolves,
Vampires, Mummies,
Frankenstein and many
others.
Props can help us to further
identify horror genre. Specific
props can be identified with a
certain villain or character
(Chainsaws, Machetes, Knife, Claw
Gauntlets, Costumes, Firearms
etc).
Narrative Structure
• Classic narrative structure is most frequently
seen in the Horror genre but it often has an
open ending leaving the possibility for a sequel
• There’s always a protagonist (hero), usually a
man although sometimes it is a “final girl” of
the film. Usually the hero must embark on a
mission or quest to kill or solve problems.
George Woodford
The Main
Protagonist, often
the “victim/hero”
of the movie.
The Villain, often a
monster, mutated
freak, alien or serial
killer.
Character Types
Other characters…
• The stupid/immoral
teenagers that always
get killed.
• Creepy children.
• Police Officers that can
either be good or bad.
George Woodford
Themes
Good Versus Evil
Depression
Religion
Childhood issues
Revenge
Supernatural
Beyond Death
Science gone bad
Zombie Apocalypse
Nightmares
Madness
Insanity
Lust
“Selfconsciousness”
making you
question what is
real and what is
not.
Envy
Suicide