Conventions of horror

Mise-en-scene –
Clothing – The clothing generally used in the horror genre is white which connotates innocence and black which connotates evilness. The white coloured clothing is generally worn by those who are the victim and the black coloured clothing is worn by the killer.

Lighting - The lighting in horror is usually fairly dim to show the audience when something bad is going to happen, however it can sometimes be light if the director wants to emphasize the kill. When building up to the murder or bad situation usually the lights flash to see what is going to happen or the lighting will slowly become dimmer for a dramatic effect.

Language – Actors speech is usually in clear English (In England.) however, when the bad event happens their speech is usually elongated to show the characters emotions.

Weapons – Guns , knifes and random objects.

Sound –
Diegetic sound – Diegetic sound is what the actors can hear, in horrors suspense is built up by the telephone ringing, the sound of the wind and other things like screams, Just everyday things that could potentially frighten a human if they was awaiting their death.

Non-diegetic sound - This is what the actors can’t hear. Such as music playing to set the scene, a voice over to frighten the audience and possibly screeches and lightening sounds to create tension for the audience.

Editing - Editing can be used in a horror film for many different things such as –
- Shots fading into each other to emphasize a shot.
- Non – diegetic sound
- Fake lightening – weather such as rain.
- Names of actors, producers, directors . . .


Cinematography –
Close-ups – for star recognition also to show characters emotions such as they are ready to commit a bad thing or crying.

Long shots – to set the scene.

Medium shots – to show what the character is up to.

Tracking - to show the person running away from the antagonist.

. . .








To follow the codes and conventions of the horror genre i am going to use verisimilitude and portray the mother as a depressed female.Working around this i am able to fit in the codes and conventions throughout my film trailer.I will use close-ups for star recognition to show the mother and daughter and their emotions from when they was happy to when they are petrified. Other shots will be long shots and establishing shots to show the audience who is being stalked and to give them a sense of location.The horror parts in my film will be filmed in dark lighting to show insanity. ( horror films are generally not filmed in light.) It gives a sense of mystery.