Stylistic And Narrative Codes Of Horror.

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Stylistic And Narrative Codes Of Horror. by Mind Map: Stylistic And Narrative Codes Of Horror.

1. Editing

1.1. Quick jump cuts of action which build up tension in a scene.

1.2. Video slowed at tense parts which represents the characters movement.

1.3. zooming in and out which shows the audience a characters facial expression or a wide shot of what they are seeing.

1.4. Video sped up to represent the heart beat of the character.

2. Mise-En-Scene.

2.1. Props.

2.1.1. Kitchen knifes, baseball bats, hammers, pokers, etc. These props are used as weapons because horror movies are typically set in a house so these props are items you would find in a house.

2.1.2. Religious symbols such as crosses and bibles. Creates a sense of hope to the audience as they protect the characters and audiences form demons and satanic forms.

2.2. Iconography.

2.2.1. Hauntings.

2.2.2. Demons and exorcisms.

2.2.3. Gore and blood.

2.2.4. Religious belief.

2.2.5. Satanism.

2.3. Make-up.

2.3.1. Special effects. Special effect

2.3.2. Scars and cuts. The scars and cuts represent the journey of the characters throughout the film.

2.3.3. Blood and gore.

2.4. Costume.

2.4.1. Masks. Masks are a motif to some horror villains which are represented that villain.

2.4.2. Victim/hero: normal bright everyday clothes e.g jeans and a t-shirt at the start but then at the end ripped, dirty bloody clothes which represent that they have been through something e.g fighting a villain.

2.4.3. Villain: dark, ripped, mouldy, old clothes represents that the villain is old or unnatural through its clothing.

2.5. Set.

2.5.1. Urban and rural.

2.5.2. mainly rural e.g woods because rural locations are normally not near civilisation which adds to the horror film because the audience knows that the no one can hear them.

2.6. Location.

2.6.1. Atics. Atics connect with the audience because most houses have atics so the use of them makes the audience scared to be in there own home.

2.6.2. Basements. Basements are used because they are the same as atics where some houses have them. Also basements are underground which has representation of a coffin.

2.6.3. Old houses e.g Victorian houses. They use old houses because that’s have history so a narrative can be built for that history.

2.6.4. Dense woods and forests. They use dense woods because it creates a sense of no escape to the audience which then creates tension and dread.

2.6.5. Abandoned buildings. Abandoned buildings are used to create a creepy and dread as there is no hope that the characters are safe.

2.6.6. Churches. Churches are used as they go with the narrative of religion. Churches also create a sense of hope as the narrative is typically about a demon which needs exorcising which would normally happen in a church.

3. Sound.

3.1. Music builds up when there is going to be a jump scare which creates tension.

3.2. Violin squeak creates tense atmosphere.

3.3. Eerie, scary music creates a creepy atmosphere.

3.4. Pipes banging and floorboards squeaking. These sounds are sounds that house make so it creates a scene for the audience.

4. Lightning.

4.1. Light lightning for hero and victim shows that they are innocent.

4.2. Generally dark which creates a sense of dread and adds a creepy atmosphere.

4.3. Night vision. Shows what the characters can see involves the audience.

4.4. Dark lightning for villains shows that they aren’t pure or innocent.

5. Characters.

5.1. Hero: man, strong, connection with victim e.g boyfriend.

5.2. “Damsel in distress” women which is young, dumb and dipsy.

5.3. Villain: ghosts, demons, unnatural beings.

6. Narrative.

6.1. Main characters communicate with evil e.g ouijia board.

6.2. A death, a murder, a ghost presence, and a demonic possession.

6.3. Mental illness e.g insanity, depression, suicide etc.

6.4. A monster or evil that the main characters have to defeat.

6.5. Childhood issues and nightmares.

6.6. Priest has to perform an exorcism.

7. Camera.

7.1. Low/high angles shows strength or weakness.

7.2. Point of view angles puts the audience in the characters shoes.

7.3. Track/pan shots follow the action.

7.4. Point of view from villain creates a sense of dread and tense because the audience know that something bad is going to happen to one of the characters.

7.5. Medium shots which shows distance from characters to something.

8. Colour scheme.

8.1. Dark colours for villains blacks, dark greens, greys shows that they aren’t innocent and are dangerous.

8.2. Light colours for main characters especially whites and beige shows innocents.

8.3. Red, purple, greens for makeup such as bruises and cuts with blood.