Horror Codes & Conventions

1. Low key lighting

1.1. Dim lighting

1.2. Dark atmospere

2. Lot of close up shots

2.1. Low over shoulder

2.2. Midshot

2.3. Extreme close up

2.4. Point of view

3. The weapon or prop the killer uses through out the movie

3.1. Gun

3.2. Knife

3.3. Chainsaw

3.4. Suffocation

3.5. Drowning

3.6. Bear trap

3.7. Axe

3.8. Chemicals

4. A female character normally survives usually innocent and pure

5. Use CGI to add more of an affect so that people watch it

6. Lots of enigmas used as lots of mystery

7. Sub-Genre

7.1. Psychological

7.2. Supernatural

7.3. Slasher

7.4. Sci-fi

7.5. Gorno

8. Slow pace editing to create tension

9. Eerie music / Non Diegetic sound

9.1. Screams

9.2. Narration

9.3. Creepy sound effects

10. Location is usually dark, isolated or abandoned

10.1. House in the forrest

10.2. A dark forrest

10.3. Rural areas

10.4. Abandoned places

10.5. Holiday house in the middle of nowhere