Horror - India

Conventions

A convention is something that you would normally expect to see in the specific genre of film. It is what's classed as the "norm". The genre I am looking at is horror, so the conventions for horror would include: Old spooky castles or houses, ghosts, knives, blood, death, vampires, demons, viruses. These are all things that people are scared of, and so they are out in many horror films to scare the audience, because they're used so often, they have become the conventions of horror.

storylines

Many horror films have similar storylines as they tend to stick to the things that people are typically scared of. They prey on people's biggest fears and primal instincts to give them the thrill and adrenalin of being scared. some of the storylines often include:

A group of teenagers in a spooky house

People who do bad things dying for them

A strange, lonely person who turns out to be a murderous psychopath

These are all used as they're things that would scare us if they happened to us. Furthermore, some of the storylines are adapted from real life stories, which makes the audience find them even more terrifying, knowing that they have happened, and so they could again.

iconography

This means the symbols that occur throughout horror films that hold meaning. These are used because they do not tell the audience directly what has happened, but give them an idea which scares them as it has then come from their own imagination. This can include a crow or blood to symbolise death. This can also include things like Carol Clover's final girl theory and other things that often appear in horror films.

characters

Many horror films fit into Vladimir Propp's theory of characters in which there is a Villain, who is the main antagonist, the "Princess" who is most often a woman in distress or danger, the donor who helps the hero by giving them things to assist them, the helper who helps the hero on his journey, the false hero who appears to be good but double crosses them, the dispatcher who sends the hero out and the hero himself, who is the main antagonist. However this may vary in different films, and lots of horror films contain a girl who is stronger than the rest.

music

The music of horror films is often considered as spooky and eerie. in order to get this effect, violins are often used and other high pitched instruments to create tension. They also have loud bits of music in order to create jump scares.

Sub genres

Horror films have many sub genre's. This means the other types of films that fit into horror. these can include:

Comedy

Sci-fi

Apocalypse

Vampire