Horror Genre Post

Setting (location, where why?)
Technical codes (lighting, camera angle, framing, cropping, why?)
Iconography (props, costumes, why?)
Narrative (what is the story behind the image? Why?)
Characters (what sort of person/character are they?)
Themes (love, passion, fun, dark, romantic, fantasy etc., Why?)

Horror Genre Post

Horror movies are usually set in isolated places, for example ‘Cabin in the Woods’, this is used to set a scary atmosphere ensuring that no one is around to help the victims. Low-key lighting is commonly used throughout the horror genre, as a dark atmosphere is scarier than a lit up one. Close ups are used to create suspense and show emotion on people’s faces, extreme long shots are used to establish the location which is often secluded. Knives, chainsaws, drills, razor blades and other instruments of torture are used in horror movies more so than guns are as people are usually tortured and killed slowly rather than quickly. The ‘Saw’ franchise heavily popularized this sub-genre of horror. Masks are commonly used in horror movies, for example in ‘Scream’ the killer wears a ghost mask to hide his identity and scare the viewers. The horror genre usually involves someone who is mentally unstable who has been rejected in the past, who feels the need to seek revenge on who are usually innocent people. In the horror genre teenage girls that drink, do drugs, and have sex are usually killed of first, and the girl who is seen as good and usually is virginal usually survives. The killer is usually male however some films go against this convention for example ‘Orphan’. A common narrative of the modern day horror will be a group of friends that go to stay at an isolated location, such as ‘Cabin in The Woods’, where they will be picked off one by one leaving only one survivor. Another common narrative of the traditional horror would include a woman being followed back to a house where the mentally unstable villain will try to kill her.