Essay For the horror films

Every films has codes and conventions in, every genre has as well. There are 2 types of codes used in films, these are:

Symbolic
Symbolic codes are what the audience sees in the film. An example of a symbolic code would be mise-en-scene which is French for "put in the scene". Mise-en-scene includes a range of things such as the costumes used, the makeup, the setting and the props used. An example would be a man is in the woods wearing a big coat and he is bleeding. The coat would be costume and the blood would be makeup and he is in the woods which are the setting and he has a hammer as a weapon which would be the prop. Also the facial expressions of the man would show the audience how he feels.

The other type is Technical.

Technical
Technical codes are how the camera has been used such as the angles, the shots and the movement to try and create the effect of making the audience scared. Other things included can be how the lighting has been used to try and make the audience scared because the victim has no idea where the killer could be. The editing and titles come under this as well because the title can be edited to look scary such as having the title in different fonts and different colour schemes so when people first view it they will be able to tell it is a horror. The editing can also be used to increase the pace of the film when danger could be building up. Also diegetic and non-diegetic sound which is sound on the set and sound that has been put over the actual scene to possibly make it scarier. Technical codes are much more important than symbolic codes.

Conventions play a large role in ten horror movies because they are used to attract the audience to see the movie in the first place.

Conventions 
Conventions are things that audiences expect to see. An example of a convention would be that the characters are lost in the middle of nowhere, this gives the audience a sense of vulnerability as they are nowhere near civilization, if it was set in a city they know that there are lots of people to get help from, but in a desert there is no one.

The 3 films I watched and analysed were:
Wrong turn
Dead Mary
Dead Wood

Wrong turn

Wrong turn was the easiest to identify the codes and conventions. The opening of it had a good amount of editing; this is shown by the pace in the scene which slowly builds up as it goes on. An example of this is when the male and female are talking as his goes away to look, but when the man gets thrown off the cliff, the cuts increase in pace with on cut lasting not even a second, this makes the movie feel more intense. The pace of this makes the audience feel a lot more threatened.

In the opening of Wrong turn starts off with a crane shot of the location which is in a forest. This is because it is a secluded location and it is to make the audience think that there is no help available because the camera shows just how big the forest is. To also show that it is secluded the male says that there is no one for 50 miles. The camera is then a bird’s eye view showing the 2 characters rock climbing and it shows just how high the cliff is so if they are at danger then they may struggle to get down quite quickly or get up as well if they are in a rush to hurry from the danger.

Wrong turn uses many conventions in its opening. One of these is that the strong male character dies leaving the female vulnerable. This happens in many horror films such as dead wood which I will be talking about later. Another convention I am going to talk about is that it is a secluded location. I mentioned this before but I will go into more detail now. The camera shows how secluded the location is by showing the area which it is set and that there is no help around. Instead it is just a huge dangerous wooded area and the woman is shouting for help and the male says” we are 50 miles from anybody” so this shows how secluded the location is. One final convention is where the victim is close to safety, as the woman finds out that the man is dead, she tries to escape by cutting the rope off so she can get to safety but she trips over some barbed wire and then is taken away by the unknown killer, it then cuts to the final shot of the car just so the audience can see how close she was to escaping from the killing ground.

The Wrong Turn uses a lot of codes. One of these codes would be the sound that gets used. When the Male is on the ground after getting thrown off the cliff by the killer and when the female falls down, there is a shot of the male’s face, just before this shot there is no music at all but when his face is revealed and covered in blood the music is instant. Another way sound gets used is when the camera is looking down on the female, there seems to be a thump out of scene, this could tell us that the male has been hit with a heavy object such as a rock or a tree. Mise-En-Scene has been used well because the female how the female has been dressed would seem quite inappropriate because she is showing a lot of flesh and is wearing a vest and high shorts. This is not very good for the female because she is rock climbing and she is not protected very well and if she fell, she could of easily cut herself because her clothing choice is not the best.

Dead Mary

In the opening of Dead Mary it seemed like it was going to be quite boring, but in the end it was by far the most technical of the 3 openings. There is a lot of tension because it is to get the audience ready as something is going to happen but there isn't. This is done by the use of music and the different camera angles so the audience are meant to feel that the person is getting watched and is meant to make the audience scared that something may happen. But the opening of Dead Mary has been done well because even though there is no action it is still very intriguing to watch. Also the use of editing has been used to put the audience in the characters shoes. As the pace of the cuts gets quicker you know that something is going to happen.

The camera has been used really well in Dead Mary because at the beginning there is a sign that isn't up properly and it is squeaking. The use of the camera on the sign and the road behind it shows that it is secluded and nobody is around to help them. Also the camera is out of focus as it shows the girls POV because she is looking in the mirror and the camera has been done to show the audience what the character sees and shows how deserted the road is. Also the use of the camera looking through the trees is meant to feel that the character is being watched and keeps cutting through the trees. Also the camera has been used the same way as the POV because the road is out of focus again and there is a person who is also out of focus as well, so it could look like any random person and it looks a scary for the audience because it could be anyone.

There are not a lot of conventions used in Dead Mary but uses some. One convention would be that it is set in a secluded location and many horror movies are set in locations like these because it is to make the character feel that there is no escape from the killer. In Dead Mary you can tell that this is a secluded location because their car is the only one there and it is a wooded area which can mean that the location is secluded and if they are in danger nobody can help them. One more convention would be that there is a sense of threat. Both characters are in danger because the female is on her own and she is very vulnerable, the man is in danger as well because he is going out on his own to find petrol and he could easily get jumped and killed by some people. The final convention is that the phone has no signal this is used when the female is trying to get hold of her boyfriend/Dad/Brother but she makes the audience think that the phone doesn't work by holding it up to the sky to try and get a signal and she also makes the audience that the phone doesn't work by throwing it in anger.

There are a lot of codes that are used in Dead Mary. One of these would be the diegetic sound that is used. These sounds were the birds tweeting which can indicate that it is set in a wooded area and that there is nobody else around. Another sound that was diegetic was the sign creaking. This can show that the location is very secluded as well because there is nobody around to possibly fix the sign and it is one of those noises that unease’s the audience. The Mise-En-Scene used is that the woman's outfit is inappropriate as she is showing a lot of flesh and she is very vulnerable and not ready. However the man is fully clothed and looks like he is ready if any danger was to happen to both of them. A prop that the audience sees is a flare gun, this could be foreshadowing any later danger that could occur and in the movie.

Dead Wood

In the opening of Dead Wood, there is a crane shot of the location and this shows the audience that this place is very secluded and big so there is a difficulty of escaping. A way of the editing being used is that the male victim is trying to get away from an unknown danger, but before that the use of sound is slow and steady but then as the man is trying to escape, the music starts to get quicker because the audience knows that something is chasing him and he is in danger. Also the editing has been used very well because the cuts gradually get quicker because it shows that danger is building up.

Dead Wood uses a range of different conventions. Some of these are the same as Wrong Turn. One convention would be that there is a death in the first 5 minutes. This is when the male is trying to escape from the unknown killer and he has a jump to make which seems quite a difficult one to make ( even though he just don sent climb down and climb back up is beyond me). But he doesn’t make the jump and blood pours out of his mouth where he is presumably killed. This convention is used so many times in horror films because it is meant to get the audience scared and frightened of what’s going to be on in the next few scenes. One more convention would be that the person is running through the trees where the person is very vulnerable because a branch could hit them, they could trip up or they could get lost quite easily and running through the trees is not a very safe way. One other convention would be that the woman is in danger and that she is victim because when the male dies, she is on her own and she has no power because she doesn’t have the male to rely on meaning she is a very vulnerable character in a very vulnerable situation and the audience are meant to feel scared because they will be wondering what is going to happen to that woman. Another convention would be that there is a false jump. This is where the camera is lowering down to ground level and there is a splash and this is where the man is escaping and the audience are meant to feel that more jumps are going to be expected in the movie. But in Wrong Turn the jump has been used by non-diegetic sound whereas Dead Wood uses Diegetic sound.  One final convention would be that the location is very secluded. It is in a huge forest where there is no sign of anybody being around so the audience is already feeling that the characters are going to be in danger because of how secluded the location is. So the people in danger would find it really difficult to get away

The opening of Dead Wood has a lot of codes. One code would be the use of Mise-En-Scene. This is what has been put in the scene. The male has a Hawaiian T-Shirt on. This shows that he hasn't experienced camping before because what he is wearing. Most campers wear thick clothing and coats but he is wearing a shirt which doesn't suit the camping environment. On the other hand the female is much better dressed than the other 2 females in the other films, she is actually wearing some clothing the covers her body. One other code used is the use of sound. This shows how secluded the location is by having birds tweet to tell the audience that the only noise would be the birds and nobody else and that it is a woodland. Also the music has been used by making it deep and mysterious then gets louder as the chase is going on so it is building up the tension. The camera is down low and tilted upwards to show how far and high the jump is so it is difficult to make but if he fell it would be very difficult to get back up without death.

Conclusion
In conclusion I think Wrong Turn uses the most and better codes and conventions. In the Wrong Turn the use of different sound has been used very effectively because the sound that has been used would really make the audience feel uncomfortable and very uneasy. Also the way the camera flies over the wooded area and you would expect them to be around a camp or something else but they are half way up of climbing up a wall which was pretty unexpected. Also Wrong Turn is the best in making sure that the female is really vulnerable and an easy target by using a range of conventions and codes to make the audience feel that the woman is in a lot of danger. Also the use of costumes, props etc. are all used very well and that there is an actual point to these being used. Also the different conventions and codes used in Wrong Turn are meant to make the audience feel that they are in for more.