Research: Codes And Conventions Of Horror Films

Conventions

Conventions are the generally accepted ways of doing something. They are genre specific. An example of this is in a horror film they never get phone signal when they are needed. An other example is when someone is being chased in a building and they run past the door that is unlocked and then go upstairs where they are trapped instead of running out the front door to safety. Another example is that a person dies in the first 5 minutes this will set the scene for the rest of the movie.

Codes

Codes are systems of signs, which create meaning. Codes can be divided into two categories – technical and symbolic. Technical codes are all the ways in which equipment is used to tell the story in a media text, for example the camera work in a film, the editing or the use of sound (diegetic and non-diegetic). Symbolic codes show what is beneath the surface of what we see. Symbolic codes are usually seen through aspects of mise-en-scene. For example, a character's actions show you how the character is feeling, a character's costume can be decoded to help us understand what type of person they are, certain props have suggestions or connotations which can be de-coded by an audience, etc. Some codes fit both categories of non-diegetic music for example, is both technical and symbolic.

How codes and conventions apply in media studies

Codes and conventions are used together in any study of genre – it is not enough to discuss a technical code used such as camera work, without saying how it is conventionally used in a genre. For example, the technical code of lighting is used in some way in all film genres. It is a convention of the horror genre that side and back lighting is used to create mystery and suspense – an integral part of any horror movie.

For example Western films usually have have a good guy and a bad guy to resemble the good from the bad the costumes of the characters depict them from each over and give the audience an understanding of who they are. for example: the good guy will wear appropriate and sensible clothes on the other hand the villain might wear inappropriate clothing and will be usually dark colours.

This research will help us produce a more effective opening because I now what makes a horror film and what and how directors can build the tension by diegetic and non-diegetic sounds and how they can create and imagine of a person just by the way they are dressed. This research shown me that codes and conventions are both very important as with out the mies-en-scene and the diegetic and non-diegetic are a big part in creating the film and they way it feels to the audience as without the music or with different music that is up beat the audience would not be as scared. It will help me because i now know how to use codes and conventions to help me create the horror film feel and how to use them to help create the tension in our opening.