I have looked into three supernatural horror film scenes to help me understand the different codes and conventions, iconography, themes, stock characters and situations etc. that they use to help me base them on what I am going to include in my final project and make it look like a convincing media product.
I have looked into The Possession, The Conjuring and Insidious. Although, all very different in their own ways, they all include certain conventional elements that help identify the genre to the audience. I have identified all of these and I intend to integrate them within the cinematography and planning of my final piece to make it look effective and as realistic as possible.
Something that I have realised when looking at the film scenes is the use of characters. The stock characters that are conventionally used in supernatural horror films are families and so range of middle aged men and women down to young children and this is seen in the film scenes that I have analysed. The family is also usually the protagonist in the films and the victims to some sort of supernatural being (the antagonist). Therefore, in my film opening, I am going to have to cast a range of different ages to create a family that it will be based around and so this will make my opening fit the codes and conventions of a supernatural horror. Something that I am going to need to think about is the casting of the supernatural being as this may be difficult to recreate as the antagonists seen in Insidious and The Conjuring have distinct, slightly demonic features that we couldn't replicate. Therefore, we must try and make our antagonist not visible in the scene which is done in the clip from The Possession, so that our final piece is more realistic.
A stock situation that happened in each scene that I analysed was some sort of attack from the supernatural antagonist character. This relates to a key theme that is present throughout all three scenes which is good versus evil. Therefore, in my film opening I am going to have to make the divide between good versus evil very clear in my narrative and so it is recognisable of the genre.
Some kind of filter of low-key lighting has been used in each scene. The low-key lighting and other filters that make the scenes look dull and dark automatically gives the film an eery atmosphere and helps identify with the supernatural horror genre. Therefore, I must include some kind of dark filter or low-key lighting to emphasise the eery atmosphere throughout my film opening and so it is recognisable of the genre and therefore more convincing.
The use of incidental music and emphasised diegetic sound is a predominant feature that occurs throughout each of the scenes I analysed. Incidental music is used to create tension and set a certain mood and atmosphere throughout the scene. I have also noticed that it is specifically used when something bad is going to happen i.e. the antagonist suddenly appearing. The non-diegetic music also increases in volume and pace when something bad is going to happen which makes the audience on edge and is conventional of the genre.
In addition to the incidental music used, emphasised diegetic sound is used to signify a specific feature. For example, in The Possession, diegetic sounds of glasses smashing and other furniture crashing to the ground is used to emphasise the power that this supernatural being has over the other character. Therefore, when planning my final project, I must consider using sound effects to make certain points exaggerated and make certain elements of characters or other features of the scene much clearer.
Overall, I think that if my partner and I follow the codes and conventions that we have noticed from each of the scenes we have analysed each, and apply these to the cinematography and planning of the final project, we will hopefully be able to create a convincing media product that is recognisable of our chosen genre.
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