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.
Codes
Technical Symbolic.Lighting .Mise-En-Scene
.Editing
.Sound-Diegetic/Non diegetic
.Use of camera
What are 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 miss-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 – non-diegetic music for example, is both technical and symbolic.
Conventions
Secluded locationGenerally, horror movies enjoy placing their characters in a locale where there's no one around to help them i.e. the woods, a ghost town, a summer camp, a dormitory during off season, anything abandoned or a house in the middle of nowhere, anywhere that only includes the cast and no one else in sight can be used in a horror movie.
Characters Forget About Threat
.Many times there is danger, death, a curse, or worse and people know about it, but they conveniently place it out of their minds.
.It is almost always a negative thing in a movie. 'So, lots of campers have been disembowelled here?' 'Yeah, and they found somebody's head a few days ago and foot tracks leading to the cave nearby.' 'Oh, that's too bad. Who wants to play truth or dare?'
Power Is Cut
.At the scariest moment possible, the lights suddenly disappear. An ancient staple, probably leading back to a time before there was electricity.
.Note to would-be serial killers: MAKE SURE YOU CUT THE POWER BEFORE YOU BEGAN A MASSICARE, BUT DONT WORRY CHANCES ARE NO ONE WILL THINK ITS OUT OF THE ORDINARY.
Phone Lines Are Out
. The killers always take out the phones, even in their own home (Miser-1990) so that no one will attract the attention of any pesky policeman, concerned civic leaders, zombies killers, or vampire hunters. Almost all horror films where a phone can be seen will have the phone lines cut, It seems like a law for horror movies.
.In the recent age of cellular phones, things have changed- the mobile phone is damaged, a phones battery has run out, someone goes somewhere where there is no service, or the phone disappears
Someone Investigates A Strange Noise
This is one of the most unbelievable, yet most overused horror movie convention. Still
image that all of your friends have been horrifically murder by a unseen killer. You hear a loud or strange noise coming from a dark room or escaping from the depths of the woods. would you go ALONE,UNARMED AND WEAK to investigate and probably end up with your guts on the end of their knife. No? I wouldn't either but it seems that every horror character does or gets half way, trips up and the murder magical appears and brutally kills them.
Someone Runs Upstairs Instead Of Outside
You will frequently see potential victims running past open doors to the outside world (and safety) in a desperate attempt to get upstairs where they can lock themselves in a 'safe' place where the murder some how breaks in, appears with out breaking in or is all ready in the room even thought they were chasing the victim upstairs.
Victim Cowers In Front Of A Window Or Door
.An old , easy scare in 'Slashers' is to have someone hiding from, the killer against a door/wall/window only to have the killers hand break through the hiding spot and grab them.
.The victim looks out the window, sees nothing and when they turn away the killer jumps thought or as soon as they look out the window or thought a crack in the door the killer somehow pops up at the exact time. This time of convention can be very effective but usually its not.
Victim Inexplicably Falls Over
Why? Just why. When ever there is a murder chasing them the victim always seems to fall over the smallest object to find them self's crying and abandoned by friends to be greeted by death.
Vehicle Won't Start
This can happen to any vehicle, from snowmobiles to motorcycles to spaceships to the chain falling odd a bicycle. But this seems to only happen when the murder is right behind them but when they enter there location is works perfectly fine with no signs of it breaking down later on. This is a classic scare then normal appears near the end of the film or in the middle, depends on the killers mood.
The Fake Scare
A fake scare is one of the oldest and most over used conventions in horror films. They can take on any shape and size, but in general, any scare in a film that is not connected to the threat ( A friend jumps out, a door slams, someone looks into a mirror, someone new enters the room unnoticed, the phone rings, someone bumps into a department store mannequin, a bell rings, something falls, Someone is tapped on the shoulder or grabbed, a policeman knocks on the car window or door, a balloon pops, a bird files out of the tries or window or closet , something falls out of the closest that made a noise earlier on, a car alarm going off, someone cell phone rings, music turns on, the tv turns off or on, anything turns on or off unexpectedly and so on.) is a fake on. They are easy to do and can be very effective or completely stupid.
Warning Goes Unheeded
.It is human nature to go where one is told not to go and do what one is advised against. This can be achieved in many ways: someone has a dream that something nasty will befall all who go on that ski-trip ( yet they go no matter what), there is a rumoured curse regarding a discovered object( and they take it anyway), there is a sign which clearly states: 'PORTAL TO HELL NEARBY,NO SKINNY-DIPPING' (they ignore it and do what it says not to do ),ect.
Someone Is Killed In The First 5 Minutes
This is a handy convention as it helps the audience understand what the story line will be about quicker. This scare is normally in 'Slashers' but can appear in some paranormal films. Jaws, House, Halloween and Scream used this convention very effectively.
X Years Before/Later
This convention either indicates a prologue, setting up the events that happened before out story (such as the first couple minutes of Halloween or The Descent), or a film where we see the latter effects of an incident (Like I Know What You Did Last Summer), or an extensive flashback used to explain things (why the boarding house is haunted, why Jimmy is in the mental institution, why Carrie cant remember her parents, what lurks in the crawlspace under the house etc.,). A lot of 5 years later or 2 weeks will be superimposed on the screen.
The Stormy Night
Since the days of Victorian Horror, and even before, this has been one of the genre's most overused clichés. It may stem from he fact most people have a childhood fear of thunder. or that lighting and rain can create a horrific atmosphere.
The Short Cut
Most horror character take the short cut thinking that it will lead them to a happy, beautiful place but instead it leads them to hell. Normally the killer is waiting at the end of the road but if the killer isn't then the characters most likely get stuck in mud or water , or find a abandoned building to investigate what leads to all the other conventions to occur.
What are conventions?
Conventions are the generally accepted ways of doing something. There are general conventions in any medium, such as the use of interviewee quotes in a print article, but they are also genre specific.
