Research: Conventions in Horror Films

Conventions are the way we assume doing things? Conventions are in all spreads of media like when you expect a hero’s anthem to play at the beginning of a superhero movie. In horror films, there are a wide array of conventions that are usually used and are reused throughout the decades. One of the many conventions in horror films are an isolated location.

An isolated location in a horror film is usually show as an establishing shot right at the first 10 minutes of the film and is used to make sure the audience know there is very little means to escape for the character. This is used in many films like “Silent Hill” and “The Blaire Witch Project”. There are many reasons films could have this convention in the one is to do with cost, having an isolated location like the woods has minimal if no cost and there is no need to pay extra for background characters. Another reason is that it would be easily accessible. The main reason though is that it is used to scare the audience. Having an isolated location creates the feeling of loneliness; the character has nowhere else to turn and therefore this creates subtle undertones of tension.

Another convention is that either the phone lines/electricity is cut, this is usually paired with the isolated location. This convention isolates the character completely from the outside world and are very exposed and venerable, it also eradicates the possibility of any help arriving so no police can end the “fun”. This is usually shown in an extreme close up shot of a light switch or a phone turning off and with have panicked music to back it up which creates tension and gives the audience a little adrenaline shot.

One final convention is the fake scare otherwise known as a “jump scare”. Jump scares are used when the audience is in a venerable position where there is little to no tension and not much scaring going on. They attack the audience and an unneeded moment like a bird flying out of a tree or the wind blowing a door shut. Jump scares only scare the audience for a short time and usually end in laughter from how stupid the scare was but it keeps the audience on their toes.