narrative and conventional codes
- 1. Nathan Lukeman Horror The genre of a horror is all about trying to make you scared. Your supposed to feel fear, you can tell the film is a horror by the setting like a dark mansion where no house is near, the setting would be like a stormy night where its pitch black with no moon to give any light and itâs just pitch black this is low key lighting which they use to hide stuff from you to create more tension also helps with jump scares also they use stings to increase your fear, a sting is a short musical phrase, primarily used in films as a form of punctuation stings are often used in horror films to accentuate jump scares, but are common in all genre. The Editing in horrors are used in death scenes as its quite common in horrors they use sound effect editing and cut as they need to be perfect for the horror theme like when they are stabbing someone they will need to get blood and make fake stabbing sounds all these need quick cuts to get it right a good example of this is in phyco when she is getting stabbed in the bath, to really get a horror experience you need to have timed cuts and not a quick fast paced short clips as then it will disorient the audience you only use that when thereâs a lot going on and more than one perspective to see but horror, Here are a few examples one is the scene in the nun
- 2. You see in this scene that it is very dark and that the characterâs face is hidden and this happens often in horrors so you it creates tension when you see who the antagonist is your supposed to get a shock but in this specially the props used is a very old lamp which suites the scenery of an old chapel it also does this shot where you can see whatâs behind her and she canât see it. The clothing wore between them is the one with the face you canât see is all black which blends in with the darkness because of the low key lighting but the one holding the lamp is in white so you can see her perfectly this makes us concentrate more than her rather than what the nun is doing in the background. Itâs also ironic as sheâs looking for her and that sheâs right behind her also they will introduce a sting but itâs just the fact you waiting for it is the reason it scares you. The narrative code in horror is always that there is something strange is going on and someone has to investigate it and they end up in some spiritual problem where they have stop it/escape in the nun itâs the same they got a problem where a nun killed its self so another nun investigates and there trapped and have to kill the other nun this narrative code is used in loads of horrors loads slightly different each time though
- 3. this scene is like the nun yet again the antagonist is in black and the protagonist is in white in a dark setting also in the scence itâs another shot where we can see the antagonist and the protagonist canât also the characterâs face is hidden this from happy death day is all about finding out about who it is just like in the nun you got to find out who the bad nun is and kill it but itâs obviously going to kill you. Scenes like this like to use very high pitch and slow music as it creates tension and the movement of whatâs happening is no rush to make something to happen you could be using a tracking shot and the antagonist could follow her for 2 minutes until they decide to introduce a sting which you were expecting but they dragged it on for too long that you still get a shock also seems like most of these scenes always happen at night these are all conventions of this genre to the low key lighting hiding the face the shots of seeing the antagonist all of it is in this genre and is used in multiple horror films. The narrative code in this is slightly different to the nuns though as thereâs no investigation itâs about finding the killer and making sure you kill it which is similar as again thereâs always an antagonist you have to kill or escape from thereâs always a lot of mystery in horror as well, she is trapped In a cycle where she keeps on dying until she finds her killer and kills it which in the nun itâs about finding the nun which is a killer and killing the nun.
- 4. Superhero Venom Narrative theory is basically when you seem to be living a happy life everything is fine but then something disrupts it and then you have to basically solve it to get the balance back this is most popular in action films as thereâs always got to be an fixed plan where someone will save the day then get there life back an example of this is in Venom Eddie Brock was living a normal life then all of a sudden it changes when he discovers some secrets and loses his job and realized that something was going on and eventually became one with venom that when his life got disrupted and he realized that him and venom have to save the word from being invaded by their species what gives the story is the fact he was a normal guy with an alright life and then thereâs a bad guy heâs got to stop happens in every superhero film itâs the same equilibrium every time. The stylistic codes are thereâs always the same sort of super hero costume and a villain costume as well as there being certain props like a weapon or an ability these are all what makes a film a superhero film they wouldnât use it in a horror genre as it just wouldnât work as horror has low key lighting whereas superhero films will be high key lighting as they are for younger audiences and for horrors are for older audiences and want to create fear also super hero scenes are fast paced and a load of cuts and editing as well as being higher budgeted.
- 5. Deadpool Another superhero film with the exact same narrative everything is fine he meets a girl and is extremely happy then he is diagnosed with cancer which means he goes to get cured where a man says we can make you into a superhero and it happens and he has to stop the antagonist and then its balanced again what makes superhero films special is the setting and props they are always only special towards the film like venom the suite that appears out of his skin and dead pool can never die as his body repairs also with the setting its always busy where everyone can see and so itâs more hectic whereas horrors it makes it more intense when the person is just by them self without anyone to help the way the narrative codes are the same in the superhero as its always a hero and a villain to kill or stop every time just like it is in Deadpool and Venom but in Deadpool itâs a bit different itâs more comedy than a serious fight but every film has to be different somehow the difference between this and horrors is that in superhero films itâs all about having happy ending and that everything is going to be fine but horrors they arenât always happy its got a dark setting itâs all about evil and how it is but super hero is that thereâs light so they are like opposites in a way but also the same as thereâs always a antagonist that needs to be stopped.