Research Essay: Codes And Conventions In Existing Horror Films Aimed At A Teenage Audience

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. Symbolic codes show what is beneath the surface of what we see, this is usually used through Mise-En-Scene which in means ‘Put in Scene’ in French, these are used through costume, make-up, props and set. For example, a character's actions show you how the character is feeling. Some codes fit both categories – music for example, is both technical and symbolic. 

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 conventions are also genre specific, such as, in the first five minutes of a horror film, someone dies or in a horror film, it is usually set in an isolated area.

Dead Wood's Conventions Are:

-          *Somebody dies within the first five minutes.

-          * A character falls over during a tense part.

-          * A secluded location, no help within miles.

-          * The male becomes extremely close to safety but doesn’t reach it, as he dies.

-          * A chase scene, with the killer right behind him.

-          * Separation between the characters.

-          * The woman is wearing clothing that shows a lot of skin.

-          * The audience is unable to see the killer but they know it is there.

Dead Mary’s Conventions Are:

-          * The location is secluded, no help within miles.

-          * There is no signal which is shown by the use of the radio and her phone.

-          * The car won't start.

-          * The audience is unable to see the killer but they know it is there.

-          * The characters separate and the female is left by herself while the male has gone to get more petrol.

-          * The woman is wearing clothing that shows a lot of skin.

Wrong Turn’s Conventions Are:

-          * Secluded location, no help within miles.

-          * The audience is unable to see the killer but they know it is there.

-          * The characters separate and the female is left by herself.

-          * A character falls over during a tense part.

-          * Somebody dies within the first five minutes.

-          * A chase scene, with the killer right behind her.

-          * The woman is wearing clothing that shows a lot of skin.

-          * The female becomes extremely close to safety but doesn’t reach it, as she trips and dies.

Dead Wood Synopsis-

Four friends head into the woods for a vacation, but events turn sinister when a girl arrives and a mysterious force starts hunting them.

Dead Mary Synopsis-

A group of young friends, including former lovers Kim and Matt; married couple Dash and Amber; Baker and his girlfriend, Lily; and seventh wheel Eve, gather at a remote cabin in the woods. While playing a seemingly innocent, supernaturally themed game, the friends accidentally awaken an evil spirit, and must then fight off both possession and murder.

Wrong Turn Synopsis-

Friends Jessie and Carly are traveling with pals Scott, Evan and Francine when they have car trouble in West Virginia. Moments later, motorist Chris crashes into their disabled vehicle. Stranded, the friends discover that they're being stalked by a horde of backwoods cannibals. The woodsmen are hungry and fierce, and they'll be eating well unless Jessie and pals can outsmart them.

Analysis

All of these films have things in common, such as; it is set in an isolated area. In Dead Wood, the isolated area is the woods, in Dead Mary, they are on a stretch of road 100 miles from the nearest petrol station and in Wrong Turn it is set 50 miles from the next town. Another similarity between these three openings is the separation of characters. In Dead Wood, a man is running to try and warn a girl of the danger in the woods, but is then killed, in Dead Mary a woman is on her own in the car waiting for someone to return with the petrol to get the car moving and in Wrong Turn, a girls friend makes it to the top of the cliff before her so that leaves her separated from him, this separation is highlighted when he is subsequently killed, leaving her alone. The women in the opening of these films, are shown to be wearing clothing that shows a lot of flesh, highlighting the film industry’s need to show women in an objective way, to show the stereotypical woman that would most likely appeal to the males watching the film.

The use of camera angles and movements in Dead Wood are fast paced, such as the Point-of-View shot, which makes the audience feel tense as it puts them in the man’s shoes and makes them feel as though they are the ones running away from the danger. The high angle shot makes the man seem small and insignificant compared to the danger within the woods. In Dead Mary the use of camera angles and movements are slower compared to Dead Wood, such as the extreme close-ups of the sign swinging which gives the audience some sense of location, but the isolation is shown through the sign as it states that they are 100 miles from the next petrol station. Close ups of items such as the keys, her phone, the radio and the flare gun highlight to the audience that these items may be of significance later in the film and that them being shown early on, makes you forget about them until they are used later in the film. In Wrong turn however, there is a mix of both slow and fast camera angles and movements, such as the establishing shot is moving above the forest very quickly, showing to the audience that something is about to happen very quickly, and an example of where the opening has a slow pace, is where the dialogue takes place between the boy and the girl emphasising that the time they are spending together is about to be cut short.