Psychological horror iconography and conventions

Presentation on Psychological horror films

1. Psychological Horror Iconography and conventions Felix Bartlett Gareth Tyrrell Fabian Hogg Daniel Olley

2. Iconography Interview: Name: Connor Horne Genre: Psychological Correct/Incorrect: Correct “When I think of the psychological horror genre I think of people in the films having to go through awful situations and traumatic experiences throughout the film.” Name: Bianca Morriss Genre: Slasher Horror Correct/Incorrect: Incorrect “I thought this was a slasher horror collage because I saw some iconic characters from slasher films that I would consider to be a slasher horror.” “In a psychological horror film I would expect to see examples of well known phobias and people having to face their phobias.”

3. Iconography Interview: Name: Ben Bartlett Genre: Psychological Correct/Incorrect: Correct “I think of peoples fears and how the horror films in this subgenre uses the audiences fears to its advantage to create an effective horror film that makes the audience as scared as possible.” Name: Jayk Cassie Genre: Serial Killer Correct/Incorrect: Incorrect “I felt as though this was a serial killer subgenre in horror because I could see a few characters that I associate with the subgenre of a serial killer.” “When I think of a psychological horror I think of phobias such as arachnophobia and claustrophobia.”

4. Iconography Interview: Name: Alfie Gammon Genre: Psychological Correct/Incorrect: Correct “I think of distress and how people react to different events and situations.” Name: Steve Tyrell Genre: Psychological Correct/Incorrect: Correct “I think of people having to experience their worst fears when I think of a psychological horror film.”

5. Iconography Interview: Name: Stevie Creasy Genre: Psychological Correct/Incorrect: Correct “Something that shows how people react to different events.” Name: John Davies Genre: Psychological Correct/Incorrect: Correct “I think a psychological horror portrays phobias in order to entertain an audience and frighten them.”

6. From Audience Feedback We Learned... Many people have the same idea about what a psychological horror film is. People believe that they revolve around phobias. Psychological horror conventions are easy to recognise.

7. We will research conventions in the Psychological subgenre:

8. Subgenres within Psychological Horror Frozen Buried Fanaticism Madness & Paranoia Home Invasion Phobia & Isolation Psycho May The Wicker Man Fraitly The Strangers You’re Next

9. Plot The plot usually focuses on everyday life, meaning the events can happen in reality, making the audience more cautious. The phrase ‘Based on a true story’ are used at the beginning of most psychological horror films to make the plot more believable. The plot relies on the characters beliefs, fears and other hidden truths about the character/ what they have done. It exposes the evil that hides behind normality, but also contains elements of the paranormal genre, allowing the audience to not relate completely.

10. Narrative Structure Psychological horror films are usually done using a non-linear structure. They have a non-linear structure because the films usually contain flashbacks to events in the characters life, showing the audience important past events that support the films plot.

11. Character types and Representations Psychological horror films usually contain three types of characters: The main antagonist The protagonist And the antagonists victims The antagonist is usually a normal person, but this can vary because some psychological films bring in supernatural characters. The protagonist usually beats the main antagonist and is sometimes shown as a counter typical female protagonist. The main antagonists victims are often shown as weak and helpless, but sometimes they manage to fight back against the main antagonist.

12. Mise En Scene Psychological horror films use dark and scary settings that can relate to the audience. The use of low-key lighting is common in psychological horror films because they want the audience to not know what's coming and it also adds a sense of mystery to the film. The killer in these films usually wears normal clothes because by doing this the character can relate to people in real-life, allowing the film to connect to the audience more.

13. Setting: Common settings for psychological horror films are big houses, woodland locations, warehouses, schools and hospitals. These settings create a sense of realism in relation to the audience as they would be able to relate to some of the elements of the film, as they might have seen/live in some of the settings. This increases the fear because the audience would be able to picture themselves in the position of the victims.

14. Themes: The themes in psychological horror films are as follows: Night Dark Colours (Red/Black) Blood/gore Weapons Death Madness Supernatural (In some films)

15. Camera Work:

16. Editing and sound:

17. Purpose: How is it scary/ Frighting /Disturbing? The purpose of psychological horror movies is to quite simply bring fear into the audience. This is done by making the plot plausible and also by making it relate to the lives of the audience. The villains in the film are usually made human because this also adds to the fear and believable plot The purpose can also on some occasions be to disturb and revolt the audience thorugh the gruesome, but believable deaths.