Research: Codes and Conventions Essay

Codes are used for teen horror films to make sure that they are as scary as possible. Codes can be set into two different categories. These are technical and symbolic codes. The things that fall into technical codes are camera work (shots and movements), and the things that fall into the symbolic category are props, costumes etc.
A convention is similar to a rule. This is what a film usually follows to make the film scary as well as realistic simultaneously.Some examples of these are:
-Low lighting
-Killer
-Close to escape
-Stormy night

I am going to be analyzing three films for codes and conventions, these are 'Wrong Turn', 'Dead Wood' and 'Dead Mary'.

Wrong Turn
The film starts with a 'birds eye view' camera shot moving over the top of a large forest and stops at two friends rock climbing. After a few lines of dialogue and false jumps the man disappears and is later seen thrown over the edge of the cliff. The woman is then being chased by an unseen maniac and is caught just a few steps away from her car.

Dead Wood
In the introduction there is a chase between a man and an unidentified killer. He is then boxed in by a cliff and the murderer and has to pluck up the courage to jump and escape to the other side. When he jumps there is a moment of tension as he struggles to pull himself up until he is finally caught and killed. It ends as a woman exits her tent and calls for him unaware what has happened to him.

Dead Mary
The film starts with a shot of a broken sign and a long lonely road. We then see that a girl is alone in a car and she waves her phone about in the air to try and get some signal then roots through the glove box to find a gun. We see a man in the distance walking towards the car who turns out to be a friend returning with petrol.

Editing for all three of these films are done very well and create effect to a very high level. The birds eye view covers a huge distance showing that the setting is very remote and miles away from the nearest town. When the pair are rock climbing we keep seeing a camera angle looking over the cliff to show that they are in real danger, adding to the tension. The cuts between shots at the start are slow but become increasingly quicker as danger becomes more apparent. This is when we see the mans dead carcass thrown over the cliff. After this there are a number of shots that the film cuts to. These include close ups of the rope, the girls face and a upwards facing angle to show the whole area. When the camera shows a close up of the girls face it shows panic and struggle which helps build the tension of the situation. 'Dead Wood' is similar in the way of fast cuts as danger progresses. As he his running though the trees it continuously cuts from close ups to the character's face, mid shots and towards the end a birds eye view shot. The fast cuts are to keep the viewer excited and on the edge of his seat in fear. It also makes the scene very intense. 'Dead Mary' on the other hand shows intensity and danger by having long cuts. They have done this by having the contents of the scene represent danger and loneliness. This includes the main female character taking a gun out of the glove box and trying to get signal on her phone. This shows how editing can change the mood in a film. If the cuts are fast paced then it tells the audience that the scene is very intense and there is danger nearby. It unsettles the audience and makes them nervous because during fast paced scenes it is usually difficult to keep track of what is going on.

All three of the horror movie introductions use a lot of conventions. Wrong Turn having a secluded location and a 'half dressed' woman. Along with the obvious 'killer' and 'death inside five minutes' conventions. Another one used in Wong Turn is the female character almost reaching safety. As she reaches the end of the forest she is almost at touching distance of the car until she falls over a trap set out by the killer. This is the same convention used in 'Dead Wood' where the character makes a jump from one cliff to the other but is not fully onto the ledge yet. He is seconds away from pulling himself up until he is caught and killed by the murderer. There is a pause before he jumps which builds tension and engages the audience. When he is caught we see another very popular convention which is blood. 'Dead Mary' on the other hand does not use this convention in the introduction but still uses isolation and danger.

Another convention that 'Dead Mary' doesn't include in the introduction is blood. Blood is first seen in 'Wrong Turn' as the woman falls off the cliff and lands next to her dead boyfriend and his face is covered in it. This is one of the first signs that she is up against a crazed murderer. This is similar to 'Dead Wood' as when he is running through the trees he has smears of blood on his face. We see blood again when he gets caught towards the end. This is to make the film more realistic. Also to unsettle the audience as a lot of people do not like the sight of blood.

Another main convention used by all three films is having males the more dominant sex. In 'Wrong Turn' the woman starts to panic when she starts to realise that the man has disappeared. Also the fact that he reaches the top first with ease and she asks him to pull her up because she is struggling and depends on the male. When she sees that the man has been killed she flees instead of fighting back and eventually gets caught, In 'Dead Mary' it shows a woman alone in a car while a male goes to get the petrol. This also shows that the male is dominant because the woman could not walk as far and could not be trusted to get petrol. It also gives the impression that she is vulnerable because she has no signal and alone in the woods, again showing the male has more control over the situation. In 'Dead Wood' after the man has been murdered the woman exits the tent and shouts out his name while panicking shows that she has no hope without the male with her. It's like she has to rely on him to keep her safe,

Overall I think 'Wrong Turn' used the most codes and conventions. At the start it had the birds eye view showing how remote the location is while the mysterious music plays in the background to give it even more effect. Just the introduction follows the conventions of male being dominant sex, death in the first 10 minutes, blood, killer, 'half dressed' woman, almost escape etc. This is a lot more than both of the other films. Especially 'Dead Mary'. The introduction of 'Wrong Turn' is incredibly scary and is designed in such a way that the audience will want to watch on. A way they have done this is by not showing who the killer is. So in conclusion 'Wrong Turn' uses the most codes and conventions.