Influential horror film - Scream

Scream – 1992
Directed by Wes Caven, written by Kevin Williamson.
Scream is one of the most notorious and conventional American horror films. A post modern twist on the traditional Slasher film such as ‘Psycho’ sees a group of teenagers analysing the ‘rules’ of horror movies whilst being hunted by a masked murderer. This strong irony created gives the film a slight twist of humour into the gory plot.
The film consists of typical horror movie mise en scene and atmosphere – isolated areas, high schools, night time killings and a girl left alone in a house. The orchestral scores in the film are extremely effective, creating an atmosphere of utter suspense. The film features conventions such as ‘the final girl’, an unidentifiable killer, murders in vulnerable positions such as the bathroom and a threatening phone call.
The film was rated R, for strong violence and gore. The gross box office revenue of $161,600,000 shows the film’s clear success and indicates that its main features entertain and captivate an audience. These being; adolescent characters, gory killings, a hint of irony, strong atmosphere of suspense and the mystery essence of trying to identify the killer!
Starring Neve Campbell, SteveUlrich, Courtney Coz and David Arquette, the movie is the perfect example of the Slasher film I aim to create!

The role of the distributor in film

The role of a distributor in the film industry
The distributor has important implications as to the success of the film. They are responsible for the release of films to cinema and for home viewing. This involves organising resources and times of release, advertising and promotion
Theatrical distribution involves dealing with the exhibitor in terms of the percentage of ticket sales that if given to the distributor. It also involves the handling of physical film prints, as the film industry is one the last media industries which still rely on traditional manual screening processes. The distributor organises the quantity, shipping, handling and quality of the prints, which are usually 35mm prints. They also need to sell the prints to prospective exhibitors (cinemas).
The distributor is also in charge of the promotion and advertising side of the film; which is essential in the concluding success of the film. A large and appropriate audience need to be aware of the release of the film an regard it as a captivating and entertaining experience to watch. The distributor manages this by producing appropriate film posters, billboards and managing advertising whether it be on TV, in magazines, on bus advertisements or on the internet, which is increasingly becoming a main channel of film advertisement.
Things which could affect film advertising is situations such as:
• The film is advertised to include famous / well known actors
• The film is advertised to be produced / directed by a well known person who has created successful pieces of work previously
• The film is an adaptation of a book, comic, play or TV series – There will already be an established fan base, which the distributor may increase with successful advertising.
• Releases of other films at the same time – If a long awaited and very popular film is being released at the same time (e.g Harry Potter) the film is less likely to do well.
Many horror films are distributed by low budget, independent companies such as Brain Damage Films, Darclight and TLA releasing. More mainstream and profitable horror films are often distributed bylarge companies such as Dimension Films.

The slasher film - conventions.

After researching different types of horror films, I decided that the ones I am most familiar with and that I would find easiest and most interesting to make is the slasher film! Here is my presentation on the conventions of Slasher films

Conventions of slashers

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Learning to use video camera & I-movie

As I've never used a video camera before, today I learned how to use the camera and tripod. We filmed in the school courtyard so that i was able to get used to the camera and tripod, so that when I film my music video I'll be confident with the camera. I then uploaded the film onto Imovie in order to learn how to use this software. I learned how to crop the film, increase and decrease the speed of action, insert text & music and adjust the picture effects; such as saturation and contrast. I feel a lot more confident with using this technology now!

Codes and conventions of horror films

I have decided to create a trailer for a horror film as I think this will be the easiest footage to obtain and I can integrate more editing techniques.

Horror films aim to:
• Unsettle the audience
• Cause fright / alarm / panic
• Remind the audience of their deepest fears and play on this
• Captivate and entertain the audience
• Cause the audience to question due to a mystery amongst the storyline, for example, ‘who is the murderer?’
• Create a twist in the story line, often concluding with a surprising and frightening end

Although EVERY HORROR FILM HAS SLIGHTLY DIFFERING CODES AND CONVENTIONS depending on the type of horror (phychological, slasher, religious, vampire etc)

Fears that horror films play on to captivate their audiences are things such as: pain, death, the unknown, aliens, ghosts, vampires, sexuality, loneliness, the dark, hauntings and gore.

There are character roles in horror films that are nearly always fulfilled. Usually, there will be one villain (such as the ‘human monster’ murderer, the ghost, the vampire), who is the focal point of fear throughout the film and seems to be, or is, invincible. There is often a great deal of mystery surrounding this character. Their appearance will be dark and ominous; costumes, make up and lighting will be used to create a sense of fear when they appear on screen. Masks are often used to make the villain seem inhuman. Diegetic and non diegetic sound is useful in creating fear around these characters also; music and sound effects create a tense atmosphere while their voices or breathing often sounds terrifying to the audience. A good example of this is the phone calls in scream with the deep, threatening voice and the heavy breathing.

The main character is often a female, playing on the societal view that women are weak and vulnerable. This character seems to always be on the radar of the ‘villain’ and spends the whole movie outrunning them. This character also always seems to be the luckiest, or most intelligent, as they often survive to the end. Often, this character is a teenager playing on the fact that teenagers also can be vulernable and that they get themselves into dangerous situations (Ouija boards, camping out, being left at home alone, wondering off etc). This character is often attractive, representing the ‘rule’ of the film industry that an audience likes to watch beautiful actors, no matter what role they play.

Typical settings for horror films are graveyards, churches, old haunted houses, forests, isolated places and schools – usually places which instantly incite dear (with the exception of a school)! These play a huge part in creating the eerie mise en scene for the film. Good examples of this are Jennifers Body, The Blair Witch Project, Amityville Horror and House On A Haunted Hill.


Iconography is used throughout the films to represent the horror genre. Weapons which could inflict pain are often used such as knives, guns, axes and chainsaws. Blood and gore can often be seen to play on the audiences’ fear of a personal experience and create a response of repulsion and shock. Religious symbolism also seems to appear often, and victims often turn to god for help. An example of this essence of horror is ‘Stigmata’. Dark lighting, pathetic fallacy and non diegetic sound (morose music, loud bangs, tense music) can also be used to increase the sense of fear and further establish the horror genre.


In some horror films, mainly older Slasher movies, the characters who do ‘wrong’ or act inappropriately is a target for the villain. Many movies see a couple involved in sexual activity who are often killed first, suggesting that the most pure, innocent character survive.

The return of the repressed (Freud’s theory linking repressed childhood memories with primitive human experience) is a common theme in horror films. The repressed, then becomes the repressor (or so to speak, when he inflicts fear / pain / awful experiences on others).



Iconography commonly used in horror films

• Wind
• Dark nights
• Weapons
• Fire
• Dark figures
• Wooded areas
• Dim lights
• Flickering lights
• Open window
• Isolated areas
• Young children
• Mountains / hills
• Abandoned buildings

Different genres of film trailer

As there are many diffrent genres of film each with their own conventions, trailers for different genres of film also have conventions.


Horror - fast and quick paced imagery and clips are used to emphasise the tension and suspense.These trailers aim to shock, frighten and alarm the audience. Horror trailrs use common fears among society and present them as an extraordinary situation. Often, clips of pain being inflicted or the lead up to pain are shown to establish the horror genre and represent the content in the film. Mysterious and gothic elements can often be seen using weather, mise en scene, props, characters and costume. Quick jump cuts of scary/ gory scenes are all used to show the horror genre, and generally scare the audience, making them want to watch the film. The music used is often jumpy or eerie, and loud bangs are ofen used to introduce a particularly scary clip.



Romantic comedy - These traileras are not as fast paced - there are not as many jump cuts and quick paced action. The potential couple are often opposites of each other which is emphasises in the trailer to create a comedic effect. The trailer will have two stages - one happy stage of the relationship then a disturbance. Locations such as beaches, apartments, city environments and everyday places are used - some to enhance the bauty of the trailer and romance, and some to represent the romance in every day life. Music used is quite relaxed and cheerful, whether it be songs or orchestral scores. The main characters are generally very attractive and both, or one of them will show their sense of humour in the trailer. Lighting in the trailer will be bright and there will be a lot of imagery of laughing, romance and emotional scenes.

What are trailers?

The film industry is a huge part of the media and constantly developing and growing, as technology is. A trailer or preview is an advert for a film that will be later shown at a cinema. Trailers are shown
• At the cinema before a different film
• As a television advert
• On the internet
Trailers consist of shots and footage from the film that is being advertised, so are usually produced after the film itself. Due to the much shorter length of film trailers, the footage has to be selected very carefully and is often the most funny / exciting / thrilling parts of a film. They are often called teaser trailers because they show interesting parts of a film without revealing any of the spoilers.
The scenes in a trailer do not necessarily always appear in chronological order or the order that they appear in the actual film. The purpose of a trailer is to make the film look as good as possible to the prospective audience so that they will go to a cinema to watch it, therefore making profit for the production company everyone involved in the process of making the movie.
Most trailers have a three-act structure similar to a film – the beginning, where equilibrium is balanced, the middle, where equilibrium is disrupted and the last stage is usually a montage of memorable shots from the movie. Voice overs, songs, orchestral scores and speedy transitions are common in trailers. If a film features a popular actor then there will most likely be many shots of them in the trailer.
Other things that appear in trailers are:
• A cast run of the list of main actors in the movie, and sometimes the director & producer
• A concluding Billing Block, which lists the cast and crew
• Studio production logos, and logos for the production company and distributor
• A green band or red band, showing the MPAA rating of the film