Conventions of a horror film

Conventions are things that are generally done in a certain way, over and over again. Each film genre has its set of conventions which the audience expect to come across when watching a movie, since they are already familiar with them.
However sometimes film producers choose to challenge these conventions in an attempt to make the public curious about the film since it doesn’t fall into the typical formula.
These are the some of the conventions of a horror film.
Setting:
Horror films tend to place the characters into isolated areas to give them the impression of being helpless since there is nobody around to help them. For example abandoned houses, hotels and theme parks as well as dark woods and cabins.
Another common factor associated with horror film settings is places having a dark history such as haunted houses where families have been killed etc.

Camera shots and angles
- Handheld cameras are often used in documentary style horror films such as Paranormal Activity. This technique causes the film to become very shaky and prevents the audience from having a clear image of what is going on. It can also be used as a way of allowing the audience to feel involved with the film in scenes where the camera is filming when she shouldn’t be or when the camera is accidently facing a different direction, revealing something to the audience that the character doesn’t know.
-POV (point of view) shots are often used to allow the audience to see the world through the antagonist's eyes. This could be used to show that the victims are being watched or chased.
-High and low angles can be used to show that characters are being watched and targeted. It can also be used to show nightmares and fear.
Lighting:
Horror films are usually very dark and contain a lot of shadows. This helps to build up suspense and tension in the scenes since it prevents the characters from seeing clearly. Which again gives them the impression of being helpless. e.g dark rooms and streets as well as narrow alleyways.

Sound:
Non diegetic and diegetic sound can be used to build suspense and tension especially if there’s a sudden change in tempo such as footsteps. It can also be used to show how the character is feeling .e.g heartbeat, or as an element of a jump scare.
Common Events/Scenes:
-One of the most common opening scenes for horror films is the death of a particular character which then leads to the main story such as Jaws or The Ring.

-Jump scares are a very popular way of scaring the audience while they watch the film causing them to 'jump' out of their seats. Most of the time this has nothing to do with the actual threat it's usually  a loud noise or an object falling on the floor or even a character appearing out of nowhere.
-Something that often happens in horror films is the characters conveniently ignoring what is going on despite there being an obvious threat. This often comes in the form of other characters failing to believe what another character has found out or experienced.
-Another thing is the power going out, usually at the most frightening moments, this can be used as suspense since the audience don’t know whether the character has been caught.
-The phone lines are cut or the battery runs out. This is to prevent the character from asking for help, which often results in someone having to leave the hiding place in hope of find help. This leads to the vehicle conveniently not working and then the character is attacked from behind.
-Another thing that is frequently is one of the characters actually daring to investigate a strange noise somewhere, despite the fact that it should be the last thing you do in that situation.
-There is also the 'This is the part that you runaway' scenes where one of the characters always manage to trip over a perfectly clear floor or run up the stairs to lock themselves in a room instead of going outside.
-Characters looking outside windows while the killer appears behind them or breaks through the glass to grab them are also a typical scenes in horror films.
-Many horror films also included the characters getting lost after asking a suspicious person for directions or taking a short cut.
Character types:
- Main protagonist who is often the hero/ victim of the film and ends up surviving or giving their life to protect another which is the only survivor.
-The immature troublemaker teenagers that always get killed.
-Antagonist who is often a serial killer or some kind of supernatural being such as a ghost, alien, monster etc.
-Creepy looking children or local people.
-Police officers.
What conventions will we be conforming to or challenging in our film:
Conform:

Characters:
We will have a suspicious looking local which will be the care taker and the cause for everything bad thats going to happen.

Events/Scene:
-We will have one of the characters check out why somebody is taking too long to comeback and they will become victims as well.
-One of the characters in our film will conveniently fall over

Sound:
We will use non diegetic sound to increase the tension in the film and the tempo will vary from slow to quuick.

Camera:
Half of our film will be filmed using a handheld camera.

Challenge:
Lighting:
Natural ambient lighting will be used since half the film will be during the day and the other half during the night. The attacks will take place during the day as well as the night.