Analysis of 3 films

I have now completed the 3 entire film analysis which has helped me realise the key codes and conventions of most horror films:

Media Studies:
3 film analysis:

Prom night
House of Wax
Final Destination 1

During my analysis of the three films I ensured that similarly to analysing my five film openings, all the complete films I chose to analyse were of the 15 classification. This is because this classification is what I and my group will be expected to produce and therefore only analysing 15 classification films will be more relevant to me and my group. The first film I analysed was Prom Night – a stereotypical ‘teen slasher horror’ – I noticed this followed most of the stock codes and conventions I had seen in the 5 film openings I have already analysed.

1. Prom Night
Key generic codes and conventions used throughout the film are:
Firstly dark and obscured lighting is used when the murderer is seeking the victim, which connotes to the audience something bad is about to happen.
A relatable event, such as a high school prom is used to lull audience members into a false sense of security and therefore they will be more scared when the actual disruption happens.
Props, such as knives are used, which is typical of the horror genre.
Normal settings are used, such as houses and schools to also lull the audience into a false sense of security.
The soundtrack used is slow and eerie music which contrast with the fast paced music during the high school prom; therefore when this music is played viewers know something bad will happen because of the build in tension. This keeps audience members engaged and ‘on the edge of their seat’.

I noticed that the narrative structure is not like most horror films because the film opens with the murderer chasing the victim, which audience viewers so not usually see until the equilibrium has been firmly established. However, this gave audience members a background to the story and therefore made them more engaged and involved in the story. The disruption is when Candy, a friend of the main character is murdered by the villain and this lets the audience know there will be more horror throughout the film. The realisation is when the police realise the villain has escaped prison and they need to protect the main character. There is then equilibrium, where the main character is back safe at home, and then the disruption of the killer attempting to murder the main character at her home. Finally there is a realisation by the police that the murderer is at home and they manage to kill the villain.

The key character types I picked up were:
Candy = first victim and lets audience members know the genre of the film.
Vicky = Princess and heroin, because she needs to be saved by the police and also helps with defeating the victim.
Tony = Villain
Ben, Carly and Tom = Helpers, because they are friends of Vicky and help her defeat the villain.



2. House of wax
Key generic codes and conventions used throughout the film are:
Isolated settings – completely deserted town, ‘made of wax’, miles away from other towns or assistance.
High key lighting during the equilibrium at the beginning of the film.
Props used, such as knives and guns typical of the horror genre, are used by the villain.
Villain wears normal clothes and is introduced to characters during the equilibrium, which does not make the audience suspect them, following the key generic convention, ‘the villain is always the person the audience least suspect’.
Non diagetic sound is used; a fast paced, high pitched soundtrack is used during the murders which help to build tension and keeps audience members engaged.

The narrative structure is also very similar to the other films I analysed, Prom Night and Final Destination 1 because it had an equilibrium, disruption, realisation, disruption, realisation, disruption. The only difference was that there was a disruption at the end of the film which was not resolved. The equilibrium was the 6 teenagers going on a camping trip in the middle of nowhere. The disruption was then their car broke down so they had to enter the local town, which iconic of horror films, was deserted. The teenagers were then murdered by the local psycho. The realisation was the two teenagers that stayed behind at the campsite realising their other friends had been murdered. In an attempt to save their friends they also enter the town which becomes their downfall as they also become victims of the killer (the disruption). However the police help them when the town becomes engulfed in flames However at the end of the film audience members are shown an extreme close up of the villain, and realise he has not been caught. This unresolved drama increases the terror factor of the film and also gives it a chance to be remade.


The key character types I picked up were:

Andy, Lara and Randy = Helpers, because they are friends of Verity and help her defeat the villain.
Local psycho = Unnamed and masked villain, which increases tension as audience members are constantly trying to second guess who the villain is.
Sarah = first victim and lets audience members know the genre of the film.
Verity = Princess because she needs to be saved by the police and is the only one to survive.

3. Final Destination 1
Key generic codes and conventions used throughout the film are:
Isolated settings – such as empty houses apart from the victim during the state of disruption which connotes to the audience the victim is helpless.
Non diagetic sound is used; a fast paced, high pitched soundtrack is used during the murders which help to build tension and keeps audience members engaged.
Normal settings are used, such as houses and schools to also lull the audience into a false sense of security.
A relatable event, such as a high school trip is used to lull audience members into a false sense of security and therefore they will be more scared when the actual disruption (the plane crash) happens.
Dark and obscured lighting is used just before the victim is killed, which connotes to the audience something bad is about to happen.
The narrative structure used during Final destination is extremely similar to the first two, but has fewer structure changes and simply only has an equilibrium, disruption, realisation and disruption. The equilibrium is where the main characters are sent off to a high school trip and a plane crash which most of the main characters should have been on miraculously got off before the crash happens, then the victims start to mysteriously die. The realisation is when the characters realise the pattern where the survivors of the plane crash start to also die and they maintain help of the police, and think they have beaten this pattern. However at the end of the film, one of the plane survivors dies again which connotes to the audience nothing has been solved and also increases the ‘terror factor’ for the viewers.

The key character types I picked up were:
David, Graham and Tony = Helpers, because they help the survivors of the plane crash realise their trauma is not over.
Villain = Not an actual person, but described as the devil by characters, and the threat of “it” is always their, heightening the audiences fear factor.
Chelsea = first victim and lets audience members know the genre of the film.
Dorothy = Princess because she needs to be saved by the police and is the only one to survive.

From analysing these 3 films I picked up lots of stock codes and conventions which most horror films use in order to increase tension and keep audience members engaged. The key generic codes and conventions I will consider using in the opening of my film will be:

Isolated settings
Non diagetic sound; a fast paced, to help to build tension and keeps audience members engaged, or slow paced to lull audience members into a false sense of security.
Use of normal settings; such as houses and schools to also lull the audience into a false sense of security.
A relatable event, such as a high school trip to lull audience members into a false sense of security and therefore they will be more scared when the actual disruption happens.
Dark and obscured lighting, to connote to the audience something bad is about to happen.
Iconic props of the horror genre, such as knives and guns, in order to emphasise the genre of the film to the audience.