Psychological horror conventions

Here I researched into specifically psychological horror conventions rather than just horror, to ensure my group and I know what codes and conventions we should take into consideration. This is to ensure my group and I come up with a creative yet accurate narrative for our film so we are able to create our trailer.

Throughout psychological horrors, tension and suspense for the audience is built up through the setting, antagonist and protagonist’s fears and the sound used:

Settings

The settings of a psychological horror are usually:

• Big old/Victorian houses
• Forests/woods
• Ware houses
• Schools
• Hospitals and asylums 

These types of settings are used as the audience can relate to the film as they have most likely been in these settings before. This creates a sense of discomfort and fear for the audience, which is what a psychological horror is all about, as they will be able to relate to the characters in the same setting and think that the films disequilibrium could happen to them.

We also may see shadows/ silhouettes which, increases the fear for the audiences as they begin to picture themselves in this position which is why it seems to have much more of a severe effect as it makes them unnerved and terrified.

Characters and representations

• The antagonist is usually a disturbed human but may have mental disorders, disabilities, or wants revenge- they sometimes wear masks and/or have face deformities to cover their identities or just look like a 'normal' person 
• Some films use children as the antagonist's e.g. 'The Orphan', 'The Omen'. However, when the antagonists are children, the victim is usually a female. This could be have something to do with female audiences watching as they will be able to relate to the character in some way which makes it more frightening.
• The protagonist is usually a female, stereotypically represented as weak and vulnerable throughout the film but at the end defeats the antagonist to challenge these stereotypes- The Final Girl Theory
• Characters can also be images in the audiences imagination or things which do not exist in real life such as dreams and hallucinations. E.g. in the film 'The Shinning', there are twin girls dressed in blue dresses who appear in the corridor and haunt the young boy. As there are flash forwards in the scene, the audience see the twins lying dead on the floor in blood. The boy then looks back to the corridor expecting to see the girls, but they have disappeared. This shows that some psychological horrors use characters to create a sense of fear, therefore my group and I need to consider this. In this case, it is the contrast of the children's innocence with the violent scene which makes it a psychological horror.

Sound

• Contrapuntal Sound- this is sound which doesn't match the action in the shot. e.g. at the end of the‘Orphan’ film trailer, before the sting. This contradicts the action taking place on screen and adds to the audiences fears.
• Psychological horror films use eerie music to build tension and to create suspense.

Props

• The weapons used are not usually always physical weapons. For example, they tend to be mainly the antagonist’s 'twisted minds' which act as a weapon of fear against the protagonist
• Mirrors
• Briefcases
• Everyday household items if the setting is in a home

Psychological horror plots

• Psychological horrors usually involve more realistic situations rather than monsters and paranormal characters
• Characters usually have the desire for revenge
• Shows the 'evil' that hides behind normality to suggest to the audience it could happen to them
• The narrative is usually put together in a non-linear structure- this is because sometimes they contain flashbacks to show characters pasts to support the films plot
• Plots are usually focused on everyday life to create a sense of realism
• Plot twists are often used. 

A plot twist is used in 'The Others'. Throughout the film, the audience view the characters as elderly. However, later in the film the audience realise that their age represents that they're dead. Therefore this showed the audience that their age was a clue to the twist in the movie. This is helpful research as my group and I need to ensure that if we include a twist, we need to make it obvious at the end of our narrative idea like this film does so it doesn't confuse the audience. However, we may show elements of the twist in the trailer to make the audience wonder is going on so they watch the film to find out.

What have I learnt and how will I use this research?
This research has given me inspiration for my own trailer. I have learnt that psychological horrors sometimes use plot twists and from looking at the twist in 'The Others', it has made me consider using age or gender of characters as a twist in some way and then revealing this to the audience. For example, the whole film/trailer could be a flashback of a grown woman's past and then this could be revealed at the end.  Furthermore, I have learnt what a psychological horror is all about therefore it is crucial my trailer focuses on the fears of characters to build tension. My group and I also need to consider settings as there are a whole range of locations used. When my group and I assign research roles after we come up with an initial idea for our trailer, one of us will research further into locations. However, as they tend to be 'everyday' settings, we will need to take into consideration what we have in our local e.g. schools and homes. Finally, characters and their representations are a huge convention we need to ensure we get right. This is because we need to choose characters and actors which will play on the audiences minds and fears to create a successful psychological horror trailer. Also, by having good actors and interesting and relatable characters, the audience will want to watch the film.  As our target audience is ages 15-25 of both genders, the characters could be any age, even below 15, as parents may be able to relate to these young characters.