Analyse the codes and conventions of horror films as shown in the openings of 'Dead Wood', 'Dead Mary' and 'Wrong Turn'.

Dead Wood

The Convention used at the start is the sound of tweeting birds and the start of a low tone, base song which is tense. It then shows an isolated location in a forest with russling noises. This sets the scene for the audience and helps them understand the setting of the location along with building tension. The music then changes to a fast tempo, heavy base song as footage of a man being chased is shown and is set in the woods. This breaks the tension from the audience and causes panic and shock. The actor is covered in blood and dirt, showing fear to gain the audiences attention. The blood and dirt is a use of Mise-en-Scene. The camera angles and shots used are closeup, panning and point of view. All of these shots are disorientated due to the actor running through the woods. However, this is on purpose to help the audience understand the setting and how the actor is trying to escape the villain chasing him. The editing is mainly a use of many camera shots which are turned into quick cuts, for example, when the actor pauses and starts to look around. Also, their is an establishing shot of the actor jumping from one side of a cliff to the other. This establishing shot was slowed down to build tension for the audience; will he make the jump or not? Most of the tension is built up through sound in the opening of this film due to there being lots of running and no dialogue. There is lots of pitch build up worked into the scene due to the villain getting closer and closer. Also, there is lots of heavy breathing and russling due to the set and objective of the film.



Dead Mary

The main convention used at the beginning are closeups of abandoned objects/signs/parts of a building along with a broken down car. This is setting the scene for the audience as an isolated location however, the broken down car indicates that there is some type of presence at the location. All the camera shots at the beginning are extreme close ups which helps slowly build the setting. The editing also helps this as the shots slowly fade in and out of focus yet the harsh sound gives the audience a sense of confusion. The focus is then changed to the girl sitting in the broken down car. Her body language shows that she is frustrated and bored, indicating that she may be waiting for someone/thing. Whilst she is waiting she tries to work the radio and her phone, both which do not work due to there being no signal. However, when tuning the radio, throughout all the loud fuzz there is some type of sinister laugh creeping through, which is also heard when there is a closeup shot of inside the forest, which is next to the car. This indicates to the audience that something may be near by or watching her. A lot of Mise-en-Scene is used throughout the opening of this film however, the main feature is when she finds her flare gun in the front of her car. This is a hint to the audience as the gun is foreshadowing something that could happen later in the film. A jump-scare is also used later in the film when her partner returns with two canisters of petrol, which he drops on the floor. This breaks the tension of her boredom and the silence around her and starts the dialogue in the film.




Wrong Turn

The convention used is an establishing shot of a large forest along with loud, harsh, thunderous music. This is showing the audience the set along with setting the mood of the film due to the tone of the music. It then moves onto a boy and a girl climbing a cliff. Mise-en-Scene is used well here along with how the actors are acting. They are both dressed in climbing gear along with all of the climbing equipment however, the crane shot shows the girl is further behind the boy; showing that the male is stronger/quicker than the female. Later on, the actor reaches the top before her which leads her to becoming tired and almost acting like a princess in destress. This is very stereotypical as the man is made out to be the hero. Also, the actress is showing a lot more skin than the actor which from a teen audience could be seen as skimpy. For a few seconds all sound is cut off apart from the natural forest sounds of birds and the breeze going through the trees. When the girl is calling for help there is no reply from the boy. This indicates to the audience that he is either messing around or something is about to happen. Then there is the jump-scare showing the actor being killed by some kind of creature from the forest which is not seen. This pulls the audiences attention more as the girl is now alone and trapped on an edge of a cliff. Once the first murder is shown the editing changes and instead has lots of quick cuts which shows the signs of panic and tension. Also, the editing has no cross-cutting and is all in chronological order. For example, you don't see the villain preparing for the murder; the actor is killed with no preparation shown to the audience before hand. Once the girl has escaped the cliff and is nearly at safety (the car) she suddenly trips and falls. This of course helps the villain catch up to her. This is shown in many horror films where the character almost reaches safety however, something always happens to stop them from surviving. On the other hand, this builds tension for the audience as it shows the character reaching safety, relaxing the audience for a brief second before realising that actually the victim is not going to survive.