Sub-Genre Choice & Codes and Conventions of Supernatural Horrors

Sub Genre Choice

Supernatural horrors are thriving in today's society and so that's why i have decided to base my horror movie on this sub-genre. Also I personally enjoy all aspects of the genre and so will find it extremely interesting to work with. Whilst primarily provoking fear within their audience's with unknown threats, they also stimulate the audience's mind with physiological narratives and this is why i will find it extremely interesting to work with, I personally favour this sub-genre too which will make the project more fun.

Above are the film posters of three successful supernatural movies, some of which have inspired me to choose this sub-genre. I am a big fan of horror movies and in particular supernatural as I feel they create more fear due to the fact that the threat cannot be seen, limiting the characters ability to fight back and escape, therefore often leaving the problem unresolved. This in turn causes the audience to feel unsettled at the end of the movie as there is no way out. I was fond of 'Paranormal Activity' because I thought the use of a unknown spirit was very effective and created tension extremely well. 'Insidious' appealed to the characters emotions as the narrative is based around a small child, I found this kept me locked into the narrative as I wanted to find out what the outcome of the child was and so I hope to achieve the same emotions with my trailer. 

Codes and Conventions of Supernatural Horrors

Location: Usually in a supernatural horror the torment takes place in the protagonist's home because it promotes fear of something unwanted and scary, invading your personal space and ironically causing you to feel terrified in the one place which is meant to comfort you and provide you security. This location also adds a sense of reality to the movie allowing the audience to carry their fear from the cinema to their homes.

< This is the location of 'The Amityville Horror' remake 2005, and it is also an example of a typical supernatural horror movie location.

Along with the protagonists house, other locations tend to be psychiatric hospitals as in horrors people who are possessed may be kept in one and also they are said to be haunted due to the terrible treatments the patients may have received.

< This is the location from grave encounters and is an example of how hospitals are also a popular venue for supernatural horrors.




Big buildings are also common; they emphasise the protagonist's isolation, have lots of rooms where the victim can be chased and complicated floor plans that create a maze-like feel and add more intensity to the chase.

Characters: the main characters are shown to be ‘normal’ people who live conventional lives; unknown actors are used to represent that this torment could happen to anyone and so intensifies the fear within an audience. Unlike the slasher sub-genre, where the victims are targeted for a reason/purpose, supernatural horror victims often have done nothing wrong and have never tempted fate, but instead have a troubled past which they believe is the cause of the paranormal events and it is because of their troubled pasts that the people around them start to see them as mentally unstable when they begin to talk about paranormal activity. As the narrative unfolds in supernatural horrors, they unveil that the spirit present is often there to collect revenge and this then leads the protagonists on a mission to find out a secret. This occurs in ‘the Devil Inside’ and ‘The Paranormal Activity’ franchise. The main protagonist is usually female, largely due to the fact that the audience will more readily accept a female who is crying and experiencing abject terror as she faces the threat, rather than a male character in this position. A crying, hysterical man would not be as convincing!

Costumes: costumes in supernatural horror tend to be simplistic, with characters wearing casual clothes such as jeans and t-shirts to show normality. The main female will not wear anything provocative or any bright colours, she sticks to neutral tones or black clothing. Also the make-up of the female lead looks natural however when she is in a scene with the supernatural threat she tends to look unstable with messy hair and make-up. 
Below are some examples of some typical costume ideas:
The uninvited                                                              Paranormal Activity

 In both pictures we can see that the protagonist's costume either consist of a simple vest top or shit and hair is also kept simple with the use of ponytail.