2.3 9 Sub-genres of Horror

Analyse	Meaning and semiotics of sub-genres to own examples	Semiotics mini-Crit in booklets
Apply	Meaning & Semiotics to class examples of different sub-genres Source examples of sub-genres based on conventions	Mind Map Thinglink Mood Board Notes on Semiotics
Identify & outline	Sub-genre of horror Conventions of each sub-genre	Mind Map Thinglink Mood Board

Starter: Horror Rules

Family Fortunes 
Round 1 Horror Characters
Round 2 9 Sub-genres
Round 3 Rules of Horrors

New Information - 9 Sub-genres of Horror

Task 1: Categorise and outline

http://www.ctklms.com/coursework-g324.html

• Identify the specific conventions of each type of Sub-genre as a Mood Board or Mind Map

Now present to the class in mixed groups of 9

Task 2: Assessment: Match them up

• Match up the Films to the correct genre type

Answers



Task 2: Identify Conventions
Write an outline of the characteristics that defines each of these films in your booklets

Task 2: Create an interactive mood board-poster using https://www.thinglink.com for examples of each of these 9 sub-genres 

• Read the 12 Icons of Horrors and mind map them. Identify them in the Subgenre examples above. 

• Discuss this as a class and make notes of student's analysis or meaning

• Capture Screen-Grabs from examples and create a Mood Board Poster on Thinglink 

• A/B Extension Task: Write up your notes and make your poster interactive with annotation points 

Info:
Mise-en-scene, Iconography & Symbolism 

1. Religious Symbols – Religion is very prevalent in horror, with themes of life and death, spirituality, man playing god, man fighting inner as well as outer demons, good versus evil, and so forth. Religious artifacts may be Christian, occult, satanic, voodoo, or about any other type of belief in something greater than humanity. 

2. Symbols of Death – Death is naturally pervasive in horror and there are countless representative objects, such as coffins, gravestones, skeletons, angels of death, and so forth. In Psycho (1960), the taxidermy birds are representative of the dead mother in the home and Bates’ schizophrenic attempts to keep her alive after death. In horror, there can be confusion between life and death, such as ghosts, zombies, and the supernatural, so objects can help symbolize who is on which side. Toward the beginning of Jacob’s Ladder(1990), Jacob gets trapped in an underground tunnel, which is symbolic of his being trapped between life and death

4. Light – Light can symbolize many things, such as hope, transition, escape, and even death (e.g. Poltergeist’s “Don’t go into the light!”) Sunlight normally provides a sense of comfort so the incongruity of sunlight and horror can be especially unnerving, such as the graveyard scene inNight of the Living Dead (1968). Candles, lanterns, and flashlights are common sources of light in horror, as the light can only be cast so far while the surrounding darkness is rife with shadows. In this early scene from Hellraiser (1987) the dangling light bulbs in the torture room instantly sets the tone.

3. Colors – Many films use color to symbolize themes and the powers of good and evil. Red is often associated with evil, blood, lust, and violence, for example the Red Queen in Resident Evil(2002). Black is also naturally associated with evil, while light, neutral colors or earth tones are associated with goo

5. Weapons – A majority of horror films involve the use of weapons, from machine guns to saws. Weapons have phallic symbolism that suggests masculine power and the woman that outsmarts the villain essentially castrates him. Leatherface's weapon in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) is the ultimate phallic symbol of raging power. The type of weapons a writer chooses for his or her villain – knife, gun, sword, club, saw –is most powerful when it reflects character

6. Doors and Windows – Doors and windows (or any portal) have many symbolic meanings. Often, they help symbolize characterization. With windows, a person has a limited perspective and is like a spectator, not part of the outside world. The person looking through the window may be frightened of the world outside or physically unable to be part of it. In The Others, the mother is often by the window looking out, trapped in her home because of her children and a dense fog. At the end, she and her children stand by the window looking at a world they no longer belong to. On the other hand, a character can walk through a door and doors are symbolic of opportunity. In horror, however, doors and windows are typically a means of entrapment or freedom. They are also highly utilized for building suspense… is something behind the slightly open door or lurking outside the window in the dark? In Night of the Living Dead, doors and windows are dangerous openings that the zombies can infiltrate, despite efforts to block them up. Some of the most frightening scenes are when zombie hands reach in through spaces between the wooden boards. Windows can also personify a haunted house as eyes, such as the always glowing, quarter-round windows in Amityville Horror.

7. Tunnels and Corridors

Tunnels and corridors repeatedly represent the passage to death, resurrection or life (Yonic)

8. Keys/Locks – Keys and locks symbolize secrets, confinement, and hidden objects or places. In The Skeleton Key, Caroline is trying to solve her patient Ben’s paralyzed condition. Her skeleton key works in every room in the house except one in the attic. She manages to get inside the room and discovers a host of disturbing secrets that will lead to her own demise. In The Others, the mother must constantly lock and unlock doors to prevent light from reaching her children who have a rare condition and will die if exposed to sunlight. In this film, the keys and locks represent her confined thinking as well as her physical confinement in purgatory. Only when she accepts the truth can all the doors be left unlocked, like the curtains can come down.

9. Dolls – Dolls have appeared often in horror storytelling. As a child’s toy dolls normally represent happiness, innocence, and nurturing. Yet their distorted human qualities, such as oversized heads, unblinking eyes or exaggerated features, can make them especially eerie. The doll on a string represents a figure that is not in control of its movements or destiny. The same unnerving effect has been used with clowns, though they have been so overused as to have lost much of their effect. Dolls, on the other hand, come in so many forms, from voodoo to Barbie dolls and battered antique to contemporary ones, that they offer vast opportunities for symbolic use. A doll’s symbolism, which may be expressed through children’s play or other means, might include sexuality, lack of control, death, desire, regret, families, ageing, and much more.

11. Masks – from the Phantom of the Opera to slasher classics, masks are most often used to disguise evil. Masks are devoid of movement, except for the eyes, which makes them unnerving, like doll faces. In TheTexas Chainsaw Massacre, Leatherface wears three different masks (made from human skin) that reflect his mood or victim. And who will ever forget hockey-masked Jason or white-faced Michael Myers? On occasion, the villain behind the mask may be a woman.

12. Mirrors – Mirrors, or a mirror effect such as reflections in glass or water, can have many symbolic meanings though typically represent the multiple dualities of characters. Broken mirrors have obvious connotations of shattered lives and personalities. Mirrors can also represent voyeuristic, vanity, and sexual themes – we display our bodies and beautify ours faces in front of them in private. Mirrors can also reflect dangers.