focused analysis: mise en scene & location

Horror films take place in a wide variety of locations, the majority of which are either in an isolated house, village or town, or a dark unfamiliar place this creates the idea of vulnerability and gets rid of hope for outside help due to being cut off from society, much like the film 30 days of night, in which the village is cut off from the outside world, therefore being vulnerable and left to their own devices.

the original saw film uses the idea of isolation by locking two people in an unfamiliar place which leads the viewer to wonder how they got there and how they can escape without help from the outside world

Almost every horror film that has been made, uses the the night time as the time when everything bad happens, the villain will always attack at night, and the climax of the film will happen at night.

The clothing of the protagonist will often begin normal, a female will often wear clothes which appeal to that age group, a teen horror flick will involve a sexy looking protagonist who at the end of the film will be covered in either blood, dirt or dust.

the villain on the other hand will often wear large clothes that hide his identity such as a trench coat and hat they are also rarely shown in the film until the climax in order to keep mystery

iconography is used a lot in any film as short hand, to show things that do not need to be said, like fashionable clothing showing wealth.

the horror genre uses this to show the victim and villain instantly, the villain will almost always wear dark clothing, concealing his identity.

crosses and crucifix's will show either that the wearer is gothic or religious
Blood is a sure sign and icon of danger and death
colours can work as iconography as well such as red symbolizing danger or passion

all of these conventions will be taken into account and included in our film