Codes and conventions of horror films - iconography

Codes and conventions of horror films - iconography 

Iconography - The key colour used are black and red. Those colours are used because black symbolises sinister, darkness, death, and evilness, where red is used to symbolize blood, danger and also evilness. These colours are reinforced within the film to create these meanings to the audience such as black being used for the colour of the antagonist(s) costume, the setting (night/dark alley ways) and red being used for blood, possibly the antagonist(s) costume and the setting (red carpet and red walls within a house or building).

Also another colour used in horror films is white due to Asian beliefs and cultures of the colour white symbolises death which is portrayed on antagonist(s) costume or just the colour of the actual antagonist(s) i.e. paranormal antagonists such as 'The grudge', 'Ring', and 'Shutter' which are all Asian horror films which are paranormal/supernatural horror films which reinforce this colour. The use of these colours are powerful as it allows the audience to identify what genre they are watching through the use of these meanings through the use of constructions and their representations.

Props are also another significant representation of the horror genre as they are the signature of the horror genre. Certain props are used on specific character types so the audience can identify what each character is i.e. masks, dark or red costumes, weapons such as knifes, saws, or any other various blades is owned by the antagonist(s), different types of lighting is used to create different tones and atmospheres such as low lighting to create shadows and other dark shapes to make the atmosphere more eerie and sinister which can be used so the audience can see the antagonist but not the detail which reinforces the fear of the unknown as they do not know what the antagonist may look like and this leads to the anticipation of what the antagonist looks like.