Paranormal horror is a sub-genre of horror and is all about the fear of the unknown and unusual behaviour. It is often the part of horror that is the scariest. Paranormal horror covers many different aspects from ghosts, to haunted houses, to possession and demons.
A classic convention of paranormal horror is trying to frighten the audience with jumpy scenes or something popping up behind someone through the use of mirrors. The non-diegetic sound of these films usually helps to build the tension within the scene and the increase of volume in the sound mix helps to make the audience jump. The mise-en-scene is also important in creating a visceral experience. The lighting in the scene is also very effective as things like the flickering of a candle can be used to give the audience hints that something is about to happen or something is going to disappear. Also the use of shadows makes the scene more creepy as it means the audience knows that something is there. A typical stock location of paranormal horror is in a haunted house as the connotations of them are ghosts and the unknown. The stock plot of a paranormal film is the protagonist gets haunted by something in the house. There is often someone who angers the paranormal being through the use of cameras or crucifixes so it makes it reveal itself. These archetypal characters help the audience to relate to what type of film they are watching so they feel they can predict what is going to happen next, even if they get it wrong.
For example, in Paranormal Activity 4 after meeting the little boy Robbie, he starts to show signs of unusual behaviour like going into the main protagonist's, Alex's, room at night and sleeping next to her, which she knows about from her friend Ben recording their web chats. Due to this, they decide to set up webcams around the house to record all unusual behaviour. This helps to reveal the possessed type character that Robbie is as he is seen talking to invisible figures. This clip shows a stereotypical example of possessed behaviour that is common in most paranormal films.
Some common iconography of paranormal horror films are ghostly symbols, dark places, unusual occurrences like a door slamming on its own or a rocking chair moving with no one in it, haunted houses and screams (usually female).
Paranormal Mood Board:
Well done - detailed, good first attempt at prezi. Conventions clearly analysed - L4 work.
ReplyDelete