Research: codes and conventions in pre-existing teen horror films

conventions for dead wood
1) Secluded location- the character getting chased is in a forest that has no form of human help and, the forest is in a place miles and miles away from anyone that could help if anything went wrong. This would be used in this movie as it fits in with the movie title as it's called dead wood and to build up the suspense that they are going to encounter something in that forest.

2) The fake scare- at the start of the opening there is a fake scare where there is a zoom in shot of the puddle, and then all of a sudden there is a foot step out of no where and there is a loud noise. This would be used to build up suspense so the audience get scared over nothing and to make them think that the threat has just began.

3) Someone dies in the first 5 minutes- towards the end of the opening the character stumbles across a big jump that he would have to make to get to safety. However he doesn't make the jump and falls to his death. And this happened within the first 5 minutes of the movie to show the audience that there is a imminent threat throughout the movie and, that there is worse things to come. And it also sets the tone for the movie to show that there will be a lot of threat and gore within this movie.

Codes for dead wood
Props used within the opening:
1) fake blood on the head to show that he has hit his head on something and to show how bad the injury is, as it is gushing down the side of his head.
2) Blood tablet- this is used when the man hits his neck of the side of the ledge that he tries to jump across. The actor bites on it as he hits the edge of the land and when he opened his mouth the blood, poured out of his mouth. This is a useful prop and helps bring out the gory side of the movie.
3) clothing- the clothing is a red Hawaii t-shirt. The red symbolizes blood meaning that there is a lot of gore to come throughout the movie. Or that something bad is going to happen to that character. And the t-shirt also shows that the character is a tourist to that area so he has no idea where to get help from.
4) Camping equipment- when the character makes it to the ledge you see camping equipment such as a tent and a fire. This is where the character had set up camp which would have been his way of getting to a safe place, and getting away from the danger.

Camera shots used,sounds etc:
1) there is a panning shot at the start of the opening where they pan on the foresty area. To show the surroundings and to build the scene up and the movie up.
2) the is also a zoom in shot on a puddle right before the fake scare.
3) as soon as the action starts and the character starts running then the camera man runs with the actor so the camera work is a bit shaky, which makes the action look real and like something is chasing the characters.
4) the music builds up as the action goes on to build suspense and to go alongside the action.


Conventions for Dead Mary:
1) Secluded location- They are in a place where they are 100 miles from the next gas station meaning they are 100 miles from any form of human help. This would indicate that something bad is going to happen within the movie.
2) No signal- The girl in the card gets bored and tries to phone her friend to see where he is and realises that there is no phone signal. Then she tries to turn on the radio to listen to music and there is no radio signal. This shows that if something goes wrong there is no one they can call for help.
3) warning going unheeded- this is when the male character that there was no one at the gas station that he went to meaning, that there is no one around however they still filled up the car and continued to go to the destination they were going to.

Codes for Dead Mary:
Technical codes:
In the opening there are a lot of shots where the camera is in the trees looking down on the car to show that something is watching, the girl in the car. This would build up suspense as it would show the audience that there is something out there that is going to get them.
There is also a lot of close up shots to show the expressions on the girls face where she is aggravated, frustrated and stressed. To show the audience how she feels in that time and moment. There is also  few panning shots of the car to show the way that the female character is sitting in the car to show the little actions that the female character, is doing to show that she has been waiting for a long time and is bored.  The music builds up the suspension as well to show that the female character isn't 100 percent safe in the current situation she is in, stranded in the middle of the road in the middle of no where.

Symbolic codes:
The props used in the opening scene was a old American classic car, the female was wearing clothes that show a lot of skin to arouse the teen male audience, the location was set in the middle of nowhere with no help in site, jerry can full of gas to fill up the car.
Conventions for Wrong Turn
1) Secluded location- the movie wrong turn is set in a lake surrounded by hundreds of miles of forest area. Where there is no sign of any humans or any form of human help if something was to go wrong. This would show the audience that something is out there and something bad is about to happen or someone is going to get hurt.
2) Someone dies in the first 5 minutes- The male character in the movie ends up dying by getting hit on the head by someone or something and then is thrown of, this edge of the cliff they were climbing and when the girl saw him lying on the floor it looked like he had also had his neck slit.
3) Victim inexplicably falls over- When the female character is being chased is by something and when she gets near her car, a trip wire made by what ever is chasing the girl trips her then she is dragged away straight after she tripped.


Codes
Technical codes
At the start of the opening there was a panning shot of the area to show that the character was looking around to see what was around. And It showed the location of the where they were and how there was none in sight and that they were hundreds of miles of trees and lake.
They was a lot of zoom shots on the feet and hands to show that the female character was gripping on hard. Then it zooms in when she slips and falls of the cliff.
Then there is a low angle shot to show the top of the cliff when the male character gets thrown over the side. Sounds such as the thud on the male characters head would make the audience see that he got hit really hard with something. The sounds of the bush shaking and laughter shown when she is running away would show the audience that someone is out there.


Symbolic codes
Props- climbing gear for the actors to use to climb up the cliff and a rope for them to climb with.
The girl was wearing shorts and a vest that shows a lot of skin to please the male teen audience that would watch this film. Barbed wire so a trip wire could be made and so the actor will fall over, finally a car for when the actor runs towards the car and trips on the wire to show how close she was to getting to safety. Fake blood to show the slit on the male character's head when the female character falls of the cliff and is lying beside him. This brings the gory side out of the movie, because there is blood and a nasty gash on the character's neck.