Conventions of supernatural and possession films

Conventions of Supernatural and Possession Films

Conventions of Supernatural and Possession films

• The main reason for possession and supernatural films are to scare the audience with there deepest fears.

• The main types of possession films are religious such as ‘The Devil Inside’ or ‘Rite’. Or demonic, evil possession for example ‘The Possession’ or ‘The Conjuring’.

Conventions and codes which crop up in supernatural and possession films• Evil Spirits which take over a innocent persons

body.• Subtle props such as boxes, cuddly toys and

sleeping gowns.• Ghosts which appear mainly at night.• Unusual bends with the body, this is show a

lot in a film called ‘The Exorcism’.

Sound conventions which appear in supernatural and possession films.

• Loud screams to scare the audience.• To build suspense they play deep slow music.• Intense faster music used in the montage to

reveal the dilemma. • Heart beats to portray the fear in characters

and the audiences when watching the trailer.

Stock Location for supernatural and possession films

• Semi-detached or detached house. This is used because this is more believable and realistic for the audience when watching the trailer or the actual film as they have a similarity.

• In a suburban area to show that they are alone and helpless.• Some scenes are set in hospitals for instance in ‘The Possession’

where the main girl has been possessed and they go to the hospital to see what they can do.

• Some scene could be set in Rome because that is seen as a place of religious meaning and a place where many priests could act out an exorcism on someone who has been possessed. For instance in the ‘Rite’ this is the main setting of the whole film and trailer.

Conventions for camera and editing used in possession and supernatural film trailers

• Their are many cuts used especially in the montage to try build suspense and give the audience a good understanding of the narrative.

• Many high angle shot to show the setting and to give of the feeling to the audience that the characters are being watched.

• In most trailer and films they have a wide range of close ups of characters face to show the emotion on their face. This could also be done to help the audience connect more with the film and the characters.

• Some trailer are done using a hand held camera to make the filming more realist to the audience as if its been filmed for real, a good example of this would be ‘Paranormal Activity’.