Analyse the Codes and Conventions of horror films as shown in the openings of 'Dead Wood', 'Dead Mary' and 'Wrong Turn'.

When watching a horror film, you may not realise it but you are witnessing many classic and cliché codes and conventions, related specifically to the teen horror genre. The two types of codes are:

Technical
Technical codes in a horror film include things such as camera shots, angles and movements, lighting, titles, editing and sound: both diagetic and non diagetic. Overall, technical codes cover the 'technical aspects' of filmmaking and creating a piece of moving image media.

Symbolic
Symbolic codes include the main elements of mise-en-scene (the French translation for 'put in scene') within a film. The different aspects of mise-en-scene include; costume, make up, setting and props. For example, if the leading lady in the film is wearing a short red dress or a revealing outfit with heavy make-up, the audience makes an assumption about her character and traits. We do this because of the symbolic value attached to the clothing and the make-up.

Conventions also play an important part of what attracts and audience to view a horror film:
Conventions:
Conventions are a set of unwritten rules that an audience expect to see from a specific and certain genre. For example, a convention in a horror film we would expect to see is the victim almost making it to safety before the villain catches up with them. In addition, another convention frequently used in the teen horror genre is a mobile phone running out of battery or losing signal at a poignant moment.

The plot for the films 'Dead Wood', 'Dead Mary' and 'Wrong Turn' all differ in some way, but they all have things in common; they all make use of  typical codes and conventions.

Dead Wood- Synopsis
Four friends leave the city for a relaxing camping weekend in the woods. Once they get settled, a strange young woman enters their campsite looking for her lost boyfriend. One of the four himself goes missing and the rest are pitted against mysterious forces in a fight for their very survival.

Dead Mary- Synopsis
Kim and her boyfriend Matt have just broken up, but they travel together to a cottage nearby a lake to spend the weekend with their friends Eve, Dash and his wife Amber and Baker and his new girlfriend Lily. The atmosphere becomes heavy with the situation between Kim and Matt, and one of them suggests them to play "Dead Mary". Matt, Eve and Dash summon the evil witch repeating her name three times in front of a mirror with a candle. Along the night, Matt hears weird noises, is killed and returns to life, while part of the group is possessed by the fiend. Without knowing who is possessed, the rest of the group fights to survive.

Wrong Turn
The film opens with two friends rock climbing, when all of a sudden they are both killed by a vicious and mysterious unknown force. Six friends then find themselves trapped in the woods of West Virginia, hunted down by "cannibalistic mountain men grossly disfigured through generations of in-breeding." 

Editing and the pace of editing is used to great effect in the three horror openings. The opening to 'Wrong Turn' is a great example of how editing is used to have an effect on the audience. During the dialogue exchange between the man and woman when they are rock climbing, the editing is very slow and the cuts between shots are very limited, mainly varying between the man's face and the woman's. However, when the man's body is thrown off of the cliff, the editing begins to pick up pace.The shots vary and change quickly from the reel, the rope, the female and her struggle to resist against the force pulling her up the rocks. The camera angles differ; for example when she has freed herself by cutting the rope and she is attempting to reach the other one, the camera uses a low angle shot. In the next shot, there is a close up of her face- this makes the scene more intimate as the audience can see the terrified expression and emotion on her face. 'Dead Wood' also uses similar editing techniques. When the male victim comes crashing through the water and is running away from whatever is chasing him, the editing is very fast paced and sudden to reflect the mood and intensity of the action. However, as there is little happening in terms of action in 'Dead Mary', the approach to editing is different. The shots follow the actions the female lead is carrying out, for example: picking up her phone to check it has reception, throwing her phone back in the car, her adjusting the radio etc. However, the camera always returns to a close up of her face. They have edited it this way in order to keep the actress the focus at all times as she is the main/principal character. Editing is a very important way of telling the audience how they should be feeling at a certain time or moment. If the editing is fast paced, it increases the audience's adrenaline and feeds their anxiety and heightens the drama and suspense. If the editing is slower, it relaxes the audience and sets them at ease.

Camera movement is used effectively in all three horror openings. The opening of 'Dead Wood' commences with a crane shot, that brings the audience down through the moderately safe canopy of the forest and into the unknown and unsafe territory of the ground level where danger lies. During the shot, we are transported through a holly bush which has connotations of agony and sharp discomfort and the camera then eventually settles on a fixed shot of a murky and pungent puddle. There is also an element of symmetry during the opening; when the male victim has been murdered, his female companion emerges from a tent and begins calling his name. We are then transported back into the canopy of the woods with another crane shot. This could signify that the chase is over and the terror and suspense will subside momentarily. The opening to 'Wrong Turn' is very similar. It begins with a crane shot of the forest as it shows the audience tops of the trees. The camera then bring the audience down to where the couple are rock climbing and provides us with a birds eye view of them. Alternately, this can be seen as almost an establishing shot, as it establishes that most of the action and horror will take place within the confines of the woods.

Each horror film opening makes use of conventions. One convention that the opening of 'Wrong Turn' uses is the victim almost making it to safety; when the girl who was rock climbing realises her friend has been killed, she cuts herself away from her harness and falls to the ground. She then proceeds to run back to the safety of her car, when all of a sudden she is tripped by a piece of barbed wire. Before she is pulled away by an unknown force, we see a final shot of the car, signifying that she was so close to escaping her doomed fate. This same convention is also challenged in the opening to 'Dead Wood'. A male is running through the woods, clearly being chased by an unidentified assailant. There is the predictable cliché of the victim falling over, which would therefore put less distance between him and the villain. However, he recovers and continues to run through the forest, when he encounters an obstacle; a steep river bank which he must jump across in order to escape the assailant and return back to his tent. He judges the situation first before making the jump, once again giving the mystery villain more time to reach him. He takes a run up and jumps, but unfortunately does not quite make the jump. He is left clinging onto the other side of the bank, trying desperately to pull himself up. Blood then pours out of his mouth and he is dragged into the bank, presumably by the thing he was running from. The convention of almost making it to safety is often challenged in horror films, because it creates tension and suspense for the audience. It also increases the adrenaline the audience feels as they are willing the victims to make it to safety. The film 'Dead Mary' does not challenge this convention.

However, all three openings use the same convention of having a female victim who is reliant on a male counterpart. In 'Dead Mary', it depicts a female waiting alone in a car. She is in a vulnerable position as there seems to be no sign of any help if she needs it; this is reinforced by the convention of her phone having no signal. She picks up her mobile and tries to find signal by adjusting her phone and holding it in the air. It is clear that signal cannot be found when she carelessly throws it back on the car's dashboard and lets out an exasperated sigh. This limits a source of contact and communication and shows her solidarity. Her male companion then returns to the car with a can of petrol; this shows that she is reliant on him as he was the one to fetch the petrol and ultimately save the day. In 'Dead Wood', the female is also reliant on the male. After her partner is dragged into the river bank, she emerges from the tent and begins to helplessly call his name. This makes her seem vulnerable and timid, and she could not cope without him as she is weak and defenceless. The opening to 'Wrong Turn' is very similar. When the female and her male friend are rock climbing, he reaches the top easily without seemingly breaking a sweat, whilst she has difficulty scaling the rocks. When he reaches the top, she asks him to pull her up, making her seem weak and insignificant as she does neither have the energy or the patience to continue to climb the rocks. On the other hand, he gives off the persona of seeming cocky and confident. When he is murdered and thrown off the rocks, she is inconsolable and hysterical. This convention is often challenged in horror movies. Females are often seen as subordinate, weaker and more vulnerable than men, so therefore by having a female victim, it makes the audience root for them more as opposed to if it was a male victim.

On a related note, all three females are dressed in a way that could be considered inappropriate. These are symbolic codes. For example, in 'Dead Wood' the female victim is wearing all black (the colour black has connotations of death and mystery). However, she is wearing a knee length skirt with a slit in the front and back and also a pair of heeled boots. These items of clothing are not widely considered appropriate for camping. Their tent is also positioned right near the edge of the river bank, and it is also very small and flimsy. In addition, it would be extremely difficult to run away from a blood-thirsty creature in that gear. Her male companion was also wearing a tropical Hawaiian shirt; this demonstrates that neither of them are seasoned or experienced campers, which will ultimately make the process even more thrilling and unsuspecting. The female in 'Dead Mary' is dressed all in blue and is wearing a blue vest top which exposes her flesh. She is also not wearing any footwear. This symbolises that she is not expecting any trouble and is completely unprepared for an attack (if there was one). The female in 'Wrong Turn' is also quite exposed and vulnerable to an attack with her clothing choices. She is wearing a sports bra with pair of latex shorts. Whilst these clothes may be suitable for adventurous activities she was partaking in such as hiking and rock climbing, they do not offer much physical protection and she is very exposed. This symbolises how exposed she is to her surrounding and the danger she will ultimately face.

Another example of a symbolic code and mise-en-scene is make up. When the male victim is running through the woods in 'Dead Wood', there are visible signs of blood on his face. This indicates that he has already encountered danger and violence previously. 'Wrong Turn' also uses mise-en-scene through the medium of make up. The only way she realises her male friend is injured is when his blood drips down on her face. This gives the impression to the audience that something extremely dangerous surrounds the area and gives a heightened sense of threat. There is no blood or even a remote resemblance to blood in 'Dead Mary'.

Overall, I think 'Wrong Turn' challenges the most technical and symbolic codes and conventions. During the opening credits, we hear only non-diegetic sound in the form of the score. The score is predictably eerie which is highlighted by the use of strings and sudden beat of ominous drums. The credits that play over the opening sequence when the camera flies across the wooded area are quite scratchy and appear quickly and unexpectedly. They are all in capitals and are white- white connotes purity and innocence. This juxtaposes with the eerily sinister font. These are all technical codes. 'Wrong Turn' challenges the symbolic codes and mise-en-scene through make up and costumes and it also challenges many conventions such as the helpless female victim, the victim almost making it to safety and in addition, the fact that the action takes place in a forest. Forests are quiet and secluded areas where generally (especially in the horror genre) there aren't many means of communication around. In conclusion, 'Wrong Turn' uses the most technical and symbolic codes and conventions to create the most effective and terrifying opening few minutes; it gives the audience an indication of what to expect for the rest of the film.