Ideas Generation Mood Boards – Horror

Megan Robinson

Genre

There are different types of horror films such as slasher, stalker, thriller, action-adventure, paranormal/supernatural, torture, splatter, science fiction, aliens, vampire, monster movies, etc…

For example, Paranormal/Supernatural horror would include ghosts, spirits, demons, or other supernatural beings. Themes such as the afterlife, the devil and demonic possession run through this genre. Some of these films contain scenes of gruesome violence.

Another example would be thriller horror. The main elements of this genre are suspense, tension, excitement and anticipation. There is also uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and terror. A thriller can keep the audience on the edge of their seats one minute and the next it can be more relaxed. It is usually based on a villain who commits evil acts and the hero has to overcome this.

Location

Locations are important as they set the scene for the

film. In some cases the audience can be scared before the

film has even started properly. Examples of different

locations are: apartments, graveyards, old houses,

deserted places, forest, etc… Some films may begin with

a ‘normal’ family in their ‘normal’ house and then things

can go horribly wrong. Also they may involve school

trips, camping holidays, etc… where the audience is

unaware of what is going to happen. There are surprise

and shock elements.

Camera Angles

There are different camera angles such as close-up, extreme long shot, long shot, medium shot, extreme close-up, the bird’s-eye view, high angle, eye level, low angle, oblique/canted angle, point of view shot and etc…

I think it is important to have different camera angles, for example if you use close-up – you can see everything like their emotions, if it is close-up on some scenes, then the film is trying to show you what you should look for.

Some films use a point of view shot like The Blair Witch Project, I think that’s really good because it makes you think you are with them, rather than watching in cinema.

Costumes

Costumes are important for horror films because you can tell

their character by looking at their costume. For example, some

films have their evil/monster look scary or wear mask, etc… All

the horror films are different, you don’t have to dress up to

look like you are going to kill some people. They can dress up

normally but most of the films always have masks on, and

wear the clothes that covers their identify. You will know if it

was a ghost/spirit because they are see through and always

look white. Like in Halloween, a killer dressed up to cover his

identify by wearing blue coveralls and a white mask. This will

make whoever is watching be scared of him and also the

characters in the film will be scared of him knowing

something is not right and might happened to them.

Props

Props are very important for horror films because they

always have a weapon, some films will have house

furniture, camping equipment, cars, hospitals, cameras,

etc… Every film has different props like Scream, the

killer always carries the knife to stab/kill people. But

some films have guns, axe, saw, chainsaw, etc… But if it

was a evil spirit, you cannot really kill them, they might

use holy water, crucifix, etc…

Another example is The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, the

Leatherface wears a masks made of human skin. The

weapon he uses is a chainsaw but he also butchers

people by using the butcher tools.