From studying Burton’s Genre Theory I have come to learn the importance of listing certain icons in a film that reflect the distinctive features of the genre of that particular film. All icons must reflect the genre of the film as if it doesn’t it then just becomes unnecessary and irrelevant For example it wouldn’t make sense to use a rose which is a icon for a romantic film in slasher horror as it doesn’t fit in with the features of the genre. Only way this could make sense is if conventions are somehow being varied to fit in with the theme of the movie.
In terms of horror well known icons are usually the ones you notice the least as they are instead seen as being the icon of a particular character.
This includes:
The hockey masked used by Jason Vorhees in the Friday 13th movies. I previously in another post talked about how this masks links to themes of fear of the unknown which is a common feature in horror movies. However the use of a mask or deformity to hide identity is now a feature used in many horror movies now (E.G. Scream, Chucky etc) and has become almost a symbol for the genre and as a result is a icon of the horror genre
The claws of Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on elm street films are not only used as a way of giving the character a distinctive feature, it is also an icon which has inspired the use of weapons to be used as icons. Because of this a kitchen knife with blood on it now becomes a distinctive indicator to the genre of the film being horror.
From looking at this and my research into Burton’s Genre Theory and Killers in Horror Movies it is now obvious what sort Icons I should be using that really symbolises the genre of the film. From this I and my group have created an initial list of icons for our movie which we hope to further expand on:
Amputated arm
Horror usually uses its gore as a distinctive feature of the genre and so the use of an amputated arm highlights this in abundance as the image of a cut off arm is very gory and so audiences immediately can link it to horror
Sliced throat
Likewise the image of a sliced throat is a very gory image and highlights intentionally inflicted pain. This level of violence is mostly seen in horror movies in comparison to other genres due to the level of violence and gore and so is a distinctive feature of the genre
Splattered blood on the floor
We’ve previously discussed in class how the image of blood is not a icon as it can be applied to a variety of genres (E.G. Medical dramas) however the image of blood splattered on the floor implies again of inflicted pain whilst also the presentation of it looking quite rough and unpleasant and so can be linked to horror
Knife with blood on it
This combines the two icons of blood and weapons together and so presents a very distinctive feature of horror movies. In a lot of horror movies the killer is often seen carrying a knife (or another household weapon) with blood on it as the blood represents danger and the psychotic nature of the character reinforced by the dangerous element of the weapon. This heightened sensed of danger created by this image highlights the dangerous aspect included in horror movies and so acts as a icon for the genre
HOWEVER….
When choosing and presenting our icons in our trailer WE MUST refer back to our research on film classifications as some of our icons (i.e. amputated arm) may be seen as unacceptable in a ‘15’ movie and so we have to think deeply about how we are going to present a amputated arm in a way that would ensure it fits within the guidelines for a ‘15’ rated movie.
Example of Icons in Horror Movies:
Example of Icons in Horror Movies:
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