Individual Genre Research - Iconography

Iconography is the collection of images that are used to represent something. For instance, the Iconography of Horror films are the images we expect to see within a Horror film and what's so commonly associated with the Horror genre. The visual images, symbols, or modes of representation collectively associated with a person, cult, or movement.

For instance; within the Horror genre we expect to see blood and gore and as Horror films have developed over the years, the amount we expect to see has changed and increased. Blood within a title sequence can foreshadow death within the film but is more commonly used to represent and identify that some one has been injured either minor or fatally which can be linked within the horror franchise as blood and gore is so commonly used, especially with The Saw franchise (2004 - 2017).

Also within horror films, spooky objects and possessed objects are featured, this are used to make the audience feel uneasy and creep them out. These are featured in multiple horror films and some of the biggest horror franchises such as; The Chucky Franchise (1988 - present) and The Conjuring Franchise (2013 - present) which are big parts of the Horror genre. Usually through the film, these creepy items haunt and stalk the characters before attacking them and killing them, sometimes the main characters survive and end up destroying the possessed item (or so they thing) only for the item to still be intact and returns to haunt someone else.

Dark, isolated and gloomy locations are another iconic part of the Horror genre. These locations are usually where the characters get trapped, separated and murdered one by one. They also help build the atmosphere and set the tone of the film, for instance; the film The Woman in Black (James Watkins, 2012) is set within a haunted house, the tone of the film is very uneasy and unsettling to watch as all the dark corners of the room may be hiding something. Another example is if the film is set within some woods, for instance; The Forest (Jason Zada, 2016) shows how the characters are isolated from the rest of the world and how they've got to fight alone to stay alive.