The Conjuring

The Conjuring genre codes and conventions 

The genre of The Conjuring is horror, which is evident as there are many conventions throughout the opening scene. The start of the opening scene is introduced with the Warner Bros logo, and instead of the normal bright colors it is black and grey, with a dark gloomy background this gives the audience an idea that it may be a horror as dark lighting is commonly used in horrors making it a well-known convention. As well as this in the background there is tension building with non-diegetic sound which is a well-known convention used in horrors to get the audience aware that something bad is about the happen. 

With some dialogue in the background the next scene is cut to an extreme close-up of a damaged-looking doll, with dull colors. Scary dolls are a horror convention seen in some well-known horrors. This gives the audience an insight as to why that main subject of the film may be about. It is the cut to 3 character on the sofa with two women and one man. The two girls are explaining the story, with their facial expressions in fear. The fact that they are discussing how scared they are is a stereotype seen as women in horror films are normally portrayed as the damsel in distress. As they are having a conversation it comes clear to the audience that the antagonist the doll, which is a genre code as most horror films have supernatural characters which are seen to be terrorising the victims. 

The next cut is of a flashback as their seen laughing coming through the door, which is suddenly stopped as they see a note on the floor. It reads 'Miss me?' In red, this symbolises danger. In horror films the color red signifies blood which connotes to the audience that something evil is about to occur. As they look up they see the doll sitting in the hallway, denoting that the note is from the doll. As the scene is unravelling this is an enigma code as the audience is wondering how the doll managed to get in the middle of the hallway and why it would write that on the note. The scene has lowkey lighting which this well-known convention instantly makes the scene more dramatic and intense. As they walk towards the doll they see the doll with red coloring pens which denotes that she indeed wrote the note which is an enigma code as the audience would be wondering how a doll managed to do this.

 The two characters who are hugely portraying the convention of the damsel in distress, are then exposed to what the doll did within the other room. The room lights start too flicker, this causes the reader too feel tense as flickering lights are unpredictable. As well as this the slashes in the photos is an indication that they have been threatened, which is another enigma code as the audience will wonder what will happen as their physical being has been threatened. In the background, there is non-diegetic music playing which is the standard horror film sound, this is a convention in horror films when the victim discovers something that could threaten their physical being. Not only this but the red mark along the walls signifies blood. After the characters were exposed to the room, a pen starts rolling which adds tension within the scene and an enigma code is used as the audience will be wondering how it started rolling. This is a convention used in horror films as when the antagonist is about to threaten he victim they do small things to scare them before they attack. It is then cut too one of the girls picking up the doll and disposing it in the bin which is an attempt to get rid of it. This is a convention as in horror films the victim does something in the moment when they are threatened and it always ends up turning out bad. 

As the bin shuts it is then cut to a black screen where the audience is left not knowing what happened. It is then cut to one of the characters sleeping with loud banging in the background, in which they act confused and try and find out where the noise is coming from. One of the female characters is about to open the door where they think the banging is coming from, this is a common convention as there is always someone who is too curious. There is no music and no dialogue and then she opens the doll and the doll is sitting there. As it is discovered a large bang is heard. This is a convention well-known in horror films as when something scary appears the lead up is quiet, then a loud bang occurs when revealed as a jump scare.