The theory behind Codes and Conventions

Our trailer is to an extent required to follow the codes and conventions of the genre. These codes and conventions must themselves be decoded by us, so we as the audeince can understand implied meanings and repersentations, which are often reflections of society.

How are they made?
Codes and conventions are made by ‘original inspiration’, most of which were created in the age of British Hammer Horror, a time in which lower budgets increased individual creativity and originality. In a recent interview ‘Night of the living dead’ director George A Romero explained the creation of the ‘zombie movement’ as a reinvention of the subjects as a ‘thoroughly modern menace’ through lumbered, staggered yet constant movement. Since then, this form of movement has become a stereotype of what a zombie is, reflected in such films as ‘Dawn of the dead’.

What are we meant to follow?
What it comes to codes and conventions of a werewolf film, especially when it comes to the appearance of the werewolf itself it would be difficult to claim that we aren’t going to be influenced by George Waggner’s depiction of the creature. Although not the first werewolf film (it was the second, preceded by the unsuccessful ‘Werewolf in London’) ‘The Wolfman’ (1941, figure 1) holds a greater influence in the history of horror. When the werewolf was brought to Hollywood the core interpretation of the beast was changed, in mythology the werewolf was regarded as a wolf/man, yet Waggner created the semi-mutilated ‘wolfman’ we now see in most modern film. Therefore by including a Wolfman within our trailer we are already subjected to codes and conventions of our genre already.

Fig. 1

How much leeway do we have?

Although individual creativity creates codes and conventions, there must be a core following of conventions to fulfil the expectations of the audience.  As Media Studies students, we are unable to create/ find an actual werewolf, if we are unable to show a full werewolf, will just a moon be enough to define the genre?
 Codes and conventions follow the Zeitgeist, during the time of George A Romero’s ‘Night of the living dead’ the spirit of the time was one of war, and the film was seen as a metaphor for ‘America turning on isself’ and the first use of an African-american lead actor personified the time of the assassination of Martin luther king, a strong political message, reflected in the climax of the film. We have decided to interpret our zeitgeist as one of celebrity culture and obsession. The glorification of werewolves has proven to be an outlet for teen obsession and our trailer has tapped into both the ‘teen market’ through the relation of age of our protagonist and the popularity of the werewolf subject. Although familiarisation is key, we are creating out own codes and conventions, targeting a younger age of victim, in a more brutal, unsympathetic way.

The link below shows teen wolf obsession in its most extreme, we believe this is partly due to the Twighlight saga, which embraces werewolves as outcasts from others but as having a strong community of werewolves. Wolves are pack animals.