The Conventions OfHorror
Horror films are designed to:
* Frighten & panic
* Cause dread &alarm
* Evoke our hidden worst fears
* Captivate & entertain us in a liberating experience
* Often conclude in a terrifying shocking finale
Depending on the audience watching, horror can create different types of fear
* Vulnerability
* Terror of the unknown
* Nightmares
* Alienation
* Revulsions
HISTORY OF HORROR
* Horror is an ancient art form. We have tried to terrify each other with tales which trigger the less logical parts of our imaginations for as long as we've told stories. From the ballads of the ancient world to modern urban myths, audiences willingly offer themselves up to sadistic storytellers to be scared witless, and they are happy to pay for priviledge.
* The first depictions of supernatural events appear in several of the silent shorts created by the film pioneer George Melies in the late 1890's.
* In the early 20th century, the first monster appeared in a horror film, Quasimodo, the hunchback of Notre-Dame who has appeared in Victor Hugo's novel, Notre-Dame de paris
* During the early period of talking pictures, the American Movie studio Universal Pictures began a successful Gothic horror film series. Tod Browning's Dracula (1931), with Bela Lugosi, was quickly followed by James Whale's Frankenstein . Some of these blended science fiction films with Gothic horror, such as The Invisible Man (1933) and, mirroring the earlier German films, featured a mad scientist. These films, while designed to thrill, also incorporated more serious elements.
Settings:
*Small communities or isolated places.
· Urban environments
· Dark streets
· Narrow alleyways
Anything that connote isolation or being alone. Often, sometimes places with ‘dark’ history, like abandoned houses, hotels and insane asylums.
*Locations for any good horror genre film could be:
· Abandoned houses
· Barnes and farms
· Cities
· Cabins
· Creepy hotels
· Graveyards
· Pirate ships
· Basements
Hunting places
Technical Codes:
*Camera work is very expensive and not natural; high and low an angle connotes fear.
*POV shots are important because they allow the audience to see the world from the monsters eyes.
*Sometimes framework uses depth of field, makes it harder to see the monster creeping up.
Iconography:
*Visual style: often dark colours like red & black (links to evil, blood and danger etc)
*Common objects include: weapons, masks, icons of the supernatural/religious etc.
* The iconography of the monsters helps to connote extreme fear, disgust, and terror: werewolves, vampires, mummies, Frankenstein and many more.
*Low-key lighting can help to create dark shadows and unfamiliar shapes in the blackness. Lighting can be motivated in the world of film (e.g. bonfires, fireplaces & torches)
*Props help us to further identify horror genre. Specific props can be identified with a certain villain or character (e.g. chainsaws, machetes, knifes, firearms, costumes)
Narrative Structure:
*Classic narrative structure largely made applicable to the horror genre but it can either be left for closure or maybe perhaps leave room for a sequel and thus enable a franchise (e.g. Friday the 13th, Halloween & nightmare of Elm Street)
*There’s always a ‘hero’ or protagonist, a man or a ‘final girl’ of the film, keeping with the normal conventions of the genre. Usually the hero must embark on a mission or quest to kill or solve problems in order to save themselves or others around them
*Some narratives are very mechanical and this is practically present in sub-genres, most noticeably ‘slasher’ films. After some event that turns the killer insane or by some childhood past or even psychotic medical issues, the villain returns to his home-town and always preys on teenagers. These teenagers represent ‘immoral’ and are quite stupid, usually they are the ones who start the horror in the first place or maybe they just get killed quickly and there is always/sometimes a survivor, most likely a female character.
Character Types:
· The main protagonist, often the ‘victim/hero’ of the movie.
· The villain, often a monster, mutated freak, alien or serial killer – tend to have a trademark characteristic as to how they kill (e.g. weapons and who they kill)
· The stupid/immoral teenagers that always get killed
· Creepy children
· Police officers (either good or bad)
· Many others: Ghosts, zombies, demons, psychopath, stalker, weirdo, werewolf, cheerleader etc…
Themes:
· Good vs Evil
· Depression
· Religion
Childhood issues
· Revenge
· Supernatural
· Beyond death
· Science gone bad
· Zombie Apocalypse
· Nightmares
· Madness
· Insanity
· Lust
· Envy
· Suicide
· ‘self-consciousness’ – making you question what is real and not.
Some directors use the innocence of children to be the villain of the movie. Using a small child who does scary and supernatural activities makes the storyline more freaky and disturbing for the viewers. Audience members are totally surprised when the child who may look like the victim turns out to be the villain. As we associate children with happiness, playful and innocent the thought of a child doing adult like behaviour becomes creepy. For example The Exorcist is a film about a young girl who is possessed by the devil. William Friedikin the director used Religion in an unseen way; this film was eventually banned as people thought it was too explicit and outrageous. There have been many remakes of the Exorcist and it has still had the same reaction.
Using mammals and not humans is also a well known storyline and a monster horror. The Jaws franchise was huge from 1975 and has also be remade several times. The fear is not of something that walks on earth but lives under water. Steven Spielberg an amazing director used a lot of natural lighting in this film to create more suspense. He used queue music when Jaws was approaching and Foley sound effects when he attacked. Even back then when CGI did not exist, directors found other clever ways to create fear in movies.
The camera angles connote the fear in the movie by doing many natural lighting shots. The director will use many close angles, low and high angle shots and point of view shots. This makes you feel part of the movie and the suspense is anxiously waiting. This is normally used to keep the audience members engaged with the storyline. Hand held shots are difficult for the audience to figure out what is going on. A prime example of that would be Cloverfield of Paranormal Activity. Both of these films are point of view shots and these situations that occur in the film are unexpected and shocking.
Music and sound effects play a big part in making a movie a success. Lots of incidental music is added and Foley sound effects can be used to make the intenseness more striking for the target audience. When a particular sound of music which is usually been made for that specific movie or show it is known as theme music. This makes the audience recognised what product they are watching.
The audience is made to view scenes of gaze for the heterosexual male. Sex and male gaze is portrayed commonly in horrors. Nudity has been accepted on screens to pleasure the male gender. It is not in usually to see woman naked in a movie of this type. Usually when a young woman appears naked in a scene it is time for her to be terribly killed by the pray/ murder. The murder will probably stab or suffocate her.
The survivor of a horror is normally the young girl who is dedicated to her school work and job. She doesn’t have a boyfriend; she finds sex an awkward subject and is usually quite nerdy and self conscious about herself. She is known as the ‘Final Girl’. Her intelligence and common knowledge helps her survive her near death experience. The audience is mainly rooting for this girl and hope she makes it alive even thought the ratio of her still be alive when the credits appear are high.
The audience is made to view scenes of gaze for the heterosexual male. Sex and male gaze is portrayed commonly in horrors. Nudity has been accepted on screens to pleasure the male gender. It is not in usually to see woman naked in a movie of this type. Usually when a young woman appears naked in a scene it is time for her to be terribly killed by the pray/ murder. The murder will probably stab or suffocate her.
The survivor of a horror is normally the young girl who is dedicated to her school work and job. She doesn’t have a boyfriend; she finds sex an awkward subject and is usually quite nerdy and self conscious about herself. She is known as the ‘Final Girl’. Her intelligence and common knowledge helps her survive her near death experience. The audience is mainly rooting for this girl and hope she makes it alive even thought the ratio of her still be alive when the credits appear are high.
Special Effects Make-up
Prosthetic makeup (also called FX prosthesis) is the process of using prosthetic sculpting, moulding & casting techniques to create advanced cosmetic effects.
* Craig Barron: He is on American visual effects supervision in seamless matte painting effect and is also co-founder and head of the visual effects company ‘Matte World Digital’.
Awards and Honours:
Emmy for outstanding visual effects, Chicago international film festival (The Utilizer. Oscar and BAFTA awards for achievement in visual effect (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, 2009)
*Rick Baker: He is also an American special make-up effects artist known for his realistic creature effects.
Baker has been involved in many successful films such as;
· King Kong (1976)
· An American Werewolf in London (1981)
· Batman Forever (1995)
· The nutty professor (1996)
· Men in Black (1997)
· Planet of the Apes (2001)
· X-men : The Last Stand (2006)
· Norbit (2007)
Awards and Honours:
· Inducted to the Monster Kid Hall of Fame at the Rondo Hatton Classic Awards
· Doctorate of Humane Letters from the Academy of Art University
· Jack Pierce – Lifetime Achievement Award at the Chiller-Eyegore Awards
· Academy Award, best make-up:
*An American Werewolf in London, 1982
*Harry & the Hendersons, 1988
*Ed Wood, 1995
*The nutty professor, 1997
*Men in Black, 1998
*How the Grinch Stole Christmas, 2001
*The Wolfman, 2011
* Frighten & panic
* Cause dread &alarm
* Evoke our hidden worst fears
* Captivate & entertain us in a liberating experience
* Often conclude in a terrifying shocking finale
Depending on the audience watching, horror can create different types of fear
* Vulnerability
* Terror of the unknown
* Nightmares
* Alienation
* Revulsions
HISTORY OF HORROR
* Horror is an ancient art form. We have tried to terrify each other with tales which trigger the less logical parts of our imaginations for as long as we've told stories. From the ballads of the ancient world to modern urban myths, audiences willingly offer themselves up to sadistic storytellers to be scared witless, and they are happy to pay for priviledge.
* The first depictions of supernatural events appear in several of the silent shorts created by the film pioneer George Melies in the late 1890's.
* In the early 20th century, the first monster appeared in a horror film, Quasimodo, the hunchback of Notre-Dame who has appeared in Victor Hugo's novel, Notre-Dame de paris
* During the early period of talking pictures, the American Movie studio Universal Pictures began a successful Gothic horror film series. Tod Browning's Dracula (1931), with Bela Lugosi, was quickly followed by James Whale's Frankenstein . Some of these blended science fiction films with Gothic horror, such as The Invisible Man (1933) and, mirroring the earlier German films, featured a mad scientist. These films, while designed to thrill, also incorporated more serious elements.
Settings:
*Small communities or isolated places.
· Urban environments
· Dark streets
· Narrow alleyways
Anything that connote isolation or being alone. Often, sometimes places with ‘dark’ history, like abandoned houses, hotels and insane asylums.
*Locations for any good horror genre film could be:
· Abandoned houses
· Barnes and farms
· Cities
· Cabins
· Creepy hotels
· Graveyards
· Pirate ships
· Basements
Hunting places
Technical Codes:
*Camera work is very expensive and not natural; high and low an angle connotes fear.
*POV shots are important because they allow the audience to see the world from the monsters eyes.
*Sometimes framework uses depth of field, makes it harder to see the monster creeping up.
Iconography:
*Visual style: often dark colours like red & black (links to evil, blood and danger etc)
*Common objects include: weapons, masks, icons of the supernatural/religious etc.
* The iconography of the monsters helps to connote extreme fear, disgust, and terror: werewolves, vampires, mummies, Frankenstein and many more.
*Low-key lighting can help to create dark shadows and unfamiliar shapes in the blackness. Lighting can be motivated in the world of film (e.g. bonfires, fireplaces & torches)
*Props help us to further identify horror genre. Specific props can be identified with a certain villain or character (e.g. chainsaws, machetes, knifes, firearms, costumes)
Narrative Structure:
*Classic narrative structure largely made applicable to the horror genre but it can either be left for closure or maybe perhaps leave room for a sequel and thus enable a franchise (e.g. Friday the 13th, Halloween & nightmare of Elm Street)
*There’s always a ‘hero’ or protagonist, a man or a ‘final girl’ of the film, keeping with the normal conventions of the genre. Usually the hero must embark on a mission or quest to kill or solve problems in order to save themselves or others around them
*Some narratives are very mechanical and this is practically present in sub-genres, most noticeably ‘slasher’ films. After some event that turns the killer insane or by some childhood past or even psychotic medical issues, the villain returns to his home-town and always preys on teenagers. These teenagers represent ‘immoral’ and are quite stupid, usually they are the ones who start the horror in the first place or maybe they just get killed quickly and there is always/sometimes a survivor, most likely a female character.
Character Types:
· The main protagonist, often the ‘victim/hero’ of the movie.
· The villain, often a monster, mutated freak, alien or serial killer – tend to have a trademark characteristic as to how they kill (e.g. weapons and who they kill)
· The stupid/immoral teenagers that always get killed
· Creepy children
· Police officers (either good or bad)
· Many others: Ghosts, zombies, demons, psychopath, stalker, weirdo, werewolf, cheerleader etc…
Themes:
· Good vs Evil
· Depression
· Religion
Childhood issues
· Revenge
· Supernatural
· Beyond death
· Science gone bad
· Zombie Apocalypse
· Nightmares
· Madness
· Insanity
· Lust
· Envy
· Suicide
· ‘self-consciousness’ – making you question what is real and not.
Some directors use the innocence of children to be the villain of the movie. Using a small child who does scary and supernatural activities makes the storyline more freaky and disturbing for the viewers. Audience members are totally surprised when the child who may look like the victim turns out to be the villain. As we associate children with happiness, playful and innocent the thought of a child doing adult like behaviour becomes creepy. For example The Exorcist is a film about a young girl who is possessed by the devil. William Friedikin the director used Religion in an unseen way; this film was eventually banned as people thought it was too explicit and outrageous. There have been many remakes of the Exorcist and it has still had the same reaction.
Using mammals and not humans is also a well known storyline and a monster horror. The Jaws franchise was huge from 1975 and has also be remade several times. The fear is not of something that walks on earth but lives under water. Steven Spielberg an amazing director used a lot of natural lighting in this film to create more suspense. He used queue music when Jaws was approaching and Foley sound effects when he attacked. Even back then when CGI did not exist, directors found other clever ways to create fear in movies.
The camera angles connote the fear in the movie by doing many natural lighting shots. The director will use many close angles, low and high angle shots and point of view shots. This makes you feel part of the movie and the suspense is anxiously waiting. This is normally used to keep the audience members engaged with the storyline. Hand held shots are difficult for the audience to figure out what is going on. A prime example of that would be Cloverfield of Paranormal Activity. Both of these films are point of view shots and these situations that occur in the film are unexpected and shocking.
Music and sound effects play a big part in making a movie a success. Lots of incidental music is added and Foley sound effects can be used to make the intenseness more striking for the target audience. When a particular sound of music which is usually been made for that specific movie or show it is known as theme music. This makes the audience recognised what product they are watching.
The audience is made to view scenes of gaze for the heterosexual male. Sex and male gaze is portrayed commonly in horrors. Nudity has been accepted on screens to pleasure the male gender. It is not in usually to see woman naked in a movie of this type. Usually when a young woman appears naked in a scene it is time for her to be terribly killed by the pray/ murder. The murder will probably stab or suffocate her.
The survivor of a horror is normally the young girl who is dedicated to her school work and job. She doesn’t have a boyfriend; she finds sex an awkward subject and is usually quite nerdy and self conscious about herself. She is known as the ‘Final Girl’. Her intelligence and common knowledge helps her survive her near death experience. The audience is mainly rooting for this girl and hope she makes it alive even thought the ratio of her still be alive when the credits appear are high.
The audience is made to view scenes of gaze for the heterosexual male. Sex and male gaze is portrayed commonly in horrors. Nudity has been accepted on screens to pleasure the male gender. It is not in usually to see woman naked in a movie of this type. Usually when a young woman appears naked in a scene it is time for her to be terribly killed by the pray/ murder. The murder will probably stab or suffocate her.
The survivor of a horror is normally the young girl who is dedicated to her school work and job. She doesn’t have a boyfriend; she finds sex an awkward subject and is usually quite nerdy and self conscious about herself. She is known as the ‘Final Girl’. Her intelligence and common knowledge helps her survive her near death experience. The audience is mainly rooting for this girl and hope she makes it alive even thought the ratio of her still be alive when the credits appear are high.
Special Effects Make-up
Prosthetic makeup (also called FX prosthesis) is the process of using prosthetic sculpting, moulding & casting techniques to create advanced cosmetic effects.
* Craig Barron: He is on American visual effects supervision in seamless matte painting effect and is also co-founder and head of the visual effects company ‘Matte World Digital’.
Awards and Honours:
Emmy for outstanding visual effects, Chicago international film festival (The Utilizer. Oscar and BAFTA awards for achievement in visual effect (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, 2009)
*Rick Baker: He is also an American special make-up effects artist known for his realistic creature effects.
Baker has been involved in many successful films such as;
· King Kong (1976)
· An American Werewolf in London (1981)
· Batman Forever (1995)
· The nutty professor (1996)
· Men in Black (1997)
· Planet of the Apes (2001)
· X-men : The Last Stand (2006)
· Norbit (2007)
Awards and Honours:
· Inducted to the Monster Kid Hall of Fame at the Rondo Hatton Classic Awards
· Doctorate of Humane Letters from the Academy of Art University
· Jack Pierce – Lifetime Achievement Award at the Chiller-Eyegore Awards
· Academy Award, best make-up:
*An American Werewolf in London, 1982
*Harry & the Hendersons, 1988
*Ed Wood, 1995
*The nutty professor, 1997
*Men in Black, 1998
*How the Grinch Stole Christmas, 2001
*The Wolfman, 2011