Choosing A Genre : Horror

The meanings of horror :

 1) an intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust.
 2) a thing causing such a feeling.
 3) intense dismay.
 4) informal, a bad or mischievous person, especially a child.


Horror is origionally an ancient form of art, dating back to around the 15th century families, friends and aquaintances told each other gruesome stories about the ancient world and urban myths causing themselves to be scared witless, some even payed for the thrilling experience as scientists thought it triggered a rush or adrenalin which then bought fear.

Horror movies aim to create thrills but whilst also telling us stories of the darker side of life and death as well as reflecting current life such as in 1922 the tale of Nosferatu the very first vampire story, not only was it about the creation of a monster that sucked peoples blood at the time it reflected the Great War and the big Flu epidemic making the view put their own lives into prospective by making them think ' what if this had happened to me ....'.

Horror films mainly put the creation of a monster as the main character with hidden story lines behnd them, alot of these stories were written in the Victorian period ( 19th century ) mainly starting by Karl Jung's psychology of the shadow. The shadow being an individual part of the unconcous mind , like a dream, the shadow is more dense depending on the individuals life itself. It can appear  as a person the same sex as the dreamer, or as a dark creature or shape, telling the person everything in which they do not wish to know about themselves. Following this theory writers then wrote stories following it such as The Erlking by Goethe and the first great classic horror, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Darkness and shadows were such important features of modern horror, for example again in Nosferatu where the vampire leaps amongst the gravestones in what appears to be broad daylight, seem doubly surreal to us now. They draw upon the ledgends, and follow monsters into physical form.

Horror movies were reborn in the 1930s when people started to go and whatch them in the cinema. Sound had a huge impact on the films itself , as people were use to silent horror movies. The fact audiences could hear what the characters were saying helped add to the thrilling experience as tey would remember certain quotes and phrases. The fact Horror provided a more fantastic and supernatural element  provided an effective escape for audiences as they were able to watch someone elses world end in horror compared to theirs.

Over the years Horror movies introduced more and more characters and storylines , starting with the vampires in the 1920's, by the 1950's the out of space scene had arrived thus leading onto si-fi films. the 1960's introduced bad girls - monsters moving away from being men and more women, as well as woman being the villain and/or the victim. As well as blood freaks, horrow became more gorey with lots more blood. The 1970's bought in the Nightmare Decade, storyline lines that followed a more twisted idea causing more nightmares among audiences. The 1980's followed on from the blood epidemic, now with body parts being cut off or being lost in the ' Inside Out' period. Psychokillers followed in the 1990's bad men that would intentionally set out to harm either women or children for their own liking. And now in the 2000's contagion and Global Convergence apply , these are films where people catch illnesses or become ingulfed by supernatural beings.


For my five opening sequences I am going to choose films from different time periods to see the contrast between them and how they have developed over time.


GOLEM

For my first opening sequence i chose the 1920's film Golem. The film is about a little town called prague, that has been over run by the dreaded spirit Astaroth, the town live in fear of it , with destruction always in its path. one day a Jewish Rabi/Scientist reads about the Golem and how he is the only one whom can stop the dreaded spirt. He creates the being out of clay and then places an inchanted spell on him making him come to life. at first the town fear Golem as they aren't sure if he is part of Astaroths plan but once they realise he is there to help they rely on him as a hero to help save the town of prague.The film follows the mad scientist idea, that the Jewish Rabi who creates the creature Golem stays in his lab/home away from Astaroth ( the spirit ) tring to find ways in which he can get rid of him and help the village.

There wasn't an opening seqence to the film, but the whole film was on youtube, so i skimmed through it watching small parts, The characters remain the same throughout, the townspeople who generally at first live in fear of the spirit, The Jewish rabi whom creates Golem and Golem himself who acts as the town hero helping save them from Astaroth.

The film was set in the 1920's and during that time Horror films started of silently, with no diagetic sounds. there is non-diagetic sounds as there is music played over the top all the way through the film. The orchestra help create the mood throughout the film , in quite happy/ relaxing scenes the music is quite slow and calm, but when theres a more scary scene the music picks up, it becomes faster and minor chords are used to help create a tense atmsphere.

The mise-en-scene is set in the town of prague, a small village/town mixed with alley ways and bridges. They are wearing old clothes , the women wear very long dresses, to the ankles, corseted at the top, there hair al tied up in tight curls wiht some head wear, very classsy and elegant. The males were also very well presented as they wore suits with shirts, neatly tailored trouser some wearing capes, their hair also neatly curled , chin length.

There isnt alot of editing in the film , its all filmed in black and whiite as there weren't coloured cameras back in the 1920's. So that the viewers are able to unerstand the film as there is no sound, clips are edited in where words are shown, telling the story adn the scenes go along so the audience are able to understand the story and follow it all the way through, theyr'e like little summary's.

There arent alot of camera angles used either, mainy establishing shots at the beging to see what the village of prague looks like , and when the vilalgers are running around in fear of the spirt Astaroth showing all the damage in which he has casued. The rest are mainly long shots of Golem, and when the village are having a dance and Golem walks in, everyone bows down to worship him, to show their effection of him saving their town. There is one close up used and thats the scene when the Jewish Rabi is going through his books , we are able to see the blue prints of Golem before he is created as well as the spell that he uses to turn make him come to life.



PSYCHO

The second horror film i have chosen is the 1960's film Psycho. The film follows the 1960's idea of  targeting 'blood freaks' especially in the famous shower scene, which i have chosen to look at.

The film is about a secretery ( Leigh) who goes to a secluded hotel after embezzeling money from her employer who gets stabbed by the disturbed hotel manager Perkins.

The main character in the film is Leigh the secretery, you find out why she takes the money from her employer, As well as the character of Perkins and why he stabbs her in the end.

In the Famous shower scene there isnt any dialogue just the sountrack that is played over the top. The screaching of the violins as the man walks into the bathroom helping to create a frightening atmosphere , as we see the shadow of the knife as he lifts it up to the shower curtaina dn stabbs her, the music calms down by the end of the scene when she's wriggling on the bottom of the shower floor.

There isn't much mise-en-scene in this clip, she drives up to a deserted hotel thought, in the middle of no where, creating suspicion and tention wihtin the audience, wondering why she chose here of all hotels. You dont see what the murderer is wearig in this scene and she isnt wearing any clothes as she is in the shower.

Psycho is very famous for this scene as there are over 70 camera angles and 90 shots used ,taking 7 days to film, they're all used very fast to help create tension, especially with the amount of times he stabbs her until she finally falls to the ground.


HALLOWEEN 

For my fouth film i have chosen Halloween. Halloween is about a young boy called Michael who had a terrible upbringing , his family never payed much attention to him , and he gained a hobby for killing animals, until one day a bully in school got on his nerves too much so Michael followed him home through the woods and killed him, Aswell as killing everyone in his family apart from his little sister. He gained this idea that by wearing a mask he acted as someone else so when he was sent to a mental asylum he refused that it was him who killed all those people. Years later Michael escapes from the Mental Asylum and returns to his childhood home , not knowing that his sister still lives there and sets out on a rampage to kill the remaining people living in the house. In the end Michael escapes from the polices grasp and runs away into the night, leading on to the later film, Halloween 2.

The main character of the story is Michael he follows the Psychokiller role , he has a split personality , one in the beginging this sweet innocent child who loved to play and learn and two the mean streak in him that forces him to kill other people in the influence of masks. Michaels doctor is also an important character  in the story , he talked to Michael everyday that he was in the asylum until one day when he decides to give up on the case. that day ebing when Michael escapes, when the doctor finds out he does all he can to track Michael down until Michael eventually kills him.

The camera in the opening sequence starts by acting the role of Michael , it's as if we see exactly what Michael see's as we enter the house and wonder through each of the rooms and up the stairs toward his family members.

The soundtrack over the top is very shaky, consisting of violins playing quite fast, short little notes , and they get louder and louder until Michael strikes. there's also the Diegetic sounds of screaming when he stabs his sister as she shouts his name. Again when he goes to kill his dad , he shouts his name as he's coming towards him , and then screams a little when he's strangeling him.

The editing is used quiet effectivly , when Michael puts on the amsks before killing people it's as if the camera has gone inside the mask too as they have blacked out the room apart from two little parts making it look liek they are eye holes in the mask whilst it's on his face. The slow motion too as the camera slowly goes around the corners helping to create a more dramatic effect, adding to the atmosphere.


ZOMBIELAND

ZombieLand is a film created in 2009 showing you step by step rules on how to survive a zombie apocalypse, as well as it being a horror movie it also has a comical side to it as well. The film is about an epidemic of cow disease that's spread throughout America, that leads to people being infected and turning into zombies.

The main charater Columbus travels through the deserted city in hope of trying to find his parents picking up innocent companions Wichita, her sister Little Rock and Tallahasse along the way. telling you about his rules to survive.

The editing in the opening sequence uses slow motion really well , you are able to see the expressions on the peopels faces as they are running away from the zombies , as well ast the hungry look on the zombies faces as they are trying to eat the people. You can also see all the different scenarios in which the zombies attack i.e at a wedding, in the street, on the toilet or in the supermarket, it helps you understand what the films about. The names of the rules are also printed along side the death such as " The second rule : Double tap.".

Throughout most of the opening trailerits mainly the main character Columbus who speaks , telling you about all his rules and how he's survived , but also how this epidemic has effected the world , as well as being a main character he is also the marrator. Toward the end of the clip the sound track of Metallica's - For Whom The Bell Toll's is played , giving it an ironc twist , it's also played synchronus to the clip as at the very end the song ends in a loud bang just as the zombie crashes through the windscreen.

The mise-en-scene is set around the whole of America as they travel from state to state trying to flee from the zombies. The characters wear normal, everyday, casual clothing compared to the zombies who are all covered in blood, with parts of flesh hanging from them, following the 1960's ' blood freak' role, it being mainly for people who love blood and seeing people get eaten and ripped apart. Guns and weapons also play a big part within the props, as they are used throughout the film to kill the zombies , showing the more violent side towards the characters, that they arent affrain to use a gun for their own protection.


DOG SOLDIERS

For the fith and final film i have chosen Dog Soldiers. Dog Soldiers is about a squad of army soldiers that get flown into a forrest on what they think is a routine training mission but things change when they realise that they are dealing with werewolves and not men.

The characters are mainly a group of soldiers who all stick together to fight off the werewolves. they all go and stay in this abandoned cabin in the woods, surrounded by forrest so they can attack from all angles.

The Mise-En-Scene for the film is based in a random forrest, the soldiers dont know about, They are all in army uniform with Guns and Knives , as well as what ever they can find in the cabin, the weapons are used quite alot in the film, showing the violence between them and the wolves.

The sound is straight foward, it's mainly the group of soldiers together talking , at first telling ghost stories and then shouting comands at each other when fighting off the wolves. The soundtrack over the top in the more thrilling parts is quite slow, and builds up creating tension, again mainly an orchestra/violins and the sound of wind passing.

During the scene where the soldiers first come across strange beings at round 21:58 the camera follows them into the abondoned camp then at 22:28 the camera pans around the sight quite fast, showing all of the guns and resources that the soldiers can pick up as well as all the eaten body parts and blood scattered every where adding to the atmosphere.





10 things that I will do in my coursework to keep within the genre

1) I will use appropriate costume and make up to help set the characters
2) The soundtrack used over the top will be quite erey/ orchestral to add to the atmosphere
3) I will follow one of the themes used i.e psychokiller or Contagion and Global Convergance
4) I will choose an appropriate setting to help create atmosphere, relating to the storyline.
5) Choose an appropriate story line that fits withing the genre ( not too comical or action based )
6) Decide whether I will use dialogue or have a silent horror movie like the 1920's
7) Make sure its appropriate for the targeted audience
8) Stick to the idea of the creation of a monster, it's the easiest way.
9) Follow Jung's theory and create a dark mystical feel to help create tension
10) use appropriate camera angles such as pan to reflect different areas , or use a jumpy camera to add to the tension.