Paul Wells Research

→ Main horror audience

•  Teenagers
• Young adults

→ Effects of horror on audiences

→ Small focus groups study - 12 members

4 age groups:  →16-25   » 1975-1984

                    → 26-40  » 1960-1974

                    → 41-55  » 1945-1959

                    → 56-80  » 1920-1944

This study teaches us about the relationship to being frightened with changes with age and how it relates to a broader factor affecting emotional repsones. We also learn audiences between 1970's and 1990's are more anesthetist to explicit special effects, whereas 'monster' films of the 20s and 30s reported very strong personal responses to images and iconography of horror when cinema was new and unknown. Young audiences are aware of artificially and are becoming harder to shock, which films play into this knowingness of horror conventions and leaves us a question to answer is this part of the fun? 

In order to see which age group enjoys horror the most and which is easily frightened, I decided to conduct my own horror questionnaire.

 

Moral Panics

A moral panic essentially a 'crusade' against behavior or precieved negative developments in society. Cohen (1972): Argues that a moral panic is when the media exaggerates through the media such as newspapers to an event to refer to its social uses, morality today is not as strong as it once was.It has caused changes in the law including the 1894 video recordings act that gave the BBFC power to classify videos.

Newspapers which run moral panics: 

→DAILY MAIL

→DAILY EXPRESS

→NEWS OF THE WORLD

→THE SUN

→THE MIRROR

Norm

• Enjoyment 
• Anxious
• Jumpy
• Fear
• Nervous
• Alarm
• Alert

Extreme

• Panic Attacks
• Hysteria - Screaming / Crying
• Fainting
• Heart Attacks

Older People / Women of a Fragile Constitution

Responsibility to protect them ?  

→ Audience

→ BBFC  - 18/15

The Final Girl Theory

→ The final girl theory is based on the last female character in a horror film

→ The theory was based / created by Carol J Clover

→ The girl is either typically sexually unavailable / not attractive

→ She can either have a girls or boys name

→ She seems to know about 'the killer' in the film

→ She might end up becoming the killer using weapons and knifes

→ She says that the killer is mostly a male character

     Example: Norman Bates in Physco

→ For horror films to be successful they they say that the surviving character 

     should be a female, as she must experience horror

Addition Information about 'Male Gaze'

→ Anne Doane (1892) added that women have a 'marginal gaze' within film,

    just like the patriarchal society.

→ Suzanne Moor (1988) added that male bodies are only displayed in certain

    conditions- They are always in active poses as if they can walk away from gaze.

→ Van Zoonen (1994) men look at women, women watch themselves being looked

     at.

Male Gaze

The gaze is constructed through the camera man and production team establishing and framing a short the 'look' withing the film of male characters objectivfiying female ones: the specators gaze is there by constructed through mechanisms.

→ Men fetishe women imbuing them with an overvalued and unrealistic

     status: 'Fetishistic   Scopophilia'

→ Men have this gaze to avoid being 'castrated'

→ Women are represtented as sexual spectale and objective of pleasure

     for characters and audience

Representation of Women

→ Fragile needs man strength

• Costume
• White
• Dresses - Low cut

 → Blonde / Brunette - Survive?

• Victim
• Too Stupid
• More Practical

→ Sacrifice for greater good

→ Position in relation to men

• Married 
• Diminant - Smaller

→ Camera Angles

• Love angle- view point towards men
• High angle- froms mans presective
• Over the shoulder - women through mans eyes
• Pans up- to focus on figure

Todorovs Narrative Theory:

Todorov ignores character, tone and mood in this analysis which differenates one talk from anthor. Levi - Struass was a main critic as he has come from the structuralist approach of seeking meaning in his tales : which propp doesnt do.

His basic part of the narrative is:

• Climax 
• Anti Climax
• Setting Characters
• Ending/Answer

He also developed and extended theory which are

• Exposition => Introduction to characters
• Development => Situation
• Complication => Main Event / Action
• Climax => Confrontation
• Resolution => Resolution

 By watching the 'The Faculty' we was able to understand Todorovs theory in more depth and understand his theory.

Exposition :
Opening scence when each character introduced on school grounds, this is where main characters are introdcued and auidences where able to have an insight as to what each character is like.








Development:
Slowly each of the teachers/students where effected by the organism the 'Alien Parasites'


Complication:
After realsing that they can use the drug to kill the alien, they run out of drugs and zeke and cacy are forced to leave the gym so that they are safe and hacing to face the alien.

Climax:
When they realise 'Marybeth' is the queen alien and trys to kill everyone and changes into a large aquatic creature, trying to infect the remaining survivor.

Resolution:  
Casey kills the alien by stabbing her in the eye with the drug and also trapping her agaisnt the wall, everything is returned back to normal although certain characters become friends.

Research Into Real Media Texts:

To understand the genre of horror and how it developed over the years, i carried out research by watching a range of horror movies/extracts such as:

• Nosferatu (1922)
• The Faculty (1998
• Shaun Of The Dead (2004)
•  Bramstoker's Dracula (1992) 
• Psycho (1960)
• Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
• Halloween (1978)
• Carrie (1976)
• Scream (1996)

By studing these films in depth i have an understanding of how horror has changed over the years and that there are many sub genres of horror. 


Sub Genres:

• Vampires
• Slashers
• Parody
• Teen
• Hammer
• Hybrid

Propp's Character Theory:

Propp (1968) - analysed 100 folk and fairytales to identify how characters are use to the the narrative foward. The emphasis was on looking at characters not representing real people but as functions whose role was to move the narrative foward.

His theory consisted of 8 Characters

• The Villian - Stuggles agaisnt the hero
• The Hero  - Overcomes misplaced connations of 'goodness' that go with the 'Hero'
• The Donor - Who provides the hero with a magic gift
• The Helper
• The Princess
• The Princess Father
• The Dispatcher - Who sends the hero on his way
• The False Hero 

This theory still exsists we know this as it has been used in a film 'A Cinderella Story'

• The Villian - Evil Step Mother
• Hero - (Protaganist) Cinderella
• The Donor - Fairy Godmother
• The Helper - The Geek Boy
• The Princess - Cinderella
• Princesses Father - Died (Gave Cinderella A Book)
• The Dispatcher - Fairy Godmother
• The False Hero - Evil Step Mother/ Step Sisters

Common Conventions Of Horror:

Themes :

• The unknown
• Death
• Religion
• Separation
• Corruption

Incongraphy:

• Blood
• Weapons
• Knifes
• Crucifix
• Masks

 Mis-en-scene:

• Haunted Buildings
• Dark Atmosphere
• Weapns
• Dark Atmosphere (Domestic/Non Domestic)

Music and Sounds:

• Loud Noises
• Heartbeat
• Heavy Breathing
• Orchestral

Camera and Editing:

• Close up shot
• Establishing Shot
• Over shoulder
• Quick Cuts
• Track/Pan

Characters:

• Villain 
• Survivors
• Victim

Brief:

Create a promotion package for a new horror film, to include a teaser trailer, together with two of the following three options :

• A website homepage for a new film
• A film magazine front cover, featuring the film
• A poster for the film