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Essay / The main concepts of horror films
It is noted that horror films are the most balanced genre of all genres due to its "long dynamic history", creating a sinusoidal curve in the history of successful horror films. The idea of fear changes as certain films discover their popularity in a particular timeline where popularity decreases and then another film's popularity increases. Well-established works of horror film are successful at the time of their production, and then in the future they can appear somewhat humorous. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay As in line with “The Genre of Horror” (2012), it explains that horror is a broad genre to define. They found more accuracy in the one that defines horror through its “categories and subgenres”. Subgenres include: rural, cosmic, apocalyptic, criminal, erotic, occult and psychological. Tzvetan Todorov considers horror as a genre in three forms: strange, wonderful and fantastic, regarding Altmen's theoretical method of distinguishing the genre in semantic and syntactic formalities, his method will always be considered. On the other hand, Todorov's idea is much more suited to this particular genre, which is why all three forms are considered a higher priority and support a solid overview of horror. The uncanny involves qualities of supernatural, fictional, absurd, or impossible events near the end of the story. Or follows reality where there are “incredible, disturbing, unusual, shocking, unexpected or unique” events. However, if the film follows the laws of reality with a provocative ending, it is possible that others will mistake it for a thriller. Examples given in the strange category are "Psycho" (1960), or films that intersect with the science fiction genre. Aliens may be inhuman but not unnatural.” For marvelous horror, it is about accepting “the second layer of reality” and “the new laws of nature” until the end of the story, even if the viewer is aware of its irrational and mystifying phenomena. Movies containing characters such as "vampires, werewolves, undead..." show wonderful horror. Finally, the third category being fantasy horror. Fantasy horror provides an unclear explanation for strange irrational phenomena and therefore leaves open the possibility of deciphering the reasoning behind the situation, usually the explanation of "paranormal or like a hallucination of the main protagonist." In fantasy, this leads to a hesitation between the real and the unreal, the audience being able or not to share this experience with the character. The Shining (1980)” is an example of fantasy horror. In his study, White (1971) discusses that even typical horror conventions associated syntactically do not necessarily produce fear and dread. Examples such as "Shots of gothic mansions lit by light, of shadows seen under doors, or of a hand sliding down a banister", yet they have been used so often that many have become familiar with these conventions to define the horror genre. White (1971) uses film examples to apply the same idea to semantics in terms of common characters in horror films or under "strange horror". Characters such as vampires, werewolves, zombies, etc. are largely horror "clichés", but sometimes these "clichés" actually cause the opposite effect in the viewer and therefore only cause laughter. However, films without these common iconographic traitsproduce more fear than those just mentioned above, as he said, "...whereas a film like Frankenheimer's The Manchurian Candidate which had none of the surface features and gimmicks horror film, or Hitchcock's Pycho with its obvious elements of humor, become something deeply hideous and shocking The structure of the plot is not simply a sequence of certain events, White (1971) discusses this feeling of belonging. "unity", but a "...unity of a certain type of action. This must be more than the simple unity of a life." is not necessarily the character or objects themselves that evoke horror, but the very importance of the natural development and causality of the character's actions in their environment (White 1971), "like that of a doctor mad, from an act such as his crimes or his experiments from a place like the castle where he conducts his experiments; or of a period defined by the prejudices of his colleagues or of society which push the doctor to abuse his discovery. In order to syntactically communicate a sense of suspense and suspicion, White (1971) discusses certain techniques with the camera to emphasize distinct actions that would typically be the norm. Like moving the camera in a single shot, "changing the lighting, moving the actors, or changing the sound or content in some way...". This is clearly demonstrated in Psycho where there is a scene of the female lead wrapping money in a newspaper left on the bedside table; the camera continues to focus on the object while the actress does not. This provides a more subtle way of unfolding the plot while still evoking emotions in the viewer instead of simply displaying a corpse or blood in every shot. The films that are best criticized as works of horror have not only causality but an element of uncontrollable causality. . The idea where there isn't a moment of rest and constant fight to survive everywhere the character turns. “The Ring” (2002) demonstrates this effectively, the basic plot is that of an urban legend in which a video tape, if seen by anyone, the person will die in 7 days. In this situation, a reporter was not only trying to find ways to prevent his death, but she also found her son watching the tape. Placing these characters in a position of inevitable death, causing a domino effect of constant danger. White (1971) describes this best: “Like pawns, people move from one insecure situation to another. Very quickly, we too feel isolated and defenseless... due to the continual revelation of random but at the same time inevitable forces that assert themselves within their events and their characterizations. Their lack of understandable causality is clearly intentional. » Observing these devices psychologically is important because the goal in the works of a horror film is to provoke a horrible emotional response from the audience. Since horror films are concerned with the subject of death, to achieve horror by associating the fear of death "requires a certain type of manipulation of that fear." In many cases in horror films, murder tends to be involved. However, murder itself is not enough, but the type of death where there is "no protection, no warning, and no escape." Not only should the type of death be considered, but how the death is presented with the use of cinematography helping to dictate what genre it is, genres like murder mystery or crime films. war include death but do not show death in the same waythan horror. do. Because death is a popular subject among all films alongside love. From a psychological perspective, other ways to trigger fear include not only fearing a type of death that cannot be controlled, but also encountering the unknown which may be more frightening than the known. White spoke of "our fear of being unable to deal with our surroundings", this depicts a feeling of vulnerability in the character because we are unable to identify the unknown; whether this "it" is a form of being or the surrounding environment, the unpredictability produces the tension and suspension in the character which embodies the horror in the recipients, even if there is no justification for sharing their fear. When confronted with an unpredictable form, this creates a different type of uncontrollable causality, as the character cannot take control or is unable to prepare for death into the unknown. Usually, when the unknown is revealed, it is primarily associated with "monsters and nightmarish situations beyond our understanding and control." The notion of fear can be evoked with injected thoughts of helplessness. This helplessness can be represented by the withdrawal of physical and mental control over one's own body. The impression of losing control of these two qualities; especially our mentality, it is an experience that we have all seen and/or lived like stress, pain, sadness, etc. Films such as (The Exorcist, Paranormal Activity, Psycho and zombie films) feature this element of "helplessness", whether it is a plausible or irrational reason behind these causes of possession. The difference between this uncontrollable causality and the previous one is that once madness reaches a stage that cannot be returned to its normal state, the goal of achieving any form of security or hope is completely deleted. Whereas before, the subject may not have had the ability to control the strange events, but still remained their reason to pursue their goal of escaping despite the circumstances. “These are possibilities that express each person’s concern for their physical and psychological safety and their individuality. When we see this integrity violated, it poses a threat to our ego's ability to protect itself, because it dramatizes another ego's failure to preserve itself. » Iconic characters in horror films are generally associated with monsters or some form of evil being. “Monster in the Closet: Homosexuality and the Horror Film” by Harry Benshoff and White, both discuss the “sexuality” of these creatures and how it is represented in this genre. Benshoff studied anti-homosexual attitudes in 1984. "Heterosexuals' fears of gay and lesbian sexuality", society viewed homosexuality as a threat due to the breakdown of traditional family, gender and “homosexuals have frequently been linked in the media to pedophilia, rape and violence.” As an example of Frankenstein, the villagers seem to fear him not as a murderer but as a child molester. Followed by White, he discusses "animalization" and general sexualization, the concept of werewolves, people becoming something more primitive than man, and animals becoming more than animals. He distinguishes the beast from the evil being of our own species in two ways; one in which a normal human is transformed into a monster through spells, a drug, or disease. The other is the emphasis on the sexuality of the beast. The common format is usually a human woman under danger from an "animal male", a monster woman using the power of seduction, the same goes for vampires in.