Horror Prelim CONSTRUCTION

Horror Prelim PLANNING

Here is the link should the SoundCloud above not work
https://soundcloud.com/janaan-jan/horror-prelim-planning-scream

Our Whatsapp group that we used to contribute and share ideas throughout the duration of our planning stage

Planning the scenes we would be using

Analysis of horror clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOqSVc6XvPs&feature=youtu.be

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Below is my analysis of three scenes from the film: Texas Chainsaw Massacre
-Titles and opening sequence-Going out for a swim-Bringing Sally Home

Unfortunately I could not find a clip for this scene online 

The second half to this clip where Sally was taken into the house is unfortunately not available 

Cabin in the Woods

Here is a Prezi on Cabin in the Woods. It breaks down some ideas that are introduced to us in the film. Should the video not work here is the link for the Prezi website https://prezi.com/n_trkkfqar_e/cabin-in-the-woods/#

The Monsterous Feminine

Horror and the monstrous feminine: An imaginary objection

The idea generated from classic mythology that there were ‘genderous monsters’, many of which were female. Medusa was the prime example of this. The irony held within her power was that turning men to stone meant making them ‘stiff’. This also means to give a man an erection, therefore even in death a man still has possession over his penis.

We are then able to question of horrors can invoke a similar reaction, they already scare us, make us feel sick and creep us out which as all intimate feeling that we share.

Abject= without dignity

Abjection= the state of dark depression

Within a biblical context the corpse is a form of waste and is the opposite of the spiritual and religious symbol. Worshipers of the soulless body are therefore prominent representation of inimical religions or evil. ‘Bodies without souls’ are the root behind our classic horrors e.g. vampires, zombies and witches. This is because of their decaying appearances and the idea that they are not religious beings and are made of evil. The werewolf signifies the collapse of boundaries between the human and animal form. Representing the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde theory of the beast within man.  The introduction of werewolf’s as a new horror opened people’s eyes again to the possibility of there being a person who appears just like another but has the capability to perform acts so evil that they are not associated with normal human behaviour, rather a beast. Abjection will also occur due to the fall of society where individuals no longer respect the law and where there is hypocrisy, liars and traitors who hold a lot of power and control. E.g. bad triumphs over good, allowing Props' 8 character type’s theory to come into play where we get this idea that the villain has a stronger chance of success than the hero. This also links to Cohen’s ‘moral panics’ theory where we create horror from an event that may cause us distress or give us reason for concern. ‘Thus abject things are those which highlight the fragility of the law’

One example that came to mind was were the suffragettes and how they could have been seen as unholy and soulless beings, again highlighting the monstrous feminine as they fail to respect the law and are expected to just follow blindly to what they are told to do.

Abjection is a desire, a drive and a mad yearning. However perverse the please is we confront it. Viewing horrific images and being filled with a sense of terror is something that we have grown to desire. It is safe for us to do as we sit from the safety of the spectator’s seat and calmly watch the horror unfold as we eat our popcorn. This new state of relaxation has allowed humans to test their boundaries when watching something horrific from a safe position making us more likely to try it out and become hooked on it. It becomes an obsession and a new found way to prove bravery and strength.

Horror will most of the time play on the borders that we psychologically place e.g. man/beast, natural/supernatural, the idea of the ‘proper gender’, good/evil, normal/ abnormal sexual desire. All of these borders we place represent a state of order and the with it the belief that these two dimensions will be worlds apart from each other. However, horror will play on these boundaries and make us question if they really are worlds apart from each other or, if they are in actual fact closer than we think as they slowly become merged and the borders become blurred. As an example the natural and supernatural borders will test how strong we are with religion and how far it can help use before we become vulnerable to the evil. We see in horror films that the natural and supernatural borders are easily merged as the weak human form allows them to become merged and let supernatural triumph. Kristeva argues that the relationship between mother and child is one of much conflict. This could be where the child tries to break away and be free but the mother will do everything she can to hold them close. This unhealthy state of a relationship usually leaves the child resenting the mother and wanting to leave even more. The child will as a result of this look for some kind of escapism e.g. drugs, relationships, alcohol, possessing new powers/playing with evil to rebel. A good example of this is Carrie. In this case the mother is presented as the ‘Monsterous feminine’. One way in which the mother holds onto Carrie is through teaching her moral values and about religion.  Throughout the film we see Carries mother place strict rules and restrictions on her which are heavily influenced by religion. We know that she over exaggerates most things making Carrie hate her more. The fact that Carries mother isn’t like others angers her more and in this case makes her out to be a victim of bullying as a result of her lack of knowledge on life due to her mother absence of teaching. This ends with Carrie killing her. This is also seen in Psycho where the mother teaches her son about women being impure and horrid creatures. We can see here that religion is used as a way to purify and cleanse the soul.

Kristeve argues that there are 2 practises of our rituals of defilement. Excremental looks at someone’s identity from the outside. Therefore excremental and its equivalents (decay, infection, disease, corpses etc) will look at the threat to society. Menstrual is something that threatens from within. These are the dangers presented with identity (social/ sexual) e.g. relationship between sexes, internalisation, identity of each sex.

Kristeve argues that women live in a world of with no shame and men live in a world of shame, Modern horror films will play a lot with the audience when it comes to blood and gore to explore this idea. The movie Carrie had a really good example of this where the pigs blood represents menstrual blood, making women out to be pigs. This makes fun of the fact that women live with no shame as in this scene Carrie is made to look like a fool and has been shamed as the fact that she is now a woman is known to the whole school. The mother speaks for the religious symbol here as she identifies a woman’s sexuality as the root of all evil, and therefore menstruation is a sign of sin. 

Psycho analysis

Here is a voice over I have made that breaks down the meaning behind the iconic shower scene from the film 'Psycho'




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Gein#Crimes

Carol J CLover- Final Girl

Carol J Clover- her body, himself
In this post I will be analysing some key quotes from Carol J Clovers research on ' Her body, himself'.

‘his fury is unmistakably sexual in both roots and expression; his victims are mostly women, often sexually free and always young and beautiful’
This sentence alone represents the dominance that men hold over women. Its is suggesting that a mans rage and fury is based on sexual intentions therefore making man appear animalistic in contrast to a woman as he is vicious and sexual. Carol has also picked up on the fact that most victims are female. This again links to an simple idea where women are less than man and always squander in their attempt to beat man. The idea that the woman is always young and beautiful links to physiognomy where the ‘good’ character is always presented as the most attractive and well kept one.

‘on the good side, the only viable candidates are the boyfriends or schoolmates of the girls. they are for the most part marginal, underdeveloped characters. more to the point, they tend to die early in the film. if the traditional horror plot gave the male spectator a last-minute hero whom to identify, thereby ‘indulging his vanity as protector of the helpless female’
This sentence in introducing a character lower in value to the narrative however still essential to the female character as they are seen as the ‘sacrifice’. Yet again the female character can not succeed without the presence of a man. This therefore links to Props’ theory as the male takes on the role of the hero. Though he may not survive he is remembered for his sacrifice allowing the woman to live and in some cases save the day.

'the one character of any stature who does live to tell the tale is in fact ‘the final girl’. She is introduced at the beginning and is the only character to be developed in any psychological detail.We understand immediately from the attention paid it that hers is the main story line. She is intelligent, watchful, levelheaded; the first character to sense something amiss and the only one to deduce from the accumulating evidence the pattern and extent of the treat; the only one, in other words, whose perspective approaches our own privileged understanding of the situation.'
This is introducing the idea of the ‘Final Girl’ which is the idea that the last character to survive is a female. This concept is used in many horror films such as Evil Dead, Cabin In The Woods and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. She is described as an attentive person which makes her all the more likely to be the one who survives. Making her appear intelligent as she slowly uncovers what we as an audience already know about the storyline and its intentions.

'the gender of the final girl is likewise compromised from the outset by her masculine interests, her inevitable sexual reluctance, her apartness from other girls, sometimes her name.'
The gender of this female is somewhat diverted due to her ‘unfeminineness’. Therefore challenging the whole idea of the ‘Final Girl’. This is due to the fact that she will be more masculine than the other girls in the film making her more focused on survival. We can therefore connote that women are described as distracted characters which is the caused to their end in horror films. Her ‘sexual reluctance’ means that where other girls may meet their death due to the ‘alluring male presence’ she will maintain her focus and determination for survival. A good example of this is Cabin In The Woods where Jules is represented in a sexual way and meets her death due to her night time adventure with her boyfriend Curt (no surprises that he survives the attack). Jules character is in contact to Dana who is our ‘final girl’ though she has a crush on Holden it is not an obsession and she is able to survive.

‘the cinematic gaze, we are told, and just at that gaze ‘knows’ how to fetishize a female form in pornography (in a way that does not ‘know’ how to fetishize the male form), so it ‘knows’, in horror, how to track a woman ascending a staircase in a scary house and how to study her face from an angle above as she first hears the killers footfall.’
This gaze that clover is referring to is the ‘Male Gaze’ (Mulvey)the theory that everything in narrative is presented through the gaze of a male. The directors therefore know how to position women in the scene to make them more appealing. Even the 'Final Girl' herself will be positioned in such as way to keep the ‘male gaze’ entertained and engaged. The idea that women have to be presented in such a way could in actual fact reflect poorly on the male gender. It portrays them as animalistic characters who need to gaze at things in a voyeuristic manner to keep hold their attention in the narrative. This makes them out to be, unfocused, easily distracted, animalistic and obsessed creatures.

Audience Theories

Barthes Enigma codes

Should the presentation above not work here is the link to the emaze websitehttps://www.emaze.com/@AIFILFOI/barthes-enigma-code

Audience Theories- BBFC

Here is a Prezzi talking about who the BBFC are and what they do
https://prezi.com/cnvowgvb58p8/audience-theories/
What are the kind of things we would expect to see in a 15?
-discrimination
-drug taking
-horror
-immital behaviour
-bad language
-nudity
-sex
-violence

Wells' research & Cohen's moral panics

I have created a Prezi on Wells' research and Cohens moral panics
https://prezi.com/pymnwnuycxxi/wells-theory/
Here is the link should the presentation above not work

Laura Mulvey- Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema