...Gothic/Horror The horror genre has a huge impact on its audience with characteristics that are recognisable through generic techniques and features used in the various horror texts. In Van Helsing; a film directed by Stephen Sommers, Cirque Du Freak, a novel written by Darren Shan, and Thriller, a song by Michael Jackson, many horror gothic features and techniques are applied and are easily recognised to help anyone understand the horror genre more clearly. It is usual in horror texts for there to be a conflict between good and evil characters, dark and spooky settings, and a suspenseful build-up that causes tension for the audience and makes them wonder what might happen next. Van Helsing is about a troubled man who dedicates his life to rid the world of evil forces as he tries to hunt down the unanswered questions of his past. He finds himself on a quest in Transylvania to kill Dracula and prevent the continuation of his kind, along with Anna, a brave woman whose family has been killed by vampires for over 400 years. Dracula is a powerful and dangerous character who is immediately regarded as the antagonist from his first word, “success!” It is enhanced by a loud boom of thunder to create shock and an element of excitement for the audience and marks Dracula as a threatening and frightening character. Monstrosity is likewise displayed through Frankenstein’s character when we are introduced to him. We are given three close-up shots of his eyes, hand, and yelling mouth which...
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...Screams and gasps can be heard throughout a mysterious Friday night. Crowds rush in to see late-night movies as a horror movie debuts during its opening weekend. The horror genre is an aspect of pop culture that always seems to be popping up, especially as the nights begin to chill and the leaves fade away. These aspects are so apparent in the media, with trailers for the upcoming scary movie always appearing on our televisions and everyone around the block adding a little bit of spooky to their décor, but are they really okay for younger children to be seeing? No. But what about the ever-changing group of teenagers? More mature then their youthful counterparts, but unable to handle as much as an adult, the adolescent rang can be quite confusing. However, it seems quite apparent that the horror genre is appropriate for teenagers because they grow up with rather morbid stories ringing through their ears, scary stories really play a big part in humans not turning into a bunch of airheads, and witnessing terrifying...
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...Gender stereotypes in the horror genre has been talked about for years now. According to the article “Gender Stereotypes In Horror Films” by zara ahmed horror films are one of the most gender stereotyped genre . women are portrayed as weak and scared while the men are often portrayed as the bad guy who is strong and powerful In the article “Gender Stereotypes In Horror Films” ahmed talks the differences between how men and women are portrayed in these movies. In horror movies we sometimes see women being presented as sexual objects. Women are also presented as more emotional and the men are much more tough than the women. Men are often the killer and women are the ones being chased through the woods, screaming for their lives. Most...
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...Oppressive and repressive social institutions, value systems and codes of behaviour are central to the horror, science-fiction and fantasy genres. Focusing on 1-2 examples of your choice, consider how these genres mediate the ‘problem’ of the social. How significant is ideology, as well as genre theory, to your case-study? This essay will explore the ways in which the horror genre perpetuates repressive and oppressive social institutions, value systems and codes of behaviour surrounding the homosexual subject. It will be suggested that the generic conventions of horror films sustain repressive understandings of the normative order which position the homosexual subject as a threatening ‘other’. This essay will offer the opinion that it is through these representations that the horror genre produces the ideological figure of the ‘monstrous homosexual’. The discourses and ideologies explored will primarily be those relating to coding of the homosexual subject as predator and paedophile. This essay will engage with genre theory in order to demonstrate how narrative repetition in the horror genre mediates the homosexual subject as a disruption to the social order which must be eliminated in order to restore the heteronormative order. The methodology of genre theory will first be outlined, and the generic conventions of the horror film will be explored. The methodology of discourse analysis will also be employed in order to expose the ideologies at play in the case study. This essay...
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...Genre and Genre Film Introduction to Film Rachel Kamrowski Instructor Day 5/2/2016 Genre Theory is used in the categorization of films. Genres are dependent on various factors such as story line, whom the director is, and what are the audience expectations In using genre theory we create a short cut in how we describe films. Genres are categorized into and then sub categorized depending on the story and plot. Fantasy is a genre described as, “Any film with obviously unreal, magical, or impossible situations, characters, or settings, often overlapping with various other genres, especially science fiction, but sometimes historical dramas.” (Goodykoontz, 2014) Fantasy is a genre that typically includes a crossover genre, sci-fi, comedy, drama, even horror. The Harry Potter series is a great example of a fantasy genre with crossover and sub genres. It can be categorized also as a family film, and dependent on which movie in the series we are discussing, mystery, romance, and comedy as well. Harry Potter focuses on magic and the wizarding world which is central to it being a fantasy film, an escapism experience. This type of fantasy is a contemporary fantasy with the storyline playing out in modern times. For the purpose of this paper I will focus on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. “The story at its simplest level is the idea about what happens, who does it, and all the reasons behind everything. The writer then chooses key characters and events, and arranges them...
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...characters towards the main characters methods. For example there a reporter in the show who believes that the protagonist is committing these crimes and solving them to sustain some sick addiction. This is the same with a crime drama like Sherlock where a character believes he is behind the crimes he’s solving. It follows all the main conventions also for example he works for the police or the government, he has to report to a superior. The protagonist is also white like many other crime dramas. Another is that the crime scenes are quite gruesome, often in crime dramas they do not pull any punches when it comes to gore and that is the case here. That is where the similarities stop in Hannibal; this show blurs the lines between crime drama and horror to make a powerful experience. For example there are normally multiple suspects for a murder in crime drama, however in this show we know who the murderer is. The fact that he is in plain sight and right in front of the main characters nose is very frustrating for the viewer to watch. The characters are not...
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...Adorno (Audience Theory) Passive Consumption, Hypodermic Model (Frankfurt School): "A strong argument suggests that audiences may be passively affected by the sexist, violent representations in GTAV as it is a more realist text than other shoot em' up action adventure games. Young audiences ultimately may begin to view women differently and think that the aspirational violence is acceptable as a means to an end". Andy Medhurst (Representation Theory) Stereotyping is Shorthand for Identification: "One way that texts like Waterloo Road and Skins for example allow for audience identification is through stereotyping and giving characters an extreme representation". Angela McRobbie (Gender Theory) Post Feminist Icon Theory: "Lara Croft, Lady Gaga and Madonna for example could be identified as post feminist icons as they exhibit the stereotypical characteristics of both the male and female strength, courage, control and logic but also are willing to be sexualized for the male gaze. This control element of their own representation is crucial in understanding the theory". Baudrillard Hyper Reality: "Some texts are difficult to distinguish in terms of the representation of reality from a simulation of reality e.g. Big Brother. The boundaries are blurred as codes and conventions create a set of signifiers which we understand but in fact the representation is a copy of a copy". Uses and Gratifications Theory: "Different audiences gain different pleasures from a media...
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...most imaginative and speculative science, both classic and modern periods known as the science fiction genre that cinematically altered the conventional based narratives of filmmaking and character definition with elements of fantasy and horror. When French filmmaker Georges Méliès made Le voyage dans la lune (A Trip To The Moon) in 1902 it was considered to be the first science fiction film ever created. The next tremendously influential and landmark film came from Fritz Lang’s Metropolis in 1927, an impressive and visually stunning motion picture full of German Expressionism. Born from the pages of novels and pulp magazines, intrepid filmmakers and screenwriters of the 1930s and 1940s would venture into the...
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...The Woman in White – Chosen extract Elyssia Leeman 6.2 20th November 2014 In this particular section Collins uses the theme of crime and criminals and this is associated with the sensational genre and the theme of criminality. Throughout this extract there is a specific word choice based around crime and the theme of gothic horror. The theme of secrets also fits in well with this section as the by being the reader we can question the language used by Collins in Walters perspective. Collins in this extract shows Walters devout love for Laura from his perspective. Collins shows how much Walter is hurting and missing Laura. ‘My heart turns faint’ which enhances the theme of romance however this theme suddenly changes to a gothic horror theme ‘My mind sinks in darkness and confusion’ the choice of language here shows different meanings of the chosen words, ‘sinks’ becoming death and the death of Laura, and his ‘confusion’ of where she is. Walter knows Laura is alive and he is confused to how he is going to catch out Fosco and Glyde. ‘Darkness’ has an effect of gothic horror and a negative sense to it and it is used to make us feel the dark place where Walter is and Collins wants the reader to feel Walter’s heart break and how his dark place is taking him in. Collins uses the theme of secrets when in the first opening line in Walters narrative ‘I advance my narrative by one week’ this makes us question where Walter...
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...a certain type of movie they like to watch that will make them happy in some ways. However, there are three main categories of movies that people automatically think are drama, comedy, and action. The first category is drama. Drama films depend mostly on in-depth character development, interaction, and highly emotional themes. In this type of movies, the audience is able to experience what other characters are feeling and even identify with someone. All films genres can include dramatic elements, such as comedies, action films, and horror movies, but typically films considered drama films focus mainly on the drama of the main issue. As a second type of movie that people automatically think of we have comedy. These kind of films are designed to create laughter from the audience. Comedies are light-hearted dramas, crafted to amuse, entertain, and provoke enjoyment. The comedy genre humorously exaggerates the situation, the language, action, and characters. The last category is action. Action films are a movie genre where action sequences, such as fighting, stunts, car chases or explosions, take precedence over elements like characterization or complex plotting. This type of film is designed for pure audience escapism with the action sequences at the core of the film. To conclude, we realized that each one of these categories has its own characteristics that help you identify its different types. As well, they have its own purposes with the audience, like laughter, sorrow or...
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...cast was successful in causing the audience to feel a mixture of emotions while keeping them entertained and excited. Due to the set-up of the stage and outfits, the cast was able to capture the audience’s attention by articulating the different types of genres that the play consisted of. Many comical songs and parts were implemented in order to create a less serious and comical atmosphere. Throughout the play, different scenes occurred by setting up three different layouts and areas in order to show the separation of beliefs. The themes became more apparent due to the staging of the lighting focusing on only the characters during the first half of the play. The second half slowly lightened up the stage, showing that hope was coming for the son of the king in order to reclaim the throne. At the beginning and the end of the play, it was almost pitch black, with barely anything visible other than the cast of the characters circling around the centerpiece of the stage in order to inflict fear into the audience. In the beginning and the end of the play, the cast used repetition to show the horror, clown, and Commedia Dell’ Arte genres to create a unique reaction from the audience. By using social satire and the clown genres, the playwright was able to inflict a feeling of curiosity and humor behind the bizarre atmosphere while relating it to today’s...
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...Facts, fiction and coding When we turn on the TV, we immediately decode what sort of program we are watching. If we watch “Paradise Hotel”, we expect a reality show and everything we associate with the genre. We expect drama, fighting, sex, betrayal and so forth. If we turn on the News, we expect to be fed with factual information about the happenings in the world. If we see a film, we also have certain expectations. When we see a romance film, we expect love. When we see an action film, we expect a fast pace and violence. When we see a horror film, we expect to be scared and so forth. We call these genre expectations. Within the world of media/literature, we deal with two major categories, facts and fiction. Facts tell us something about events and situations, which have already happened; facts therefor have an obligation to reality. Facts involve factual information, which can be subsequently checked for accuracy. However, fiction is made up where neither the people nor the events have root in the real world. Fiction therefore has no obligation to be factually correct and we cannot subsequently check for accuracy. When we watch films, TV programs or read texts, a sort of contract of understanding occurs. The contract is defined as agreements where the sender, in accordance with the receiver, agree on whether the film/text is fact or fiction. To make sure the receiver and sender are in accord, we use fact and fiction coding to decipher/ sort out fact from fiction and...
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...or grandchild as an excuse to read fantasy, if you don’t have the courage to do it by yourself. Fantasy has always been perceived as being for children only, and fantasy has been conflated with immaturity, which according to ULG is a rather sizeable error. Many of the texts are poetry and it contains different elements from different genres. Many fantasies which actually were published as for children, is often read by adults, “It begins with, say, George MacDonald’s At the Back of the North Wind and runs on through Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, The Wind in the Willows, the Just So Stories and The Jungle Book, the Pooh books, Dr Dolittle, The Hobbit, The Once and Future King, Charlotte’s Web, to my first three Earthsea books and all the serious imaginative fiction that continues to be published “for children” but is often read by adults” (Quote page 2 line 48-52). Realistic fiction does not affect everyone, but only people in a specific age group depending on the theme. Fiction genres as horror, mystery, romance and science fiction are only being read by adults and teenagers, so it seems like the only fiction genre that can be read in all ages, is fantasy. All the different kinds of fantasies make it easier to reach a much bigger age group. ULG thinks that the reason why many adults don’t read fantasy is that they...
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... Genre is a term which defines the different categories which things are categorized into. For example, when defining different forms of music; music is put into categories in which we use the term genre. Different music is put into these genres depending on the different rhythms used in it. It allows Rhythm and Blues to be differentiated from and Rock and Roll, and Rock and Roll to be differentiated from Gospel. In writing, a writer’s choice of style is the determining factor in how we choose his/her genre. When the genre of the writing is determined, then the particular audience can be determined to who its interest of reading might be. The audience in writing is defined by the person or group of people that is reading or listening to a certain choice of writing. Depending on what kind of writing genre is presented, determines the audience of the writer and how the writer choose to reach his or her audience. In order for a writer to reach a particular audience, the writer has to be able to compose his writing. The writer can do so in such a way that a rhetorical situation is formulated in a particular genre which reflects the type of audience that it interests. A rhetorical situation is situations in which a story and a scenario is presented and explains a situation that could possible occur in real life, therefore giving a situation in which the reader can assume the outcome; a certain form of communication to entail a situation. Different genres may...
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...zombies, and as the two form a special relationship in their struggle for survival, R becomes increasingly more human - setting off an exciting, romantic, and often comical chain of events that begins to transform the other zombies and maybe even the whole lifeless world As much as I enjoy "The Walking Dead" on AMC and movies such as "28 Days Later," one of my ongoing complaints about the explosion of the zombie genre is the general mopery and overall predictability of those ever-staggering creatures. They lurch. They snarl. They sniff the air for the scent of human flesh. They pounce and gnaw. They pound windows and doors, and express frustration when confronted with 10-foot-high cyclone fences. And then they get shot in the head and die. That's pretty much it. We almost never get inside the rotted mind of the zombie or see things from the zombie point of view. They're forever penned in as the Big Metaphor. One of the many exhilarating pleasures of "Warm Bodies" is the flipping of that script. This is a bloody fresh twist on the most popular horror genre of this century, with none-too-subtle echoes of a certain star-crossed romance that harks back to a certain bard who placed a certain young Romeo under a certain balcony. I kinda love this movie. "Warm Bodies" is a well-paced, nicely directed, post-apocalyptic love story with a terrific sense of humor and the, um, guts to be unabashedly romantic and unapologetically optimistic. Looking a little like a boy-band...
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