2.4 Horror Genre

1. 2.4 Horror Genre Tutorial

2. Demonstrate in-depth and critical understanding of a media genre. • Medium = film • Genre = horror – prototypical genre • Sub-genres and hybrids = teen slasher; thriller; torture-porn • Conventions (common features) = female victims, final girl, monstrous villian, isolated settings, religious iconography, subjective camera, phallic weapons • Developments = audience expectations, representations of women, technology such as cgi, graphic nature of violence and sex • Implications = effects on audience or society, effects on censorship, imagery related to war or social unrest, the future of this genre – where to from here?

3. Background and influences to horror films • Gothic literature (Dracula and Frankenstein) – representing man’s deepest fears and fear of what humanity can create; monstrous killers • Film developments and early horror films of the 1920’s (The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, Nosferatu, Dracula, Frankenstein); black and white and silent films which presented universal fears and/ or desires. • Influence of WW2 and Vietnam and the imagery of violence and death on television / cinema screens • Influence of audience expectations, changing censorship standards, development of societies values, morals, attitudes. • Influence of civil rights, feminism, back-lash to feminism, recessions and periods of economic boom.

4. ‘Life course of genres’… Remember that Thomas Schatz suggested in his 1981 book Hollywood Genres that genres have a life course, evolving through four distinct stages: • Experimental stage – during which conventions are isolated and established • Classic stage – where the conventions reach their ‘equilibrium’ and are mutually understood by the artist and audience • Age of refinement – during which certain stylistic or formal details embellish the form • Baroque (or mannerist, or self-reflexive) stage when the form and its establishments are accented to the point where they themselves become the ‘substance’ or ‘content’ of the work. An examiner will be impressed if you mention Schatz’s ideas and are able to analyse how relevant they are to your genre.

5. Exam Questions Choose ONE media genre that you have studied. Use information about this genre to write about ONE of the following options. EITHER - Discuss the significance of ONE development in your chosen media genre. OR- Discuss the significance of unique conventions in your chosen media genre. OR- Discuss the significance of audience expectations in your chosen media genre Your discussion must include: Supporting evidence from at least TWO media texts and /or other source(s) Possible implication(s) and /or effect(s) for the genre.

6. (A) Discuss the significance of ONE development in your chosen media genre. • Identify ONE important development in the horror genre. • Production quality – technology such as cameras and editing equipment – digital technology / CGI – computer generated images • Role / Representation of women in horror films – females in modern horror are tougher, they fight back (smart and strong, more independent), more promiscuous (Tatum and Tina- even Sidney in Scream sleeps with Billy), Marion is weak in Psycho –she cowers in the shower and feebly defends herself. She is also easily tempted by the $40,000 dollars which she steals –showing a moral weakness.

7. (Option B) Discuss the significance of unique conventions in your chosen media genre. Write about TWO conventions used in MOST horror films you have studied. • State the convention clearly. • Explain the significance of that convention. • How was it used? Give examples from TWO films. • Why was it used? Give examples from TWO films. • What is the effect / implication / consequence of it being used?

8. (C) Discuss the significance of audience expectations in your chosen media genre • Identify TWO audience expectations in horror films. • Violence / gore / graphic scenes and sex • To be shocked and frightened • Write about violence and graphic scenes in one paragraph. HOW and WHY are these audience expectations met by the directors of THREE films you have studied? What are the implications / effects /consequences of these audience expectations? • Write about the expectation of being frightened and shocked in another paragraph. HOW and WHY are these audience expectations met by the directors of THREE films you have studied? What are the implications / effects /consequences of these audience expectations? Conclusion = Write about the implications / consequences / effects of these audience expectations.