A micro analysis of how
emotion is manipulated
through the
demonic/supernatural
film.
Horror and the sub genres.
Recap: what are the main horror sub genres?
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Psychological thriller
Slasher
Zombie/Monster
Demonic/Supernatural
• Feedback on research homework.
Man as monster
• ‘Monster as return of the repressed and the beast
within’- Robin Wood.
• This is essential to all sub genres of the horror movie. The
idea of man as monster whether a psychologically
disturbed man, a possessed man, or man taken over by a
literal monster (zombie, werewolf).
• Recap Questions: What fears did we say horror
movies play on?
• Fear of the dark, the extraordinary, of strange sounds, of
God, of other man and the mind!
• What micro aspects do they use to create this sense
of fear?
• The technical aspects- cinematography, mise-en-scene,
sound and editing
The technical aspects
Recap:
How is sound used in horror films?
Look at your notes on ‘Carrie’.
What can you say about the diegetic sound?
What about the non-diegetic?
What about cinematography?
Look at your notes on Halloween and 28
Day Later?
‘Drag Me To Hell’ (2009)
• Directed by Sam Raimi
• ‘Christine Brown has a good job, a great boyfriend, and a bright
future. But in three days, she's going to hell’.
• What can you say about the film’s tagline?
• Task : Have a look at the poster. How does the poster entice a
potential audience? What would make them want to see the film
based on the poster? Annotate.
• Trailer task: have a look at the trailer. Again, what techniques does
the trailer use to entice a potential audience. What genre
expectations does it use?
The demonic/supernatural horror
• Task: read the plot summary of ‘Drag me to Hell’. What
aspects of the horror genre are obvious from that plot?
• What is demonic/supernatural horror? How can it be
defined?
• Films that feature possession and/or the presence of evil spirits.
• Name some examples?
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‘The Exorcist’- demonic possession
‘The Omen’- demonic possession
‘The Ring’- evil spirits
‘Poltergeist’- haunted house
‘The Haunting’ – haunted house
‘Paranormal Activity’- haunted house
Demonic/supernatural- the conventions
• What are some of the conventions of the genre?
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Witchcraft and ‘the occult’.
Ghosts and evil spirits.
Religious paraphernalia- such as a crucifix, holy water, Hindu gods etc.
A curse or possession.
The devil/demons.
A witch or holy man.
Paranoia and fear.
A hapless and confused hero/heroine.
Set in ‘normal’ small towns- ‘the extraordinary invading the ordinary’.
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The demonic/supernatural film is not to be confused with the zombie
film or the vampire film which although have similar traits are not
about demonic possession or the supernatural.
Sam Raimi
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Director Sam Raimi gained fame and notoriety in the 80s as a ‘schlock’
horror film maker. Making the Evil Dead films on a shoestring budget.
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Many of these 80s horror movies did not get cinema releases but became
very popular during the 80s video boom. Some like the Evil Dead were
labelled as ‘video nasties’ and were subsequently banned when it became
clear they were being watched by underage viewers.
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This is still apparent today with the horror genre being particularly popular
amongst teenagers, many of whom enjoying an ‘illicit pleasure’ from
knowing that they are watching something that they shouldn’t!
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Raimi went onto to direct the Spiderman films but returned to the genre
where he made his name with ‘Drag me to Hell’ being his first horror film
for almost 15 years.
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Raimi’s films are characterised by the idea of the ordinary small
town/guy/girl being invading by the powers of the extraordinary (which can
also be seen in Spiderman). Raimi’s filmmaking style is described as
dynamic with lots of sweeping, moving cameras.
How does the film use
the micro aspects?
• Key scene 1: ‘The curse of Mrs Ganush’.
• Watch and make notes on these technical
areas.
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Use of sound:
How is the music used?
What about sound effects?
Use of dialogue/voice.
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Mise-en-scene:
Costume, hair and make up.
Setting and props.
Lighting.
Key scene 1- use of sound
• Key scene 1: ‘The curse of Mrs Ganush’.
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Sound: Music, dialogue and sound fx.
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Eerie non-melodic synthesiser sounds. Off key picking of violin strings. The repetitive
strings with a low tone.
Metallic industrial sounds, scraping and grinding.
Amplified sounds of nails on desk.
The vulgarity of Mrs Ganush- false teeth, hankie.
The wind/handkerchief.
The periods of silence?
The slowed down sounds during the fight in the car.
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Eastern European accent of Mrs Ganush – ‘the other/extraordinary’ compared to the all
American tones of Christine.
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Write: How effective is the use of sound in this scene in involving the
audience.
Key scene 1- use of mise-en -scene
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Mise-en-scene- sets, lighting, costume, props, hair and make-up.
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The American small town.The local branch of a bank- symbol of capitalism and greed.
The white wooden picket fenced house in the suburbs.
The contrast between bright daylight sunshine and the grey/green darkness of the car
park.
Use of shadows/silhouettes in the car park.
The handkerchief!
The button as the cursed object- huge narrative significance
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Mrs Ganush’s- glass eye, false teeth, long grey hair, pallid wrinkled skin, dangling
gold earrings, head scarf.
The Eastern European gypsy stereotype. Incongruous with her surroundings, ‘the
other’.
Christine Brown- the ‘WASP’ from farming family.
Dresses formally for work, wants to succeed and prove her worth – the pursuit of the
American dream. Isn’t taken seriously by her male colleagues.
The all American blonde in a horror movie- always punished!
Write: How effective is the use of mise-en-scene in this scene in
involving the audience.
• Key scene 2: ‘The Lamia visits’
• Again watch and make notes on these
technical areas.
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Use of sound:
How is the music used?
What about sound effects?
Use of dialogue/voice.
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Use of cinematography and editing
Types of shots and angles used
Camera movements
Pace of the editing- length of cuts
Narrative
• How does the film start? The plot exposition.
• An introduction to the ‘Lamia’ and its evil power? An introduction to
Christine and her lovely, normal aspirational American dream life.
• How is the narrative structured? Linear/non-linear,
chronology.
• Flashback to begin. Why? How would you describe the structure of
the narrative after the flashback?
• At what point does the narrative/atmosphere
change? (Todorov’s theory).
• When Mrs Ganush curses Christine; is that when the plot of the film
starts, the narrative enigma as Todorov would call it?
Key scene 3- ‘returning the curse’
• Watch and make notes on:
• The narrative denouement. (ending)
• The main themes/messages of the film as a whole.
• How does the film end?
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A false happy ending?
Do we as an audience expect the hero/heroine to die or be punished at the end?
The notion of ‘predicatble pleasures’.
Who are our sympathies with at the end?
• What is the message of the film?
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The Overt message - Don’t mess with the occult?
The Covert subtexts:
That western capitalist greed should be punished – anti corporate America?
Immigrant groups are continual threat to the American way of life- pro corporate
America?
What the WJEC board says
• Topic D - Spectatorship: Popular Film and
Emotional Response
• This study is concerned with the ways in which popular film (whether
deriving from Hollywood or elsewhere) produces powerful sensory
and emotional responses in the spectator. It is possible to focus on a
particular genre – such as horror and consider shock effects – or the
melodrama as 'weepie'.
• Alternatively, the focus may be on spectacle, whether relating to the
body of the star or to the staging/choreography of action. This topic
is not concerned specifically with either issues of representation or
value judgements but rather with developing understanding about
how films create the emotional responses they do. It is expected that
a minimum of two feature-length filmswill be studied for this topic.
Linking micro to macro aspects
• How can we link the micro aspects to the macro?
• What are the micro aspects?
• What are the macro aspects?
• Task: Watch the ‘Lamia visits’ scene from Drag Me to Hell and the
opening killing from ‘Scream’ again?
• Make notes on the questions below:
• What can you say about these scenes and narrative/genre
expectations?
• How do the filmmakers ‘play’ with the micro aspects to manipulate
the audience?
• Why do audiences( even devotees of horror films ) continue to fall
for this?
The horror movie fanbase
• http://www.horror-movies.ca/
• Horror is a genre that is much loved by some people. Like sci-fi and
fantasy it has devotees (people who dress up like horror characters
and go to conventions etc. There are also lots of dedicated
magazines, film channels on TV and websites for fans.
• Why do horror movie devotees continue to fall for the filmmaking
tricks of horror directors?
• Horror films are formulaic so why do so many people watch them?
Why are sequels made for them?
A recap- the emotional power of horror
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Why do you watch horror movies?
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E.g. For a “masochistic” pleasure…Any other reasons?
A sense of escape/fantasy.
Because they are often simple in narrative and characterisation. Because they are often formulaic
and we as audiences don’t always want to be challenged - predictable pleasures.
Because they remind us of our childhood in a psychoanalytical way!
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What fears did we say horror movies play on?
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Fear of the dark, the extraordinary, of strange sounds,
Of God, of other man and the mind (the power of suggestion)!
Consider Freud, Clover and Wood theories of repression and childhood.
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What micro aspects do filmmakers use to create this sense of fear?
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The technical aspects- cinematography, mise-en-scene, sound and editing.
Horror directors will manipulate audience emotions with the micro aspects- the power of
suggestion….
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How are the macro aspects repeated?
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Again audience genre and narrative expectations- predictable pleasures.
Stock characters- the blond victim, the demon or psychotic murderer.
Recurring ideas and themes- the extraordinary invading the ordinary.
Issues of Spectatorship
• “What inspires the cinematic spectator is that very
loss of control….and subversion of self-identity”.
• Make notes: How can this quote about spectatorship be
applied to Drag Me to Hell? What micro aspects does
Raimi use to take away that sense of control?
• “The Freudian reference, which assumes inside us a
constant, ever-present yearning for the fantastic, for
the darkly mysterious, for the choked terror of the
dark”
• Make notes: How can you apply Freud’s psychoanalytical theories to
the film?
• Does the film identify with Clover or Wood’s theories of repression and
subconscious fears and desires.
• Are these childhood fears or adult fears? Fear of what?
Make comparative links between films
• Case study films:
• ‘Scream’ (Wes Craven)
• ‘Drag Me to Hell’ ( Sam Raimi)
• Use the sheet provided and make notes of
comparison between the two films and
how they use issues of spectatorship
together with the micro aspects to gain an
emotional response.