Jarvis Baxter TVCC Mr. Lee 4/27/15 Comparative Analysis Victor Salva, one of the greatest movie producers in history, has dipped his pen in many different inks. He has engaged in many different genres of work but the most outstanding to me is the work he does with his suspenseful, horror films. Many films of Salva’s have been made and remade because the demand for more work because with time comes better quality of pro-duction, light, and technology to bring an even better piece of work to the audience. Clown house , Jeepers Creepers, and Haunted are all extremely well known and almost could be considered staples when conversing about the horror film industry. Victor Salva uses his expertise in story structure,his use of camera …show more content…
Suspense is one of the main ele-ments of film; it brings viewers out of their seats. You never want to have too predictable of a horror film or it won’t be doing what it was meant to do. In Jeepers Creepers Salva doesn’t sim-ply have him waltzing around aimlessly looking for victims. Jeepers haunts people that is in his area or a place where anything is possible. Many times the character and Jeepers are in a place where Jeepers has been before and he is unpredictable in these situations, this is what makes the movie almost magical. Jeepers has been through hard times and this plays a part in his vicious acts which allows a sympathetic response as well, this adds on to wondering what could he pos-sibly be thinking about doing next. Gina, one of Salva’s most famous horror characters is another story of a sad happening and revenge being taken out on the society. Structuring these films in a way that builds the audience’s attention is also big. Salva doesn’t just go into killing people off he lets the plot build so that there are relationships that are being affected by these incidents as well, this brings a more interpersonal feeling to the audiences perceived emotions as …show more content…
In each of these films Salva produces the scenes similar to each other in very similar camera positions coincidentally. In most scenes of Haunted when they are already at the house and the guy is being kept by the family, the camera view gives good sight to a wide area of the surroundings. Maybe this is to give the viewer the possibility of con-sidering all routes of escape before the character even begins to consider the possibilities, or maybe it is just to give a better understanding of the setting of which the character was in. Simi-lar to the camera angles in the Haunted in Clown House and Jeepers Creepers there are more instances when the camera angles are showing a further distance from the actors face opposed to being close up and watching the movements of only the actor, you’re able to watch what is going on around them and ask questions to yourself about why they are or aren’t doing certain things that come to your mind about how to handle the situations. In Haunted the Camera usage is pri-marily in a dream world though so there are a lot of times where you’re looking at the defined space between Freddy and whichever victim of his dream intrusions it happens to be. This may be to give the feel of how personal their encounter is seeing as how dreams are something we as humans do not personally control as it is what goes on in our subconscious. This is why Salva is good at what he does, the camera to him is not just a
Alfred Hitchcock is known for his masters of works in the film industry. The film he is most famous for is Psycho. Alfred Hitchcock`s Psycho was critically acclaimed not only in the horror genre but within the entire film scene. It encompasses several key themes, which are portrayed through cinematic devices such as camera movement and sound, sound, lighting and costume and set design. The subject of madness becomes increasingly evident as the film progresses, centering on the peculiar character that is Norman Bates.
Horror genre conventions are evident in both films and the way they are directed has given me obvious indications on the effect the horror conventions can have on a film when used well, and the adverse effect when not used well. Both Japanese and American society are evident in these films, and the style of the films are similar to the nationality of the two directors. Horror conventions are used in both films, but the way they are used are quite different, and these contrasting styles are key in how effective the two films are to their audience.
The sounds and camera angles of this film are the key to the feeling of suspense. The sounds of the violin make up most of the soundtrack for Psycho. Although the soundtrack is very repetitive and slightly annoying, it gives you a sense of anticipation when it played throughout the movie. The screeching violins are always played when you least expect them to, catching you off guard. As said by Alfred Hitchcock, ?There is no terror in the bang, only the anticipation of it.? The camera angles also play an important role in this movie. When Lila, Marion?s sister, goes to find Mrs Bates and talk to her, it seems to take Lila forever just to reach the house, with the camera switching back and forth from her face, then to the door.
Suspense is only one of Hitchcock’s many techniques and themes. His themes range from the obvious violence, to the depths of human interaction and sex. From Rear Window to Psycho, Hitchcock’s unique themes are present and evident. Rear Window starts with something we all do at times, which is nosing in and stalking on others business, and turns it into a mysterious investigation leaving the viewer second guessing their neighbors at home. Psycho on the other hand, drags
Halloween is rife with psychological scares that affect its audience greatly. “Symbolism, dreamlike imagery, emotional rather than rational logic” are present in Psychoanalytic criticism. Siskel and Ebert talked about how the movie makes you feel as if you are the protagonist, scared for your life and feeling every bit of suspense (Siskel and Ebert). The movie is purely fueled by emotional responses to what is happening to the characters and focuses itself purely on how the audience will respond. In the clip shown, the main protagonist talks about how she killed the killer but he is shown alive. The movie is not concerned with the logic; otherwise, the killer would have at least been slowed down by the injuries he sustained. Siskel and Ebert laud the movie on its set up of scenes, score, character development, and use of lighting to make the audience feel the terror the characters undergo.
Some would say watching horror movies and being scared out of your wits is a fun way to spend their hard earned money. They go see these movies on average once a week, each time choosing a newer version of a trilogy like “Chucky” or “The evil Dead”. Film making has come a long way over the last few decades, the graphic...
The genre of horror films is one that is vast and continually growing. So many different elements have been known to appear in horror films that it is often times difficult to define what is explicitly a horror film and what is not. Due to this ambiguous definition of horror the genre is often times divided into subgenres. Each subgenre of horror has a more readily identifiable list of classifications that make it easier to cast a film to a subgenre, rather than the entire horror genre. One such subgenre that is particularly interesting is that of the stalker film. The stalker film can be categorized as a member of the horror genre in two ways. First, the stalker film can be identified within the horror genre due to its connection with the easily recognizable subgenre of horror, the slasher film. Though many elements of the stalker film differ from those of the slasher film, the use of non-mechanical weapons and obvious sexual plot points can be used to categorize the stalker film as a subgenre of the slasher film. Secondly, the stalker film can be considered a member of the horror genre using Robin Wood’s discussion regarding horror as that which society represses. The films Fatal Attraction, The Fan, and The Crush will be discussed in support of this argument. (Need some connector sentence here to finish out the intro)
Reflecting back on the most iconic figures in the history of horror cinema, characters like Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, and Jason Voorhees still shine brighter than all the rest – even despite their current lack of utilization. In the meantime, an array of other “big bads,” ranging from Ghostface, Jigsaw, and Annabelle, has attempted to climb the proverbial ladder into the (imaginary) horror hall of fame.
Both The Silence of the Lambs and Seven are considered to be more psychological in nature, as they present killers whose motivations are explainable. The unexplainable is infinitely more terrifying than the explainable so in elucidating the motivations to their gruesome behavior the audience is given an easy out. Believing that evil has a root cause, the audience does not have to accept the shocking hypothesis that evil can simply exist without rhyme or reason. Even in the masterpiece Halloween (1978) we are tossed a half-hearted psychological explanation as to why Michael Myers does what he does. The psychobabble that Donald Pleasance spouts is simply that Myers is "pure evil," and there are some vague connections made between Myers witnessing his sister engaging in premarital sexual activity and his slaughtering tendencies.
Modern day horror films are very different from the first horror films which date back to the late nineteenth century, but the goal of shocking the audience is still the same. Over the course of its existence, the horror industry has had to innovate new ways to keep its viewers on the edge of their seats. Horror films are frightening films created solely to ignite anxiety and panic within the viewers. Dread and alarm summon deep fears by captivating the audience with a shocking, terrifying, and unpredictable finale that leaves the viewer stunned. (Horror Films)
People flock to horror movies each year. Usually to be scared. Another is to solve the question of Who done it? Unfortunately, a lot of these horror movies fail to scare people or make the killer so obvious the audience gets bored. Occasionally, there are a few horror movies that stick out. Scream, directed by Wes Craven, is one of them. Wes Craven is always toying with the viewer's fears. Always finding ways to scare the audience at every turn. He also plays with the viewer's head, and has them second guessing themselves. How does he do it? Well, as one of the characters in the movie exclaims, "There's a formula to it. A very simple formula. Everybody's a suspect!" This paper will discuss how Craven uses sound, camera shots, and mise en scene
Too many horror films provide scares and screams throughout their respective cinemas. Not many viewers follow what kind of model the films follow to appease their viewers. However, after reading film theorist Carol Clover’s novel, watching one of the films she associates in the novel “Halloween”, and also watching the movie “Nightmare on Elm Street” I say almost every “slasher” or horror film follows a model similar to Clover’s. The model is a female is featured as a primary character and that females tend to always overcome a situation at some point throughout the film.
Horror films are designed to frighten the audience and engage them in their worst fears, while captivating and entertaining at the same time. Horror films often center on the darker side of life, on what is forbidden and strange. These films play with society’s fears, its nightmare’s and vulnerability, the terror of the unknown, the fear of death, the loss of identity, and the fear of sexuality. Horror films are generally set in spooky old mansions, fog-ridden areas, or dark locales with unknown human, supernatural or grotesque creatures lurking about. These creatures can range from vampires, madmen, devils, unfriendly ghosts, monsters, mad scientists, demons, zombies, evil spirits, satanic villains, the possessed, werewolves and freaks to the unseen and even the mere presence of evil.
Although, his films similar to ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” demonstrated the distortion that is popular within the genre, he was sure to incorporate scenes that had the audience on the edge of their seats. Lastly, the plot of the film in relation to the colors used in the different scenes aided in the “horror-like” feeling while watching the
Would you rather be horrified beyond repair or thrilled to the point of no return? In horror, the main purpose is to invoke fear and dread into the audience in the most unrealistic way. Horror movies involve supernatural entities such as ghosts, vampires, teleportation, and being completely immortal. As thriller films are grounded in realism and involve more suspense, mystery, and a sense of panic. Though both genres will frighten the audience, it will happen in two different ways. Whether the horror thrills or the thriller horrifies, a scare is always incorporated.