THERIOSTS: HOW LEVI – STRAUSS IS USED IN HORROR FILMS
Claude Lévi-Strauss (28 November 1908 – 30 October 2009) was a French anthropologist and ethnologist, and has been called the "father of modern anthropology".
He believed a critical theory, binary opposition, as a pair of terms or concepts that are theoretical opposites. For example in the film industry, effects in films such as lighting and setting, and in some cases temperature shown throughout the film, are used as the audiences expectations will remain the same watching any film. Therefore in horror films, to create tension and allow the audience to become scared, simple characters that make up a film, are challenged.
- Lighting - audiences believe, that bad and scary things happen in the dark, due to the unknown, however if the same street that was shot in the dark, with shadows and eerie noises, was actually shot in bright light, it would create a different mood entirely for the audience.
For example; in the film Psycho, Hitchcock plays with the audiences expectations of oppositional factors. The brightest and lightest part in the whole film, is Marian in the shower, this enables the audience to relax, as the light is bright giving a sense that everything is now calm and nothing is going to happen. However, this is the part, where she dies, it makes the audience jump, due to it being unexpected and also due to fact that the audience has relaxed it seems worse that it actually is.
- Setting – the setting of a film or a specific shot is vital, however, some films use, especially in horror films, to cause the audience to become scared. Audiences are more likely to expect something, such as a murder to happen in perhaps the wilderness, where it is dark, nobody is around – not in a location where people are always around and normally the lighting is good and bright.
For example; in the film A Nightmare of Elms Street, the setting of the killing actually happens in a town – this is unexpected as audience would not expect it to happen in a town. This then creates, once again the audience to relax, as when the film shows a town and bright lighting with people surrounding, the audience relax as, and they feel it is unlikely anything is going to happen. So, then, when the murder actually happens, they again become more scared, as they have relaxed due to what they expect is going to happen.
- Temperature – temperature is used, like other film elements, to create a sense of unnaturalness. The use of temperature, such as a cold and icy atmosphere, again creates a sense of the scariness and the wilderness. So, film makers wanting to relax the audience, will create a shot of a pleasant warm atmosphere, to relax the audience before the scary part, in which they wish to make the audience scared.
Another example; is in the film The exorcist, the setting for the film is a house. As the devil, approaches the girls, the temperature of the room is shown as cold, icy and unpleasant. However, the rest of the house, that we see before the devil approaches the girls room, is warm, pleasant and homely. Using this creates the unexpected, as the house is homely and warm, we again relax and the shot were he then approaches the room, that is cold an icy, becomes scarier as the audience have relaxed.
GENRE – REPETOIRE OF ELEMENTS
Films, involve a set of conventions that are associated with the genre.
Within most films, the repertoire of elements consists in the following:
- Mise en Scene and Settings
Mise en scene is a French term meaning what is put into a scene or frame. It is made up of visual information in front of the camera communicating essential information to the audience about setting (time & place) and characters. Each aspect of mise-en-scene creates meanings and communicates them to the audience, influencing how we are feel at a certain point throughout a film.
Mise en scene is made up of 5 elements:
- Settings & Props
- Costume, Hair & Make Up
- Facial Expressions & Body Language
- Lighting & Colour
- Positioning of characters/objects within the frame
http://www.slideshare.net/mediamonkeyslides/mise-en-scene-5427491
- Settings & Props
Settings & Locations play an important part in film-making and are not just ‘backgrounds’. Sets are either built from scratch or a great deal of time is spent to find a setting which already exists. Settings can manipulate an audience by building certain expectations and then taking a different turn.
Within a horror film, audiences expect certain settings where the scariest part of the film is meant to happen. Dark woods and the wilderness are expected settings where audiences are meant to be scared.
In terms of props, there are obvious props that films use, that create blood and make noise, to scare the audience. For example; knives, axes and sharp implements.
- Narratives - Structure & Type
Todorovian Structure – is a structure believed that in any narrative it begins with two opposing forces. In horror films, the forces are good and evil.
Typical structure that a horror film follows is the opposing forces will come together in a disruption of the initial equilibrium. The quest is likely to involve, violence, gore and fear. And conventionally ends with the triumph of good over evil, however some directors choose to subvert the conventions and evil triumphs good.
- Characters - Familiar Character Types
Horror films have features, such as the characters that they include within the film, that make it easier to identify what genre the film is. Typical characters include, monsters and victims – good versus evil.
Within the early days of films, it was inhuman monsters that were portrayed as evil; however as time progressed monsters became more human like, which creates a more realistic and scary feel. Victims, were normally portrayed as princesses, very venerable characters, however as time has progressed, characters have developed and the victims are portrayed as all types of characters.
- Lighting & Sound
Lighting plays a massive part in films, as well as setting the scene, it is used to control the audience, as it causes them to relax and also become tense due to the lighting.
Dark lighting is believed to be the place where bad and scary things happen, due to the unknown, however shots in bright light, create a different mood entirely for the audience, enabling them to relax as they don’t expect anything bad to happen.
- Names
Certain directors are well known for directing a certain genre of film, for example; Wes Craven directed Scream, so when his name is mentioned in future, people immediately know that the film is within the scary genre.
Actors are well known for working within a certain genre of film. For example; Hugh Grant, is well known for appearing in romantic comedy films, such as Bridget Jones, About a Boy and Love Actually, audiences would not expect to see him in action films. However, someone like Sylvester Stallone, appears in a lot in action films, such as Rambo so when choosing to watch a film, and knowing that he is appearing in the film, we can immediately tell that the film is going to be of an action genre.
Our group researched five trailers; Case 39, Paranormal Activity 2, Devil, The Last Exorcism and Saw 3D.
Case 39 is a 2009 horror film, set in 2006. It is a film very much aimed around a typical life situation, of a social workers life, however in the film, she becomes very attached to her client and in the end the little girl she is assigned to goes to stay with Renee Zellweger.
It follows the typical horror genre characteristics with the use of sound, as throughout the whole trailer, the music is very eerie and scary, so immediately the audience can tell that the film is of a horror genre.
Lighting is used very cleverly in the trailer, as audience expect in the dark the bad things are happening however in some shots within the trailer, the lighting is dark outside but lights are on in the rooms, for example when the bugs are crawling on the mans back.
Paranormal Activity 2 is a 2010 film, which is filmed in the way of a documentary, using images that look almost like they are CCTV images. The lighting throughout the documentary is very dark and mysterious, and in some cases the shots are portrayed to be going in and out of focus, which again gives a sense of horror again.
Devil is a 2010 supernatural thriller. It is mainly filmed in a lift, in which the main event happens. The lighting is very forced, and only at times is natural light used in shots, as most of the shots are shot from inside the li8ft, using artificial light. The use of fade to black within shots and the use of writing, also adds to the sense of horror. The lighting follows the rules in this specific trailer, as bad things happen, in the dark, and nothing bad as such seems to happen in the bright light.
The Last Exorcism is horror film, based on a true story. The main parts of the film that are the scariest tend to happen in the dark. The music and props seem to match and add to the horror genre.
Saw 3D is a mystery horror film, creating tension by the unknown, of how characters will be killed and if they will be killed. It uses words and phrases to create tension and scariness. This trailer, again follows the rules, bad things seem to be happening in the dark, however a few traumatic parts of the film, happen in bright light, which is unexpected, as the audience do not expect this to happen.
