Task four
- 1. Task Four Representation & Fear Analysis
- 2. Common Audience Fears & Phobias Horror genre films are based on common fears, this is because it will scare the public an awful lot more than if something very unrealistic was what the film was based on, however there are film based on aliens that people still find scary, but it is a known outcome within the media industry that horror film that are deemed realistic will scare the public and will make for a better horror film than not. The Conjuring, the film that I studied features some of these conventions to make the film appeal to the audience and fit the horror genre. Top Ten Most Common Phobias: - Acrophobia – Fear of heights - Claustrophobia – Fear of enclosed spaces - Nyctophobia – Fear of the dark - Ophidiophobia – Fear of snakes - Arachnophobia – Fear of spiders - Tryphanophobia – Fear of injections/needles - Astraphobia – Fear of thunder/lightning - Nosophobia – Fear of having a disease - Mysophobia – Fear of germs - Triskaidephobia – Fear of the number 13
- 3. Fears & Phobias Acrophobia – The fear of heights is used well in Final Destination Three, it has been used and demonstrated through a roller coaster ride which is taking place meanwhile the camera shots are switching (match on action) to show the audience the potential happenings in terms of the crash – by making it obvious that the cable could snap, or the metal could rip apart and finally the roller coaster will crash. The Acrophobia is used to put the audience on edge because in fact roller coasters crashing, although the chance is limited due to today technology, is still a realistic thing that can affect people, hence the phobia being within the top ten most common – so using a realistic potential happening has been done on purpose to scare the audience with the phobia and also those without the phobia. Ophidiophobia – The fear of snakes is used well with claustrophobia in Snakes on a Plane. Snakes are on the plane with humans and they’ve managed to escape and come to visit the humans unexpectedly, the humans are of in great danger and are very scared. This technique of fear has been done well because the producer understands that the actors have an enclosed space around them and are unable to run from them, therefore the technique will be very scary and hard to watch.
- 4. Fears & Phobias Trypanophobia – The fear of needles is massively used in Saw II. During a scene of Saw they have over 120,000 needles in a pit and the actors have to try and find a key to advance to the next stage, one actor throws a female actor in to the pit and the screaming is horrific – this will upset the eyes of those watching that suffer from Trypanophobia because the scene is truly emphasised with the camera shots used on the needles, extreme close ups, close ups and an establishing shot showing the audience what the characters are going to have to face in order to advance to the next stage. Nosophobia – The fear of having diseases, the classic zombie film Shawn of the Dead includes zombies, and of course zombies are infested with diseases and are after the humans, taking bites out of them and infecting them one by one – this film shows extreme scenes of biting in terms of the zombies attacking the humans. The film has played on the technique of fear and used it in a way in which will terrify those that have a phobia of having diseases – although zombies aren’t proven to be real, the audience will still scare from it.
- 5. Fears & Phobias Mysophobia – The fear of having germs, Contagent is a film about sneezes and death – if someone sneezes and another person catches the germs that are being spread, they die. This film exaggerates the sneezing and germs massively, however those that aren’t happy with having germs and do happen to suffer from Mysophobia will not find the film pleasant to watch. The phobia is used very well in terms of scaring the audience because the producer has emphasised a simple happening and turned it in to something that the audience will not like to see. Triskaidephobia – The fear of the number thirteen was used in the film Friday the 13th. The whole film plays on the number itself and makes people think that the number is even more so unlucky and scarier because the horrors are happening within that specific night but weren’t on any other night – this is done so that the audience with the phobia are experiencing more scary happenings than those that do not suffer from the phoia, whereas the audience will already understand that 13 is deemed an unlucky number.
- 6. Fears & Phobias within The Conjuring The Dark – Early on in the film Nyctophobia is used to scare the audience in to thinking something will pop out in front of them, such as a child, or a face, maybe even a demonic force of some sort. Dark is used within the film because the producer is aware that it is one of the top ten most common fears, therefore there is a good chance that someone watching the film will possibly suffer from Nyctophobia – making the film a lot scarier for those watching – making it a successful horror film. This gives the audience chills and makes them think psychologically without them wanting to that something will happen and make them scream. Enclosed Spaces – During the start of the film there is an enclosed place within the house, a very small room with a lot of clutter left on the floor suggesting the room had been abandoned for some reason. Claustrophobia is a very common fear, this fear technique would have been used to put the audience in the characters shoes – making it feel as though they’re within the short amount of space, meaning that the audience’s experience would be exaggerated due to their fear of enclosed spaces. This technique has been used to demonstrate the upcoming frights that will be scaring the audience within the near future of the film.
- 7. Fears & Phobias within The Conjuring Fear of the Unknown – This fear was used very much up until the demonic force leaped drastically from the wardrobe down on to the floor in attempt to target the children, the bruises were also kept quiet in terms of the force up until later on in the film which were explained to both the audience and the characters by the ‘Ghost hunters’. The fear of the unknown is a really scary technique because the audience do not know what is going on and who is doing the damage – this can be influenced in the mind by the audience also when they’re alone in their own house in the dark and ‘hear’ things, making it much scarier for them based on past experiences should they have had any. Lightning – Lightning is used when the couple arrive at the house and take a good look at it, the lightning suddenly hits the house and this has been used to shock the audience due to the sound as well as the phobia itself Astraphobia. The phobia that potentially some of the audience will suffer from will be a lot harder for them to watch because it will scare them, therefore the technique of fear being used is purposely to affect the audience in an attempt to scare them and make the film seem more appealing due to the use of lightning and thunder during certain, but not all scenes because otherwise the effect will be overused.
- 8. Fears & Phobias within The Conjuring Arachnophobia – The use of spiders within the film is very powerful, also the speech is exciting because one of the actors within the film says “Don’t go in there, the place is loaded with spiders!” this puts the audience on edge momentarily because they’re unsure as to whether or not the actor will enter the room and be faced with spiders, those with Arachnophobia will be a little more scared than those without, however this fear technique is used to affect the audience making them a lot more concentrated on the next scene getting ready for the shock that they may be faced with.
- 9. Dyer – Representation Theory Dyer believes that stars within movies/films are used purely for the purpose of making the most money for an institution. Playing the dad in Insideous, and the ghost hunter in The Conjuring, the male actor Patrick Wilson stared in both – this has been done because of the ratings and money he bought in for the first film out of the two he was in. Therefore prodominontly actors are chosen, particularly really good and well known ones, are chosen because the institution understands that a lot of money can be made from them. The same institution made both the Conjuring and Insideous. Dyer also states that he believes Hegemony is a big thing in terms of actors, he suggests that the audience are able to relate to the star more, and pay more attention to the film if they like the star featuring within the film, because they will have an admiration towards them based on any aspect that they like of them. This of course suggests that if a fan of Patrick Wilsons’ is watching the film The Conjuring, he or she would be more in to the film and feel as though they’re able to watch with more interest because he is in the film.
- 10. Mulvey – Representation Theory The idea of the Male Gaze is how the audience deal with what they’re witnessing on the screening. The theory was suggested in 1975, Laura Mulvey believes that the audience have to see the character from the same perspective a heterosexual male would. During the film the Conjuring their is a shot of a lady’s bum, this was clearly used in order for the males to find attraction and interest to the scene, as a heterosexual man would indeed look – therefore supporting Mulveys theory. During a shot including this sexual attraction, heterosexual men will fail to answer certain questions that women would be able to, this is because their attention was caught up on what the producer wanted them to find within the shot – the female. The Conjuring features shots in which the storyline is completely put aside just for the short amount of time the males will find the film a little more interesting. The females attractiveness is used to seduce the male audience whilst the females will not be watching the film for the same reason, therefore differentiating the audiences based on sexuality, this is done to target the male audience more than the female audience within the certain shot.
- 11. De Saussure – Representation Theory Ferdinand De Saussure believes that Semiotics is a way of creating meaning and changing the way meaning is understood by the people that are being communicated with. Semiotics are used in films to try and better the audiences knowledge with subliminal messages that will, by the end of the film, make sense. This provides questions for the audience, therefore linking with the enigma codes. Signs that are given to the audience throughout a film will have more meaning to the audience if they have picked them up, and these signs will have been emphasised in order to put the audience within that position. Signs such as music, little hints, doors creeking and so forth are all emphasised for the simple reason that the producer will want for the audience to hear them and pick up on the creepy happenings within the genre. During The Conjuring there are signs such as close ups on the ghost hunters face, allowing the audience the notice that she has witnessed something that the others have not, therefore implying that within the film there will be a viewing of the ghost, or the demonic force within the film which will scare the audience. Meaning is created through The Conjuring by dialogue from within the film, sound affects and camera shots – they are all purposely selected and used to hint towards the audience.
- 12. Gauntlett – Representation Theory Gauntlett believes that Making is Connecting, through this he suggests that because of the technology today, and the changes that have been made to this modern day, that the audience have been more involved, and the ideas in which the audience have are now put in to films, because the producer is able to tell what they’re after when watching the films. Although it is very hard to anticipate how an audience is going to react to a media text, it can be made easier by following the general trend of the audience and their scares. Research on the audience scares is a heavy investment as is the tools and affects used to scare the audience, this is because it needs to be top notch so that when the audience does watch the film, they are scared and the institution succeeds. The Conjuring features parts that will scare the audience, such as jumpy scenes, visions that the audience do not like and typical fears from the top ten list named before – this is done because the producer is trying to anticipate the audiences reactions, therefore this is why a lot of money is spent on affects and research. The reactions of the audience will of course be more shocked due to the special affects and so forth.
- 13. Cawelti - Representation Theory John Cawelti believes that the society of which we live in is reflected through the genre of the film. For example the characters within the Conjuring will be representing the typical family of which they are portraying – new house, children, a working family and scared of the ghost. This has been done of course to try and help the audience relate to the characters within the film – the Simpsons also do this. Certain aspects of society are represented and reflected through the genre, attitude could be one, in a sense that all of us having visions of ghosts within our house would react the same way with mood swings and hoping for the best in a situation that is definitely not one that we would want to be in – another use of a fear technique throughout the horror film. The Conjuring portrays a typical family throughout the film because all of them get on well, and this will reflect society in a positive way suggesting that all families get on and are able to deal with problems together, all though they are scared and do not know what to feel they’re being represented throughout the genre defining to the audience certain aspects of the society that we’re involved in today.