Power Point Similar Media Works

Similar Media Works Genre: Horror Sub Genre: Psychological horror

Dictionary Definition Horror: a film in which very frightening and especially unnatural things happen, for example dead people coming to life and people being murdered. Psychological Horror: emphasises the plot and characters equally. The Characters often have to resolve problems within their own minds. The problems within their minds often are an attempt to explain important events.

Laura Oakey

Common Elements When people think about horror films there are several things which come to mind that are pretty standard elements. These tend to be: • An Antagonist- The bad guy (normally a monster such as Frankenstein or Dracula, sometimes a murderer. ) • A Protagonist- The innocent, normally the victim of the antagonist • Diegetic and Extra Diegetic sounds- To build up tension and frighten the audience. • Dark Colour schemes- To highlight the sinister feeling of the film. Psychological horrors tend to have very similar elements however the actual storyline and characters are much harder to make clear than just a horror. Psychological horrors are based around trick of the mind and a battle in the mind. The common elements of a psychological horror are very similar to that of a typical horror however there are some more elements that are commonly included, these are: • Psychological twists – These are used to play on the audiences minds to make them think one thing but then change it suddenly so they have to think the complete opposite. • Mental Danger- The characters and audience is exposed to mental danger more than the common physical danger which is common in generic horrors. • First person narrative- The story tends to be narrated by one of the characters. This enables the audience to know exactly what is going on and feels much more involved in the film which is very common in psychological horrors.

Laura Oakey

Ideology Ideology is a very key point in horror films. This is because with horror films there comes much stereotyping. However this is because of moral panics, Chomsky and in some ways Hegemony. This has shaped peoples ideas upon horror and psychological horrors and affected the way people view the genre of horror. Moral panics – affect the ideology of horror films as there is a hyped over-reaction to the media which causes people to believe that society‘ s values have collapsed. ‘28 days later’ is a very good example of this as the people in it have lost all sense of society and are focusing on surviving rather than working together as a society. It also highlights issues which could potentially happen, perhaps not on such a large widespread scale but there still is the possibility which could worry society as a whole. Chomsky- Argued that the mass media can be used to divert people’s attention away from real issues. This is highlighted in the horror films which were made in the 1930s, they were made to takes peoples minds off the approaching world war. It was an escape from the reality. This is why people commonly think that horror films are very different to reality and feel that watching horror films is an escape from what is happening in the current world. Hegemony- Hegemony is the way people in power choose to maintain control. In the 1940s all horror films were banned from being shown, as those in power felt that it was unwanted propaganda from Hitler because of the current political issues. In this case the government wanted to ensure that no dominant ideologies were considered as the war was such a sensitive issue. By those high up in power maintaining their control through censoring films it does not let all of the opinions and ideas for new horror films come through, for fear that it may mean that their control will be reduced.

Laura Oakey

Directed by: Richard Kelly Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal Date of release: 25 October 2002 Certificate: 15 Country: USA

Donnie Darko doesn't get along too well with his family, his teachers and his classmates; but he does manage to find a sympathetic friend in Gretchen, who agrees to date him. He has a compassionate psychiatrist, who discovers hypnosis is the means to unlock His other companion may not be a true ally. Donnie has a friend named hidden secrets. Frank- a large bunny which only Donnie can see. When an engine falls off a plane and destroys his bedroom, Donnie is not there. Both the event, and Donnie’s escape seem to have been caused by supernatural events. Donnie’s mental illness, if such it is, may never allow him to find out for sure. Laura Oakey

Mise- en –scene for Donnie Darko 2001 This clip is the end piece of whole film. The film has gone the whole way through and this is the final bit which shows what actually happens to the characters. The extra diegetic sound of this clip really highlights the emotion and shows the feelings of all of the characters in the scene. The diegetic sound reiterates to the audience what is happening and how things are working in the The clip also makesout good usestory. of colour schemes in both the clothing that the characters are wearing and the sets to reflect the personalities of the different characters. Donnie (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) is wearing however mainly white and to show his innocence this is contrasting with the dark set which highlights the evil and the bad light colours things that can come from Donnie. The dark lighting really emphasises the dark feeling about the film and shows the bad things that could and have happened especially in contrast to the light clothing that the rest of the characters are wearing. There is a large range of shots used ranging from wide shots to extreme close ups. The extreme close up shots emphasise the emotions felt by the characters and helps the audience to feel more involved in the film. The wide shots make it clear to the audience what is happening so that they do not get confused and are not unaware of what is going on. The body language of the Characters shows to the audience that something bad has happened and has made the uneasy feeling of the film very clear to the audience. The characters movements are stiff and not natural which really picks up on the sad feeling of the clip. The mise-en-scene helps the audience to get an ever better idea of what is happening in this part of the film. They feel as though they have a more important role in the film and the tension is built up helping the Laura Oakey http://www.youtube.com/watch? audience to feel the emotions that the characters in the film are currently filming.

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