Summary

Supernatural Horror

We have chosen to look at the supernatural, alongside this we will also have to look at the psychological but our main focus is supernatural horror. We found that it often plays on archetypal shadow characteristics embodied by the threat, it creates discomfort and addresses and exposes common vulnerabilities and fears by exploiting things such as the abnormal, human experimentation, disease, suffering and possession. We found that it contains less physical harm compared with other horror sub genres, but it exposes the evil that hides behind normality, films such as ‘The Unborn’ display this as it discusses the often feared subject of human experimentation.

The common themes that we found in our supernatural horrors consisted of things such as ‘family’, ‘possession’, ‘romance’, ‘injustice’, ‘revenge’ and most commonly ‘supernatural or ‘apparitions’. Many of these are seen in the films what we looked at such as ‘Paranormal Activity’, ‘The Ring’ and ‘Blair Witch Project’.

The stock characters we would often expect with this genre would be family orientated characters, such as a couple usually with children or groups of friends, films such as Poltergeist display the stock characters of ‘Family’, as the viewer considers the young girl character to be the main protagonist and the other characters are her mother, father, brother and sister; there is also a dog, which is common in a ‘family’ situation. An example of the ‘group of friends’ stock characters can be seen in the film ‘Blair Witch Project’ as there are two male ‘friends’ and the main protagonist is the female ‘friend’. We found that often the children were the ‘evil’ or the ‘possessed’ character in the film, such as in ‘The Unborn’; also the female character would play the ‘victim’ whilst the male character plays the ‘hero’, such as in ‘Paranormal Activity’.  The characters are commonly paranoid or suspicious; this sets up the plot by allowing their paranoia and suspicion to lead to the story and what is happening in the film.

The stock settings are things such as family houses – such as in Poltergeist - or isolated locations, which are often in small towns or cities. There are also times where they are in forests or abandoned and isolated places, as in ‘Blair Witch Project’ where the main setting is in a forest, and also there is a small section of the film in which they are filming in a cemetery, which usually has negative connotations. These settings contribute in to making the atmosphere, mood and tone of the film more scary and eerie.

We are often given a teaser in to the narrative in the opening of a film, by telling a previous story, showing old videos, having a ‘dream’ sequence, or having a phone call or news reports. These were common in all of the films that we analysed. They link to the current events in the film and lead on to the main plot, this helps set up the plot as we are aware of the story that is going to follow the opening text or subtitles, as the story is told. These create an enigma, as we are curious as to why this information is immediately shown to us, this makes us want to continue to watch the film in order to find out the rest of the story, therefore creating an attraction to the film. Giving quick flashes of something suspicious can also create the enigma but it is then left, and is not explored; this tells us something is wrong. Also another main part of the narrative of a Supernatural Horror is that it creates a fake sense of security for the viewer, so we begin to trust the film and relate to the characters, and then it ruins the trust by getting scary and creating the tense, fearful atmosphere.  The narrative theories that are commonly used in Supernatural Horrors are Todorov’s theory, as they nearly always begin with an equilibrium, in the film this equilibrium is disrupted etc, also Propp’s theory is used, as the characters that his theory include are demonstrated, sometimes we see Strauss’ theory as binary opposites are often presented, yet are not always in all of this genre.

Different aspects of mise en scene are used commonly in the Supernatural Horrors that we looked at are things such as low-key lighting, which is frequently used in order to create a supernatural and scary mood and tone. Dark and unnatural contrast can help create the ‘odd’ tone; this is demonstrated in Insidious, as the lighting appears very unnatural. However, many often use realistic or natural lighting in order to create verisimilitude and realism, this is presented in films such as Blair Witch Project and Poltergeist. Along with this, casual costume and ‘home’ props are used to create realism, however we often see props conveying religion, this often gives it a scarier tone.

The Editing is used in order to cr

eate tension and change the pace. Cuts speed up when there are tense moments, and often link to the non-diegetic or diegetic music, this creates a tense and suspenseful atmosphere. Longer and slower cuts are often used to create realism and verisimilitude, as this makes it easier for the viewer to relate to, and also we get a more intimate relationship with the characters.

The diegetic sound is mainly dialogue, however there are also some screams or ‘scary’ noises, this creates a tense and negative mood and tone, as we are often unaware of why the noise is happening, this creates an enigma, the noises used often have supernatural connotations, such as ghostly whispering or doors slamming. The non-diegetic music is eerie and suspenseful in order to create a tense mood and creates a negative tone, this is used in films such as Insidious begin with loud eerie music, which immediately creates a negative atmosphere for the viewer. The opening of a film usually has some sort of voice over or on screen narration, this can create a tense and creepy mood by giving information in order to make the viewer believe it to be realistic and therefore scarier.

The camera movements that we often expect would be jolted and harsh moving, as it can create fear, however tracking is often used to create a realistic tone, and t make the viewer feel as though they are there. Handheld cameras are often used to create realism and verisimilitude – they use a ‘shaky’ movement in order to make it realistic. Camera shots that are frequently used are things such as establishing shots – to show the area, close ups – creating an intimate and closer relationship with the audience, mid-shots or long shots, showing the surroundings and also very long shots exaggerating the isolation of the characters.