The first Horror movies (1920):Silent film offered the first typical horror movie in 1920. The visual appearances of the first horror movies were vital in making the movies appear realistic to the audience as there was no audio. However, important stereotypical features of modern horror, such as darkness and shadows were impossible to represent at the time, so most horror movies were filmed in daylight, which would seem surreal to an audience today. Although, some features of the first horror movies would be portrayed as surreal to an audience of today, the early admissions to the genre helped establish many of the codes and conventions still recognisable today (e.g. monsters). Rely heavily on the use of lighting as the films were black and white, this portrays a binary opposition. Most of the films also consist of equilibrium and portray the enigma code to tell the narrative as there was no sound.

DATE FILM NARRATIVE CHARACTERS TECHNIQUES THEMES AUDIENCE APPEAL

1919

The Cabinet of Dr

Caligari

Set in a fictional North German town. An eerie exploration of the mind of a madman, pitting an evil doctor against a hero falsely imprisoned in an outrageous shelter.Enigma code- who’s the real hero? Represents equilibrium as something goes wrong and is solved in the end.

False Hero = imprisoned character

Villain = Madam/ doctor

Running time: 80 minutes. The narrative is presented through a frame story. Most of the plot is presented as a flashback. Cutting between scenes. Shadows are used dramatically within the film, so that the audience doesn’t know which character is sane.Highly based on the visual to tell the narrative of the film. As there was no sound at the time of the film. This means that the binary opposite of the lightingof the film was used to help tell the narrative of who the characters were.

Horror

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The film was certificated at a U, this means that they film was able to be viewed by anyone, as it had no age restriction. It appealed to its target audience through the use of the narrative, such as the equilibrium and enigma.

1920

The GolemAbundantly symbolic narrative from Jewish mythology. A giant clay monster that stood by to save the Jewish citizens of Prague from the anger of the emperor who accused them of the ritualistic murder of children. Represents equilibrium throughout the film, also portrays enigma as it creates suspense of who killed the children.

Villain = Emperor

Hero= Clay monster

False Hero = Emperor

Running time: 70 minutes. Binary opposite of black and white. The contrast of the colours represented the hero, false hero and villain.Again, it was based on the visual to tell the narrative as there was no sound.

Hybrid: Horror/ Fantasy

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Target audience are aimed at Jewish people as it is apart of Jewish mythology. Certificated at a PG, which means that all ages are admitted however, some scenes may not be suitable for younger children. Appeals to it audience through the enigma code and the change of equilibrium.

= Trodovs 8 props = Hybrid/Subgenre =Sound = Camera Work = Binary opposition = Lighting = Narrative

Horror movies 1930s:Horror movies were reborn in the 1930s. The arrival of soundhad now been introduced and added into the films. The dreamlike imagery of the 1920s was now being made more realistic. Sound added an extra dimension to horror, as the films became more representative. The music used helped to build suspense (enigma) to the audience. The film creators emphasised on the use of costume. During the 1930s there were two main actors known as Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. However, though sound had been introduced characters were still portrayed as over theatrical with the heavy special make-up. Similarly, with the 1920s the horror genre still consisted of the heavy use of enigma and equilibrium to narrate the film. Nonetheless, there was still no colour within the film so the film still relied heavily in the binary oppositeof black and white.

DATE FILM NARRATIVE CHARACTERS TECHNIQUES THEMES AUDIENCE APPEAL

1931

DraculaA normal citizen and Van Helsing put a vampire preying on the weak and innocent through his paces.

Villain = Dracula

Hero = Van

False Hero = Jonathan

The movie practically invented the concept of land of swirling mists, howling wolves, frightened peasants and crumbling castles. Lighting is used in contrast to one another, however, this is done to represent the binary opposite of night and day

Horror

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The film appeals to those who enjoy watching the supernatural and surreal. A sense of enigma as there’s Trodovs 8 props theory so the audience are suspicious of who the hero is.

1931

FrankensteinDr. Frankenstein is a scientist who pieces together human body parts to create the monster ‘Frankenstein’s monster’ and after it accidentally killed someone everyone wants rid of it.

Villain = Frankenstein

Franketeins monster was made to be a scary terrifying monster through use of a hard suit. When Frankenstein’s monster is created the light is specific on the darkness, this is also done by the type of camera movements. The use of binary opposition is created through the lighting to portray Frankenstein whether its good or bad.

Hybrid: Horror/ science fiction

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Again the film appeals to though who enjoy the use of using a film for escapism (uses and gratification theory) as wit drags away from the normality that we live in through the use of costume and computer generated images.

= Trodovs 8 props = Hybrid/Subgenre =Sound = Camera Work = Binary opposition = Lighting = Narrative

Horror movies 1940s:Different countries now had different views on horror. American horror in the late 1940’s started to look at wartime horror whereas this type of horror wasn’t allowed in Britain. The 1930’s horror market had dealt with well-established fictional characters whereas the 1940’s then dealt with the internalisation of the horror market. Horror film characters now had people’s primitive animal instincts peeking through, throughout the 1940’s. This therefore, created a new aspect of horror with the hint of further escapism (uses and gratification theory) that the audiences were able to attach to as of the supernatural features such as a ‘wolf man’.

Date Film Narrative Characters Techniques Themes Audience Appeal

1941

The Wolf ManA practical man returns to his homeland, is attacked by a creature of folklore, and infected with a horrific disease his disciplined mind tells him cannot possibly exist.

Villain = The creature of folklore

Damsel in distress = The helpless man

Running Time: 70 minutes. We don’t see an on screen transformation until the last 10 minutes, which is created by costume and props. He takes off his shoes and only then do we see the lap dissolve method. Afterwards we do see him transform back using the standard technique. When the wolf man is present the film turns darker than before even though it was still dark previously. This represents binary opposition between the lighting.

Hybrid: Horror/ Drama

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It appeals to those who enjoy watching films to escape (uses and gratification theory) from the normality of the world, as the film portrays aspects of the supernatural. The film was also certificated at a U, which means that the film would be certificated for all viewers.

= Trodovs 8 props = Hybrid/Subgenre =Sound = Camera Work = Binary opposition = Lighting = Narrative

1941

Cat PeopleThe story is that of a woman named Irena who believes she is cursed in the sense that she will turn into a giant feline creature if she consummates her marriage.

Damsel in distress = Irena

Villain = giant feline/marriage

Running time: 73 minutes The story is a narrative telling of Irena’s story. Heavy use of shadows as this allows people to make up their own mind about what happened in the film, this would also cause suspense and mystery (enigma code) as the audience question whose shadow is whose.

Hybrid: Horror / mystery / Romance

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This film would be for those who enjoy the escapism (uses and gratification theory) of a film. It would also be for those who enjoy a mystery and sense of suspense as of the heavy use of shadows.

Horror movies 1950s:The 1950’s evolved two eras of horror films. The first was wartime horror with real wartime villains such as the person who developed the atom bomb, death camp leaders and mad scientists developing new weapons. In these times horror films were degraded to B-list as people were too hung up on widespread colour and trying to diminish the posing threat by television. The second is mutant horror with films such as Godzilla being made.

Date Film Narrative Characters Techniques Themes Audience Appeal

1954Godzilla

American nuclear weapons testing results in the creation of a seemingly unstoppable, dinosaur-like beast.

Villain = Godzilla Running time: 96 minutes We see a stuntman in a monster suit for the most part but there is the stop motion technique used in one scene to create some of the monsters movement scenes. Less lighting used apart from during the storms mainly around when Godzilla appears. Holds a significant amount of computer generated images (CGI).

Hybrid: Drama/ Horror/ science fiction

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Again it appeals to those who generally enjoy films to escape (uses and gratification) as of the computer generated imagery. It would also apply to those who may not enjoy horror but enjoy watching science fiction.

The Haunted House on the

Hill

Eccentric millionaire Fredrick Loren and his 4th wife, Annabelle, have invited 5 people to the house on Haunted

False Hero= Fredrick Loren

Villain = Haunted house/ Fredrick Loren

Running Time: 93 Minutes The effects of the house being haunted as well as the ‘monster’ in the house show a poor form of editing. Lighting is generally used more at the start of the film. This film

Hybrid: Horror/ Mystery/ Thriller

Those who are interested in watching films with a type of game show sense will enjoy watching this as of the aspect of winning

= Trodovs 8 props = Hybrid/Subgenre =Sound = Camera Work = Binary opposition = Lighting = Narrative

1959 Hill for a "haunted House" party. Whoever will stay in the house for one night will earn ten thousand dollars each.

would also hold computer generated imagery to bring the ‘monster’ to life.

SEE PAGE 10 money. The film appeals to a wide range of audience as of the different elements of genre it has within it.

Horror movies 1960s:The 1960s brought about a different kind of horror; psychological horror. As seen before in films such as ‘The Haunted House on the Hill’ psychological horror brings a new thrill to the audience and a new way for the audience to view a horror film. Post war rumblings about females and homosexuals meant horror films gave them an outlet to vent feelings and visions. This coupled with being more open to on screen nudity, bloody violence and other things that challenged social morals gave us 1960s horror.

Date Film Narrative Characters Techniques Themes Audience Appeal

1960

PsychoA young woman steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother.

Villain = The young woman

Running Time: 109 minutes The film is shot through 50mm and 35mm lens cameras which mimicks the human eyesight. Helping to further involve the audience. The lighting is extremely close to that of normal lighting although it seems harsher during pivotal scenes such as the shower scene.

Hybrid: Horror/ mystery/ Thriller

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This film would apply to those who like things less obvious and where they are questioning the narrative throughout the film, which gives a sense of enigma, as what happens is not obvious. It would apply to a wide range of people as of the different aspects of other

= Trodovs 8 props = Hybrid/Subgenre =Sound = Camera Work = Binary opposition = Lighting = Narrative

genres such as mystery and thriller.

1963

The BirdsA wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people there in increasing numbers and with increasing viciousness.

Villain = birds

Damsel in distress = socialite

Running time: 119 minutes Clever use of photography. Extremely bleak lighting where the children are concerned. But lighting is increasingly sharp when the birds attack.

Hybrid : Horror/Thriller

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Horror movies 1970s:The 1970s brought back the grim brand of horror movies after the optimistic brand of horror movie, which was the decade of 1960 with its sexual and cultural revolutions. The main feature in the 70s seemed to be childbirth, the gruesome by product of sexual encounters and the contraceptive pill. Children are a big feature in horror films from childbirth to developing defects caused by the pill or other sources.

Date Film Narrative Characters Techniques Themes Audience Appeal

1973

The ExorcistWhen a girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two priests to save her daughter.

Helper = Mother

Villain = the possession

Damsel in distress = the little girl

Running Time: 122 minutes Although it was cut out, the contortionist performing the spider walk scene was shown to be a great piece of work except it showed a few cables when she was walking down the stairs. Also, life size puppets were made for Linda. Very dark and eerie. Left a lot in suspense (enigma).

Hybrid: Drama/ Horror

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This would appeal to an audience who enjoy aspects of a drama and the supernatural due to the possession. It would also appeal to those who enjoy a sense of adventure in films as of the stages needed to go through to overcome the possession. Due to the film being supernatural

= Trodovs 8 props = Hybrid/Subgenre =Sound = Camera Work = Binary opposition = Lighting = Narrative

an audience who watch films to escape (uses and gratification theory) will also enjoy it.

1975

Jaws When a gigantic great white shark begins to menace the small island community of Amity, a police chief, a marine scientist and grizzled fisherman set out to stop it.

Villain=great white shark

Heroes=marine scientist, fisherman and police chief

Running time: 122 minutes Point of view camera angles are used making the movie all that more eerie. Not much specialised lighting used as the movie is partly underwater. The enigma built up when the great white eyes its prey is the great success of this film and the 3 setting out to stop the shark are clueless leading them to all the more eerie and suspenseful moments.

Hybrid: Horror/ Thriller

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This film would interest those who enjoy looking into and the characteristics of sharks. There is also a sense of enigma in the film as the audience won’t know what to expect, so would therefore find interest in that.

Horror movies 1980s:In the 1980s the special effects finally caught up with the violent and gory scenes horror films had been using. Technical advances in the field of animatronics, and liquid and foam latex meant that the human frame could be distorted to an entirely new dimension, onscreen, in realistic close up. Wolves made another appearance in the early 1980s.

Date Film Narrative Characters Techniques Themes Audience Appeal

1980

The ShiningA family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future.

Damsel in distress = family

Villain = evil presence/ father

Running Time: 142 minutes The film has multiple flashbacks and uses them to foreshadow events. The lighting is bright and then suddenly turns dark a lot of the time. This portrays a binary opposition within the lighting.

Hybrid: Horror/ Mystery

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This would appeal to a type of audience that enjoy the supernatural and psychological aspect of horror films. The enigma of the film is caused by the evil spirit, which means the audience are able to interact with the film being an active audience as they try to figure out

= Trodovs 8 props = Hybrid/Subgenre =Sound = Camera Work = Binary opposition = Lighting = Narrative

why it had happened.

1982

The ThingA shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of the people that it kills confronts scientists in the Antarctic.

Villain = alien Running Time: 109 minutes Took about 3 months to shoot on 6 artificially frozen sound stages. The thing is always shown as dark because they aren’t truly his form.

Hybrid: Science fiction/ Mystery/ Horror

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Horror movies 1990s:In the 1990shorror had seemingly got tame and amused people rather than scared them. In the 90s we go back to psychological horror and big budget remakes of classics such as Frankenstein and Dracula.

Date Film Narrative Characters Techniques Themes Audience Appeal

1991

Silence of the Lambs

Fledgling FBI agent tries to track down trophy hunting serial killer with the aid of jailed psychopath.

Villain = serial killer

Hero= Jailed psychopath

Donor = FBI agent

False Hero = FBI agent

Running Time: 118 minutes A serial killer being tracked by a psychopath means psychological horror but for the viewers they connect with why he kills them.

Hybrid: Thriller/ Horror

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This would appeal to an audience who enjoy a sense of action and mystery within their films as they are active within the film to find who the serial killer, which also brings the sense of enigma. However, it is targeted at those who are 18 and over, which could potentially lessen

= Trodovs 8 props = Hybrid/Subgenre =Sound = Camera Work = Binary opposition = Lighting = Narrative

viewers. 1995 Se7en Two detectives, a rookie

and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his modus operandi.

Villain = Serial Killer

Heroes = detectives, rookie and veteran

Running Time: 127 minutes More psychological horror than anything and employs use of modus operandi. Not much lighting technique used although shadow is used heavily toward the end of the movie.

Hybrid: Crime/ Mystery/ Thriller/ Horror

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Horror movies 2000s:In 2000 the publics opinion had changed. The new century brought a warm fuzzy horror. The monsters have had to change. Gone were the lone psychopaths of the 1990s, far too reminiscent of media portrayals of bin Laden, the madman in his cave. As the shock and awe of twenty first century warfare spread across TV screens, cinematic horror had to offer an alternative, whilst still tapping into the prevailing cultural mood.

Date Film Narrative Characters Techniques Themes Audience Appeal

2000

The Final Destination

After a teenager has a terrifying vision of him and his friends dying in a plane crash, he prevents the accident only to have death hunt them down, one by one.

Hero = young teenager with the vision

Running Time: 98 minutes The film has multiple flashbacks and visions. There are a lot of sharp changes in the lighting, contrasting from light to dark. This also portrays binary opposition. The teenagers in this movie can relate with the audience but instead of being hunted by anything that can be seen heard or felt, they are hunted by death.

Horror

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This film would appeal to those who again enjoy the supernatural aspect of visions. It will also appeal to those who enjoy a sense of enigma throughout their films as of the constant questioning they will have about whether the people survive. This film

= Trodovs 8 props = Hybrid/Subgenre =Sound = Camera Work = Binary opposition = Lighting = Narrative

would be used to escape and entertain (uses and gratification).

2002

28 days laterFour weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.

Villain=Virus Running Time: 113 minutes No flashbacks but dreams do take place as he is in a coma and these show past events. Use of lighting is limited. Jim goes through many different phases as first his psychological horror is that all of the UK is dead, then seeing the last remaining people turn on him or die.

Hybrid: Horror/ Science fiction/ Thriller

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This film would appeal to all who enjoy science fiction, thriller as well as horror. As it is rated an 18 it isn’t suitable for those under that age as of the content. However, an audience would potentially use it to escape and entertain (uses and gratification theory).

STEREOTYPICAL THEMES/CONVENTIONS OF;

- Horror = Good vs. Bad (e.g. monster vs. Human) portrays binary opposition within the themes of a horror film. There almost certainly seems to be revenge of something, such as one being possessed and their friends/family undertake revenge on that given person/object. From the 1960s films took an edge on psychological horror, from this the sense of belief and religion was introduced, most of the time to cure those of the possession. There is always an aspect of the supernatural, for instance, those with visions or ghosts or a dimensional world etc. The themes of the horror genre mainly give of logic of suspense, which would represent the theory of enigma. The horror theme also relies heavily on the characters explaining and representing feeling so the audience are a aware of what to feel, for example, if the character was frightened it would be portrayed clearly and evidently at that given time, being the main object, this gives the horror genre more realism as its the normality to be scared of someone with a gun for instance.

- Mystery = The hero is generally someone who has a very high authority, for instance, one who is policeman, contrastingly the villain is someone who may be of the same authority but is not revealed until the end of the film. Most of the time there are false heroes, to get the audience active and involved within the film. The film is mainly based around a sense of enigma (suspense). There is also always a victim, someone who is generally killed by the villain. Mystery films tend to stay as close to realism as possible so that the audience are able to relate to the film. However, the genre is almost certainly mixed with another genre, such as horror. The films always start with an established equilibrium.

= Trodovs 8 props = Hybrid/Subgenre =Sound = Camera Work = Binary opposition = Lighting = Narrative

- Science-Fiction = The theme of science-fiction generally tell something about the future of technology, it generally involves true fiction laws and things that are currently being researched within science. Mainly set in a different dimension/world/space. Some films use science-fiction to help inform (uses and gratification theory) the audience of what the world could possibly turn out to be. The genre doesn’t focus heavily on characters as much as the focus is on situations and specific events.

- Thriller = The aim is to create suspense (enigma) and make the audience active within the film. Violence is almost certainly involved within the theme of thriller. It most of the time reveals the work of the police or fire brigade. The resolution will be rational than through a supernatural sense. The hero and the villain both share some of the same characteristics.

- Drama = Drama has a theme of interacting mostly with the characters emotions; they rely heavily on this to tell the narrative of the film. In most drama films the audience are able to identify (uses and gratification theory) in some way with the characters. Some drama films try to be very theatrical and over exaggerated to involve the audience further with the characters and to lead them through the emotions that the audience are feeling.

- Crime = Crime is seen as a highly dramatic film, it mainly focuses on the life of prison and those involved within it. Most crime films try to tell the narrative of the prisoner and portray vivid images of violence. A lot of the time crime films have sub-genres or a hybrids with other films.

CONCLUSION;

Overall as represented above horror films have significantly changed over the years, from no sound to sound, from dramatic characters to hidden villains. Horror is a genre that is portrayed as very popular in the film industry, with over thousands of films going back to the 1920s, considering there was no sound horror was one of the few genres able to conduct a narrative that was able to entertain (uses and gratification theory) the audience without the confusion of what was happening. During this time the use of lighting was heavily significant as it was used to distinguish between the good and the bad (binary opposition). Nonetheless when sound was introduced it brought a new dimension to the horror industry, lighting was less focused on and characters were being ever more important to tell the narrative. More hybrids and sub-genres were therefore being introduced within the horror films to give it an entire new outlook. From the 1960s psychological horror came into films a lot more, such as the ones represented above. This would give the audience even more entertainment (uses and gratification theory) as they were always through a sense of suspense (enigma) throughout the film, most of the time until the end; this introduced numerous flashbacks and various camera movements. It also relied heavily on what the audience were able to feel from the characters, if they were able to identify (uses and gratification theory) with them then the film was going to be a success. Every film that has been mentioned uses the narrative theory of equilibrium and enigma, by doing this the films are a lot more entertaining (uses and gratification theory).

= Trodovs 8 props = Hybrid/Subgenre =Sound = Camera Work = Binary opposition = Lighting = Narrative

BIBLIOGRAPY;

- http://www.youtube.com - http://www.imdb.com - http://www.lovefilm.com

= Trodovs 8 props = Hybrid/Subgenre =Sound = Camera Work = Binary opposition = Lighting = Narrative