Representation and fear analysis

Amelia Brandon

Common fears and phobias

• Common fears that are shared with audience now include:

• Spiders

• Death

• Torture

• Clowns

• Dolls

• The Dark

• The Unknown

• Bee’s

• Heights

• People in Masks

• Silence

• Isolation

• The Stranger

• Pain

• Old Places

• Disease

• Thunder/Lightening

• Snakes

Codes and Conventions• Antagonists wearing masks

• Isolated locations / recognisable locations / derelict buildings

• Antagonist & Protagonist

• A group being persecuted

• Final girl

• Hunted or haunted

• Weapons (they are specific to the sub genre)

• Low key lighting

• Toys that move on their own

• Telephones (used to represent fear)

• Spirits can be classed as the weapon themselves if in a paranormal horror

• Recognisable costumes for protagonist and stock characters (creates more fear as the audience can now identify with the characters)

• Antagonists / Spirits tend to wear tatty or old clothes.

Conventions of fearElements that are commonly found in films within the horror genre to create fear…

• Antagonists wearing masks is a convention of creating fear, it is more commonly shown in slashers. This fears audiences as it links with the common fear of the stranger, and it also goes with the fear of the unknown as it is unknown as to who is behind the mask.

• A convention that creates fear is the commonly used locations of isolation, recognisable locations or derelict houses. This creates fear for the audiences as it looks back at the common fear of old places and again looks at the unknown. If it is set in a recognisable location then it is the unknown as it shows that you never know what could happen.

• A group being persecuted is a convention of all horrors. This fears the audiences as it is the fear of pain, death and torture which is something that fears most in today society.

• By the protagonists and stock characters wearing recognisable costumes, in itself that creates fear for the audience as they can now identify with the characters on a personal level. Being to identify with the characters on a personal level creates fear as they begin to put themselves in the characters position throughout the film.

Silence

• Silence is a convention of horror and is used in all films. The silence creates fear as it makes the audiences uncertain of what is going to happen next. It is common for the sound a telephone ringing to break the silence as the audience recognise it as a representation of fear or danger.

• The 2016 film Hush is an example of a film that uses silence throughout the whole film. In the film there is no sound as the audience is viewing is viewing it in the victims perspective and she is deaf. This is a very popular film that thrills the modern audience as it is very jumpy and uses the fears of the unknown and strangers to its advantage.

Disease

• Disease is a common fear shared between audience members as it is a narrative that consists of elements that could be real and happen at any point. It also uses the common fear of the unknown to its advantage as they have no idea what is going to happen to the characters and it scares them because they begin to put themselves in the characters positions and then they start to think about themselves being in this scenario.

• The 2010 film The Crazies is an example of a film that uses disease throughout the whole narrative. In the film there is a plane crash in a small town, in the plane was a secret biological weapon that was released in the crash, this then infects all of the residents in the town and turns them all into homicidal maniacs. This narrative is fearful for the audience as a plane crash is something that unfortunately is common to hear about which means they begin to think that it is possible for this to happen to them.

Clowns

• Clowns are a common fear within todays society. Clowns are a common fear as they also link with the fear of the unknown and a stranger as you cant see the clowns face and have no idea who they are. The voices clowns use in real life and in films are quite creepy as they aren't a normal voice so even that is unrecognisable.

• The 1990 film IT is an example of a film that has a clown as the antagonist. In the film there is a clown that has an unknown identity - he is only know as ‘Pennywise the Dancing Clown’. This clown terrorises and occasionally kills the children of a town in America. This creates fear for an audience as it is set in recognisable locations and the characters can be identified which opens up a portal for the audiences to put themselves in the scenarios of the characters and begin to feel what they feel.

Old places

• Old derelict places are a common location used in all films within the genre. The location creates fear as the audience don't know where it is and when they begin to put themselves in the characters perspective the common fear of the unknown pops up again as they have no idea of what is going to happen next.

• The 2001 film The Others is an example of a film that uses old places as the location throughout the whole film. In this film the audience are put into the perspective of the ‘monster’ throughout the whole film and that is only revealed at the end. The family in the film are made out to be the ones being persecuted by a ‘monster’ however this is flipped around at the end when the audience realise that the family are actually the persecutors. Neale’s theory summarises the protagonists in all horror films.

Neale’s Theory • Neale’s theory identifies that all horror narratives have some form of

‘monster’ and it is the ‘monster that creates the fear for the audience and the characters. He has summarised it into 3 monsters and they are…

• The Outsider - This is when there is an antagonist that brings fear into a community. An example of this would be the antagonist in The Conjuring as although it is a spirit I would say that even though it might have been part of the community, it isn't anymore and it never will be.

• The Man Made Monster - This is when man have created a monster within a community. An example of this would be the antagonist in Frankenstein as this character was created by Dr. Frankenstein.

• The Insider - This is when there is an antagonist already present in a community that creates fear from within the community. An example of this would be the antagonist Scream as they are a psycho from within the community.

Films where the antagonist crosses

between two monsters• Nightmare on Elm Street: This is a cross

over as the antagonist was burned alive in the beginning of the film and is taking revenge on the children in the community, it is a cross over as he is both insider and man made monster.

• Saw: This is a cross over as he is created by his child dying and him deciding to then take revenge on the community that he is also a part of.

• The Conjuring: This films antagonist is a cross over because the mother who is an internal member of the community is turned into the the monster by creation as she was possessed.