History of horror
Le Manoir du Diable: This 1896 film is classed as the first horror film ever produced and was directed by georges melies.Originally intended to amuse , people were generally frightened by this film .
Nosferatu,; is a classic 1922 German Expressionist horror film, directed by F. W. Murnau, starring Max Schreck as the vampire Count Orlok. The film, shot in 1921 and released in 1922, was an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula.This is also classed as being the first ‘’mainstream’’ horror film and the first to feauture a character based on Dracula.
Film adaptations of novels such as Dracula and Frankenstein started popping up around the 1920’s and 1930’s but horror didn’t advance until the technological boom of the 1950’s onwards.
Psycho (1960)
This film is by Alfred Hitchcock and is classed under many sub genres such as mystery , thriller , suspense and drama but mainly most see it as Horror . The film depicts the encounter between a secretary, Marion Crane hiding at a secluded motel after embezzling money from her employer, and the motel's disturbed owner and manager, Norman Bates and the aftermath of their encounter.This film set a benchmark for other psychological horrors/thrillers and is still seen as a pioneering film today
HALLOWEEN(1978)
Halloween is a 1978 American independent horror film directed, produced, and scored by John Carpenter .
On Halloween, six year old Michael Myers murders his older sister by stabbing her with a kitchen knife. Fifteen years later, he escapes from a psychiatric hospital, returns home, and stalks teenager Laurie Strode and her friends. Michael's psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis suspects Michael's intentions, and follows him to Haddonfield to try to prevent him from killing.
This is my favourite horror film of all time mostly because of the atmospheree it creates and it generally can be frightening to someone watching for the first time .
A nightmare on elm street
Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American slasher film directed and written by Wes Craven, and the first film of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The film is Set in the fictional Midwestern town of Springwood, Ohio, the plot revolves around several teenagers who, if they fall asleep, will be killed by Fred Krueger in their dreams, thus causing their deaths in reality. The teenagers are unaware of the cause of this strange phenomenon, but their parents hold a dark secret from long ago.
Critics and film historians argue that the film's premise is the question of the distinction between dreams and reality, which is manifested in the film through the teenagers' dreams and their realities.Critics today praise the film's ability to transgress "the boundaries between the imaginary and real" toying with audience perceptions
Modern day Horror films :
A new genre was spawned in the late 90’s and early 2000’s and that was the ‘home video’ genre which cleverly used amateur style documentary footage and portrayed it to be real life vents e.g The blair witch project and paranormal activity.
Many more directors and producers are heading down this path with films like R.E.C and paranormal activity 3 being released in late October the demand for these type of films is high.
A plus side to these films is that it doesent really rely on heavy special effects and cgi as the viewer is more interested in the characters and the video that they are recording .The littlest things such as shadows and voices can scare an audience.
Many modern horror films made today are generally copying the classics from many years ago such as :
My bloody valentine – Friday the 13th , Halloween , psycho etc……
R.E.C – Blair witch project
Etc……..
Camera angles in horror
Many camera angles are used to make the viewer feel scared such as …..
A crane shot is often used by composers of films to signify the end of a film or scene. The effect is achieved by the camera being put on a crane that can move upwards.This can show a character being chased by monsters for example but from a birds eye view and in someway to leave a film in mystery as the credits roll.
An extreme close-up contains one part of a character's face or other object. This technique is quite common in horror films, particularly the example above. This type of shot creates an intense mood and provides interaction between the audience and the viewer.
An example of when an extreme close up shot is used is in the blair witch project when the main character’’heather’’ is being chased by an unknown prescence and is terrified.The extreme close up shows her terrified face but in the back ground you can still hear the witch.This builds tension and
No comments:
Post a Comment