The Blair Witch Project

The Blair Witch Project an American found footage psychological horror film made in 1999. It is a story set in 1994 of three filmmaker students who go to film a documentary in Burkittsville, Maryland about the local legend who is Blair Witch. The three students Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams and Joshua Leonard disappear but their footage, video and sound equipment is found a year later and the recovered footage is what the viewers are watching. 

Development 
The filmmakers Myrick and Sanchez came up with the idea of for the film after coming to the realisation that documentaries on paranormal phenomena scarier than traditional horror films. Using this they then decided to create a film combining styles and created a script that consisted of 35 pages and the rest of the dialogue was made to be improvised. In terms of the mythology behind the film being developed, the two filmmakers used several different inspirations the main one being Edward Kelly. Edward Kelly is a 16th century mystic ad was used for the character Elly Kedward which is a near-anagram. 

Filming
The filming only lasted eight days and a few people interviewed at the start of the film were not real and some were planted. The actors were given clues where to go for their next location through messages given in milk crates. Individually they were given instructions that they would use to help improvise the action of the day.

Plot
Set in October 1994, three film students set out to produce a documentary about Blair Witch. They travel to Burkitsville and interview residents about the legend. They are told about Rustin Parr, who lived in the woods and kidnapped eight children in the 1940s and used to kill them. He turns himself into the police and claims that the spirit of Elly Kedward, a woman who was executed for witchcraft in the 18th century forced him to commit the murders. A woman they interviewed claims to have seen Blair Witch in person and describes her as a hairy half-human, half-animal beast. 

They spend the next few days exploring the woods getting further and further and learning more stories from the locals. A series of weird events keep taking place such as hearing twigs snapping in the night, finding cairns built around their tent, hearing children laughing and Josh finds his camera equipment covered in translucent slime. 

On their sixth morning Heather and Mike wake up to find that josh has disappeared and later that night they hear his agonised screams. The next day Heather finds a bundle of sticks tied with some fabric of Josh's shirt outside her tent. She also finds blood-soaked scraps of Josh's shirt, teeth, hair and what appears to be his tongue. Again they hear Josh's screams which then draws them to an abandoned house containing runic symbols and children's bloody handprints on the wall. Something attacks Mike in the basement  and Heather enters the basement screaming and she is also attacked causing her to drop the camera and go silent. The footage then ends. 

How This Will Inspire My Horror Film
As I have decided to do a psychological horror film in a found footage style, I have decided to use Blair Witch as the main inspiration as its one of the most successful films from the genre. I've adapted the idea of three filmmakers into 4 media students making a horror film for their coursework which is essentially what I am doing. They are filming in the woods on handheld cameras like they do in the film however it all begins to go wrong. I have also made the decision of having them a very minimal script and making them improvise so that the acting is less forced.

Psychological Horrors

For my short horror film, the genre I have decided to go with is Psychological.

Psychological horrors according to Wikipedia 'relies on the character's fears and/or abnormal psyche to frighten readers, viewers or players.' The first films that were cited as psychological horrors were 'The Black Cat' (1934) and 'Cat People' (1942). More well known psychological horrors that have defined the genre are 'Rosemary's Baby' and Stanley Kubrick's 'The Shining' (1980). 

Characteristics
Psychological horrors tend to be rather subtle in comparison to the traditional horror films stereotype in terms of less physical harm. They tend to play on archetypal shadow which is an idea referred to in Jungian psychology and the characteristics are embodied by threat. There is a running theme of something to do with sexual health and relationships between men and women mainly on the factors affecting the audience rather than displays of graphic imagery that is found in the slasher genres. There are often plot twists where the character commonly battles internally with subconscious desires. The audience experiences discomfort as they are exposed to common or universal psychological vulnerabilities and fears. They are notably part of the human psyche which is the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious which most people repress or deny. 

Codes and Conventions
Weapons - the weapons used are not actual physical weapons but are supernatural and psychological. For instance, a killers twisted mind would be a weapon as it's what the victims fear. In a supernatural sense visions, jumpy moments and such are used as weapons of fear instead of an actual physical object such as a knife or axe that would be found in a slasher film.

Settings - some main settings that has become a theme in the sub genre are big houses, forest/woods, warehouses, schools and hospitals. As these settings are places that everyone can access and are part of everyday lives it creates a sense of realism. The audience feels more scared as they can relate and can imagine themselves in the settings.

Characters - the antagonist usually suffers from some form of mental health, has a disturbed past or has been tormented and has returned to seek revenge on their victims. The victims can differ depending on film and genre but a high percentage of victims are female which could have something to do with the fact mothers are maternal and the female audience watching can identify with them. Psychological horror films often use children as the killer and they are often female too.

Technical Codes
Mirrors - used to show the reflection of a characters inner self. It can also be used to represent 'the dark side' of characters intentions or personality.
Shadows and Low Key Lighting - they create tension and an eerie atmosphere, they usually show that something is about to happen. Similarly to mirrors they represent characters inner darkness.
Quick Cuts, Obtrusive and Montage Editing - these are used to highlight in important scenes the feeling of suspense and tension.
Flashbacks - typically used to show the past of the antagonist and gives an insight into what has previously happened in their life which links to why they have the intentions they do.

Stages of Genre Development - Christian Metz

Christian Metz was a french film theorist who believed that genres go through a cycle of stages during their lifetime and these were:

- Experimental stage
- Classic Stage
- Parody Stage
- Deconstruction Stage

Experimental stage: is said to be the foundations of the genre where the basis is built. This is where the generic codes and typical conventions begin to stem from and the genre is established. In terms of the horror as it's the genre i'm focusing on an example of a film from the experimental stage is 'Psycho' which has become an infamous classic. Its plot is centered around the horror movie genre and it experiments with the sub-genre of psychological horror. 

Classic Stage: this is where the codes and conventions that have been set become iconic and idealized as the guidelines for the genre. There is more interaction between the subject and the camera which therefore leads to fixed camera angles and editing, creating narratives. 'Halloween' is a good example of a film from the classic stage as this is one of the films that made the codes and conventions of horror iconic and was one of the first slasher films. There is a step up in the use of camera angles and editing from older horror films creating a narrative. 

Parody Stage: is said to be the next stage. In order for this stage to be successful, the codes and conventions that have been formed in the experimental stage must be established, accepted and widely recognised. This must be done in order for the codes and conventions to be mocked and for the audience to understand what is parodied. the 'Scary Movie' films are one of the best films known for the parody stage as they show clear examples of mocking other films such as 'I Know What You Did Last Summer', 'The Exorcist', 'The Blair Witch Project' and 'American Pie'. 

Deconstruction Stage: this is where the genre begins to evolve and merge with others so the codes and conventions from the 'Classic' stage are less clear cut so then some of the rules may be broken creating hybrid genres. Results of this are a wider variety of films, short films and program's can be made. An example would be 'Alien' which is a science - fiction horror film which involves a extraterrestrial creature that kills a spaceship crew. It fits into the stage as it is a mix between the two genres of science fiction and horror

Sub-genre's of Horror

The horror genre has produced hundreds of films over the years creating several different types of films therefore creating different genre within itself - sub-genres. 

Apocalyptic/Zombie - there is often a threat to the world such a epidemic or disease that then leads to feature creatures who tend to represented as mindless human beings or reanimated corpses. Examples: 'Night of the Living Dead' and 'I Am Legend'.

Action - merges the invasion of evil, an event or personage of horror films with gunfights and frantic chases of the action genre. Occurring themes that have been lifted from the action genre include gore, demons and vicious animals. Examples: 'Dawn of the Dead' and 'Blade'


Body - the horror is mainly generated from the graphic destruction and degeneration of the human body. Monsters are created using parts of the human body or unnatural movements and dysfunction to create fear. Examples: 'The Thing' and 'Cabin Fever'

Comedy - combines the elements of horror and the comedy genre. The comedy usually always crosses over with black comedy. 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' by Washington Irvin is said to be the first great comedy-horror story. Parody films also come under the comedy genre as they mock the typical conventions creating comedy. Examples: 'Jennifer's Body' and 'Scream'

Holiday - tends to take place in the Christmas season and usually has a violent psychopathic killer stalking a number of victims. The killers tend to be dressed as a Christmas character such as Santa Claus, a snowman, an elf or other festive costumes. Examples: 'Jack Frost' and 'Silent Night'. 

Gothic - is a type of story that contains elements of goth and horror. They are usually suspenseful and sometimes have a romance that unfolds in the setting of a horror. Some of the first horror movies emerged from this sub-genre such as 'Nosferatu' and 'The Phantom of the Opera.'


Psychological  - builds on characters' fears, guilt, beliefs, emotional instability and sometimes crosses with the sub-genre of supernatural horror and ghosts to create tension and further the plot. Many infamous horror films have been from this genre such as 'The Shining' and 'Rosemary's Baby'. 

Science Fiction - revolves around subjects that include but are not limited to mad scientist and/or experiments gone wrong or killer aliens. Examples: 'Alien' and 'The Thing'.

Slasher - typically involves a violent psychopath stalking and murdering people using bladed tools. Examples: 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' and 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'.

Supernatural/ Paranormal - usually has ghosts, demons, or other depictions of supernatural occurrences. There is often a combination of religion in the plot which has created a common theme of the devil and demonic possession. This is apparent in films such as 'Paranormal Activity' and 'The Blair Witch Project'. 

Theoretical Approaches To Horror Films

Many theories have been developed regarding the horror genre ranging from why we enjoy watching them - taking a psychological approach to the spectacle horror which talks of the camerawork and special effects.

The Philosophy of Horror - Noel Carroll: His big idea was attraction/repulsion. As an audience we are attracted by gore and transgression as well as repulsed by it. We enjoy seeing the point of view shots of the killer for example the we have POV shots in 'Halloween' of Mike Myers. However we fails to identify with the killer, we fear vampires and their powers but are attracted to them. A fine example would be 'Twilight' where fans found Robert Pattinsion aka 'Edward Cullen' attractive yet feared his character and his family. We can't stand what we're seeing yet we can't stop looking. 

The Uncanny - Freud: Uncanny is when something is strange or mysterious, especially in an unsettling way. It is something secret and disturbingly strange. Freud thought the uncanny is that which has ought to have been secret but that has come to light within the unconscious or subconscious mind. It is essentially the return of the repressed and it is projected onto objects, people and places. 

The Shadow - Jung: Jung simply said that 'the shadow' is a projection of what we all fear and strongly dislike being projected onto an external figure. 'The monster' in horror films is essentially the bad parts of us in a character. 

Carol Clover: Clover wrote an essay in 1987 titled 'Her Body, Himself' which argued that horror films offer the teenage males of their audience an illicit opportunity to revel in their feminine side. Using Laura Mulvey's 'Male Gaze Theory' she took a closer look at the low-budget exploitation genre in which typically all the female characters are murdered bar the one girl who managers to escape the villain. She argued that horror is one of the few genres that consistently asks the audience to identify with a triumphant female protagonist. Meaning that a 'sexist' genre may actually not be so sexist after all. 

Adam Lowenstein: The big idea was spectacle horror. Spectacle horror is a combination of special effects, camerawork, gore and sound. It's essentially what is done in the film to create a medium that is moreover about appreciating the art of the genre as it is about the darker motives. 

Cynthia Freeland: It was said that the graphic violence and gore in horror are so over the top that a 'perverse sublime' is created. Freeland said that they are so far-fetched and unrealistic that we can enjoy the films on an aesthetic, entertaining level as we know the events occurring can't happen to us. 

Conventions of Horror

Conventions are the way in which something is done. As the horror genre has become more popular over the years, many films have done things in the same style and typical traits and themes have been developed. The main convention of horror films is 'Good vs Evil'. This has been present since the start of horror films. Its the base of every story line and is usually a conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist. Here are the typical conventions of horrors broken down into different categories:

Mise-en-scene:

• Location - Characters are placed in a location that lacks easy access and out of the way with no one around to help. For example the woods, a summer camp, an isolated house, an abandoned town or amusement park. 
• Night time/Darkness - A large majority of the film takes place at night or is filmed in the darkness so the characters are more alert making the audience more on edge.
• Props -  include weapons such as guns or in a slasher films - a knife/machete. There is also often a use of paintings/antique or something ancient of some sort used to create a sinister atmosphere. Many paranormal horrors use bibles and crucifixes as a sign of religion and symbolising the devil and us used to anger the thing that is haunting the characters causing more violence and horror. 
• Colours - The colours red and black are often used as a popular connotation of both are danger and death.
• Lighting - There is often a use of shadows as this helps reveal the villain without the audience seeing their actual face or body. A feature that's often used is the flickering of lights which causes the audience to feel nervous and scared as the characters do. 
• Costumes - The stereotypical girls are usually 'slutty' have blonde hair and wear short skirts and dresses. 

Sound:

• There is often a use of exaggerated diegetic sounds which creates a lot of tension. 
• The music becomes more tense and fast paced as it leads us to an intense scene for example the shower scene in Psycho which makes the audience jump.

Characters:

• The Blonde - who usually dies first and has the 'slutty' costume for example in Halloween, Mike Myers kills his sister who is blonde and up to no good with her boyfriend upstairs. 
• The Athlete - the other characters tend to look to him for guidance and tries to be the hero figure.
• The Virgin - is always the character that survives as they are pure and not affected by evil.

Iconography:

• The fear of the unknown has become more popular in recent films, more specifically in psychological/paranormal horrors. As the characters fear the unknown this leads the audience to also be scared.
• Paranormal films tend to have ghostly symbols, dark places, unusual things happening for example swinging lights and slamming doors.
• There are jumpy scenes where things tend to pop up in front of the screen with loud sounds such as wind or unexplained noises.
• Typically there is a character that doesn't believe in any of the horrors taking place so they contact a priest or such to help but anger the villain more creating more trouble.
• The theme of Good vs Evil has always been a huge part of most story-lines as their is usually a problem between the protagonist who is good then the antagonist who is bad. 

In my short horror film, I will by fault use some of the conventions as they can't be avoided  and it wouldn't be a horror film without them. The conventions that I will most likely be lifting will be psychological/paranormal ones as I am making a psychological film. I'll use the typical good vs evil theme as it just wouldn't be a horror film without it. In terms of location I will potentially base it in the woods/forest as it creates isolation and an eerie atmosphere as nobody is about. My characters will most likely be teenagers with a lot of curiosity which is a theme featured in several horror films. A convention that will be very influential on my piece will be the fear of the unknown as I plan to not reveal or show a lot of the antagonist and this is popular within the psychological genre. 

Auteur Theory

Auteur Theory is a theory of filmmaking that holds a film reflects the director's personal creative vision. It came about in France in the late 1940s as the cinematic theories by Andre Bazin and Alexandre Astruc became outgrown and dubbed by the 'Auteur Theory' by American Film critic Andrew Sarris. It focuses on:

1. Individual stylistic features
2. How texts are determined by artists' creativity
3. How texts emerge as part of an artists body of work

When the Auteur theory was being developed, Alfred Hitchcock was frequently acknowledged as the consummate exemplar, and his name evokes immediate expectations in terms of themes and techniques. Some elements of the Hitchcockian style consists of:

• Climax plot twist
• The cool platinum blonde
• The presence of a domineering mother in her child's life e.g. Psycho
• An innocent man accused
• Restricting the action to a single setting to increase tension
• Characters who switch sides and/or who cannot be trusted

Another well known Auteur is Brian De Palma. He directed many infamous films some being Scarface, Carrie and The Untouchables. He did many psychological films and had a theme of graphic violence which was very influential in Dressed to Kill and Body Double, this sparked a lot of controversy with film critics and the viewing public. He is also known for quoting and referencing other directors' work through his own pieces. For example 'Dressed to Kill' was a homage to 'Psycho' by Hitchcock in which he lifted the idea of a surprise death of the lead actress and exposing the the psychiatrist at the end. De Palma was also noted by film critics throughout his career for his unusual camera angles and compositions. One of his trademarks is framing the character using a canted angle against the background and he's been known to use the split-screen technique to show two separate events happening at the same time. 

Francois Truffaut who played a part in the origins of the theory expressed that directors should use the mise-en-scene to imprint their vision on their work. Truffaut was a film director, screenwriter, producer, actor and film critic. He headed the group of French New Wave Cinema which was group of French New Wave Cinema which was a group of French filmmakers. He remains an icon of the french film industry as his career lasted over a quarter of a century and worked on over 25 films. Truffaut wrote an article called 'Une certaine Tendance du Cinema Francais' which translates to 'A Certain Trend of French Cinema' in which he talked about the state of French films and, certain screenwriters and producers. The article sparked a lot of controversy as Truffaut didn't talk positively of all the aspects and wasn't accepted. From this the Auteur Theory was born which simply stated that the director was the 'author' of his work. 

Modular Narratives - Allan Cameron

Allan Cameron came up with the idea that contemporary cinema uses a cycle of complex narratives to operate. Modular Narrative explores the representation of time in a way that reflects anxieties specific to the present. It articulates a sense of time as a divisible and subject to manipulation. Cameron identified four different types of modular narrative:

• Anachronic 
• Forking - Path
• Episodic
• Split Screen

Anachronic modular narratives have no dominance between any of the narrative threads and involve the use of flashbacks and/or flash forwards. The narratives also often repeat scenes directly or via different perspectives.

Forking - Path narrative juxtaposes alternative versions of a story. It shows the different possible outcomes that could have taken place had there been small changes in a single or group of events. The forking - path narrative introduces a number of plot lines that tend to contradict one another.

Episodic narrative is a story that is told through a series of episodes of segments for example a soap opera or television series. There are two types of episodic narratives, the first being abstract series which is characterised by the operation of a non- narrative formal system which appears to dictate the organisation of narrative element such as a sequence of number or the alphabet. An episodic anthology consists of a series of shorter tales which appear disconnected but share a random similarity. For example the 'Final Destination' films are all connected in that those who being targeted to die were all nearly involved in a roller coaster accident. 

Split Screen narratives differ from other types of modular narrative as their modularity is articulated along spatial rather than temporal lines. The screen is divided into two or more frames, juxtaposing events within the same visual field, in a sustained fashion. A well known example of this is the television series 24.

An Introdution to Narrative

Narrative is a spoken or written account of connected events; a story. It is how the story is told. The Narrative theory sets out to show us that what we experience when we 'read' a text is to understand a set of conventions. Narrative explores the conventions of:

• Genre
• Character
• Form
• Time

The difference between the story and plot is that:

• Story - Includes information not shown
• Plot - The key events

There are different types of narrative structures that can be used when making films. Some different types are:

Linear Structure: the story will go in a straight line or in other words in chronological order. Many films follow 
Beginning                                                 Middle                                               End
Audience introduced                                Events stay                                        Closure
to character and story                              behind

Open Structure:
It follows the linear structure until it reaches the end where there is no closure so the audience are left to wonder what happens next and make sense of it themselves. Open structures usually have many characters and no foreseeable ending. As there is no sense of ending it could go on forever. This structure is popular with television soap operas such as Coronation Street. There are many more characters and the focus shifts between them. Often there is more than one story line and time is more chronological and more 'real time'. An example of this structure being used in a film is 'Inception'. By the end of the film, things are so out of control that the audience questions where the dream ends and where reality begins. It's all just a dream within a dream. Or is it?

Closed Structure
There is a definite ending and clear conclusion for the audience. There is a 'The end' and we know the whole story of what happens. The audience is aware that they are watching a complete story so therefore expect a likely end in mind. Unlike open structures, time is compressed and not with the 'real time'. Time and events are usually catered to the particular story and not linked with the outside world. The audiences usually identify narrative roles such as the hero, villain and victim. There tends to be a small number of central characters so the audience gets to know the character in depth. 

Circular Structure 
The narrative begins at the end events (often with the climax). The audience are taken on a journey arriving back where they started. A circular structure can mean that nothing can change and the story will always return to the base point so that the same happen again ad again. A popular example of film that follows the structure is Pulp Fiction. It's told out of chronological order and follows three interrelated stories that all link together at the ends

Economics of horror films

The genre of horror is known for producing low budget, high quality popular films. Jeremy Gardner, a director said that fans of horror films are more interested in how the film will affect them than seeing the movie stars. Therefore horrors can focus on provoking a reaction than on expensive casting choices.

On Hypable.com's '20 low budget movies that became massive blockbusters' list, eight out of the twenty were horror films. The first being a huge horror favourite 'Halloween' was made on a budget of $325k and made more than triple that bringing in $47 million. Others that featured in the list are:

Friday the 13th, Budget: $500k Box Office: $59M
The Purge, Budget: $3M Box Office: $89M 
Night of the Living Dead, Budget: $114k Box Office: $42M
The Conjuring, Budget: $20M Box Office:$318M
The Blair Witch Project, Budget: $60K Box Office: $248M
Saw, Budget: $1.2M Box Office: $103M

The most profitable film ever made based on return on investment is Paranormal Activity. It has a small budget of $15K and in the box office made $193M. It made 12 times its budget and has successfully had 5 other films made surrounding it. 

This shows that horror films don't require huge budgets in order to be successful. They can be simply made yet still be effective. 

Uses and Gratifications and Why We Like Watching Horror Films

The 'Uses and Gratifications' theory is an approach to understanding why and how people actively seek out specific media to satisfy specific needs. The theory is used to understand mass communication and focuses on the consumer or audience. It states that all media is consumed to fulfil a need. These needs include:

Surveillance - This involves people feeling safer and more secure knowing what things are going on around them
Horror Genre Example: If a viewer was to watch a film in which a serial killer in going around in a ordinary town they would feel that they would be able to handle a situation similar to that if it happened.

Personal Identity - This is the need for the viewer to develop their identity through the use of characters in the media. They adopt desirable characteristics that they think will help better them
Horror Genre Example: If the protagonist in a horror film escapes from a serial killer they have shown bravery so the viewer may want to mirror this act of bravery in their own life.

Personal Relationships - Films are a media type that is considered a social activity as many attend the cinema with each other. This feels a need in that people have watched something together its like they've experienced it together.
Horror Genre Example: Typically in a horror film a character is killed that the audience have grown an emotional attachment to, therefore the viewers emotionally share the tragic experience.

Escapism - is considered the most common need and involves the viewer 'escaping' from the reality of their everyday life as maybe a character in the film. 
Horror Genre Example: The audience can imagine themselves as maybe the villain in the horror film as that is a character they are unlikely to experience in their regular lives.

So why do we like watching horror films?

It's obvious we watch them to be frightened as we get a thrill out of it. When we feel the emotion of being frightened the Amygdala which is a section of the brain that is responsible for detecting fear and preparing for emergency events triggers the 'fight or flight' response which is physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack or threat to survival. Adrenaline pumps around the body and this happens when watching horror films as the amygdala detected fear. 

According to Dr. Jeffrey Goldstein "People go to horror films because they want to be frightened or they wouldn't do it twice. People choose entertainment as they want it to affect them for example people pick comedy films as they want to laugh so people pick horrors as they want to scared and feel the thrill. Horrors have a big effect and they must provide a resolution. Following the usual stereotype "the bad guy" gets it. Although the images are disturbing, the audience has the ability to pay attention and control what effect it has on them emotionally and in other ways.

Dr Glenn Walters had said there are 3 different primary factors that make horror films alluring. The three factors are:

• Tension - this is generated by suspense mystery, terror, shock and gore
• Relevance - the audience may relate to personal relevance, cultural meaningfulness and the fear of death
• Unrealism - this contradicts the second factor, but it's a way for the audience to escape.

Walters also looked at the psychological study by Haidt, McCauley and Rozin which is where they showed college students three documentaries. They included cows being slaughtered, a live monkey having its skulls cracked open with a hammer and a child's facial skin being turned inside out in preparation for surgery. 90% of the students turned the videos off before they reached the end, however many of them said they'd think nothing of paying money to see a horror film that includes more than what was featured in the documentary. The conclusion of this was that McCauley discovered that most people who view horror films understand that the events are unreal which furnishes them with psychological distance from the horror portrayed in film.

Possible Effects of Horror Films

The media has become a huge part of our lives and a part of our daily routine. The first thing we do when we wake up is check social media and the last thing we do before we go to bed is check social media. However it's not the only type of media that has a strong effect on us. We go the cinema as a form or entertainment as well as from the comfort of our own homes. We easily pick and learn from people around us as well as things we watch including films. They can have many effects on us whether that be positive or negative. Horror may be considered a negative genre of film as typically negative events occur from serial killers, the arrival of the devil or a zombie apocalypse. 

A possible effect that the genre of Horror could have on its audience is imitation. Imitation is the action of using someone or something as model. Audiences could easily imitate actions of characters shown in horror films and mirror them in real life. A true life example that took place due to watching 'American Psycho'. In 2004, Michael Hernandez aged 14, stabbed his classmate to death after imitating behaviour from the serial killers in American Psycho and The Silence of The Lambs.

Another possible effect of watching horror films could Catharsis. Catharsis is a Greek term that Aristotle used  to describe the performing arts for purging emotions. It is the process of releasing and thereby providing relief from strong or repressed emotions. Watching a horror allows people to escape from the real world and the reality of their lives. They are distracted from their issues and problems that are happening in the world. As the audience feels scared and frightened they release their emotions through this and feel a sense of relief afterwards. Psychologist Freud suggested that horror was appealing because it traffics in 'thoughts and feelings that have been repressed by the ego but seem vaguely familiar'. 

Desensitisation is when the amount of anxiety is reduced by gradually getting used to the object or the situation which causes fear. In terms of media, audiences' reactions have become weaker in terms of reactions to the amount of exposure to violence, death and sex. As some horror films such as the slasher sub-genre contain lots of violence and gore, audiences have slowly become less and less disgusted and shocked by the gruesome acts. The hypodermic syringe model theory suggest that this has happened due to the fact it has simply been accepted by audiences. If the media say something is violent or exposed to us we accept this and as time goes by we become more accustomed to seeing or hearing about violence, death and sex. 

Another possible effect of horror films is cultivation differential also known as Mean World syndrome. Mean World Syndrome is a term made by George Gobner to describe how violence related content of mass media makes audiences believe the world is more dangerous than it actually is. The cultivation theory examines the long-term effects of television and suggests that the film industry distort and cultivates reality. Heavy exposure of horror films could lead audiences to believe that the events of the film are happening in the real world. For example for so many years in horror films, events tend to take place when its dark and night in secluded areas so people have grown to have a fear or dark places such as dark alleys because they've had a negative representation in slasher films for example. Also apocalyptic horror films have lead many to believe that there could be a zombie apocalypse where people have gone to extremes to prepare for this. So this has contribute to cultivating the way society thinks.  

Horror films could also be triggering to audiences such as giving people anxiety or triggering schizophrenia. This is rather rare but their have been reported cases. Some may say there are no long term effects of horror films as we all know that they are fake and not reality. However is this really the case with all the previously discussed effects?

Horror Through the Decades

 According to Wikipedia Horror films are 'Horror is a film genre seeking to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's primal fears.'

The first ever horror film was created by film pioneer Georges Melies in the late 1890s as is best known as Le Manoir du Diable. It was a short silent film that was a brief sketch in the style of a theatrical comic fantasy that tell the story of an encounter with Devil. 

Before the 1930s horror was not called horror it was described as Gothic or melodramatic. The 1930s was a decade where many significant films were produced and 1939 in particular was considered to be one of the biggest years in Hollywood. 

The 1930s was filled with political turmoil and economic problems due to the Great Depression and Europe dealing with the fallout out of World War I. The uncertainty of what was to come for the era lead to a popularity of fantastical, escapist fare meaning people wanted to escape reality and retreat to fantasy. This made Universal horror films highly successful. Films such as Frankenstein directed by James Whale and Dracula by Tod Browning were very popular and remain infamous today.

The 1950s was the introduction of the television so studios and companies were determined to put audiences back into the theatre. They began to present films using widescreen and big-approach methods such as Cinemascope, VistaVision and Cinerama. With an interest in science from the atomic bomb that stemmed from the Cold war in 1945, there was an increased interest in outer-space and the genre of Science-Fiction was born. As studios were more interested in making science-fiction and challenging the new television, horror proved to be less important and became B-Movies. B-movies were low budget films or inferior quality made to be shown in cinemas as support for the main film. Horror and science-fiction were combined together and many successful films were produced such as 'The incredible Shrinking Man'.

Many films were produced during the 1960s and the horror genre was its best. The 60s were a time of change and there was a big change in what people perceived as scary/horrible. This was due to the fact two world wars had passed and there was a rethink in everything from hemlines to homosexuality. Taboo, sex and violence were perceived in new ways and shown on cinema screens. Psychological horrors were made beyond the typical Dracula/Frankenstein style such as Psycho(1960) and The Birds(1963) by Alfred Hitchcock who was at the height of his career. At this time Great Britain began producing many horrors with the company Hammer Productions and they became known for their 'Hammer Horrors' one of the being 'Peeping Tom.'

The 1970/80s were money making decades for horror films. The infamous 'The Exorcist' directed by William Friednskin starring Linda Blair was released in '1973'. This decade was also the introduction to the sub genre of "Slasher" films which are films where there are a series of violent assaults or murders by an attacker armed with a knife or such. In 1978 Halloween was released and a precursor to slasher films. Cult films also became popular such as the very well known 'The Texas Chain saw Massacre'. The theme of children and family members being the villain dominated these decades and the idea of 'the enemy from within' was actually found inside your home. This was seen in 'The Shining' and 'The Stepford Wives'. More infamous films that were released during these decades were 'Night of the Living Dead', 'Carrie', 'Friday the 13th' and 'Child's Play' which started off the trend of dolls being featured as the enemy in horror. 

By the 1990s audiences were beginning to find horror hilarious rather than scary. Many did the opposite of what the genre was made to do and were unsuccessful however one that proved popular was 'Silence of the Lambs.' It was a psychological horror and was a sleeper hit that eventually received praise. It sparked a lot of controversy and has accusations of homophobia, transphobia and sexism and some believed that it shouldn't have received its 4 Oscars. Horrors began to become more realistic and there was increase in technology so they also became more advanced. One infamous example that took the realistic approach was 'The Blair Witch Project' released in 1999. Film critics said that the film was an embodiment of horror "modernising its ability to be all - encompassing in expressing fear of American Society." It was a psychological horror that was so realistic that there was a lot of controversy surveying whether the footage was real or made the film. Another infamous film of the 90s was Scream which was released in 1996 and was a crowd pleaser with a sequel being released the following year. It mocked previously made horror films and the stereotypes of the genre.

In the early 2000s the horror film making industry were hit hard after the tragic event of 9/11 as they struggled to come to terms with what was acceptable for public viewing. However they've picked up and have proven to be a very successful genre with 'Paranormal Activity' being the most profitable film made. Horror films have varied in terms of sub-genres, however psychological and paranormal films have been very popular. For example 'The Babadook,' 'The Conjuring' and 'Insidious' Horror films have become more realistic introducing the theme of theme of 'the fear of the unknown'. Many TV Series' have become horror inspired and are very successful such as 'American Horror Story', 'Scream Queens' and 'The Walking Dead'.

Short Films

Firstly what is a short film? A short film is classed as a 'short' if its under 40 minutes. They are usually made with a low budget and have a simple idea and plot line. Many are filmed in one location within a short period of time and tend to deploy the Tordov plot structure. The genre can be identified easier and a lot quicker and a lot of short films tend to have a twist at the end. The

I think one of the elements of a good short film is a simple yet intriguing story line. This is due to the fact the film is short so there may not be enough room for viewers to understand a complex story line meaning they may not find it enjoyable. Another key element to making a good short film is having a twist at the end so it is unpredictable therefore the audience is kept on their toes. Also having a cliffhanger similarly to longer films, tv shows and even books is always more gripping as it leaves the audience with questions and lets them make up idea's of their own.

A short horror film that I watched is The Smiling Man. 

I thought it was a very good and well put together the music intensified as the film progressed which made made a large contribution to the tension. The villain who is the smiling man was only slightly revealed throughout the film until the end where we saw his full body this also created tension and mystery as I was curious as to who was in the house. It featured a child who was being curious, blood and death which are typical features of a horror film. It was also set in it a typical location and wasn't dark and gloomy like your typical horror film. It cleverly used no speech but I still understood what was happening in the film and the visuals completely told the story. 

The Task

Our task this year is to create a short horror film. It must last approximately five minutes and can made up of live action or animation or even a combination of both. Alongside the film we may produce two of the following three options:

• a poster for the film
• a radio trailer for the film
• a film magazine review page featuring the film

By watching, researching and learning about the theory, history and general knowledge of horror films I hope to produce a great piece.

The Women in the Masks