katherine horton-smith

propp's character theory, and modern day character theory

Vladimir Propp's character theory breaks down characters into specific groups based on certain characteristics that are present with in folk tales. This theory is used to identify characters within a story which help to construct the narrative and drive the story. The characters are broken down into eight groups; the hero (the character who generally leads the narrative since the story told is about them), the villain (fights against the hero and makes the audience favour the hero), the donor (gives the hero some sort advice or weapon to help him complete the quest), the helper/sidekick (supports the hero and appears in the critical moments), the princess (acts as the reward for the hero and the object of the villain's plots, she usually gains a relationship with the hero), the dispatcher (responsible for giving the hero his/her mission), the false hero (the one who pretends to be the hero in order to gain a reward) and the Princess' father (who acts to reward the hero for his effort).

A more modern day of explaining character theory according to horror films in specifically include teenage characters; the characters have one main personality trait. These usually are; the nerd, the jock, the whore, the virgin and the fool. With the jock and the whore having some sort of relationship and the nerd and the virgin gaining a relationship. The fool is also known as the irritating guy who is usually addicted to drugs or alcohol and sometimes becomes the protagonist or dies off very quickly. The protagonist in the film is usually mislead to be the nerd or the jock but it is nearly always the virgin. The whore, sometimes known as the sex appeal, is usually the first to be killed off and usually is a dumb, promiscuous blonde.

Horror Film Directors

Peter Jackson - Bad Taste, Dead Alive

Alfred Hitchcock - Psycho, The Birds, Rear Window

Stanley Kubrick - The Shining, A Clockwork Orange, 2001 A Space Odyssey

Neil Marshall - Dog Soldiers, The Descent

John Carpenter - Halloween,The Thing, The Ward

Lucio Fulci - Zombie 11, The Beyond, City of the Living Dead

Wes Craven - Last House On The Left, The Hills Have Eyes, Scream

Tobe Hooper - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Poltergeist

Sam Raimi - The Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, Army Of Darkness

George Romero - Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead

The Importance of Music and Background Score in Horror Films

Each movie, according to its story and screenplay, demands a different kind of soundtrack and sound effects. Music and sound effects has significant role in horror films. Music incites many emotions in our subconscious mind; images are blank without music or dialogue and they become more effective with the right kind of music. It is important to have good soundtrack in horror films which will add to the tension on screen. There is more to horror films than just scary visuals and good make-up. The pace of action in horror films can be increased with fast paced music. When visuals start to affirm things in front of your eyes, it is music which suggests the possible result. Even before introducing any character which cause fear in you, the suggestive music will give you a picture of how scary that being can be therefore increasing the fear. Sound effects can be used to give additional effect to the soundtrack which heightens the drama.

Many films, such as jaws, demand on the music to make the film scary. The flat score adds to the tension of the film, and without this music the clip would not be as effective. Many pieces of music act as signifiers in the film; in jaws, you know there will be an attack when you hear the score beginning. Some films now though have realised that this theory can limit the effective tension that a film could achieve. Such new films, like the women in black, uses this principle of using no music when the actual scary clip happens, it uses the music to build up the tension before the scene and uses sound effects to create the fear in the audience, this means the audience least expect when they will be scared because the music they are relying on to tell them misleads them.

Supernatural Horror

Supernatural horror has its roots in folklore and religious traditions on death, the afterlife, evil, the demonic and the principle of the evil being embodied. These were manifested in stories of witches, vampires, werewolves, ghosts and demonic pacts. Supernatural horrors usually stick to starting of with an equilibrium, followed by a disequilibrium then finishing with a new equilibrium, but this sometimes changes due to certain circumstances. Location used within supernatural horrors tend to be based in places such as; churches, where there is a relation to the supernatural and christ, old houses/barns/cabins, these are usually deserted, dark and old, Also there is usually woods/fields/country roads, which are usually deserted and associated with strange surroundings and usually include trees, animals and birds. A handheld camera is a popular camera that is used while filming it positions the consumer to be on the side of the protagonist and makes it seem like you are there in the film which usually means consumers develop catharsis. Other camera shots used are quick zooms and jump cuts which can create tension, pace and puts the consumer on edge.

Horror Film Genre Codes And Conventions

Horror films are unsettling films that are designed to, frighten and panic us, cause dread and alarm, invoke our hidden worst fears, captivate and entertain us in a cathartic experience and they often conclude in a terrifying shocking finale. Many themes used in horror films are nightmares, vulnerability, alienation, revulsions, terror of the unknown, fear of death, loss of identity and the big brother idea (where there is someone controlling what you do, think or say). There is always a lead character that often results as the survivor in the film known as the protagonist. The killer/monster often has a trademark characteristic in the way he kills, for example the people he kills or the weapon he uses. The idea of the film is usually a protagonist against an antagonist (good against evil). Originally the outcome is that the good person always survives or deaf eats the bad gay. This isn't always the case now because the twist of the evil winning or not being completely defeated is becoming more and more popular in modern day film.

Evaluation of questionnaire for main task

from my questionnaire I found that the film genre that my target audience would be most likely to see in the cinema was horror, with the percentage being 52%; this means for my film to be widely accepted by my target audience I would have to make it a horror. This could be due to the success of horror films such as paranormal activity and the women in black, which are both supernatural horrors. To make my film more appealing to the target audience this means I will make my film a supernatural horror. Most of my target audience said they would prefer there to be a single protagonist in the film over multiple cast of main characters; with the results being 72% for a main protagonist over 28% for a cast of main characters. I believe this could be due to the influence of older films such as Indiana Jones and Lara Croft who have been influential characters on my target audiences due to the age of the films being popular throughout my target audiences youth. The main protagonist seemed to be more popular if they were female rather than male with 68% choosing a female protagonist over 32% who chose male. I believe this could be due to two main reasons, firstly for girls I believe that it could be due to the fact the female protagonist would be an influential role model for the teenage girl. Alternatively why some boys could of picked a female protagonist because they want to watch films with a sex appeal, such as transformers where Megan Fox is the sex appeal. 2D films came out as more popular than over 3D and Imax with 46% choosing 2D films, this could be due to the fact that some 3D films are cliched even with the development with new technologies most directors want to show off some aspects off it this means cinematography isn't always made to the best possible it is made to cater for 3D which can affect some films negatively. English speaking films are more appealing to my target audience with 86% of them saying they would rather see an English speaking film, this could be due to the fact most teenagers will not want to read the subtitles of a film for on average 2 hours because they find it harder to follow the narrative of the film. 77% of my target audience said that they preferred an open ended narrative to a film I believe this is more appealing to them because it gives them the chance to think of what would happen next and is also good for producers because it means that there is a chance for a sequel meaning more money can be made. My target audience said that they believe soundtrack is only sometimes important in films with the result being at 52%. I believe this could be because it depends on what the film genre is because in some genres, such as horror, silence can build a desired effect and give the scene a certain ambiance. 43% of my target audience that that the music genre of the soundtrack they believe is better depends on the genre of the film. This is true because classical music may not work as well in a comedy as it would in a horror.