Sight and Sound Magazine Article - Dark Waters - links to Japanese myth and The Ring

Sight and Sound Magazine Article - Dark Waters - links to Japanese myth and The Ring

(Page 32) 'no sense of closure or conclusion, no banishment or laying to rest of the undead'. The undead is similar to the Japanese ghosts, Onryo, who died a traumatic death and seek revenge. 'Japanese horror movies end with a suggestion that the spirit still remains at large'. This is similar to the ending of The Ring where the curse of the videotape/Samara is still at large. 'The Japanese don't regard spirits only as enemies, but as beings that co-exist with this world of ours'. This is a belief that many Japanese have of Onryo today. Films that involve water are designed to keep the horror fluid instead of the solid for that is traditionally seen in Western horrors.

(Page 36) 'The soul of a person, the souls of ancestors and the mysterious invisible powers which are perhaps closer to gods'. Japanese horror can be traced back to different beliefs to that of Western culture. 'Japanese ghosts are supposed to appear wherever the water exists...strong connection between water and the supernatural'. 

Relevant research from the book: Asia Shock by Patrick Galloway

Relevant research from the book: Asia Shock by Patrick Galloway

(Page 76) Technology is used as a warning, like in other Asian films such as Phone. In The Ring, the technology featured is the cursed videotape which allows the spirit inside to haunt the viewer.

(Page 78 and 79) 'Sadako [Samara] grabs Reiko's [Rachel's] forearm...black, burn-like finger marks where the ghost had touched her'. The character of Samara is made to look like a 'more traditional vengeful Japanese ghost'. The fear is created through a 'mixture of biology and the supernatural'.

PRIMARY RESEARCH - FILM SEQUENCE ANALYSIS

PRIMARY RESEARCH - FILM SEQUENCE ANALYSIS

FILM TITLE: The Blair Witch Project

SEQUENCE TIME CODE:  1:07:10-1:14:14

SOURCE: DVD 

(Image 1) The use of reflexive filming and handheld camera give the spectator a unique experience as they feel as though they are present in the frame. The BCU allows the character's emotions and distress to clearly be seen, helping the spectator to empathise with their fear.

(Image 2) The bloodshot eyes indicate her lack of sleep and the level of her distress. The threat is still not present in the frame and it builds the level of fear for the spectator as it is an unknown presence.

(Image 3) The house is seen via the handheld camera but this also seems to be in first person from the perspective of the spectator, making them feel as though they are present. The house has only just been found because the spirit has led them to it, and windows have marks in that indicate a ritualistic haunting. The hauntings are similar to those of other documented witchcraft myths.

(Image 4) The noose is present in the frame to remind us that the woman accused of witchcraft, Elly Kedward, was hung and this must be near to where she died. This is also symbolic because the presence of the noose shows that the spirit is occupying the house and is probably responsible for the disappearance of the others.

(Image 5) The hand prints show a number of victims that the Blair Witch has taken and they explain the disappearances.

(Image 6) The handheld camera is dropped on the floor> shows that 1st person/us has been attacked. Last known victim of Blair Witch. Unresolved cliffhanger.

PRIMARY RESEARCH - FILM SEQUENCE ANALYSIS

PRIMARY RESEARCH - FILM SEQUENCE ANALYSIS

FILM TITLE: The Ring

SEQUENCE TIME CODE: 47:20-53:20 

SOURCE: DVD 

(Image 1) The mother is in the bedroom of her child whilst the minor music and rain can be heard in the background. This foreshadows the appearance of  Samara and the child being found watching the tape. 

(Image 2) As the water is poured, the rain continues in the background, symbolising danger involving water. After the water has been poured, the shot lingers and continues to focus on the jug strengthening this theory. Water occurs in some Asian myths and can be linked to spirits such as Onryo aka the vengeful spirit. The phone also reminds the audience of the danger as that is the origin of the threatening voice which says seven days.

(Image 3) The choking on the water shows the impending threat from Samara, who is seeking revenge for her drowning in the well. The shot following this emphasises the glass of water. Comment on the link to Dark Waters film.

(Image 4) The electrode of  an old EEG was pulled out of Rachel's throat during her choking session. The electrode is one that was used on Samara when she was alive and this is her way of seeking revenge, by inflicting her suffering on others.

 

(Image 5) The water begins to dribble out of the phone as a warning that Samara is nearby. Also, the phone combined with the water is linked to the voice that says seven days and it is linked to Samara herself.

(Image 6) Samara appears in the child's bedroom and this symbolises her hunger for revenge by forcing the boy to watch the tape. The water around her is to indicate that she has come  from the well in which she died. Her appearance reminds Rachel of her impending doom.

(Image 7) The animal-like and supernatural behaviour causes the spectator to feel scared because the behaviour is inhumane and therefore unpredictable. The patches of rotting flesh remind us of the fact that Samara is dead and tat she spirit remains vengeful.When her arm makes contact with Rachel's, she plants memories of her suffering in Rachel's mind.

(Image 8) Rachel wakes up believing it is a dream but is reminded that Samara has supernatural powers which left an animal-like mark on her arm. After realising that it was real, Rachel remembers the danger and rushes to check on her son who is sat watching the tape after being forced by Samara.

(Image 9) The faces of the characters in the photos have now blurred to symbolised that they have been cursed as a direct result of seeing/experiencing Samara's spiritual hauntings.

Sinister DVD Extra Experiment

Sinister DVD Extra

This feature was part of the bonus content from the DVD of my focus film Sinister.  Professor Brendan Walker is a credible scientist who has spent decades researching how emotions can affect our bodies and looking for physical ways to measure them. This credibility makes this experiment a valid source for my project. During the experiment, various spectators of the film Sinister are examined for responses to fear. Their body’s response to fear is measured throughout the film by monitoring heart rate, skin temperature and sweat production which are all closely linked to feeling scared.

Relevant research from the book: The Horror Reader by Ken Gelder

Relevant research from the book: The Horror Reader by Ken Gelder

(Page 84) Imagination and violent desires often originate from mythological roots or from an unfulfilled desire.Monsters we considered to be anything with missing or additional body parts which are why they are considered separate from humans.

(Page 87 and 88) Monstrous births were considered to be 'warnings to the public'.

(Page 97 and 98) Lack of personal profiles and only unfounded crimes make it difficult to catch a serial killer or predict their next movements, so it is often too late to stop the killings from occurring. Traditionally, a serial killer is given its name when they have claimed 'at least four victims over a greater period than seventy-two hours...distributing the murders repetitively and serially over time'.

(Page 100) The killer attempts to reconstruct society through pleasure killing and this creates the new social order desired by the serial killer.

(Page 148 and 149) The dehumanisation of a monster means that it doesn't follow traditional rules but instead creates its own rules. The monster cannot coexist in harmony society without a conflict at some stage. The presence of a curse complicates matters because society believes that they can maintain control when in reality the higher powers of religion e.g. gods and spirits actually have the control.

(Page 356) The spirit appears often in a dismembered/disembodied form and it is neither alive or dead, this heightens its power.

Other key points not specifically related to this book:

The killer usually has one strong motive that cannot be tampered with i.e there is no way of persuading the killer to abandon its motive. 

A traditional horror ending usually has a cliffhanger of some description to show the spectator that the threat is still present and unstoppable.

Relevant research from the book: Horror Films by Colin Odell and Michelle LeBlanc

Relevant research from the book: Horror Films by Colin Odell and Michelle LeBlanc

(Page 14) Horror films tend to follow the same three-step structure: 'order, chaos and reconstruction'. The reconstruction is where the monster creates a new order. Generally speaking, the monster tries to disrupt the current order and this causes fear and as changes in the situation occur, the audience is disorientated and this causes more fear.

(Page 15) 'Nature represents a primal fear. It is chaotic, unpredictable and...violent'.

(Page 16 and 17) 'The supernatural monster is either a fantastical bogeyman that cannot rationally exist...or it can represent religious spirituality that can affect a person's soul'. Supernatural is based on folklore and religious mythologies, and some of these tales seem real meaning that there is still some question to whether they exist/existed. The film usually expands, develops and defies traditional rules and this makes the supernatural concepts more scary and unpredictable for the spectator. Demonic possession concepts are harder to dismiss because they involve a 'violation of the body and the soul'. These concepts discover unknown worlds and can cause the spectator's 'imagination to run riot'.

Psychological approaches in horror are one of the most effective because the killer/monster is placed in the real world. The killer can have no logical explanation or cause for their actions and this makes it harder for the spectator to understand them. Sometimes the filmmaker relies on partially true/true stories and this emphasises to the spectator that can and did occur in reality as well as fiction and this increases the fear levels.

(Page 29) Europe has had a history of cultures and beliefs and this has lead to some clashes over time. Various wars, genocides and ordered killings were a result of religious disagreements and this inspired horrors like Blair Witch.

(Page 62 Witchcraft was a common and widespread belief in Western Middle Age culture and that belief continues to be remembered cinematically today.

(Page 100) Horror in America usually follows 'a subdued, creepy and emotionally driven story with only moderately explicit scenes'.Examples of this are The Ring and Blair Witch which rely on mainly psychological scares to fit with a current worldwide horror trend.

(Page 151) The Ring reminds us of the dangers of technological determinism through the use of technology-based horror.

(Page 184 and 185) The Ring also explores the psychological horror of humans behaving in an alien way e.g. through unnatural movements.'The lack of explanation and lingering dread' means that even survival cannot give 'a happy ending in Samara's world of madness and misery.'

Relevant research from the book: Horror by Mark Jancovich

Relevant research from the book: Horror by Mark Jancovich

(Page 63) Some American tales that are portrayed in films are inspired by the recent history of the Cold War. For example, The Thing (1951) is 'as much concerned with the conflicts among its American characters as it is with the conflict between the Americans and the alien being'. Soldiers were seen as a particular threat because their actions tend to originate from practical knowledge and past experiences rather than rational scientific knowledge. In history, the shoot and kill approach has not always been effective and this may be why soldiers are seen to be unreliable. Another key point is that soldiers are the main defence of a country and if that defence isn't enough to suppress the threat, the country then feels overwhelmed by the danger posed.

(Page 94) Another belief that goes back many centuries is the concept of possession as seen in films like Rosemary's Baby and Night of the Living Dead. This stems from the Catholic Church's ideas about evil and the devil, and this was effective in America especially because the majority of the population was Christian. Possessed children were often depicted in films because they are normally seen as 'a natural innocent who is unaccountably invaded by evil forces'. The child can then harbour entities like the devil and this is a strong juxtaposing image. Psychology was also starting to become a popular topic and possession was a useful way of representing the instability of consciousness and identity.

(Page 97) Some films such as The Exorcist and The Omen highlight the 'destruction of society' through the ignorance of certain authoritative figures.

(Page 104-107) The subject of serial killing has been present in society for a long period of time especially the serial killings of certain groups e.g teenagers, women and prostitutes. Additionally, the serial killers wear masks to 'deny the audience access to the personal features of a human face and create the impression of anonymity'and this lack of understanding increases fear.The fictional serial killers of today have been inspired by real historic cases, for example, Jack the Ripper, and they are said to be 'the essence of pure evil'. Real life killings could arguably be a desire for social change, however, as a society, we only see the need to 'repress' the monster and we see 'no need to change the way we live as a society'. So serial killing myths could originate from society's fear of responding to social change. Serial killers, therefore, continue to thrive because of their 'lack of conscious motivation, and apparent relentless powers of what seems to be a largely incomprehensible and compulsive logic of behaviour'.

Blair Witch Project Mockumentary- The Curse of the Blair Witch

Blair Witch Project Mockumentary- The Curse of the Blair Witch

The Blair Witch film is an entirely fictional and is not based on any serious myths. To accompany the film, as part of the bonus features, the filmmakers decided to make a mockumentary in order to extend the horror. For the mockumentary, the filmmakers continued the concept of Blair Witch and brought it into the 'real-world'. 

The fictional myth is based on a woman named Elly Kedward who was accused of witchcraft by several children in Blair, Maryland in 1785. She was found guilty and was banished to Black Woods Forest in the middle of winter where she was hung and left to die from exposure, One year later, half of the town's children and all of the accusers disappeared.

The mockumentary continues to represent the story of Blair Witch as fact and this has the potential to extend the horror psychologically for the spectator. The mockumentary is shot in a participatory/reflexive style with a strong focus on the spectator. Its reflexive nature forces the spectator to consider the filmmaking and possible issues with being able to film the relevant footage.

The supposed realism of the story is strengthened throughout by the filmmakers' clever use of documentary conventions. The bulk of the footage is interviews with the 'victims' and 'family members' , who are played by actors, as well as the producers. This is then combined with archive pictures and videos, staged investigations, false evidence and handheld camerawork in order to create strong present effects. Towards the end of the mockumentary, the filmmakers even include fake news stories, which the spectator would usually associate with true stories, and pairs them with a fictitious missing person poster.  By using these features, the filmmaker creates a constructed view of the 'real-world' and concept of Blair Witch is then placed into the spectator's everyday surroundings, thus extending the horror beyond the screen. 

PRIMARY RESEARCH - FILM SEQUENCE ANALYSIS

  PRIMARY RESEARCH - FILM SEQUENCE ANALYSIS

FILM TITLE: Sinister 

SEQUENCE TIME CODE: 59:48-1:07:53 

SOURCE: DVD 

(Image 1) The suspenseful music using crescendo and accelerando. This creates fear through anticipation>fight or flight response (partial). 

(Image 2) ECU of camera lense>restricted camerawork>restricted information>the unknown. 

(Image 3) Darkness>associated with evil and a common phobia. The question raised of who is filming>places spectator into the scene using POV. 

(Image 4) Predatory view of the family created by blocking and this is out of place in a conventional family-oriented community. Relatability to the casual family household. 

(Image 5) Rapidly altering pitches after relatively low sound frequency> jumpscare due to the sudden confronting image of the dead body on the floor>out of place in the garden>unusual to mow the lawn in the dark (erratic behaviour). 

(Image 6) Symbol (décor) represents the worship of a Babylonian, pagan deity> Bughuul (known in the film as Mr Boogie/Eater of children) but this is strongly connected to a true pagan deity known as Moloch> both are responsible for sacrificial rituals involving children. The concept of the deity in this film is to take the souls of the children by possessing them and killing their family by using them. The deity does this in order to survive. 

(Image 7) Messy cuts>in stability> fear due to uncertainty. Pulse like music similar to the human heartbeat fight or flight reaction. 

(Image 8) A symbolism of the hanging family shining onto his body>foreshadows danger>his shadow being bigger than him represents the big threat. 

(Image 9) A complete lack of non-diegetic soundtrack> almost no diegetic sound only creaks of floorboard etc... builds fear. Music begins once an isolated sound occurs> big increase in tension. 

(Image 10) Sudden flux in music to combine with a sudden appearance of the ghost face. A character is unaware=strong dramatic irony.