5 Paragraph Essay | Genre Theorists

In this essay, I will be discussing how the following genre theorists: Christian Metz, Rick Altman, Nicholas Abercrombie, Steve Neale & Daniel Chandler, are used in last year’s horror trailers. The trailer I will be talking about is The Collector, by the production group Jumpscare.


Christian Metz, theorist for genre characteristics. He claims there are four stages to the genre of film: Experimental stage, classic stage, parody stage & deconstruction. The experimental stage is where the genre is being identified. Then it’s the classic stage, once the all the conventions have been set in the ground and have been identified as the genre.  After the classical stage, it’s the parody stage, this is where they start taking the genre and making it comedic, and, they tend to re-enact scenes from the classical stage. The deconstruction stage is the stage where they start implanting completely new conventions into the genre, they usually team with other sub-genres. Based on the trailer I watched, I would say that it is in the classical stage. I could clearly see the conventions of horror used. I’m guessing it is the genre of slasher, based on the props and costumes.

Rick Altman, theorist who says each genre of film gives a set of pleasures to the audience. This can be through visceral, emotional or intellectual feelings.  If the audience has any of these pleasures they will most likely go and see the sequel to the film. Visceral pleasure is the feeling in your gut, a physical feeling. Whereas intellectual will make you think about what you just saw. Emotional, plays with your feelings, like if it makes you happy or sad. Intellectual pleasure is usually used in thrillers & mystery’s. Many horror films have the visceral pleasures, like being on a roller coaster, also called kinetic speed. The trailer I watched, didn’t give me any visceral pleasures, but it did make me feel a bit uneasy, especially when it was very quiet.  And it makes you think, when there are cuts to black.

Nicholas Abercrombie, talks about genre is dismantling, the boundaries are becoming more permeable. Meaning that multiple genres are coming together and mixing with others. With horror, this keeps it exciting for the audience, as there are new things coming. Abercrombie says that genres are using other conventions not in their genre. In the trailer, I won’t say that there was dismantling of the genre.

Steve Neale, talks about repetition and differences in genre. He says film and genre is defined by how much it links to its conventions and how much it subverts them. And overtime the horror conventions will evolve, people have become desensitized to the same conventions repeatedly. Which is why horror films are subverting the conventions slightly.


Daniel Chandler, he says that there are conventions in the genre. But they aren’t always followed. But these conventions are familiar. People recognise the type of conventions and characteristics of the genre. The way the conventions are varied is key. The conventions of slasher were slightly followed, but not completely, as I was expecting more conventions from the genre of slasher, like a weapon like a knife or some sort of a blade.

Comments

  1. ctkmedia25 September 2017 at 08:24

    " Based on the trailer I watched, I would say that it is in the classical stage. I could clearly see the conventions of horror used. I’m guessing it is the genre of slasher, based on the props and costumes." - this is your POINT and it is correct, but WHAT specific detail MES, CAM, EDIT or SOUND as to the EXAMPLES. This means you cannot ANALYSIS of HOW the evidence of MES, Cam, Edit or Sound functions as conventions of Classic Horror.

    "The trailer I watched, didn’t give me any visceral pleasures, but it did make me feel a bit uneasy, especially when it was very quiet. And it makes you think, when there are cuts to black." - again, this is your POINT - what EDIT evidence should there be or PROPS or MAKE UP specifics would have created this? WHY (A) would this create Visc pleasure and why are these so important to a horror films success?

    "Abercrombie says that genres are using other conventions not in their genre. In the trailer, I won’t say that there was dismantling of the genre". - There is no PEorA here. How effective is this then according to the reasons for Genre Hybridity we discussed in class with Warm Bodies and Twilight and Alien? What EXAMPLES are you basing this opinion on?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

3 Analysis of existing Horror Trailers

3 Analysis of existing Horror Trailers Psychological: Insidious In the beginning there was use of close ups. Also different angles from low to high to show the expressions of the characters face. Establishing shots to show the outside and view of the house, this makes the audience feel welcomed into the scene. There were shots of the family before it turned the other way. Zoom shots to put emphasis on what's going on. The use of sound also played a big role.Diegetic sounds that goes along with the editing pace. This creates tension also when the sound goes along with the metronome it ticks along at the speed.Most of the sounds are dark and gloomy. Also the sound and editing worked together. The use of multiple clips together, and at a fast pace indicates that it was montage like. The trailer had aspects of stereotypical views as the woman screamed. Fast paced action to end with and slow paced to start with, that use of contrasting techniques allows for us to understand ...
Read more

Audience Theory Essay

Audience theory There are two views on the audience theory: Mass Audience, which is passive. This is considered dangerous as it has the power to influence the masses. Then the other view is the Active audience theory, which is interpreted differently compared to the Mass Audience. Active audiences are open to interpretation. I will be applying the audience theory to my summer trailer. Looking at the effects model and comparing it to my trailer. Reception theory, Cultivation Theory, Uses & Gratification Theory, Copycat Theory, Desensitization  Theory, Catharsis & Suspension of Disbelief. These are the theories that are apart of the Audience Theory. First theory I will be talking about is the Copycat theory. This theory refers to how the audience can be influenced and be affected by the media I think that this theory is more suited to other genres than horror because the protagonist is normally the victim in horror movies, such as the sub-genre Slasher, which includ...
Read more

5 Paragraph Essay | Narrative Theorists

30 Min timed essay (Narrative Theory) For this essay, I will be looking at my summer trailer. Narrative is defined as a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship occurring in time. I will be looking at 5 narrative theorists in this essay. I’ll be discussing about the following: Tzetvan Todorov, Claude Levi-Strauss, Roland Barthes, Vladimir Propp & Pam Cook. Todorov’s theory, talks about a three-act structure in narrative. This includes Equilibrium, Disequilibrium and Resolution. As our summer trailer was only a trailer, we did not include the resolution, as it will just spoil the film. Many other trailers do not show the resolution too. The equilibrium was displayed at the beginning of our trailer, for a few seconds, then disequilibrium. Also known as the disruption. The part where things begin to go downhill, for our trailer it was when the people started going missing and flying into the air. Then as the disequilibrium continues, we had a montage. The next theoris...
Read more