Summer Horror Research:
Over the summer before we started our group project, as individuals, we had to research on the horror genre. we could do anything we please from a timeline, to a concept, to a story board; but the main idea was to research on the genre and gather some knowledge we could impart in our project . At this point we've gathered all our summer research and presented it in a form of a slideshow.
Essay On horror
This horror essay explains how females are dis-empowered in horror movies by males and society. In addition, this essay explains the male gaze, character, irrational voice, camera angles and editing. I showed these by analyzing key scenes from Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street. Nightmare on Elm Street was directed by Wes Craven in 1984. Halloween was directed by John Carpenter in 1978. Film is important to our identity because it shows how people perceive each other, for example, how men perceive women and how women perceive men, men see women as inferior to them, believe they have more power. However, women’s view on this could be different. Film plays an important role in society because it shows who takes the bigger and smaller role within society and we live according to that. It is important to explore the representation of women because some people don’t realise how men disempower women and make them feel weak; film shows us how women are disempowered by getting killed, not getting what they want, living by rules that only apply to them and not men, and be seen as sex objects for men. This shows us why films are good to explore in terms of how women are represented in movies.
Women are dis empowered in a scene on NOES; in this scene the female victim hears a man’s voice and goes outside to check it out. The killer Freddy. K is in power because Tina the victim follows his instructions. Once she sees Freddy.K and knows what’s coming for her she says “please God” which shows she has no power and needs God in whom she believes has power and can protect her. Freddy.K answers back “this is God” and runs after her; she can’t defend herself with anything and has no idea why Freddy wants to kill her. This then dis empowers Tina due to her lack of knowledge and the fact that she does not have a voice. This is presented because they are attempting to connote that women are not important in society to us and does not take a big role. The social message of the scene is that women and their bodies are controlled by men. This dis-empowers the women because it shows that they cannot control themselves and they have to get someone else to control them; however, men can be in control of themselves because they are not dependent on female characters.
In the scene in Halloween, the female character is dis-empowered because she commits a social sin (sex before marriage) and the killers believe that young girls that engage in such social sins should be punished and should not have the right to have sex whenever they want. This dis-empowers the females further because there is a rule for them to obey as well as not having a voice to use and fight back in order to get their own way. When the female character is murdered, she barely has any clothes on. This implies that men have power over the female body, and this shows that even words cannot defend her from the killer. Furthermore, another way this is dis-empowering to the female identity is that women are seen as objects that men use for sex. The social message given out here, therefore, suggest that men have control over women.
A way in which camera angles are used in order to show that women are dis-empowered is the application of P.O.V (point of view). P.O.V camera angle is clearly used when Michael is entering his sister’s room and is just about to kill her. The P.O.V camera angle would be dis-empowering to the female identity because we are convinced to witness the murder from the killer’s point of view, putting ourselves in the murderer’s shoes. This in turn, dis-empowers the female victim because it seems like she is being murdered by someone she doesn’t even know, which in this case, is the audience. This means the audience have authority over the female character, and the audience make her look powerless, weak and small. In addition to this, the audience watching the female character being murdered give a sense of power to the viewers that they are stronger and much more superior to the victim and her attempts to defend herself. Besides, even if the viewers are female, they are influenced to experience the murder scene as a male, hence, women are not only dis-empowered in films but appear to be dis-empowered in society.
The male gaze is revealed on the screen representing male desire. An example of the male gaze in Halloween is when Michael’s sister is brushing her hair half naked, we see parts of her body and her body is broken down into parts. This could potentially promote that men perceive women as sex objects and only observe a female body carelessly and not taking into account what is on her mind, but more focused on her physique. The male gaze dis-empowers the female identity and states that women are only present for sex and viewed as sex objects. The reason behind this is the view that the female identity cannot help but make a male think this way.
An example of the male gaze in NOES is when we see Tina from the killer’s point of view. When she comes outside to his voice (obeys his rules) she is half naked. We see this just before she gets killed and sets off outside to find the killer. This a male desire because most males will like that to happen to them. This is dis-empowering to females because it suggests that woman always listen and do what men want them to do, they don’t have a mind of their own, this basically makes them weak and shows that they have no voice. We see Tina getting killed from her boyfriend’s point of view but not Tina’s. This is also dis-empowering to the female identity because we don’t see Tina’s point of view when she is getting killed by Freddy.K, so this shows that she not as important as men and we don’t want to see her point of view, we avoid it. This could suggest that the female mind means nothing to men. Also they use a mid-shot to reveal her breast and kill her from there and not another part of her body like her leg.
The irrational voice is when a character makes inarticulate voices (screaming & crying), lack of control, purposeless and it’s linked to the body. The female voice in NOES is not taken to consideration because when Tina says “who the hell are you?” she wants authority however, no one listens to her. Also she says “somebody there” this shows lack of knowledge because they don’t know whose around them and if they are safe. Also she screams, so basically she can’t create words only sounds. This is dis=empowering to the female identity because the female voice don’t mean anything to men, or even the movie. The irrational voice in NOES is shown when she screams “NOO!” This could also mean that the female is trying to gain authority, and trying to be more powerful than the killer, however, it don’t seem to go the way she thought it would.
The female voice in Halloween shows that women have no authority, evidence to show this is when the female character says “where’s my beer?” she wanted a beer from her husband, however, he got killed for going and getting her one. This is dis-empowering to female identity because their voice is not taken to consideration and the killer believes males shouldn’t do what females want, her voice is not taken to consideration because she is a weak, and not so important character in the movie this could also be because she is a female, also she has to show parts of her body to get what she wants, however it’s still not successful, she still didn’t get her beer. Her voice is not taken to consideration because it suggests women have nothing valid to say. Another way the women are dis-empowered in the movie is when she makes gasping/sexual sound when she is getting killed, this could also suggest that women are only seen as objects and that they are only good for sex. The social message for this is that woman shouldn’t get what they want, there not as important as men and they are inferior to them. This is similar to the use of the female voice in NOES because in both horror movies when the female character is getting killed they make irrational voices, to show her words are meaningless and out of control, and can’t do anything to defend herself, even her actions don’t defend her from the killer.
Two shots that were put together was the long shot of Tina, where she is shown in a small figure and that Freddy could see her, however, she can’t see him. This shot it sutured with the shot of Freddy’s huge shadow that Tina sees. This could be dis-empowering to the female identity because it could suggest that females don’t take big role in society and men do, which makes them more powerful and makes the female feel smaller, and weaker.
Two shots that were sutured together in this clip (Beginning of Halloween) were her naked body and the shot of her bed. The meaning created through the juxtaposition of these two shots is that the bed is main place, where she committed the social sin. The meaning is created because the killer believes that young girls should not have sex before their married. However, the same rule doesn’t apply for the males. This is dis-empowering to women because it suggests that men can allow themselves to think that women are only good in bed and that women should be responsible for their own body. A further two shots that were sutured together in this clip were the high angle shot of the knife and the low angle shot of the female victim. The meaning created through juxtaposition of these two shot is that the female has a lower status than the knife, which is just an object. This meaning is created because women have a mind and voice but can’t use it, however, the knife doesn’t have a mind and voice yet it still has more power than her. This is dis-empowering to women because simple stuff even have more power than them, this makes them feel futile and good for nothing.
Women are dis empowered in a scene on NOES; in this scene the female victim hears a man’s voice and goes outside to check it out. The killer Freddy. K is in power because Tina the victim follows his instructions. Once she sees Freddy.K and knows what’s coming for her she says “please God” which shows she has no power and needs God in whom she believes has power and can protect her. Freddy.K answers back “this is God” and runs after her; she can’t defend herself with anything and has no idea why Freddy wants to kill her. This then dis empowers Tina due to her lack of knowledge and the fact that she does not have a voice. This is presented because they are attempting to connote that women are not important in society to us and does not take a big role. The social message of the scene is that women and their bodies are controlled by men. This dis-empowers the women because it shows that they cannot control themselves and they have to get someone else to control them; however, men can be in control of themselves because they are not dependent on female characters.
In the scene in Halloween, the female character is dis-empowered because she commits a social sin (sex before marriage) and the killers believe that young girls that engage in such social sins should be punished and should not have the right to have sex whenever they want. This dis-empowers the females further because there is a rule for them to obey as well as not having a voice to use and fight back in order to get their own way. When the female character is murdered, she barely has any clothes on. This implies that men have power over the female body, and this shows that even words cannot defend her from the killer. Furthermore, another way this is dis-empowering to the female identity is that women are seen as objects that men use for sex. The social message given out here, therefore, suggest that men have control over women.
A way in which camera angles are used in order to show that women are dis-empowered is the application of P.O.V (point of view). P.O.V camera angle is clearly used when Michael is entering his sister’s room and is just about to kill her. The P.O.V camera angle would be dis-empowering to the female identity because we are convinced to witness the murder from the killer’s point of view, putting ourselves in the murderer’s shoes. This in turn, dis-empowers the female victim because it seems like she is being murdered by someone she doesn’t even know, which in this case, is the audience. This means the audience have authority over the female character, and the audience make her look powerless, weak and small. In addition to this, the audience watching the female character being murdered give a sense of power to the viewers that they are stronger and much more superior to the victim and her attempts to defend herself. Besides, even if the viewers are female, they are influenced to experience the murder scene as a male, hence, women are not only dis-empowered in films but appear to be dis-empowered in society.
The male gaze is revealed on the screen representing male desire. An example of the male gaze in Halloween is when Michael’s sister is brushing her hair half naked, we see parts of her body and her body is broken down into parts. This could potentially promote that men perceive women as sex objects and only observe a female body carelessly and not taking into account what is on her mind, but more focused on her physique. The male gaze dis-empowers the female identity and states that women are only present for sex and viewed as sex objects. The reason behind this is the view that the female identity cannot help but make a male think this way.
An example of the male gaze in NOES is when we see Tina from the killer’s point of view. When she comes outside to his voice (obeys his rules) she is half naked. We see this just before she gets killed and sets off outside to find the killer. This a male desire because most males will like that to happen to them. This is dis-empowering to females because it suggests that woman always listen and do what men want them to do, they don’t have a mind of their own, this basically makes them weak and shows that they have no voice. We see Tina getting killed from her boyfriend’s point of view but not Tina’s. This is also dis-empowering to the female identity because we don’t see Tina’s point of view when she is getting killed by Freddy.K, so this shows that she not as important as men and we don’t want to see her point of view, we avoid it. This could suggest that the female mind means nothing to men. Also they use a mid-shot to reveal her breast and kill her from there and not another part of her body like her leg.
The irrational voice is when a character makes inarticulate voices (screaming & crying), lack of control, purposeless and it’s linked to the body. The female voice in NOES is not taken to consideration because when Tina says “who the hell are you?” she wants authority however, no one listens to her. Also she says “somebody there” this shows lack of knowledge because they don’t know whose around them and if they are safe. Also she screams, so basically she can’t create words only sounds. This is dis=empowering to the female identity because the female voice don’t mean anything to men, or even the movie. The irrational voice in NOES is shown when she screams “NOO!” This could also mean that the female is trying to gain authority, and trying to be more powerful than the killer, however, it don’t seem to go the way she thought it would.
The female voice in Halloween shows that women have no authority, evidence to show this is when the female character says “where’s my beer?” she wanted a beer from her husband, however, he got killed for going and getting her one. This is dis-empowering to female identity because their voice is not taken to consideration and the killer believes males shouldn’t do what females want, her voice is not taken to consideration because she is a weak, and not so important character in the movie this could also be because she is a female, also she has to show parts of her body to get what she wants, however it’s still not successful, she still didn’t get her beer. Her voice is not taken to consideration because it suggests women have nothing valid to say. Another way the women are dis-empowered in the movie is when she makes gasping/sexual sound when she is getting killed, this could also suggest that women are only seen as objects and that they are only good for sex. The social message for this is that woman shouldn’t get what they want, there not as important as men and they are inferior to them. This is similar to the use of the female voice in NOES because in both horror movies when the female character is getting killed they make irrational voices, to show her words are meaningless and out of control, and can’t do anything to defend herself, even her actions don’t defend her from the killer.
Two shots that were put together was the long shot of Tina, where she is shown in a small figure and that Freddy could see her, however, she can’t see him. This shot it sutured with the shot of Freddy’s huge shadow that Tina sees. This could be dis-empowering to the female identity because it could suggest that females don’t take big role in society and men do, which makes them more powerful and makes the female feel smaller, and weaker.
Two shots that were sutured together in this clip (Beginning of Halloween) were her naked body and the shot of her bed. The meaning created through the juxtaposition of these two shots is that the bed is main place, where she committed the social sin. The meaning is created because the killer believes that young girls should not have sex before their married. However, the same rule doesn’t apply for the males. This is dis-empowering to women because it suggests that men can allow themselves to think that women are only good in bed and that women should be responsible for their own body. A further two shots that were sutured together in this clip were the high angle shot of the knife and the low angle shot of the female victim. The meaning created through juxtaposition of these two shot is that the female has a lower status than the knife, which is just an object. This meaning is created because women have a mind and voice but can’t use it, however, the knife doesn’t have a mind and voice yet it still has more power than her. This is dis-empowering to women because simple stuff even have more power than them, this makes them feel futile and good for nothing.