preview

Compare And Contrast The Raven And The Nightmare Before Christmas

Decent Essays

What is common between most horror films and texts? They all use similar types of codes and conventions. These codes and conventions differ between genre and can be easily identified. These also reflect the values of the audience they are intended for. The 1993 stop-motion animated film, ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’, directed by Henry Selick, and the 1845 poem, ‘The Raven’, written by Edgar Allan Poe, are both a part of the horror genre, as they follow the codes and conventions of that genre. They use similar visuals, sounds, characterisation, and themes. Using these and other conventions, audiences can identify a genre, which influences their opinions and feelings about the genre.

Visuals are the most common way of identifying a …show more content…

Sound is extremely important in films, and the types of sound used differ between genre. Sound is important in all films. Without sound, films do not possess as much power compared to if they did have sound. In ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’, multiple soundtracks are used throughout the film. Two fantastic soundtracks in the film are ‘This is Halloween’ and ‘The Oogie Boogie Song’. Both use orchestral instruments and the lyrics are sung with deep voices. Diegetic sounds used in these soundtracks and throughout the film include bats squeaking, bugs crawling, and pumpkin heads being chopped off using a large metal blade. The effect of sounds, including soundtracks, is to enhance the feeling experienced from the visuals. Deep voices and multiple orchestral instruments create suspense and fear. As the music crescendos, the suspense increases as well. Loud, sudden sounds like a scream or crash create sudden fright. Using different sounds, films are more exciting and can be used to determine a genre.

In texts and films, one or more themes are used, and specific themes are conventional to different genres. A commonly used theme in the horror genre is insanity, which is easily identifiable in ‘The Raven’. In the poem, the narrator dreamt of things, smelt perfumes coming from “an unseen censer”, and even started shouting at the raven which sat still just above his chamber door. He kept asking questions to the raven, but

Get Access