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
The Raven can be considered a gothic poem because it has many elements that distinguish it as such. It begins "Once upon a midnight dreary..." , hence evoking the feature of darkness and night. The narrator is roused from his sleepy state by a rapping on the door, which begins to terrify him because he is wishing for Lenore, but finds nothing instead ( or rather the raven). This scene then contains the typical gothic elements of mystery, ghosts and the supernatural in the references to "silence unbroken" and "no mortals ever dared to dream before" , and terror as he refers to his beating heart.
I decided to pick the work of Edgar Allan Poe “The Raven” because it has always been one of my favorite works of literature. I always find myself enjoying gothic style literature such as the works of Edger Allan Poe. “The Raven” is considered to be a classic of gothic literature. Poe published “The Raven” on January 29, 1845. This poem from Edgar Allan Poe is both a short story and a narrative poem, it holds a tempo and flows like a poem. “The Raven” only has three characters in it the narrator, the raven, and Lenore. The narrator and the raven are both present and Lenore who is only spoken of. The name of the narrator is never gives his name in the poem. Some themes of “The Raven” are the dark side of the human mind, how life goes on after
They say that the mind is the most powerful and valuable thing that humanity possesses: It can create places, scenarios, and being that have unlimited power. Though it may be fun to have all this power in our heads, one must ask what happens if one’s mental stability starts to cave in on itself and the effects might it have on somebody, what grand delusions Might come from the confines of a deranged mind; one might also ask what this might do to the appearance of the owner of that mindset. Famed writers Edgar Allan Poe and Washington Irving Attempted to answer these very questions themselves with stories like The Raven and The Black Cat by Poe and The Devil and Tom Walker.
"The succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting suddenly from the throat…" Establishes a very scary mood. Imagery was a key factor in "The Raven." Without it would have been a senseless poem with no fright in it. The
Different works of gothic literature share similar gothic elements such as ambiguity, death, and nightmares. Each element contributes a different tone to the stories that bring the reader into the work. Every story contains a different element that come together to bring out the same feelings.
In his poems and stories, Edgar Allen Poe often returns to the same themes: loneliness, lost love, insanity, and depression. In his poem, “The Raven”, his theme is grief, which is also related to the string of themes he usually incorporates into his works. However, for this specific poem, Poe uses an abundant amount of literary devices to expand on his theme of grief and describe it in a way that readers will be able to understand his feelings throughout this poem. There are many literary devices like alliteration, different types of imagery, assonance, symbolism, metaphors, similes, and more. So in some reader’s opinion, Edgar Allen Poe uses the theme of grief to draw the reader’s interest in his poem, “The Raven”. Poe uses symbolism,
Horror can be defined as a genre meant to psychologically trigger individual fear with the presence of certain supernatural or abstract characteristics. The genre is dependent on people’s fascination with unrealism and the sensation that comes from experiencing fear personified into tangible elements on a screen. Horror films have thrilled audiences for decades, revealing stories of the more sinister parts of life. The popular allure that stems from the genre comes from the tension moviegoers experience when aroused by specific stimuli uniquely present in these cinematic features (Walters). Over time, as the genre progressed, the standardized elements found in a typical horror movie began to shift in different directions primarily due to changing societal circumstances and increasing consumer demand for cinematic innovation. The expansive nature of the different codes and conventions within the horror genre, coupled with the evolution of society’s fascination with these characteristics, has led to the mutation of the genre itself in order to allow for unique approaches to a familiar style in response to both economic developments and taste shifts within the consumer industry.
What do all horror movies include to make the movie terrifying and dark? How to movie producers know what to incorporate when creating a movie that is meant to frighten the audience? Why are some scary movies so horrifying that people turn away frightened of what is to come? In Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde gothic literature is well consolidated to turn the story into one that is eerie. This type of medieval literature is apparent through the conventions, settings, and the story line.
The setting in ‘The Raven’ is described as a midnight in “bleak December”. The room is filled with books, silken purple curtains, and cushions with velvet-violet lining. The embers of his fire were dying and there was a dim light coming from his lamp. When the narrator goes to see who was tapping on his chamber door, the audience feels suspense as anything could appear out of the darkness, making it scarier. When the raven says nothing but “nevermore” whilst perched above the chamber door, the darkness and the lighting both provide a sense ... In ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’, the atmosphere of Halloween Town was dull and eerie, and the residents’ clothing were colourless. The moonlight was also used multiple times throughout the
Despite the fact that the format in which a story is told can create a plethora of differences, the genre can link stories together across medium. Horror has ties to stories that date back hundreds of years and use similar conventions which allow one to classify these stories together in the horror genre. Part of what makes a classical horror story is some form of a supernatural element that tends to focus on either life or death however since the introduction of visual media certain stylistic conventions have been adopted in order to create an emotional effect in the audience. Although the genre tends to link together stories from medium such as film and video games there are still drastic differences between them due to core differences in their functionality that are able to change the way in which one receives the story.
Throughout all the short stories and poems wrote by Edgar Allan Poe, some connections can be made on the content. The Black Cat, and The Raven, are two narratives wrote by Poe, that unveil the themes and symbols he often uses in his work. Poe is on the mysterious side, but he is also taking the life he is given, and making his narratives raw and realist by some degree. Poe uses techniques that left him express his imagination through writing. There are many different ideas and questions rising from all his work. The Black Cat and The Raven, are two narratives that use similar themes and symbols that allow readers to receive a small connection of the madness inside of the narrators.
Poe uses imagery in “The Raven” to create the theme. Poe starts off his poem by describing the setting of the poem by using imagery. “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.” This quote creates a very mysterious setting which helps to create the dark theme. Another example of imagery in the poem is “And the silken,sad,uncertain rustling of reach purple curtain thrilled me- filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before.”
I see Poe uses imagery to bring his piece alive, but he also uses theme. I see uses of theme by having insanity being shown through imagery. For example, “ while I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door,” quoted from The Raven. This shows that there was someone at the door, but no one was there we learn later on. I see that Poe is a writer that writes about the horrific gore and uses imagery to show his experience.
The genre of horror in literature has been around for many years but, the genre itself never fails in bringing suspense and thrillers. Horror fiction itself began stemming from folklore and religious traditions, the stories based on evil spirits, vampires, and werewolves. A prominent writer of the horror fiction genre would be Edgar Allan Poe, well known for writing The Raven, who would be the most recognizable and most established horror writer.
Horror movie buffs all around the world could probably all agree on this statement: scary music is main reason why a scene is considered frightening. Sure you have the dark visuals, the freaky lighting and other media aesthetics, but sound holds so much power to the viewer when trying to provoke some sort of emotion or reaction from the film. The trailer for the upcoming horror film “Goodnight Mommy” is easy to watch on mute. But with sound on, the trailer makes the viewer immediately uneasy within the first few seconds from the music alone. Demonic chord progressions and suspenseful tones instantly begin playing, which eventually lead up to a dramatic and intense climax in which the dark visuals correspond with the sporadic audio to induce