What makes Creatures scary?
Exploring ideas in film:
I decided to look at a less obvious idea of what may be scary. I searched for females in horror, which lead me to Heavenly Creatures. Whilst watching this it became clear that this wasn't a typical horror as there were no masked murderers, serial killers etc. Instead this was about two girls who became capable of killing ones mother in order to live their lives together. Underlying this, is also the issue or sexuality, as it sways us to believeing they want a relationship they cant have, because they are lesbians. It may also seem stranger as they appear to only be children, so we question if they are old enough to understand this.
Feminist Horror: Heavenly Creatures (1994)
Henderson, J. 1997
Through watching Heavenly Creatures, Iwe witness a different kind of monster. The obvious capability for the young girl Pauline to kill her own mother, is monstrous in itself. This was planned to destroy her mothers power of separating her from her 'sick' relationship with Juliet.
This film wasn't neccessarily scary, but instead portrayed a monstrous act, provoked by separation, which we can relate to animal characteristics.
Reflecting upon Herderson's Journal article, the choice of weapon seems ironic, as the stockin used to encase the brick, was a sign of feminine class, a statement for people to identify your importance.
Overall I think this film reflects a scare factor in a completely new way, and in the fact that innocent girls are capable of murder, this makes it seem a lot more sinister.
This video was particularly interesting when it mentioned why masks are creepy. It is said that anything masked is creepy because it shuts off their emotion, meaning we are unable to see their epression, so we cannot read them. The mask could represent anything, but it disguises this persons tendencies. Because of this, through horror films, we associate maksed people to be an act of horror, crminality and terror. Masks are used widely in horror, films such as Strangers (2008), Friday the 13th (1980)and The Purge (2013).
The 'Uncanny Valley' is explained in this video, in which examples of almost human characters and figures are given, but due to subtle changes and adjustment of appearance, they are creepy.
The idea of ambiguity is discussed as a trigger for our imagination. We are stuck between safety and fear, some of us find certain things scary whilst others wouldnt. There is always the option to be scared or not. Survival instincts kick in if we feel a sense of danger.
babies arent conditioned, falling?
Why are things Scary?
Vsauce. (2013)
For this project, I want to explore the idea of what makes us scared to enble myself to produce a makeup which could possibly give this effect once it is filmed and put into context.
As my character is suffering through transformation, I think this could be successfully creepy or scary as she is still visibly human, but with added features we are not used to seeing. By adding these features to a figure we recognise, we can play on the idea of imagining it happening to ourselves, something we can fear.
I want to incorporate teeth pertruding through her face, showing discomfort and pain. The teeth may resemble that of a canines, so this could be horrifying in itself as it is loosely related to werewolves.
Fear of the unknown.
The Uncanny Valley was introuduced in the 70's by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori. H developed his robots to look more human lke, and the mre they appeared human, the less people responded positively to them.
Ultimately this means that we find imperfect humans disturbing, but when human features are added to something clearly not human, we are able to sympathise and accept this. We feel familiar with its characteristics and find this appealing.
Through games and film, developers also struggle with this, because they are trying to animate characters who replicate humans as closely as possible.
The closer we try to simulate reality, the more obvious the mistakes become to us.
Extra Credits. (2012)
"Everyone, it is said, loves a clown. But this is hardly true. persons will will admit that they fear and hate clowns, and there are many ways to explain why. For one thing, to identify with clowns is perhaps, as we have seen, to identify not with fun and joy but with a form of psychological disturbance: manic hyper- activity, openly sadistic acts toward others, or morbid depression and self- absorption. The fact that clowns exaggerate and parody these states make them more, not less, troubling. For another thing, rather than identifying with clowns we may see ourselves as their victims. Clowns mask their faces as effectively as terrorists and bank robbers. The fixed emotions caricatured on their painted faces give no clue to whatever human feelings lie beneath Even the prosthetic faces of demons a aliens are more revealing, more accessible, since they may well reflect the wearer's emotions. Unlike characters in plays and movies, clowns are not bounded by scripts. They extemporize. In the guise of play, they seem licensed to taunt, embarrass, and coerce. " (Morawetz, 2001, p. 203)
This extract from Morawetz, helps us to explore the ideas of what scares us and why. He suggests that we fear things we dont understand. He describes how clowns are a fear for many people, and he believes this is due to the sadness and morbid depression they represent, yet we still associate them as a fun act for children to watch. From my own observwations, it seems that adults are more scared or uncertain of clowns, as they are more psychologically aware. Whereas children do not think about this fear until it is associated with a story where they may be affected themselves, such as a clown under the bed which will ait there at night.