Wes Craven
Born on the 2nd of August 1939 in Cleveland, Ohio, United States Wes Craven was a horror film director. He mostly worked on slasher films and was best known for creating the film "A Nightmare on Elm Street" franchise. This is an American supernatural slasher horror film released in 1984 and earned a gross profit of $25 million. This horror films series is about a man called Freddie Kruger who has a twisted childhood. Then as he grows older he rapes and then kills children. Then after killing his family, he is found not guilty in court. The victims then find him and burn the building which he is hiding in. After he comes back to life as a spirit he kills people in their dreams then they die in real life. He directed the first instalment and "Wes Craven's New Nightmare". He also helped co-write the third film which was "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors". Other series that Wes Craven directed was the four Scream films which like Freddie Kruger was another slasher film series. Other films that he directed in life was "Vampire in Brooklyn", "Red Eye", "The Serpent and the Rainbow", "The Last House on the Left", "The People Under the Stairs" and "The Hills Have Eyes".
During his life he obtained many awards because of his directing career. For example he won "Sitges Film Festival" in 1977 for the film "The Hills Have Eyes. In 1997, the film Scream won him an award at the "Gerardmer Film Festival". Another award he was given towards the end of his life was the "Lifetime Achievement Award" which was awarded in 2012 at the "New York City Horror Film Festival".
His personal life contained three different marriages including two children. His first marriage was to Bonnie Broecker who he had his two children with. In 1970 the marriage ended and in 1982 he married again. He marriage Mimi Craven who during their marriage started her actress carer. The marriage then fell apart caused by interviews when he learnt that the marriage "was no longer anything but a sham" Finally he married Lya Labunka in 2004 who work as a producer on his films. His two children where Jonathan and Jessica. Jonathan Craven was born in 1965 and grew up to become a writer and directer. His other child Jessica Craven was born in 1968 and grew up to become a song writer and singer in the Chapin Sisters group.
Reaching 76 years old, Craven died on the 30th of August 2015, in his home in Los Angeles. Screams 10th episode was dedicated in his memory and many actors around the world paid tribute for him.
During his life he obtained many awards because of his directing career. For example he won "Sitges Film Festival" in 1977 for the film "The Hills Have Eyes. In 1997, the film Scream won him an award at the "Gerardmer Film Festival". Another award he was given towards the end of his life was the "Lifetime Achievement Award" which was awarded in 2012 at the "New York City Horror Film Festival".
His personal life contained three different marriages including two children. His first marriage was to Bonnie Broecker who he had his two children with. In 1970 the marriage ended and in 1982 he married again. He marriage Mimi Craven who during their marriage started her actress carer. The marriage then fell apart caused by interviews when he learnt that the marriage "was no longer anything but a sham" Finally he married Lya Labunka in 2004 who work as a producer on his films. His two children where Jonathan and Jessica. Jonathan Craven was born in 1965 and grew up to become a writer and directer. His other child Jessica Craven was born in 1968 and grew up to become a song writer and singer in the Chapin Sisters group.
Reaching 76 years old, Craven died on the 30th of August 2015, in his home in Los Angeles. Screams 10th episode was dedicated in his memory and many actors around the world paid tribute for him.
Theories Analysed:
Absence of Authority: This is where there is no family or emergency services available at the time of the horror events. The victims are alone, isolated by the world so no one can help them. It is them against the ghost or in most cases killer. In supernatural horrors there is normally a family or group of people who are affected by the events. Therefore the absence of authority that is used is the emergency services. In our opening sequence we will have an absence of authority with both normal people such as parents and no emergency services as it will be suitable for our setting.
Horror Audience (15 - 25): The main target audience of horror is between the ages of 15 and 25. We also learnt that typically slashers appeal to males and supernaturals appeal to females. We have took this in to consideration when planning and we have also took the age of 15 as an aim for the certificate rating. This is because it can attract to a bigger range of people but means that we cannot have lots of swearing and sexual scenes which is no important in our film anyway.
Horror is more scary in a safe place: This is saying that people would find a horror movie more scary if it was in a place considered as safe to people. For example a hospital or a school is considered safe to certain people. Our group have taken this in to consideration but thought that we could make a more scary film if we used a more scary place therefore we have used a camp in the forest.
Horror Audience (15 - 25): The main target audience of horror is between the ages of 15 and 25. We also learnt that typically slashers appeal to males and supernaturals appeal to females. We have took this in to consideration when planning and we have also took the age of 15 as an aim for the certificate rating. This is because it can attract to a bigger range of people but means that we cannot have lots of swearing and sexual scenes which is no important in our film anyway.
Horror is more scary in a safe place: This is saying that people would find a horror movie more scary if it was in a place considered as safe to people. For example a hospital or a school is considered safe to certain people. Our group have taken this in to consideration but thought that we could make a more scary film if we used a more scary place therefore we have used a camp in the forest.
Wheeler Winston Dixon
Wheeler Winston Dixon was born in New Brunswick which is a city between New York and Philadelphia. He was born on the 12th of March in 1950. Late 1960s Dixon became a member of New York's "underground" experimental group. In 1970 he became the co-founder of Figures of Light which was a musical group. In Dury Lane, London he participated in Art Lab where he made screening short films. Returning to the United States, he worked with an experimental Los Angeles-based video collective called TVTV. Dixon received a Ph.D. in English from Rutgers University in New Jersey in 1982.
Through his life Dixon made many different experimental films that were shown at many different places such as the Whitney Museum of American Art and the British Film Institute. Some of the films he has made are "Quick Constant and Solid Instant" in 1969, and "What Can I Do?" in 1993. He also made documentaries on film making. His first documentary was "Women Who Made the Movies" in 1991 with another filmmaker called Gwendolyn Audrey Foster. He then made a full film called "Squatters" in France in 1995. In 2003 the Museum of Modern Art took an interest into his life work on experimental art and acquired all of his films.
Through his life Dixon made many different experimental films that were shown at many different places such as the Whitney Museum of American Art and the British Film Institute. Some of the films he has made are "Quick Constant and Solid Instant" in 1969, and "What Can I Do?" in 1993. He also made documentaries on film making. His first documentary was "Women Who Made the Movies" in 1991 with another filmmaker called Gwendolyn Audrey Foster. He then made a full film called "Squatters" in France in 1995. In 2003 the Museum of Modern Art took an interest into his life work on experimental art and acquired all of his films.
Theories Analysed:
One of the things that Dixon said about horror films was that men and women are sites of activity which refers to be the ones who are at the start of the film and they die early on and they never make it to the end of the film. For example in the film Scream Casey who dies in the opening title sequence can be called a site of activity as she dies early on within the film. And in Woman in Black where the three girls at the beginning jump out of the window in the house they are in.
I think that the sites of activity theory works well to capture the attention of the viewer. I think that you should not learn much about the character that is killed off because it will upset the viewer which is not the atmosphere that you want to create. You want to create a scary feel to the movie so a death will present that.
Since we are not making an opening title sequence this year we will not learn anything about the charter and will not get the site of activity at the start of the film. However although we are not creating an opening we should still try and interpret sites of activities into our trailer and use a death of a character so that it will be able to capture the audiences attention. This would best be used at the end of the trailer just before the release dates comes up as it will make people want to watch the film.
I think that the sites of activity theory works well to capture the attention of the viewer. I think that you should not learn much about the character that is killed off because it will upset the viewer which is not the atmosphere that you want to create. You want to create a scary feel to the movie so a death will present that.
Since we are not making an opening title sequence this year we will not learn anything about the charter and will not get the site of activity at the start of the film. However although we are not creating an opening we should still try and interpret sites of activities into our trailer and use a death of a character so that it will be able to capture the audiences attention. This would best be used at the end of the trailer just before the release dates comes up as it will make people want to watch the film.
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King was born on the 21st of September 1947 in Portland Maine, United States. He is an American author of contemporary horror, science fiction and fantasy. He has sold over 350 million copies of his books. Movies, comics and televisions shows have also been created around his writing. King has published 54 novels which include some under the writing namer of "Richard Bachman" and six non-fiction books. Other achievements during his life are completing 200 short stories and writing "The Shawnshank Redemption".
"Bram Stoker", "British Fantasy Society" and "World Fantasy" Awards have been won by King. His first award was a "Nebula Award" which he received in 1980 with his novella called "The Way Station". Later in 1994 he was given the "O. Henry Award" with his story called "The Man in the Black Suit". In 2003 he got the "Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters" which was given to him by the "Nation Book Foundation". Next year in 2004 he achieved more writing awards such as the "World Fantasy Award for Life Achievements". The "Canadian Booksellers Association Lifetime Achievement Award" was given to him in 2007 and the "Grand Master Award was given also in 2007 by the "Mystery Writers of America". Finally in 2015 he was awarded a "National Medal of Arts" from the United States National Endowment for the Arts".
"Bram Stoker", "British Fantasy Society" and "World Fantasy" Awards have been won by King. His first award was a "Nebula Award" which he received in 1980 with his novella called "The Way Station". Later in 1994 he was given the "O. Henry Award" with his story called "The Man in the Black Suit". In 2003 he got the "Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters" which was given to him by the "Nation Book Foundation". Next year in 2004 he achieved more writing awards such as the "World Fantasy Award for Life Achievements". The "Canadian Booksellers Association Lifetime Achievement Award" was given to him in 2007 and the "Grand Master Award was given also in 2007 by the "Mystery Writers of America". Finally in 2015 he was awarded a "National Medal of Arts" from the United States National Endowment for the Arts".
Theories Analysed:
King uses irony in many of his books instead of throwing problems at the characters that are unrealistic. Each cause of event is due to some of the decisions made by various characters in the books. This is a good set up for a horror movie as it will make the reader or in this case the viewer have more attention as they can see why this is happening to the character. It also can help in some circumstances for the audience to relate to some of the decisions that the characters have made.
Other theorise that King spoke about are influences of emotional effects such as fear or anxiety. King refers to some of these effects as the Apollonian and Dionysian horror genre. These two name belong to Greek Gods that were the sun of Zeus. Apollonian was the God of reason and logical thinking and Dionysian was the God of wine and ecstasy. These Gods together can uncover raw instincts, causing chaos around them and bring insanity. King states that although this is called "academic bullshit" to make horror you need both Apollonian and Dionysian. His quote to sum this up is "Without order, there is no insanity".
Other theorise that King spoke about are influences of emotional effects such as fear or anxiety. King refers to some of these effects as the Apollonian and Dionysian horror genre. These two name belong to Greek Gods that were the sun of Zeus. Apollonian was the God of reason and logical thinking and Dionysian was the God of wine and ecstasy. These Gods together can uncover raw instincts, causing chaos around them and bring insanity. King states that although this is called "academic bullshit" to make horror you need both Apollonian and Dionysian. His quote to sum this up is "Without order, there is no insanity".
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