EARLY 20TH CENTURY HORROR FILMS THEIR NARRATIVE’S CONNECTION TO SOCIETY
Introduction
Horror as a genre in movies is based on films which intend to elicit fear in among their audience in their entertainment purposes. The genre was inspired by Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan and Bram Stoker. It has been existing for over a century. Horror films evoke fear, nightmares and revulsions among the audience. The plot of these types of movies involves the intrusion of an evil force. The most common elements in horror films include ghosts, zombies, cannibalism and serial killers. The growth in the horror film industry was mainly felt between 1920 and 1930s in the film industry before various genres emerged.
Growth and development of the horror film industry
The growth of horror films in the movies industry was realised between 1900 and 1930s (Towson, 2016, p. 1935). An influx of supernatural films characterised the period. The filmmakers during this period were struggling to adapt to the production of creative art through the horror genre. Consequently, with the increasing desire to produce horror films, filmmakers had to change into literature classics as a source of material for films production. As such, the literature classic was first adopted by Edison Studios in the production of Frankenstein and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Moreland, 2018, p. 44). The literature classic paved the way for the golden age in the production of the film industry during the 20th century. Accordingly, the growth in the film industry based on the horror genre was felt during the 1920s and 1930s. The period was characterised by the production of many classics neatly divided to create separation between talkies and silent classics. For instance, the silent classic was mainly adopted by The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (Luckhurst et al., 2018). Robert Wiene produced the movie, and it captured bizarre and fascinating senses using cynical thoughts of the characters. This makes the film to resemble distress. It makes use of sets of the studio rather than actual locations and its locations are distorted in nature. In outlining this, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari is based on somnambulist. Dr Caligari stores Cesare in coffin-like. As such, the film has mainly produced the use of expressionist architecture. The audience in silent classic is confined in a claustrophobic setting. For instance, during the murder of Alan, the audience is disoriented since the film used low-key lighting and shadows to heighten the movie. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
After the silent era, horror movies used the technological process in their production. The movies were particularly confined to monster elements. Frankenstein and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde films were produced using technological perspective (Brown, 2018, p. 74). Therefore, one can underscore that the film industry in the 20th century based on the horror genre was dynamic. Universal pictures of films produced Frankenstein. The film was developed through technological perspective. The main characters are Henry Frankenstein and Fritz. Fritz is a hunchback whose body parts have been collected from various parts, whereas Frankenstein is a scientist who sends Fritz to steal body parts from freshly buried bodies. The narrative has a monster that is viewed as a killer machine. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde also were based on the technological process. Hyde tries to repress good and evil manifesting within him. This led to the struggle with the manifestation of ego from Hyde. To suppress evil, Jekyll develops serum. However, this led to his transformation into Hyde, a creature without remorse or compassion. This intensified the feeling of fear among the audience.
Forms of narrative structures and key developments in narrative film
Narrative structure refers to a literary element describing structural framework underlying manner and order of presenting it to the audience. It is divided into various parts. They include exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and denouement. In films, narrative structures are mainly how a film tells a story. The exposition involves meeting the characters and establishing the norm in the film world. For example, in Dracula, A vampire fantasy, its exposition is when Jonathan Harker visits Dracula Castle in the Carpathian Mountains (Tharp & Hills, 2014, p. 47). The rising action of a narrative is the introduction of conflict. It outlines the tension between antagonist and protagonist. In Frankenstein film, the rising action can be seen when the monster Fritz enters with a torch and causes it to be afraid, thus leading to the creation of havoc. The climax is viewed as the turning point for the protagonist’s future. It can either shape it to be better or worse. Falling action entails the resolution of the conflict which had been experienced. The denouement is the resolution of the conflict.
The narrative film underwent various developments in the 20th century. During the early stages, the narratives were concise. One could watch the story for a few minutes. They were only seen in music halls or at fairgrounds. The screens used to be set in darkened rooms. However, as time progressed, people developed interests in watching movies. As such, the producers invested more finances in the industry. As such, it led to the development of large cinemas and studios. The development of large studios and cinemas led to the colour additions. The colours were meant to help in the improvement of moving images in their movies.
Nonetheless, to improve on the attention of the audience, the film producers added sound to their films. Initially, the synchronised sound was mainly used in projected pictures. However, by 1930, the film producers saw this has unreliable endeavour. As such, it led to the development of film golden age utilising the use of both full colour and soundtrack in the presentation of the feature-length films. For instance, Frankenstein, Dracula and the Cabinet of Dr Caligari producers’ utilised full colour and soundtrack due to its development. This resulted in dominance in the use of full colour and soundtrack in the film industry through not only in the horror films.
Growth of the film industry and audience perceptions
The growth of the horror film industry is directly proportional to the needs of the audience. The tremendous changes in the film industry resulted from the development of the studio system in the 1930s. This led to the development of various films from renowned studios such as Hollywood. In the early 20th century, most of the audiences were familiar with the studios which were operating in their localities (Mcfadzean, 2019, p. 116).
Nonetheless, they were also familiar with the directors and actors and the types of films in which the studios were most like to release. However, studios became less influential to the audience. Growth in the film industry also led to blockbuster standards. This has to lead the moviemaking business a risky endeavour. As such, the industry is becoming less profitable as compared to the previous era. The audience desires the blockbuster standards due to its well-known story, predictable plot elements and its design is appealing. The audience is specialised based on their tastes of different epics in stories and narratives. The growth in the film industry has also led to the development of independent films. The popularity of independent films has been increasing since the audiences have found it more appealing. Independent filmmakers have mainly contributed the contemporary movies in the world. The film industry growth has also been influenced by the role in which foreign film industries have in the field. Various countries and studios are learning from the developed studios in the production of their work. The audiences are thus shifting based on the filmmakers who works of art are not only appealing, but it meets their desires.
Changes in the film industry and its impact on storytelling and narrative
The film industry has gone through tremendous changes from the period it was started in the late 1890s. In 1905, “Nickelodeons” helped in the transition of the film industry (Fabian et al., 2009). As such, it led to the advancement in both motion picture and film technology. The filmmakers had to venture into the creative territory through improving artistic work. This was realised through the exploration of visual flow, editing and backdrops. This led to the development of film studios where movies were incorporated with music. In the 1920s, movie theatres were opened, which showed more length featured films. The theatres were owned by production such as Hollywood. The firm led to the production of more quality artistic creation which improved on the storytelling and narratives. However, in 1927, the incorporation of jazz music into film industry marked a great shift in the industry.
Nonetheless, the changes in the film industry were facilitated by the emergence in film genres. The audiences were able to listen and watch different genres in films. For instance, horror films, newsreels, pornographic films and golden age movies were produced during different ages (Pope & Bryan, 2016, p.305). The diversification in the movie industry was important since it proved on the aspects of narrative and storytelling. For instance, the various genres had a different way through which they communicated their story. In horror films, the filmmakers used frightening and sensation characters that inflicted fear among the audience. As a result of the development of television, the filmmakers saw it as a threat. To respond to it, they created widescreen, which was much better as compared to television. This improved how the audience viewed their products since the communication of their works of art was enhanced.
Forms of film narratives
Film narratives forms refer to the literary element used in the presentation of a story to the listener or viewer. These forms included the linear, nonlinear, interactive and multi-strand narratives. The linear narratives are based on chronological manner. This form of narrative is widely used in the film industry. The linear narratives describe the stories of a film in a way in which it occurred from the beginning. They describe the story from the beginning to the end through following consecutive events. A good example of a linear story in horror films is Frankenstein. In the movie develops from the creation of the monster by Henry, and it describes the issues surrounding its development to its destructive part in society (Gulcur, 2014, p. 98). It follows a similar structure. In linear films, the exposition sets the theme and the tone of the movie. Nonlinear, on the contrary, does not follow a particular framework. However, the movie is described with scenes which are not in order. The story switches between various points. The form does not use flash rather. The plot of nonlinear narrative has parallel developments. The interactive narrative form is based on telling of a narrative enhanced through the use of collaborative features technological. The interactive narrative is multifaceted. It helps in contributing to spread the narrative to various platforms. Multi-strand films use multiple narrative strands in storytelling. The story utilises the expertise of a group of supporting characters (Tharp & Hills, 2014, p. 448). The characters in the form exist in isolated groups of actors at a particular point.
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Mcfadzean, A. (2019). Suburban fantastic cinema. Growing up in the late twentieth century. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/mcfa18995.Bottom of form
Moreland, S. (2018). New Directions in Supernatural Horror Literature: The Critical Influence of H. P. Lovecraft. Cham, Springer International Publishing.
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