Essay Template 2

Introduction

- introduce question
- explain research sources used
- brief order of points raised

Para 1-3

- Freud's opinion on the undead and how existing person with special powers intent on harming and deceiving
- Focus on 1 monster vampire
- begin with their appearance - feminised, look appealing to their victims
- Lead onto the hidden image that unerves people e.g state between life and death
- look into idea of vampire as sexual initator - the hidden beast taking presence (possibly make a subtle connection to the werewolf), also how something meant to repulse draws an audience in as something never usually seen in real life - vampire bite seen as erotic
- sum up section with gender swapping

Para 4 - 6

- Freud's opinion of the womb - when we look back the space seems uncanny to develop in
- look at Frankenstein - most well known, using animated energy to give life
- begin retracing the ideas of gender swapping within the role of creator/ womb monster, idea of how man is trying to take the natural role away from women and becoming own god
- how the creator is slowly perceived as the monster over his creation - (subtle link to the fly)
- how creations/ the transformed still retain human features and emotions
- sum up with a comparrison of how both examples seem to merge their identity with the opposite gender, also how vampires try to become closer to human and how creator accidently becomes the monster

Conclusion

- sum up points raised - links to a hiden identity in character and role of gender swapping
- don't introduce anything new
- form an overall opinion based on evidence of the uncanny identities within both examples

@Phil - essay

Phil, I have read your comment and I agree so I wondered maybe concertrating on one monster and one creater so that I still address both themes but analyse one example in much more detail

so what I mean is maybe start looking into the vampire and look at how they deceive and make people believe they are human along with the myth background

This will then lead on to a creator possibly Dr Frankenstein as is most well known  and as i said in the template - the idea of gender swapping, I could possibly bring in the comparrison of the fly because of the scientist transforming into the actual monster

I just feel it would be to analyse one idea from each theme to show that line of the monster trying to become human and the human becoming the monster

I have another tutorial with Tracey when we return in 2 weeks so I hope to at least finish a draft version of the essay so i can go back and improve it

Is this idea ok or should I restrict the topic even further?

Essay Template

Q: What are the uncanny qualities within the identity of the monster and the creator?

Introduction

- introduce question
- explain research sources used and why
- brief order of points/ arguments that will be raised

Para 1 - brief history of supersitution and popularity

- intro to vampire, werewolf and created monster
- myth
- how they have become popular in modern culture (why audience is drawn to them)

Para 2+3 - Vampire

- focus on vampires
- uncanny qualities within (1 - 2 examples)
- link sims and diffs to werewolf to lead onto next topic

Para 4+5 - Werewolf

- focus on werewolf
- basic childhood fears
- uncanny qualities (1 - 2 examples)

Para 6+7 - created 'Womb' monster

- focus on created monster - link from previous paragraphs of idea that the creator/ scientist is the monster
- gender swapping trying to replace women's role in natural order
- transformations how creator transforms yet retains human - like qualities

Conclusion

- sum up points raised
- don't introduce anything new
- make a decision based on the evidence presented

Detailed notes on chosen themes for essay

As I have decided to look the uncanny identity in the monster and creator, I have looked more throughly at Phallic Panic and Uncanny bodies - the coming of Sound, Film and Horror to select the information that will be most relevant in my essay.

Phallic Panic by Barbara Creed

Vampires - Chapter 4

-alive and dead
-sedated in coffin like sleeping foetus
-a figure of perverse sexuality and a changing symbol for the sexual problems of the age
-transformation into other creatures
-section 'Features of the Vampire' - essientiallly what they are and the idea of used as punishment of sinners of Christianity - anti christ
-Pg 72 - focus on Dracula - creature of flesh, feminised, irresistable, victims desire sex from him
-section Dracula as sexual initiator - bite perceived as erotic
-section of 'The Primal Uncanny and Vampire myth' link to Freuds essay 'roles of the maternal body' Pg 79 + 80
-87 example of Bram Stoker's Dracula

Werewolves - Chapter 5

-actions influenced by scene of parental sex seen at childhood
-attacks women reminds of own possible castration
-section 'Wolf man's nightmare' more about his chilhood
-"In my view, the most uncanny of all is the upright wolf, the human beast " Creed - because of familarities seen in appearance
-Pg 104 Freud refers uncanny in relation to the boy's fears of animals and women - more childhood nightmares
-107 Red Riding hood reference
-section metamorphosis - how parts change and retain identity
-section 'Furry Phallus' - more Freud theory of phallic symbols e.g animal tail
-last para Pg 122+123 desire of human to return to it's primitive origins
-Also chapter six has alot of symbols of the werewolf
-similarities of werewolf and vampire myth
-bestiality section
-More film examples towards end of chapter 6

Frankenstein and Creating Monsters - Chapter 3

-Pg 42 film examples
-pg 43 Frankenstein - creator peceived as monster 'womb' metaphor
-pg 45 Freud argues men's failure to take up designated gender role
-section of 'The Uncanny womb' - womb as unheimlich - link to Freud's essay
-pg 50 Frankenstein
-pg 57 - 63 - Alien birth - cloning Ripley (double)
-female creations used to lead or be worshipped
-science trying to replace humanity
-pg 67 - difference between theme 1 and 2
-pg 56 possible quote
-pg 53 Frankenstein realising he is not whole creation (replacing gender role has failed)

Uncanny bodies - The Coming of Sound, Film and Horror

Vampires - Chapter 4 Dracula as Uncanny Theatre

-page 61 - figure Macnish questions 'what makes Dracula'
-page 64 - evidence of character's attration to his voice because of it's familarity
-page 80 - skeletal structure
-page 92 - sum of Dracula character

Frankenstein and the vats of Hollywood

-pg 93 intro to Frankestein
-section - 'Frankenstein and the Uncanny of Early Sound Film comparrison of Dracula
-109 - what Frankenstein is and means
-recognisable human emotion and features

Thumbnail sketches 41 - 52

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I took the successes from the previous ideas of cropping and putting less in the composition, I played around with angle and position to gain the ghostly empitiness in the scene. Images 40, 41 and 45 have excellent use of cropping and hides the mystery of what the scene is visually trying to show. The use of the creepy shadow in image 51 could be interesting for the idea of what is casting it but not sure in this current idea it is too overpowering. I will use the strong features in the ideas to develop into a concept and hopefully produce one strong composition that I can take foward into the set. 

Definitive Influence Map

For the final overall influence map I focused on images that have subtle compositions that work because of the cropped angles and use of light and shadow. This is the style and atmosphere of how I want my scene to look so I will refer to this when sketching my final thumbnails and concept, trying to put less within the composition for a creepy empty scene that doesn't reveal all the mystery.

Influence map for idea and theme 2 - Image Referencing

I have included images that I have refered to for my ideas and concept experiments, focussing on the styles and designs I wanted within the scene. I picked out lighting as the most important referencing as I like the idea of the light subtly flooding in from hanging lights and windows. Obviously I found referencing for some of the objects that could work in the scene and refer to these often when drawing new ideas.

Film influence - Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1956

Directed by: Don Siegel

Miles is introduced in the beginning as dellusional, talking about the strange events that have taken over the town and proclaims this threat would take over the world. At this point the audience don't know what to make of Miles and if he is telling the truth so he narrates his story. The audience first becomes suspicious when a boy and women in the town are certain that some of their relatives are not as they appear because they appear emotionless but there is not much proff as they are identical to person they represent. This was an interesting technique of how Siegal subtly approached the theme of the uncanny because the signs of difference within them were so subtle that the audience try to locate the part which separates the humans and aliens but it is hard at the beginning because they are an almost perfect copy. "A superbly crafted film by innovative director Siegel, this low-budget science fiction tale became one of the great cult classics of the genre." (Drunker, 2007), the evidence explains how the director focussed on the story how successful it is visually due to change of action of emotion when the characters become the pod people.


There is also traces of the tableu - vivant style in the film, one typical example is the discovery of the body in Jack's cellar as there is no clue as to where it came from, why they have taken on the appearance of certain characters or if they are dead or alive. The only clue the audience is given is that some sort of process is slowly taking place as at closer expection the body is not yet complete missing the details of fingerprints, scars, etc. The idea of the person sleeping and waking as the alien clone was also a mystery at first because they still seemed like their normal selves and there wasn't a clear signal to demonstrate any changes. "This tense, offbeat piece of science-fiction is occasionally difficult to follow due to the strangeness of its scientific premise. Action nevertheless is increasingly exciting " (Staff, 2008), the evidence clarifies that the film and themes are wrapped in mystery and therefore takes a while the audience to fully understand what is happening but appreciate this as a typical science fiction movie full of action.

Figure 1, (2008), still of discovery of the body in the basements

As the film progresses it later reveals seed pods from space that form the growing bodies as they are able to take on any life form. Discovering this truth shifted the perception of Uncanniness to horrific fear as a suspense tension of who can Miles trust, can anybody be trusted. Eventually the entire town is converted leaving Miles and Becky as the only two humans left. Towards the end of the film the characters are chased down by the converted humans replacing the idea of humans chasing down the freak into the actual humans have become outcasts because they refused to be replaced/ copied by the pod people, therefore they have become the freaks that are hunted down. There is an excellent breathtaking scene where Miles returns to Becky after discovering the source of the music and she deceives him and the audience into believing that she is still human and didn't fall asleep, however when Miles kisses Becky, he immediately tells the difference and her mannerisms and tone of voice changes to cold and sharp like the rest of the pod people, representing the person Miles loved and the person that was most familiar to him stripped away to leave Miles on his own forever.

 Figure 2, (2010), still of the forming of the pod people

 Figure 3, (2009), still of pod from space

 Figure 4, (2010), still of Miles trying to convince the next town

Miles manages to escape but appears crazy as he frantically tries to find anyone who would believe him and take his warnings of the pod people seriously. The audience is then returned to the opening scene of Miles explaining his story to the doctor that still cant believe the impossible truths of the creatures that have managed to invade a town undetected. Then another character delievers news of an accident with a truck carrying thousands of strange pods heading into town, it becomes evident that Miles was telling the truth and the film leaves off in a mass panic and beginning the resistance of invasion but becomes unclear of what side will truimph."It's still a chilling picture, gaining over Phil Kaufman's smart remake by virtue of it's intimate small town setting, and it has one of the greatest endings ever filmed" (Andrew, 2006), the evidence indicates the slow transformation into the town and atmosphere becoming slowly pocessesed by an evil being taking away emotion and what makes the characters human. Miles has a strong line in the film in response to transformation taking place 'We have to fight to keep hold of humanity because that is what makes us human'.

 Figure 5, (2010), still of clone Becky awakening

  Figure 6, (2010), still of chase

Illustrations

Figure 1, (2008), still of discovery of the body in the basment, @ http://filmsdefrance.com/FDF_Invasion_of_the_Body_Snatchers_1956_rev.html, Accessed on: 2008

Figure 2, (2010), still of the forming of the pod people, @ http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews24/invasion_of_the_body_snatchers.htm, Accessed on: 2010

Figure 3, (2009), still of pod from space, @ http://www.gadflyonline.com/11-26-01/film-snatchers.html, Accessed on: 1998

Figure 4, (2010), still of miles trying to convince next town, @ http://wearemoviegeeks.com/2010/09/kevin-mccarthy-actor-of-1956-sci-fi-classic-body-snatchers-dead-at-96/, Accessed on: 12th September 2010

Figure 5, (2010), still of clone becky awakening, @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/29235625@N04/2778747162/, Accessed on: 2010

Figure 6, (2010), still of chase, @ http://nighthawknews.wordpress.com/2010/03/18/the-year-in-film-1956/, Accessed on: 18th March 2010

Bibliography

Andrew Geoff, (2006), timeout London, @ http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/76141/invasion_of_the_body_snatchers.html, Accessed on: 24th June 2006

Drunker Don, (2007), Tv guide - Invasion of the Body Snatchers, @ http://movies.tvguide.com/invasion-body-snatchers/review/102182, Accessed on: 24th June 2006

Staff Variety, (2008), @ http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117792012?refcatid=31, Accessed on: 31st December 1955

Photoshop - Recreating a texture

In this session I selected a textural surface, which in this case was paint cracking and peeling off a wall. The below image is my attempt using the cloud filter in the background to create the bumpy surface of the wall and editing the settings of inner and outer glow and shadow for the shapes coming through the peeled off surface. I found the task fun and easy to approach as this will be an effective technique to carry across to my scene.

Eraserhead 1976 Directed by David Lynch

The theme throughout the film is dark and surrealism because of how the plot plays on the nightmares and fears people have on relationships and families but Lynch has taken those fears further to create a twisted world that slowly loses all sense of reality. Lynch made the decision of blocking out human dialogue at the start of the film so that the noise of the machinery and the man pulling the levers is the main focus, it is confusing of the purpose of this man at first but could be a symbol of the man pulling the strings controlling the world and people round him. The unnerving soundtrack was effective throughout because it helped to express the tension of some of the most disturbing scenes. It defined those chilling and piercing moments of the dream sequences where the visuals didn't have a clear meaning but seem to fit the idea of Henry Spencer' s delusions morphing into the unknown. "Jack Nance's electro-shock hairdo Henry, whose girl produces the aforementioned baby, now seems funnier in his perpetual puzzlement than he did. But the film retains its essential menace, like a dream you can't leave even if you want to." (Malcolm, 2010), the evidence shows that even though the theme is repulsive and dramatic, the audience can not turn away from it because the film is unlike anything they have experienced or seen.

Figure 1, (2009), eraserhead still of baby head on Henry's body delusion

The meeting of Henry's parents indicates a biazaire scenerio of that akwardness and the uncertainity of meeting new people. The parents and girlfriend seem to suffer from their own delusions as shown in the dinner scene with the mother behaving strangely, making werid noises at the cooked chicken appears to be moving it's legs and the scene where mary rocks the bed back and forth while giving Henry a deathly stare. Lynch also incoporates Polkanski's idea of the creepy neighbours in the form of the wife next door wanting to come in and have sex with him but becomes unhinged at the sight of the premature baby, representing the fears of what tie people down and how a relationship becomes complicated. The next scene where they see eachother, the neighbour envisions the mental scene of the baby's head on henry's body as if she has become disgusted and no longer want's anything to with him. "Father Bill roasts oddly alive minature chickens and with frozen smile exhibits his frozen arm, and cataonic Grandmother smokes while Mother helps her mix the salad and, vampire-kissing him, informs the bashful suitor that mary is prgnant, so they must marry. The non sequiturs and long dining room silences..." (Levitt, 2010), the evidence is worded as if the behaviour of the other characters are seen through the delusions and fears of commitment in a relationship and the responsibilities of Henry's actions towards Mary.

Figure 2, (2010), Eraserhead still of dinner scene

The premature baby was the source of the surreal uncanny because the viewers are told and know that it is a baby, which is clear in it's size and shape but it's appearance is alien and so far removed from what people recognise. There is alot of human essence within the creature through it's use of crys and annoying sounds identifies it immediately as young, vulnerable and utterly dependant on it's parents, so even though Henry Spencer and Mary may be repulsed and disgusted with the creature it's still technically their child and the film demonstrates the pressures of raising it and the stress that can build up in this situation. "In this world, the baby, resembling an overgrown penis, both represents male sexuality and symbolises Henry's own sexuality. Similiar to uncontrollable sexual urges, the baby penis constantly demands attention from Henry who becomes it's slave." (Caldwell,2010), in the quote, Caldwell links the desires and fears of male sexuality which loosely leads into incest and the idea that the child constantly calls for love and attention and the idea of Henry becoming it's slave depicts that love as pocessive. The nighmare of henry's head dropping off and the baby's replacing it also entered the realm of the uncanny and the visions of what appears to be real can suddenly twist and transform into a realm of fantasy played on by the fear.

Figure 3, (2010), Eraserhead still of premature baby

Figure 4, (2009), Eraserhead still of baby dying

The lighting was used to visually express moments that higlight objects or people that haven't quite taken form or happened, this was to allow the audience where next focus would be staged. The bedroom scene also seemed to be purposely dark so that intense spotlight could reveal the baby's position and movements, identifing that it always there as a real being and can not be escaped from in the character's and audience's perspective. The scene towards the end of the film where Henry finally builds the courage to kill the baby triggers a final vision of a huge premature head approaching closer with the aid of flashing lights indicting that it is heading towards henry. This vision could be seen as guilt from the terrible act he has just commited or recurring the nightmare of it's head taking his place suggest that by killing the baby he has allowed his fears and nightmares to accelerate and control him. The end of the film sees Henry on about appears to be a different world/ plain meeting with the mad people of his delusions, whether this means he has found an escape or accepting his tormented fate is unclear because it is suddenly cut off as Lynch decided that he didn't want his viewers discovering what was really happening in the final scene.

 Figure 5, (2010), Eraserhead still of woman delusion

Figure 6, (2010), Eraserhead still of set

Illustrations

Figure 1, (2009), Eraserhead still of baby head on henry's body delusion, @ http://366weirdmovies.com/22-eraserhead-1977, Accessed on: 2nd June 2009

Figure 2, (2010), Eraserhead still of dinner scene, @ http://www.mondo-digital.com/eraserhead.html, Accessed on: 2010

Figure 3, (2010), Eraserhead still of premature baby, @ http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2002/great-directors/lynch/, Accessed on: 21st May 2002

Figure 4, (2009), Eraserhead still of baby dying, @ http://dinca.org/page/24, Accessed on : 9th April 2009

Figure 5, (2010), Eraserhead still of woman delusion, @ http://midnightradio.soup.io/tag/david%20lynch?type=image, Accessed on: 2010

Figure 6, (2010), Eraserhead still of set, @ http://mubi.com/films/196, Accessed on: 2008

Bibliography

Caldwell Thomas, (2010), Senses of Cinema Issue 56 The Evil that Men do - David Lynch, @ http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2002/great-directors/lynch/, Accessed on: 21st May 2002

levitt Donald, (2010), Reel Talk Movie reviews - The Head Horror Picture Show, @ http://www.reeltalkreviews.com/browse/viewitem.asp?type=review&id=2019, Accessed on: 8th Jan 2007

Malcolm Derek, (2010), this is London  - Eraserhead still stands out, @ http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/film/review-23554307-eraserhead-still-stands-out.do, Accessed on: 11th Setember 2008

Thumbnail sketches 29 - 40

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In these thumbnails I took on aboard the advice I was given by Phil, taking out the cliches and cropping off certain door ways, windows and objects to create the subtle suspense within the scene. I like image thirty because of the angle looking up at the clock face and lights, making the decision that these objects are important but knowing why. I also think image thirty one is strong because of the wheelchair in the foreground showing the patient needs it to move around and then the unexplainable broken mirror which must of been caused by someone else in the asylum but who? Image thirty two is the idea of the broken bed frames left out in the corridor where you wouldn't expect to find them. The rest of the ideas might work with the right lighting and I think image thirty three is a good example of the atmosphere of the space abandoned and only the constant ticking from the clock can be heard.

Hellingly Asylum

Phil recommended looking at Hellingly Asylum and I found a lot of interesting photographs that crop off doors, windows and stairways and usual objects could be displayed as shown in the below image with the bath left abandoned in the corridor. I found some black and whites photos that show how the asylum looked and used in the past.



I found this video while researching and like the soundtrack used to create that chilling atmosphere. It has some great photos in the slideshow and I like how the photos fade into one another to create the impression these spaces are abandoned and the feel of a ghostly presence.