Critical Investigation Proposal

SINISTER 


Working title

Why have horror films such as Sinister, represented children to be dangerous/evil?

Angle

how is this representation of children influencing the younger generations of our society?
These horror films with the bad representation of children influence as they might want to do want to do the same things as the children in the movie. this might want change the way children act and behave and make them want to be bad or want to cause harm to their family as they do not understand that the movie is fiction. 

Hypothesis

children are represented as being evil in horror films because I believe that this will target the audience more and make them watch horror films, as the stereotype of children is being sweet, cute, friendly and harmless so this goes completely against the stereotype of children.

Linked production piece

Trailer for horror movie

MIGRAIN

Sinister 1 - Washed-up true-crime writer Ellison Oswalt finds a box of super 8 home movies that suggest the murder he is currently researching is the work of a serial killer whose work dates back to the 1960s.
Lighting- the film poster has low key lighting 
Camera work- he film poster has low key lighting as it is all dark 
Colour- the film poster is all grey and dull which connotes to darkness and gloomy, ,and red connotes to danger and blood 
Representation- the girl holding the wall, looks like she has blood on her hands as there is blood on the wall, also shows that the girl is bad and dangerous as she has bloods on her hands. 


Sinister 2 - A young mother and her twin sons move into a rural house that's marked for death.
Lighting-the film poster has low key lighting 
Camera work- the film poster has low key lighting as it is all dark 
Colour- the film poster is all grey and dull which connotes to darkness and gloomy,and red connotes to danger and blood 
Representation- the II has 2 kids hanging off which could show that the children are dangerous 

Apply the Key Concepts to your texts/topic by using the questions from the Summer Research Project to help you. (Include at least five bullet point/key concept). Include as many media keywords as you can.

SHEP

Social - 

Historical - Horror is as old as entertainment itself. For as long as humans have communicated with one another, they have been scaring each other. And with each innovation in media, horror has been at the forefront.

There was the ancient oral tradition, with stories and legends of werewolves, monsters and demons being passed from tribe to tribe. Supernatural literature emerged with the invention of the printing press, allowing scary stories to travel the world on paper. The Grand Guignol Theatre of Paris staged blood-soaked plays to adoring crowds. And with the creation of motion pictures, horror evolved once more, and found a new home in the world of movies.

Economic -  the sinister movie had a budget of $3 million and sinister 2 had a budget of $10 million. this shows that the first movie was a success and made money out of the first part as to why they made a second part of the movie, however they spent more on the second part of the movie as they might have wanted sinister 2 to become more successful than sinister 1. 

Political - 

Issues/Debates

• Representation and stereotyping - children are represented as bad and evil in sinister as they have been influenced by the demon to kill their families. this goes completely against their stereotype as children are stereotyped to be kind, innocent and harmless whereas horror movies go against the stereotypes and makes them look bad and be the villains in the movie. 
• Media effects - 
• Moral Panics - children raise fear in society as they are seen to follow the devil and do bad things. 
• Ownership and control - children are more in control in the horror movies as they are portrayed as villains. 
• Media technology and the digital revolution – changing technologies in the 21st century

Theories

Select at least five and say how each relates to your study, using keywords/specific theorists' names from the Media A-Z:

• Semiotics
• Gender and ethnicity
• Marxism and hegemony
• Audience theories
• Genre theories

Horror

Explain how your study fits into this.

Research plan (media texts, academic texts and websites)

Media texts
Orphan
Insidious
Paranormal Activity

Other media texts
The children
Insidious
Paranormal Activity
Ghost dimensions - paranormal activity

TV documentaries
Research videos online, e.g.:
BBC One - Panorama, Addicted to Games? http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wlmj0

Academic texts/books
http://blogcritics.org/evil-kids-in-the-horror-genre/

Ill Effects: The Media Violence Debate

 edited by Martin Barker

Children and the Movies: Media Influence and the Payne Fund Controversy

 By Garth S. Jowett, Ian C. Jarvie, Kathryn H. Fulle


Internet Links
1. At least FIVE from Media Guardian or Guardian Culture or another newspaper website.
http://www.theguardian.com/film/shortcuts/2013/mar/04/children-allowed-act-harrowing-films
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jun/12/children-thriller-films
http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2012/jun/20/sinister-not-where-im-standing
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/oct/04/sinister-review
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/aug/20/sinister-2-review-credibly-unsettling-bloody-offcuts
http://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2012/oct/05/sinister-video-review

2. At least FIVE from university websites/academic papers online. Use Google Scholar as a starting point.
https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=MK-BAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=children+and+horror+movies&ots=mRzrzn9Qs2&sig=bknnDE3aAtA_YYHD3edJQOKuPww#v=onepage&q&f=false
https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=WXJemKU5j-8C&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=children+and+horror+movies&ots=VBLqgdvkXJ&sig=vjFQdsNvEIDQj2RJkK-pCOlekLA#v=onepage&q&f=false