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Intro: This is very close to an excellent introduction – the basic ingredients are there. Put the initial quote about the title, re-write your title to include your primary text and then work on that opening sentence. I would take out the repeated references to gender in the introduction as I think it is misleading and not part of your main investigation. Also proof-read for clarity and errors! 250 words.

Section 1: Primary text – Sinister. Textual analysis of key scenes, exploring representation of children. Link to theory and quotes throughout this section. 500 words.

Section 2: Secondary text – Orphan. Don’t mention trailer – it just makes it look like you haven’t watched the film! You can still use those scenes to analyse though. More textual analysis here, link to the points you’re making with Sinister and further quotes/theory. Explore the other side of the argument here too – criticisms and how using children as scary characters can backfire. 400 words.

Section 3: Genre – horror audience pleasures and how and why evil children can fit into this. Research and quote driven section – get all your BFI research in here and link back to the texts you’ve already mentioned. 500 words.

Section 4: Historical context – trace these audience pleasures and evil children right back to the beginning of cinema. I’d consider adding another historical text between 1896 and 2000s – Exorcist would seem an obvious choice. More textual analysis and quotes please! 400 words.

Section 5: Wider context – the impact horror genre can have on audiences and society. Are these representations dangerous in society – Child’s Play 3 and James Bulger murder in 1990s. Effects theory – hypodermic needle etc. http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/mediaviolence/violence.php?pageID=child  350 words.

Conclusion: Perhaps look to see if there are any sequels or new horror films coming out next year that continue this long tradition of evil children in horror (new Paranormal Activity?) This could be a good opening to your conclusion. 200 words.

Next steps… update/finish your plan based on this tutorial. You don’t need to stick to the above by any means but hopefully it has at least clarified your thinking and provided a potential structure that will be easy to follow.

This essay has great potential – it could be SERIOUSLY good! Remain focused on the question throughout – don’t drift to gender (although this would be fine to explore in one paragraph).

Publish this tutorial to your blog with your next steps as usual.

Introducion

Why are children in horror presented as evil?

“Why are the evil characters always children or targeting children.” (Rachel Howe) Horror films show many negative stereotypes within males and females but in this specific HORROR text, what is most significant about this text is that its ‘children’. This is predominantly clear in Scott Derrickson’s highly successful film, Sinister (2012). In Derrickson’s film, children are presented as the villain/devil in most horror movies, excluding the fact if their males or female both gender stereotypes are shown. It is shown that Sinister shows a negative typecast for children rather than the typical stereotype of children which appears to be the children being harmful and loving. We can also see this in historical, successful Horror films such as IT, the others and the children.

“When watching horror films there seems to be nothing scarier than the little kid who just pops up on screen and you know is about to do something so crazy or witness an event that will change their personality for the rest of the film.”

This essay will discover the negative stereotypes of children in Horror films and how this influences other upcoming movies and the audience who are watching. 1896 was the first horror movie to be released. 

Historical text

1896 - first ever horror movie that was released

The house of the Devil " Le manoir du disble" - 1896
Georges Melies

' In later decades, other low budget film makers were drawn to the genre. Horror became a staple of the 1960's U.S. independent production, with many films targeted at the teenage market'

The children - 2008 
Tom Shankland, Manik 

IT - 1990
Tommy Lee Wallace

The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari -  1919

Robert Wiene

The Golem -1915/1920

Carl Boese, Paul Wegener

Nosferatu - 1922

 F.W. Murnau

Tutorial Feedback

Notes & Quotes document just under 2,500 – not including Task #1 (Textual Analysis). With this you’re looking at more like 3,500 which is solid but probably lacking a little in terms of quality academic research. One to address over the next two weeks.

Textual analysis looking like a real strength – just be aware of large blocks of text. Academic writing is being assessed of course in this essay so make sure your points are clear, organised and in sufficient detail.

Bibliography is currently a weakness – obviously a work in progress but that was due today and it’s a long way short of what you need overall. Make this a priority over the next week.

Academic books/journals are massively missing from your research. The BFI will help but I have to ask why you haven’t used the books in DF07 or the archive on our M: drive. On the bookshelf you have Film Genre, Cinema Studies and more which will all cover horror.

Two PDFs on the system to look at – plenty more out there.

Historical text analysis – Exorcist or the Omen could work perfectly for you. More textual analysis please!

Widen your search away from your primary text and look at horror and the representation of children more generally. This will create far more opportunities for academic book and journal research.

I’d keep looking for more internet-based research – more on the Guardian for example. This will be a task in the next couple of weeks so we can pick it up then.

Key priority now is Tasks 2, 3 and 4 – particularly the bibliography but you may need to do a lot of reading to improve that part of it.

Critical Investigation Plan

Critical Investigation Plan

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

Sinister

Scott Derrickson

-          paranormal activity

-          Insidious

-          Orphan

-           

Introduction

Children in HORROR-

 (Rachel Howe)

“A lot of people think about when watching scary movies are why are the evil characters always children or targeting children.”

“  When watching horror films there seems to be nothing scarier than the little kid who just pops up on screen and you know is about to do something so crazy or witness an event that will change their personality for the rest of the film.”

Section 1 –

In this section I will be discussing the main plot of the movie, this YouTube clip shows everything about how the children are presented..

Sinister Extended Cut Endings – Youtube

“Best Horror Film in the Last Decade”

“that was the scariest movie I've ever seen."

Section 2 –

Orphan trailer

In this section, I will be discussing

Section 3 –

criticisms

In this paragraph I will talk about why horror may not be a popular genre and how it has failed to pleasure audiences recently 

Bad reviews from my texts and orphan .

“Fails to deliver in every way!”

“Too long, repetitive and not that scary”

Section 4 –

In this paragraph I will be talking about the pleasures of horror movies from what I have found out in my research…

Pleasures of horror

Section 5 -

Migrain and theories of sinister

-            In this paragraph I will be talking about the analysis I done for sinister

-          Analysis on video as well as the movie

Conclusion –

 In this paragraph I will write a different conclusion about the children in horror and the audience pleasures of horror movies - I will also include a quote I gained from the BFI Library

Bibliography

(Hills, 2005)

Hills, B. M. (2005, April 1). https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=oPyTJEKHWMoC&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&dq=audience+pleasures+of+horror&source=bl&ots=c05znexVv4&sig=Z1Xr29Ksbvjn52VF3EDfXdFo55A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZiqiWvavJAhUIhhoKHVOaDDgQ6AEIJTAB#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved from The pleasures of horror : https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=oPyTJEKHWMoC&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&dq=audience+pleasures+of+horror&source=bl&ots=c05znexVv4&sig=Z1Xr29Ksbvjn52VF3EDfXdFo55A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZiqiWvavJAhUIhhoKHVOaDDgQ6AEIJTAB#v=onepage&q&f=false

Thompson, D. B. (2003). Film Art . new york.

Why Our Brains Love Horror Movies. (2011, October 25th). Retrieved November 2nd, 2015, from thedailybeast: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/10/25/why-our-brains-love-horror-movies-fear-catharsis-a-sense-of-doom.html

(Thompson, 2003)

Hills, B. M. (2005, April 1). https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=oPyTJEKHWMoC&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&dq=audience+pleasures+of+horror&source=bl&ots=c05znexVv4&sig=Z1Xr29Ksbvjn52VF3EDfXdFo55A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZiqiWvavJAhUIhhoKHVOaDDgQ6AEIJTAB#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved from The pleasures of horror : https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=oPyTJEKHWMoC&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&dq=audience+pleasures+of+horror&source=bl&ots=c05znexVv4&sig=Z1Xr29Ksbvjn52VF3EDfXdFo55A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZiqiWvavJAhUIhhoKHVOaDDgQ6AEIJTAB#v=onepage&q&f=false

Thompson, D. B. (2003). Film Art . new york.

  

(Rosalind Noonan, 2013)

Rosalind Noonan, N. B. (2013). https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=&q=Sinister+Extended+Cut+Endings&surl=1&safe=active&gws_rd=ssl#safe=strict&q=sinister+book. Retrieved from sinister: https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=&q=Sinister+Extended+Cut+Endings&surl=1&safe=active&gws_rd=ssl#safe=strict&q=sinister+book

 (Danielewski, 2000)

(Porter, 1971)

(jackson, 2013)

jackson, k. (2013). technology, monstrosity, and reproduction in twenty-first century Horror. united states: PALGRAVE MACMILLAN.

(Georgieva, 2013)

Georgieva, M. (2013). Gothic child. uk: Palgrave Macmillan.

jackson, k. (2013). technology, monstrosity, and reproduction in twenty-first century Horror. united states: PALGRAVE MACMILLAN.

(Westfahl, 1999)

Georgieva, M. (2013). Gothic child. uk: Palgrave Macmillan.

jackson, k. (2013). technology, monstrosity, and reproduction in twenty-first century Horror. united states: PALGRAVE MACMILLAN.

Westfahl, G. (1999). Nursery Realms: Children in the Worlds of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror . usa.

(Debbie C. Olson, 2012)

Debbie C. Olson, A. S. (2012). Lost and Othered Children in Contemporary Cinema. plymouth .

Georgieva, M. (2013). Gothic child. uk: Palgrave Macmillan.

jackson, k. (2013). technology, monstrosity, and reproduction in twenty-first century Horror. united states: PALGRAVE MACMILLAN.

Westfahl, G. (1999). Nursery Realms: Children in the Worlds of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror . usa.

(king, 1986)

Debbie C. Olson, A. S. (2012). Lost and Othered Children in Contemporary Cinema. plymouth .

Georgieva, M. (2013). Gothic child. uk: Palgrave Macmillan.

jackson, k. (2013). technology, monstrosity, and reproduction in twenty-first century Horror. united states: PALGRAVE MACMILLAN.

king, s. (1986). It. united states: viking.

Westfahl, G. (1999). Nursery Realms: Children in the Worlds of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror . usa.

Critical Investigation - Task 1

Sinister Extended Cut Endings

This video clip is from the First Sinister movie by Scott Derrickson which was released in October 2012. The beginning of the video clip is someone turning ON the switch to the operator. The camera movement then slowly moves to the protagonists face who is the dad in the movie, there is then a close up of his face looking at the big projector. The setting is that the man is shown to be sitting in a big dark room which shows to have low key lighting.He has put on old videos that he found from the previous family who loved in the same house as him, the camera then moves back to the man face and the lighting had become more low key so it looks quite dark. the sound in the background is quite spooky and demanding which connotes that something bad is about to happen. the video footage shows a family handing on a tree with a rope tied around their necks and their faces are covered wit bags, suddenly the man spots something. The young girl from the previous family is climbing back down from the same tree her family is hanging down from, the little girl then walks up to one of the bodies and starts swinging off it pretending she is at the park swinging on a climbing frame, this automatically suggests that the little girl could be possessed in some sort of way as this is shown not to be normal behaviour. The girl then skips towards the camera and stands there with her finger covering her mouth (the sign saying shhh) the man then recognises the girl by saying her name in shock then she suddenly disappears from the screen. The next shot is of a car on fire with chains around it.. then a young boy comes in front looking directly at the screen, doing the same gesture as the girl, (shhh) the camera goes back to the low key lighting and colours are very dark ans dull. the man then looks confused at the child and then the boy disappears again. through out the video clips there are different tragic deaths that have happened and a child has appeared ion the screen doing then same gesture, this shows that the children are the ones who are killing people and the gesture (shhh) is being repeated by all the children which shows that some demon could be possessing them to be doing this and they know what they are doing isnt right so they do the particular gesture to sort of show that it is a secret and they don't want to tell anyone. 

Orphan Trailer 

I feel that this film trailer successfully and conventionally follows the typical structure of film trailers. It starts off slowly, letting us know that this family was going to adopt a child, called Esther. Then towards the middle of the film trailer we begin to find out that this child is troubled, and there is something wrong. Then, the climax appears and we receive a visual montage of the different types of torment that Esther puts this mother and family through. The structure allows the audience to know what the general narrative of the film is about, but doesn’t give too much away which allows the audience to remain intrigued. For example, we see the other children in the film being used to get to the mother, e.g. when the little girl gets pushed in front of the car, etc. But we never get to see the outcome, or what happens to the child. An enigma is set up too; we know something is wrong with Esther, but what? When watching this trailer, I realised that the mood and the target audiences understanding of the film trailer is created through mise en scene elements such as lighting, body language, setting and so on. Settings/ backgrounds are used throughout this trailer to create realism. The typical conventions that we see in any psychological horror film are also shown in this film trailer which will appeal and attract to the correct target audience. For example, schools are a common convention of a psychological horror film and in this film trailer; we see two different schools in different locations. This could be because of the fact that the killer has had a bad childhood and wants to seek revenge on other children/ teenagers, for example.  Also, the main setting is in the family’s home which is the most common setting for any horror film of any sub genre. This could be because the audience are therefore able to picture themselves in this situation and would therefore be more thrilling and un-nerving. We see a hospital, a park and so on, and these types of setting simply create realism. In one scene in the park, where Esther spots the girl that bullied her about the way she dressed, we see her follow the girl up to the top of one of the play instruments where she appears to push her off. A shot is then shown of Esther at the top, looking powerful and like it was her kingdom, her domain, due to the low angle of the shot. Other mise-en-scene elements add to the effect. Esther’s dark, old-fashioned costume and the shape of her hat give her a witch-like appearance that immediately leads us to see her as evil, sinister and a danger to innocent children.