Media: Looking at gothic horror
The horror genre remains very popular with cinema audiences even nowadays because the special effects today make creatures look even more terrifyingly realistic and it also means that you can film stunts or scenes like somebody turning into a werewolf for example, much more easy to film and much more effective. An example of a modern horror film that consists of very effective special effects is 'Underworld' that makes use of computer generation to make some impressive transformation scenes.
The advances in technology give modern horror films an edge over classics and a modern audience expects a lot more from a horror film nowadays. Modern horror films consist of old and new tricks of filming to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. They consist of much more varied and clever plots and storylines. Re-workings of older horror films are filmed with the view to appeal to a modern audience and the audience go to see these horror films with an expectation of what they think will happen and the good thing about horror films is they can have plot twists and unexpected events occurring throughout the film.
We watched two extracts from the film adaptations of two Gothic horror novels, Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' and Kenneth Brannagh's 'Frankenstein'. We analysed these two scenes and then compared them to the written extracts. The two scenes we looked at are the creation scene from 'Frankenstein' and Harker's journey to Dracula's castle and his first meeting with Dracula from 'Dracula'. For this assignment I will be analysing the mise-en-scene and iconography of both scenes, the use of camera shots, lighting, sound, costume, props and colour.
I will be looking at how the directors of these two films have adapted them from the text and also at how they attempted to make the film more appealing to a modern audience.
FRANKENSTEIN
Film Extract: The Creation Scene
A wide variation of props were used in this scene. There were scientific props such as test tubes, cylinders, electric circuits and surgical instruments that add to the realism and the horror, particularly the surgical instruments. A large copper tank in the shape of a sarcophagus could be seen and that reminds us of the dead creature inside and reinforces the horror element.
A pulsating sack of electric eels hanging down above the tank that makes you disgusted, as it is unpleasant. The huge interest in electricity at the time this novel was set in could be told from these props.
The scene is set in Dr. Frankenstein's vast attic and is full of all his various pieces of equipment, which makes us realize the size of his experiment and how seriously he took it. It is a conventional setting for a horror movie as the attic is often the place where all the secret going-ons occur.
The music of this scene is orchestral polyphonic music at a dramatic fast pace when Dr. Frankenstein is starting the experiment adding to the feeling of frenzied activity. It changes pace and even stops for the parts where you are expecting something to happen to emphasize that bit e.g. the thump of the hand against the tank window and the sound of the ambiotic fluids. The music slows down near the end of the scene and goes sad and melancholic to reflect Dr. Frankenstein's feelings of misery and despair.
There are a lot of diegetic sounds in the film, for example the crackling of the electric eels and the electricity that is typical of a Frankenstein creation scene.
At the beginning of the scene, a wide variation of sounds like banging and clinking were used to add to the feeling of frantic action.
Also, some emphasized sounds to make the audience jump were used effectively, like the thump of the hand against the tank. A loud bang was used when the weight on the pulley hits the monster on the head and there was ...
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There are a lot of diegetic sounds in the film, for example the crackling of the electric eels and the electricity that is typical of a Frankenstein creation scene.
At the beginning of the scene, a wide variation of sounds like banging and clinking were used to add to the feeling of frantic action.
Also, some emphasized sounds to make the audience jump were used effectively, like the thump of the hand against the tank. A loud bang was used when the weight on the pulley hits the monster on the head and there was also sound effects that emphasize the horror, designed to make the audience cringe like the sound of the electric probes going into the corpse.
The colours in this scene are a limited palette that consists generally of muddy brown (sepia) tones. This gives the film a grimy, gloomy, dull, old look that is typical of the time the film is set in and the films genre as horror films are often supposed to look gloomy and miserable. The only flashes of clear colour is the blue electricity.
There is clever costuming in this scene. Robert De Niro, who plays the creature, is sewn into a body suit that looks scary and realistic. It had motley coloured skin that was loose on the body and puckered. The monster had a vacant expression and plenty of scars and stitches that repulse the audience and remind us that the monster has been constructed from more than one dead body. Dr. Frankenstein wears a period costume and has a bare torso because he was hot from the hard work of performing the experiment.
The scene started very dramatically with the cloak billowing out behind Dr. Frankenstein as he stormed into his attic. Dr. Frankenstein's bare torso due to the heat of performing his experiment may have appealed to a female audience. He is a tragic hero as his creation will later be to his downfall.
There were various camera shots in the film extract of the creation scene that emphasize different bits of the scene.
The close ups emphasize detail, for example the probes going into the corpse.
The high angle shot when the creature appears dead is used to make the monster seem threatening. The camera looks down on Dr. Frankenstein to make him look small and helpless, possibly it might even be used to make the audience think that the creature will still kill him later for what Dr. Frankenstein did to him.
A low angle shot is used at the beginning of the scene showing the cloak billowing behind Dr. Frankenstein as he marches into his attic.
An extreme long shot is used to show Dr. Frankenstein standing on top of his experiment while it is running and you can see his set-up from a distance altogether instead of separately seeing the various bits close up.
The long shot where you see the pulsating sack of eels gives a view of the sack showing how large the bag is and it makes the sack look menacing.
The text reference to the creation scene refers to the experiment taking place on a dreary night and 'instruments of life' is the only reference to scientific equipment in the text while in the film there is a wide range of scientific equipment.
In the text the creature is described as having yellow skin, which is different to in the film as the monster in the film appears to have pale skin, which is quite pink. The monster described in the text has lustrous black hair while the monster in the film has none, the monster in the text has pearly white teeth and we did not see the monster's teeth in the film, the one in the text is described as having watery, dun coloured eyes and a shrivelled complexion, which are both similar to in the film, although the monster in the film does not have straight, black lips as the monster described in the text has.
I think the director of the film decided to give his monster a different appearance to what people would expect from a Frankenstein movie and that's why the monster differs in this way. Kenneth Brannagh shows his monster this way to make the creature more varied from the stereotypical monster we expect to and to make a more vulgar and revolting monster to make the audience cringe and despise.
In the written extract, there is little description of the setting or the equipment. Neither is there reference to how the experiment was undertaken so the director, Kenneth Brannagh had to offer his own interpretation.
"Now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart." In the text, Dr. Frankenstein's emotions are portrayed as going from excitement and expectation while he is performing the experiment to being filled with disgust and fear when he sees what he has created after ha has completed the experiment.
I think that these emotions were portrayed quite well in the film as he seems quite excited when he is screaming at the creature to live and when it comes alive he laughs with joy but then when he realises what he has created when it is hanging up in the chains he realises how horrific the creature he has made is and he is disgusted. Camera angles are used well to portray Dr. Frankenstein's emotions during the film by using close-ups to show his excitement while he is performing the experiment and extreme close-ups to show his look of disgust near the end of the scene.
The setting of this scene is very dark, gloomy and bleak. It is set in the middle of nowhere and the surroundings are bare mountains. Dracula's castle is perched on the top of a cliff and is enormous and very imposing, with pointed arches, gargoyles and Gothic carvings, typical of a Gothic horror setting.
Gothic novels are set in dark, gloomy places and this one is no exception. It consists of typical horror features such as lightening, thunder, mist, fog, dark forests and isolated mountains.
The low angle shot where Harker is looking up at Dracula's castle and it makes the castle appear huge, forbidding and mighty.
The extreme close up shot used where the camera zooms into the picture of Mena with ink spilled over it, reminding us of the film at the beginning with Elizabeth in the pool of blood in the church. It establishes a link between Dracula and Mina.
The high angle shot and extreme long shot looking down at Dracula and Harker crossing through the hall. This shot draws attention to Dracula's extremely long red cape streaming out behind him like a trail of blood.
The low angle shot shows Dracula looming over Harker and makes him look powerful, like he is in control. Many two shots are used to allow the audience to make comparisons between the two characters. The low angle shot is also used to emphasize the shadow's movements.
The low lighting helps with casting Dracula's shadow which is again typical of horror. Dracula's eerie shadow moving in the gloom is very effective for scaring the audience as the combination of shadow with candle light works exceptionally well for this scene. This candle light makes the gloomy aspect more present as the castle is immense and there are not very many candles so most of the entrance hallway would be beyond the reach of the light and in darkness, which makes it very scary as you do not know what lurks in the gloom.
There is orchestral music played by the strings which go low and slow to create a sinister atmosphere. This music adds to the feeling of tension, the feeling that something is going to happen.
The music gets louder and quicker when Harker offends Dracula by laughing and Dracula gets furious and pulls out a sword. This combined with the change of pace and volume of the music makes the audience become afraid, a typical trick of horror.
There are many different sound effects in this scene from Dracula. There is the howling of the savage wolves, which scares the audience and makes the element of horror and wildness of the setting more clear. There was the thunder, which is typical of a horror movie.
The clanging of the huge, metal gates emphasizes the feeling of the strength and inescapability of the castle and that Harker will not be able to escape and this will be his prison for the rest of his life.
Harker's costume is typical of a man of those times. He wears a suit and is very neatly presented. He has his hair combed very carefully. Dracula's is very different. He wears a huge red robe which trails out behind him like blood. His hair is curled up high and is white and it mixes with the skin on the back of his neck which makes him look weird and scary.
His skin is white and wrinkled like an old man and this creates the effect that he has been drained of all his blood and that helps you to understand his lust for blood and the way he talks about the preciousness of blood. It makes him look very scary and effective, almost dead in a way. It also makes him look exotic and abnormal. He would stand out in a crowd of normal people.
There were quite a few similarities between the film extract and the text; both were set in a huge, Gothic castle with a vast courtyard. The stone was 'massively carved' and the door was old and studded. Both had creeping shadows and lanterns.
In both the film extract and the text, Dracula is portrayed as having hairy palms (abnormal), profuse hair, an "extraordinary pallor" as he is very pale, he is portrayed as being an old man in both and he is also similarly portrayed as speaking with a 'strange intonation' (foreign accent).
The similarities between the film extract and the text with Harker is that in both they portray his feelings of anxiety and his crossing of the threshold is made significant.
The differences are that in the text, Dracula is described as having bushy eyebrows and a moustache whereas in the film extract he has a plain face. In the text, Dracula is dressed in all black while in the film he is dressed in white which emphasizes his paleness with a red cape that is more powerfully visual as looking like blood flowing behind him. Also in the text Dracula is portrayed as having a red mouth with protuberant, pointed teeth while in the film he is shown as having a pale mouth and normal teeth.
The director uses this look in order to make Dracula look like a normal human, adding to the feeling of mystery surrounding him, and to make him different from the stereotypic image of Dracula.
Summary
These two films engage a modern audience in the way the films use clever tricks to give suspense, which can be overlooked in some of the newer horror films that rely on the amount of blood that comes out rather than clever filming and jumpy moments.
In short, Dracula and Frankenstein were very similar in the way that they portrayed the typical horror tricks and consisted of similar camera angles to each other point out various bits. I thought that Dracula, both the written extract and the film extract fitted the horror genre a bit better than Frankenstein as it was more believable for me. I also thought that the film extract was much more scary, although Frankenstein wasn't bad and had its moments of fright. My final views were that Dracula was on the whole filmed better than Frankenstein as it used the different camera angles more effectively in my opinion.
Andrew Baillie 10ALB
