Draft
Presentation script:
Presentation script:
Presentation script:
Slide 1, Projector: Image taken from The Omen (1976) of Damien, and a Guardian image from The Babadook (2014) With Title…Children in Horror: The Innocent and the Evil. Quote ‘the normal boundary between innocence and malevolence has been broken’ by Peter Hall, Producer.
Slide 2, Projector: Summary of title and key points of investigation, timeline image from each film cover.
Presenter: My investigation area is on the different archetypes of children in modern day horror and how it is now compared to classic horror films. My project is based on genre and the elements that are portrayed from the child characters. I have been looking into the two popular character archetypes which are; the innocent victim and the evil monster. that are typically used in horror, particularly modern horror and I am comparing two modern style horror films to a classic horror that was very successful and well known for its main character/plot.
These films include my focus film; The Babadook (2014, Jenifer Kent) which portrays an innocent, a shy boy who turns into a hero at the end of the film. The Omen (1976) a classic horror film that was very popular at the time of release (in the 70s, same decade as The Exorcist). A rise in horror films with children being the antagonist. My second related film is Case 39 (2009) another modern day horror with a young female antagonist who seems to dominate and terrify her guardian, fitting in to this antagonist character type.
Slide 3, projector: How children are represented in horror, examples of modern and classic films that contain evil children and innocent children.
Presenter: Children in horror are represented through two character archetypes; Innocent and/or evil and the idea of children turning ‘evil’ goes against the norm of society as its unusual and threatening (particularly to adults/parents). There is a longer list of evil archetypes because it is more common in modern day horror to feature ‘creepy’ children than it is to have innocent children. Another pattern that I noticed in my research is the contrast between modern horrors compared to classic horror. The most popular and successful film ‘The Exorcist’ that came out in 1972 has started a chain in the film industry by introducing this new character archetype that goes to the extreme level as it was given an 18 rating.
I think this has opened a door to a whole variety of how horror films are formed in modern day horror, it is more violet and children are becoming more popular. However this wasn’t the beginning for children playing the antagonist, e.g. The Innocents (1961) features two young children behaving oddly due to supernatural causes, making their mother anxious and suspicious.
Slide 4, projector: My Focus film, The Babadook featuring an image of the DVD cover. Brief summary of the film and the characters included.
Presenter: My chosen focus film, The Babadook, directed by Jennifer Kent in 2014 (item 1). This film crosses some boundaries because it is an independent modern day film that is quite recent. I analysed a particular sequence from this film, the characters adapt to strong roles within the film. The son, Sam is very sheepish and anxious around his mother as if he is defenceless matching him to this innocent archetype that a majority of children are associated with. Whereas his mother, Amelia gradually changes her behaviour towards herself and Sam becoming careless and threatening. There is minimal lighting to set the atmosphere and the OTS shot, low angle to capture the mid close up of the Amelia in distress connotes to her situation and how shes dealing with it. We are put in her shoes through POV shots along with handheld and shaky camera that raise tension. There is rapid transformation of Sam in a vulnerable state, quickly sticks up for himself towards Amelia and changes his attitude boldly which creates enigma codes. This film portrays the realism of children in horror and rapid character transformations that are created throughout films, different character archetypes can be adapted to set the tone of the film. Children are popular because its what gets an audience hooked as its not the 'norm'.
Slide 5, projector: My related film, The Omen 1976 directed by Richard Donner. Statement on the archetype used in the film and the time it was made.
Presenter: The Omen is one of my related films because it is a 'classic' horror film that dates back to the 1970's, which is the same decade that The Exorcist was released (1972). It takes a similar approach to the horror genre but breaks into a boundary of sinister actions undertaken by a child.
