What makes a short film?

Audience and Reception theories - active and passive

Theories include:

Hypodermic needle model

Encoding/Decoding
Two-step flow
Uses and gratifications
Preferred/oppositional/negotiated/abberant readings


These apply to the horror/supernatural genre because...

Narrative theories:

Propp's character theory - Propp suggested that narratives tend to have all or most of the following character types; hero, villian, hero, helper, doner, dispatcher, false hero and princess.




Todorov's narrative theory - Todorov suggested that there were 5 stages to a narrative; Equilibrium (happy start); A disruption of this equilibrium by an event (problem); A realisation that a disruption has happened; An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption (problem is solved); and finally, a restoration of the equilibrium (happy ending).




Bordwell and Thompson - Offer two distinctions between story and plot - relates to the narrative that the audience are positioned to accept and that which the audience actually see - based on the Russian film theory:
Fabula - This is the story - It is defined as the chronological series of events that are represented or implied.
Syuzhet - This is the plot - an employment of narrative



Levi-Strauss - Proposed a theory of 'binary opposites' which entails that the majority of narratives in media forms contain opposing main characters. These binary opposites help to intensify the plot and further the narrative

Controversial Horror Movies

In the 60s and 70s, sexual violence, nudity and gore were all concepts that no film director in their right mind would have written into their scripts, let alone actually putting them on screen. Hitchcock's film Psycho was almost pulled from public viewing for what many studio executives deemed to be too 'smutty'.


Here are some horror movies that can be seen as controversial according to http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/banned-and-brutal-14-beyond-controversial-horror-movies-w446601:


The Exorcist  (1973) - The U.K. banned it from home release for a decade, and scholars have obsessed over the controversial presence of subliminal messaging in the film in order to disturb viewers.


The Human Centipede (2009) - The movie had been called "the most horrifying film ever made" and when the film showed at festivals, there were copious incidents involving people vomiting in the aisles.


The Last House on the Left (1972) -  New York Times critic Howard Thompson admitted to walking out after 50 minutes of this “sickening tripe". It stayed on the U.K.'s notorious "video nasties" list for decades, losing appeal after appeal until finally getting an uncut video release in 2008.


Psycho (1960) -

Highest grossing horror movies

20. The Ring (2002) - $249.3 million
19. Get Out (2017) - $252.4 million
18. The Village (2004) - $256.6 million
17. Annabelle (2014) - $256.8 million
16. The Silence of the lambs (1991) - $272.7 million
15. What lies beneath (2000) - $291.4 million
14. Annabelle: Creation (2017) - $292.5 million
13. Shutter Island (2010) - $294.8 million
12. Ghostbusters (1984) - $295.2 million
11. Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) - $300.22 million
10. Van Hel Sing (2004) - $300.25 million
9. The Conjuring (2013) - $318 million
8. The Conjuring 2 (2016) - $320.2 million
7. Se7en (1995) - $327.3 million
6. Hannibal (2001) - $351.6 million
5. Sings (2002) - $408.2 million
4. The Exorcist (1973) - $441.3 million
3. Jaws (1975) - $470.6 million
2. IT (2017) - $653.9 million
1. The Sixth Sense (1999) - $672.8 million

Horror films - the economics

Paranormal Activity -- production costs were about $15,000 .  Generated in excess of $190 million at the global box office.

The Blair Witch Project -- It's production costs were about $35,000 and it made in excess of $245 million at the global box office.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides officially holds the record for highest budget with a budget of $378.5 million. It is number 20 in the list of highest grossing films of all time and grossed $1,045,713,802.

Some things that hold horror movies back are; limited appeal, no family audience and not considered 'artistic'

Signs and Codes (Barthes)

Symbolic codes - Symbolism within the text. It exercises opposites to show contrast and create greater meaning, creating tension, drama and character development.


Enigma codes - Refers to mystery within text, clues are dropped but no clear answers are given. Enigmas make the audience want to know more and when they're unanswered, they tend to frustrate the audience.


Action codes - Contains sequential elements of action in text and adds suspense to the text


Intertextuality - The relationship between texts


Iconography - The visual images and symbols used in a piece of work


Star vehicle - A movie, play or TV show produced mainly to enhance a Star's career

Reading Horror Movies

Polysemy - Media texts are open to multiple readings. Horror films are often deliberately ambiguous, (e.g. Babadook and The Shining)

The audience can also respond to texts in different ways outlined by the late, great Stuart Hall.

The producer encodes a meaning and the reader decodes the meaning.

Possible readings:

• Preferred/Dominant
• Oppositional
• Negotiated
• Aberrant