Cop3 Dana Davis
Summary of original proposal • FOCUS ON Character • MAKE IT ABOUT Monsters • READING:
Links to ‘The uncanny Valley’ graph & article Masahiro Mori
- On Monsters – Stephen T. Asam A look at our fears throughout time, superstitions and their historical roots in society. - Monster Theory – Jeffrey Jerome Cohen A collection of essays looking at monsters and their cultural meaning, symbolism and their role in society.
- The uncanny – Sigmund Freud Essay about the phenomenon known as ‘uncanny’, (to vaguely summarise) the feeling of unease when something in not quite right - Gothic horror: a guide for students and readers – Clive Bloom A collection of essays looking at the gothic horror genre in literature & throughout history.
Research
THE UNCANNY & THE uncanny VALLEY
When somethings not quite right
Freud: • Doppelgangers & The ‘I’ve seen this before’ feeling - “the ‘uncanny’ is that class of the terrifying which leads back to something long known to us, once very familiar”
Why this is creepy Masahiro Mori: • The uncanny valley graph • Why attempts to match ‘human realness’ should be scrapped
• The real & fictional – “uncanny effect is produced by effacing the distinction between imagination and reality” Something becomes uncanny when it seemingly breeches our own world or reality
Movies, makers, writers & pop culture Pandorum Cloverfield doom Videogame related
Resident evil Silent hill
Cult Japanese horror • The grudge (Takashi Shimizu) • The ring (Hideo Nakara) • Audition (Takashi Miike) • Godzilla (Ishiro Honda)
• Clive Barker Hellraiser, candyman
Terminator Stephen King (James Cameron) IT Total Recall The shining (Paul Verhoeven) The mist ALIEN Pet Semetary (prequels & sequels) Misery Ridley Scott thinner War of the worlds Stephen Spielberg Childs play (original Byron Conrad Haskin 50’s) Thinner Night of the living dead, Fright night Dawn of the dead etc (Tom Holland) (George Romero)
28 days later (Danny Boyle) American Werewolf in London (john Landis) Dog soldiers (Neil marshall)
Clown (Jon watts) Texas chainsaw massacre Poltergeist (Tobe hooper)
• James wan (saw, conjuring & insidious) • Guillermo Del Toro (pans labyrinth, crimson peak, • Stanley Kubrick The shining, clockwork orange, 2001 space odyssey etc • Wez Craven Nightmare on elm street, Hills have eyes, scream • John Carpenter Halloween, the thing, the fog, Village of the damned,,, big trouble in little china • Andrés Muschietti IT (recent) & mama Classic horror Hitchcock Psycho, birds
James Whale Frankenstein, bride of Frankenstein… Mary Shelly Bram Stoker Dracula Edgar Allan Poe
70s-80s period/similar vibes
Vampires Werewolves zombies/living dead Murderous/psychopathic Supernatural/demonic Monsters Mutants Alien/ SCIfi Clowns?
The murderous and psychopathic monsters Serial killers, psychopathic thrillers etc
Demonic & supernatural: the unexplained & superstitious Nature of people
Monsters of the future Uncertainties and anxieties of a new generation Sci-Fi, alien movies, robots etc
Ghosts, possessions, hauntings , demonic monsters etc
HOW MOSTERS ARE MADE, EXAMPLES inspiration
creation
legacy
Possibly stems from big stories such as John Wayne Gacy – serial killer who’s ‘alter ego’ was clown named pogo, a children’s entertainer (1978)
‘IT’
KILLER CLOWN
Inspired by political/moral issues of the time surrounding the advances of science, playing god and interfering with nature. Possibly inspired by John Hunter, ‘surgeon, natural historian and monsterologist ’ – body snatching in the early 1800’s
Originally published 1986
‘Frankenstein’ Originally published 1818
FRANKENSTEIN’S MONSTER
Interesting Quotes & theories ‘One aspect of the monster concept seems to be the breakdown of intelligibility, an action or a person or a thing is monstrous when it can’t be processed by our rationality. And also when we cannot readily relate to the emotional range involved.’
‘The label of monster, on the other hand, is usually reserved for a person who’s action's have placed him outside the range of humanity.’ ‘…applied to humans beings who have , by their own horrific actions, abdicated their humanity.’ (Stephen T Asam – On Monsters)
‘Cognitive mismatch’ & ‘category jamming’ e.g.. the fright of seeing a headless man or a floating hand (Noel Carroll) ‘Morbid anxiety’ Fear of death & the human egos inability to accept death as a fate, Hence the common conception of a body and a soul as separate beings a ‘doubling effect’ so that we might believe we can live on after death, e.g the spirit realm. Opens up another level of uncertainties and could be’s because we simply don’t know. (Freud) ‘According to the designer, a smile is a dynamic sequence of facial deformations, and the speed of the deformations is crucial. When the speed is cut in half in an attempt to make the robot bring up a smile more slowly, instead of looking happy, its expression turns creepy. This shows how, because of a variation in movement, something that has come to appear very close to human—like a robot, puppet, or prosthetic hand—could easily tumble down into the uncanny valley.’ (Masahiro Mori – uncanny valley)
Examples of practitioners On the topic of monsters
Charles burns & Gary Panter
Fran Krause
Weird – Eerie Publications (66’-81’)
Intended practical response??