So…why do we like the Gothic?
What do we get out of the goose bumps?
A way to examine the “darker side of life” A way to question our doubts and beliefs about
Mortality/Immortality Morality/Immorality Reason/Emotion Order/Disorder Mind/Body Masculine/Feminine Sanity/Insanity
A way to safely experience dread or horror, which can be cathartic, thrilling, and enjoyable
Time of political and social unrest Revolutions in America and France Riots in England Nobility lose ground Loss of social identity between classes Advances in science cause new
questions of ethics and morality
“A new and fearful genre for a new and fearful time.”
spectre of social revolution is manifested in the supernatural “spectres” of the Gothic.
A crumbling way of life emerges as a crumbling and haunted Gothic manor
the loss of social identity becomes the Gothic hero/heroine search for identity
Setting in a castle with secret passages and hidden staircases.
Dungeons, crypts, spooky basements, attics
Extreme landscapes Extreme weather conditions An atmosphere of mystery
and suspense
Omens, portents, visions. Extreme sense of isolation A sense of “Other” Magical or supernatural
beings and events Women in distress-fainting,
screaming, needing to be rescued
Women threatened by a powerful, tyrannical male
Ancestral Curse Body Snatching Cemeteries Dreaming/Nightmares Entrapment & Imprisonment Mist & Fog Possession by Demonic Forces Revenge Somnambulism Werewolves, Witches, Zombies,
Vampires
Powerful love Uncertainty of reciprocation Unreturned love Tension between true love and
father’s control Lovers parted against their wishes Illicit love or lust threatens the
virtuous one Rival lovers or multiple suitors
Time to Brainstorm
List as many Gothic horror movies you can remember
seeing—spoofs as well as serious movies
Next step…List all the romance elements in these
movies…in other words, what problems or complications did the lovers have?Here’s an example of what I mean: In The Sixth Sense, Bruce Willis’s wife is
seeing another man.
Now…
List the weather conditions, lighting, sounds, sights,
symbols, plot twists--anything that you can remember that made the movie “spooky.”
Let’s see how you did!
(If you haven’t started yet, now would be a great time to take
notes!)
Wind, especially howling wind
doors grating on rusty hinges
footsteps approaching lights in abandoned
rooms characters trapped in a
room ruins of buildings thunder and lightning
Rain, especially blowing sighs, moans, howls,
eerie sounds clanking chains gusts of wind blowing out
lights doors suddenly slamming
shut baying of distant dogs or
wolves crazed laughter
The metonymies of gloom and doom work for both written works and film…
But, for film alone, additional help is needed to convey the atmosphere…
To add atmosphere, suspense, tone, foreshadowing, and characterization (among other elements) in film:
Camera Angles Lighting Color Motion Transitions between scenes Special effects Sound
In both literature and film, the vocabulary helps to create atmosphere!
To convey a sense of MYSTERY: diabolical, enchantment, ghost, goblins, haunted, infernal, magic, miracle, omens, ominous, portent, spectre, vision
For FEAR, TERROR, or SORROW: afflicted, affliction, agony, anguish, apprehension, apprehensive, concern, despair, frantic, frightened, fright, mournful, miserable, melancholy, shrieks
To show LARGENESS: enormous, gigantic, giant, large, tremendous, vast
For literature, the vocabulary helps to create atmosphere! (cont’d)
To convey a sense of SURPRISE: alarm, amazement, astonished, shocking, staring, surprise, thunderstruck, wonder
To show HASTE: anxious, breathless, flight, frantic, hastened, hastily, impatience, impatient, impetuously, running, suddenly, sudden
To show ANGER: anger, angrily, enraged, furious, fury, incensed, provoked, rage, raving, resentment, temper, wrath, wrathfully
None of these lists is complete, but they are a good place to start!
For additional information go to:www.virtualsalt.com
And click on “Elements of the Gothic”
Let’s see how these elements work in film!
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