Research on Gothic Horror

Gothic Horror

Gothic Horror is a popular fusion of death, horror and romance. It began in the form of literature in the Victorian era during the enlightenment, where people began to shift from the religious belief in heaven and hell to a more questioning stance on what happens after death. A few classic examples of Gothic literature would include 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' and 'Frankenstein' by Mary Shelley.

As a group, we have considered Gothic Horror as a genre because it could allow us to incorporate imaginative stage, costume and makeup production. In order to create a suitably Gothic film opening, we decided to research the common conventions of Gothic film and literature. They are as follows:

• Weather - used as pathetic fallacy to emphasise the mood of the piece
• Dreams - characters often fall into a dream-like trance
• The Supernatural - the villain often has one or more supernatural qualities
• A Distressed Female - women are typically portrayed as sensitive and innocent
• Dark lighting (in Gothic Horror films) - depicts eerie mood
• An exploration of life after death - plays on audience's fear of the unknown
• A sense of mystery - creates a compelling storyline

Pros and Cons of Choosing Gothic Horror

As a group we decided to evaluate the pros and cons of choosing to create a film opening based on the theme of Gothic Horror.

The Pros:

• Allows us to experiment with costume, lighting and makeup
• Conventions are simple to follow
• Our film opening should be easily identifiable as a depiction of Gothic Horror
• We will be able to experiment with the set by adding Gothic-style furniture
• There are many existing pieces of Gothic Literature we will be able to take inspiration from

The Cons:

• Creating authentic hair and makeup may be difficult
• Finding a setting with an authentic Gothic style may be difficult
• We may struggle to fill the scene with realistic looking Gothic interior
• Gothic Horror is arguably a fairly uncommon film genre, so we may find it difficult to find existing pieces for inspiration

-Anna Humphreys