Dolf Zillman's - "Excitation transfer Theory" The negative emotions gained from violent/scary/negative imagery - intensify the positive"
Glenn D Walters - Elements to making a movie scary
1) Tension - create use of micro-elements, and manipulation information & narrative
2) Relevance - the fear generated has to be relevant to the audience - and believed
3) Unrealism - the audience have to be aware it isn't real
Aristotles idea might explain why new studies have shown that playing violent videogames do not incite violence in children. "Children who played video games for less than an hour each day showed lower rates of aggression than children who did not play at all—even when the games in question were violent ones."
Zillman's theory can be applied to many horror and thriller films where the pleasure for the audience is seeing the enemy vanquished, but this enemy often has to be de-humanised and seen as pure evil for the audience to gain that pleasure.
An example of this would the be pleasure viewer got from seeing Bellatrix Lestrange's death at the hands of Mrs. Weasley.
Glenn D Walters idea about relevance can be seen in the way our present day fears are extrapolated for our entertainment.
Ex Machima - Fears about AI
Neon Demon - Fears about growing old and beauty fading
Hell and High Water - Fears about inequality and poverty
Girl on a Train - Toxic masculinity and gaslighting
The Purge - rise of conservative ideas about immigration and poverty
Zillman's theory can be applied to many horror and thriller films where the pleasure for the audience is seeing the enemy vanquished, but this enemy often has to be de-humanised and seen as pure evil for the audience to gain that pleasure.
An example of this would the be pleasure viewer got from seeing Bellatrix Lestrange's death at the hands of Mrs. Weasley.
Glenn D Walters idea about relevance can be seen in the way our present day fears are extrapolated for our entertainment.
Ex Machima - Fears about AI
Neon Demon - Fears about growing old and beauty fading
Hell and High Water - Fears about inequality and poverty
Girl on a Train - Toxic masculinity and gaslighting
The Purge - rise of conservative ideas about immigration and poverty
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