New Unit:

Introduction of Claudia and Quentin; A Love of the Dark

In this blog I will be explaining the introduction and tasks of my new unit that still considers the theme of Gothic horror. We have been set the task to base our new designs of characters on a Gothic TV series out of a chosen list along side two characters and a word to represent them. Throughout this blog post I will explain in more detail what it will involve and what I will be wanting to achieving in this unit. 

I wanted to start by researching peoples interest and attraction to horror as to many it can be quite hard to understand the interest to wanting to scare yourself while others gain pure enjoyment out of it. When researching I found this video shown below that explains the Psychology of our brain in why we like scary films but a part of the clip explain why we find it attractive and what is horror. Stated by the video and by 'Glen D. Walters' horror has three facts firsts being; Tension the element of being on edge for a scene and as human its the unknown, then Relevance meaning it needs to relate to the audience for them to connect better to the story-line and lastly, Unrealism even if we are watching it we known that really it does not happen. Overall, he states that these three elements make up a horror film cause as when we watch it in a film we know that it is all fiction but for young children they become more scare of these factors as they find it harder to understand the different between reality and fiction. (link to the website) 

Why Do we like Horror (Psychology) ?: 

The video later goes on to state there are 4 categories of watching horror which are;

• 'Gore watching – characterized by low empathy, high sensation seeking, and in males a strong identification with the killer
• Thrill watching – high empathy and high sensation seeking – motivated by the suspense of the film and more identification with the victims.
• Independent Watching – high empathy for the victim with a high positive effect of overcoming fear
• Problem Watching – high empathy for the victim but characterized by negative effect – sense of helplessness.'

Other Attractions to Horror: 

- Temptation to play God

- Interest of fear and death

- The possibility of salvation 

- The taboo

- Monsters within us

- Inhumanity 

- or do we like being scared ?

A real life example would be the first and second World Wars as people experience inhumane actions that goes against our human views. This is one example of a horror film that has come to life most like to watch horror films as it gives us a 'rush' of excitement as the terror is happening on screen but not to us in real life. However, when these horrors come to life like in war we cannot cope as it goes against this rush and is just pure fear. 

The Task:

During this unit I will be having to pick out of three characters called; Claudia, Quentin and Mrs. Laderman. Shown below is the quoted description from the brief of the three characters and I must choose two characters to incorporate into my chosen horror series and also chose a inspirational word to represent both of them.   'Claudia
a great deal of kitsch décor. She is agoraphobic and is kept in touch with the outside world by her neighbours who provide her with her every day requirements.  She models herself on a variety of girls often twisting her look to suit whichever film she is watching at the time and there is often
a nod to the main character in the current film within her appearance.

Claudia is a girl in her twenties. As a child she was left alone to develop with little parental guidance and through her relationship with T.V. movies developed an unhealthy relationship with Horror films, believing this to be the way life really is.

All the scenes take place in various parts of Claudia’s apartment, which is European in style with

The script portrays her as psychotic and there is always the feeling that although her character is scripted/can be seen as humorous, danger is just around the corner.   However all this is normal to Claudia and she is of a cheerful disposition in this mad world of hers.

Quentin

Claudia has an imaginary boyfriend, Quentin, who is long suffering and a constant disappointment to her. They don’t live together but he visits regularly and they talk on the telephone if he can’t get in to see her. As he is part of her imagination his appearance changes to suit her mood. Sometimes he will be a David Beckham looking guy, whilst in another scene he will appear as a Pete Docherty type, Daniel Craig type or a Hollyoaks Babe. If she is having a bad day he will morph into an uncouth couch potato chav with all that brings with it.

He is as into the horror film genre as she and into role-playing to suit her whims and moods.

Claudia has a paranoid suspicion that he is constantly having affairs behind her back and keeps him firmly under her thumb, sometimes restraining him or keeping him prisoner in one of the rooms.

Mrs Laderman

Claudia’s neighbour in her 40’s. She alternately changes into a variety alter egos and is Claudia’s friend and confidant. Living in the apartment opposite, she was Claudia’s only link to the outside world. Although they are friends there is suspicion that Mrs L’, has desires on Quentin. In fact she has desires on Claudia.'

During this unit I must consider many aspects of many areas. When producing and developing my characters firstly I need to consider my horror element and how I can adapt my chosen character to fir within my chosen TV series. I also need to know what kind of target audience to aim for as if its an younger audience it would have to be less graphic or scary as to fit that age group compared to an older audience. Then with my characters what characteristics they will obtain and their appearance and backstory. When choosing my word I want it to have a deep meaning and relate within both their personality and looks. These elements are what I am going to aim to achieve and show within my development work.