Article Summary and Analysis
In this article, White explores the concepts and logic behind making of horror films. He explains that the concepts used to describe horror films might not be enough to explain the horror itself or the manner in which filmmakers produce the desired horror effect. This does not mean that horror films are merely a sum of the various concepts used in making them. Rather, horror films derive their identities from the combination of the pieces from which they are constructed and the nature of the manner in which the various pieces are combined to cause the desired effect (White, 1971).
According to White (1971), the most important thing in making a horror movie is the ability to turn a concept or script into sounds and images that can express the essence of the source. It means that filmmakers must be able to treat the complexities of the plot as an artistic solution that gives the film a concentrated meaning. The author has also discussed important insights about the structure of a horror movie. He reckons that a combination of artistic styles and presentation methods as well as mysteries and secrets are essential aspects of horror movies (White, 1971).
White has also discussed the psychological aspect of horror movies, and how this is a crucial concept in horror movies. In White’s view, the fear of death is an important psychological element often evoked by horror movies. Besides death, horror movies also employ the concept of animation, in which human characters are dehumanized. All these important concepts distinguish horror films from other genres such as science fiction or comedies (White, 1971).
Text 2: The Earth and Its Dead by Robert Pogue Harrison
This article forms Chapter One in Harrison’s book, The Dominion of the Dead. In this article, Harrison discusses a series of provocative and mind-boggling reflections on the relationship between life and death. He approaches this rather scary topic through a combination of literary criticism and philosophy, drawing evidence from Western traditions to explore the role that dead plays in self-conception and human conditions. A key message in this article is the elucidation of the ways through which the dead influence the living. According to the author, this influence can be through dreams, monuments, rituals, graves, laws, images and archives of literature among other things (Harrison, 2005).
Harrison has also raised the question of how the earth, which consumes the dead and remains of the past, is a memorial for those who have died. In Harrison’s view, human beings are temporal. All the ruins that can be perceived in the world today (including the Dead) exhibit the conflict between geological time and human time. It is this conflict that makes the earth the custodian of past human culture (Harrison, 2005).
Evidently, Harrison’s scope of the dead-living relationship is very wide. He traces the dead from the era of the primitive man to the 20th century’s cities. His exploration reveals that long before recorded human history, the dead had always controlled the living. The same influence has continued into the modern era with its advances in all conceivable aspects of life. Although this article is written in a poetic style, it sounds more of a literary essay. Its strength is that it is well researched, and uses an extensive archive of literature on the topic (Harrison, 2005).
References
Harrison, R. P. (2005). The Dominion of the Dead. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press.
White, D. L. (1971). The Poetics of Horror: More than Meets the Eye. Cinema Journal, 10(2), 1-18.
