Christian Metz's Model Of Genre Development-Horror

Christian Metz's Model- History of Horror

Christian Metz developed the idea that every film genre had passed through four phases. The four phases in the horror genre started with the experimental horror's which then led onto the classic horror, parody horror and the final stage of deconstruction horrors.

Experimental

The experimental phase of film is the first phase and is the often the making of the genre through trial and error in films, seeing what worked well in films and what wasn't successful. A lot of experimenting was done around the horror themes in its narrative. The experimental horrors started being created around the time of the first world war, this was a time of darkness and gave inspiration to directors who were making films. Many of the early experimental films such as 'Caligari' and 'Nosferatu' used German expressionism which is the use of art and shadows to create the scary scenes in the film.


Classic

The Classic phase of film is the point where the narrative convensions were established and the horror genre was successfully defined. This phase was the period of the hollywood film studios, specifically the Universal studios creating the classic horrors such as 'Dracula' and 'Frankenstein'. When the television came into the scene the art of cinema took a decline and so English film studio Hammer took on trying to reboot the horror scene and recreated the classic 'Dracula' films using iconic actors such as Christopher Lee and Peter Jackson.


Parody  

The parody phase of film is where films use previous successful films to create a comical version often mimicking the original. Examples of parody's include the 'scary movie' films which has gone on to create trilogy of films soon to release the 5th.

Se7en Opening Sequence

The film Se7en is a thriller with some elements that could be classed under the horror genre it is hard to classify it under just one genre as it challenges the typical conventions of both horror and thriller individually. The film was made in 1995 and starred big Hollywood actors such as Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. It was directed by David Fincher who had already built a relationship with Brad Pitt in the films Fight Club and the curious case of Benjamin Button.

At the start of the film we see a black male in a kitchen making a hot drink that we can assume is coffee, this along with the ambient noise of a busy city in the background helps us build the assumption that the man is in New York City. We also hear the diegetic sounds of people living in close proximity suggesting that the man is living in a flat. The flat looks to the eye like it is just used as a place to sleep, it looks bland and colourless suggesting that he doesn't care much for his house, also we can gather that there are no women living there as it lacks the feel of a woman's touch.

The man is wearing a suit in the opening sequence which suggests he is well educated and likes to be smart, both these theories are reinforced by evidence later in the sequence. There is a chess board on the table in one of the scenes which suggests he's strategic man and also has patience. We see the man's well presented side again when we see various objects such as pens in a regimented order and a perfectly made bed suggesting that he could be from a military background.

The shot changes to a long shot, the man (detective Sommerset) is wearing a trench coat and trilby styled hat, this is representative of the stereotypical detectives clothes. With Sommerset is a new character named David mills, he is also a detective but you can tell who is the more experienced and professional by there appearances as Mills is wearing a scruffy shirt and tie and isn't clean shaven.

When Mills and Sommerset enter a crime scene containing a dead man who is in a real bad state, Summerset's lack of reaction shows his experience in this field and how he is used to seeing dead bodies and the experience is nothing new to him. We later hear that Sommerset is approaching his retirement which confirms his level of experience in his field.

The titles are very clever in including hints as to the content of the film. They show clips of the murders steps in setting up and planning the killings, this becomes clearer after watching the film and you can reflect back and pick up extra notes on the motive of the killer.