Representation in the media is how media, such as television, movie films, and books show certain types of people or cultures, such as LGBTQ+ people, people of color, women, different body shapes and sizes, people of non-Christian religions, and differently-abled people.

The first ad I watched was an ad commercial of Axe Body Spray. The commercial started off with a woman in a bikini running in slow-motion. She was, in society's eyes, the perfect woman for the ad... young, beautiful, had a 'bikini body.' Although this may be the stereotypical ideal woman for the commercial, I do see the reasoning behind hiring her for the job. Since the target audience for Axe brand are straight white males, having this kind of attractive woman running towards the camera and wearing a revealing bikini is a great way to grab the men's attention. The shot of just this one woman running expanded to a a series of shots of many other young, healthy-looking women completing the same action as the initial woman. Suddenly, the whole commercial depicted about hundreds of women running towards this skinny white man wearing nothing but his underwear and happily spraying the Axe Body Spray all over him.

While I do see the point for this ad, I hate the way that it represents women. In my opinion, it shows women as sex-crazed animals, so definitely bot to my liking :(!

Straight white male happily spraying the Axe Body Spray onto himself, seemingly aware of the mob of bikini-wearing women swarming towards him because of the aroma coming from the spray.

One the flip side of things, I did also watch an ad commercial of H&M. This commercial was definitely a lot more different from the last one, and that is because of its much wider range of diversity. In this ad, we see many different kinds of ages, races, body sizes, genders, professions, personalities, and religions wearing different types of clothing from the clothing brand. H&M was very clever in doing this because this is a way to tell their target audience, which are younger people (mostly women), that anyone is welcome at their stores, regardless of who you are or what you believe in.

I for sure loved this advertisement much more than the one for Axe. Here, there are no women being objectified. And there is much more diversity being displayed. I see this as a film with a positive message of love for all human kind all over the world. Unlike the previous commercial, it is bold, feminine, and welcoming.

Women of color modeling the clothing for H&M.

One of my favorite genre's of film is definitely horror. I find it so fascinating to watch and am very curious as to exactly how these film directors, screenwriters, and actors work together to make a topic that one would find so terrifying into one the most popular genre films. And that's why I have decided to sit down and conduct some research as to how psychology and the art of film work together to engage their target audience.

Also, Halloween was a couple of nights ago... making the topic of horror film's much spookier 👻!!

Content

One of the biggest pieces of content used in horror films is the fear of the unknown. The fear of the unknown is used in horror films to make something that is really not as scary in real life (ie, a doll, clown, or creatures with disfigured faces) and twist it into a sinister form. In other words, making the usual, unusual.
The fear of the unknown makes the audience curious as to how these seemingly ordinary objects can be so vile and pulls us into wanting to learn more about the subject's history about how they have become these frightening commodities.

In the Annabelle film series, a creepy, peculiar porcelain doll is the main image throughout the series.

Fear is another essential element in horror movies. Even though we ordinarily define fear as an eerie or negative emotion, the psychology and enchantment behind horror films show that fear can be turned into an enjoyable experience.

There are many theories to why people are so attracted to the fear being radiated through the screen when we watch these types of films. One of those theories comes from the greek philosopher Aristotle, who claimed that we release negative emotions by watching terror. He called this practice "catharsis." In other words, we use horror movies to help us rid of our dark emotions.

In The Purge film series, there is an annual tradition where people all across America have the freedom to commit any crime, including murder, legally. This creates much fear and commotion within the viewer, thus aiding them to release any negative emotions.

Suspense is another powerful tool used by most, if not all horror films. Horror film directors and screenwriters use this technique cleverly by taking brief moments of silence or complete darkness in their productions to build this suspense.

According to an experiment conducted by psychologist, Bluma Zeigarnik, this technique leads the human mind to be more drawn to the screen to see what will happen in the next scene Moreover, by releasing brief moments of darkness or nothingness, for example, when a character is slowly walking down a narrow pitch-black hallway by their own, this leads the human brain to stick around in the movie theatre and feed the brain with its desire to complete the rest of the story being depicted.

Humans are driven to finish what they start, and film directors building this kind of suspenseful vibe in their horror productions is just what they need to help their audience achieve this.

In the horror/thriller movie Us, tons of suspense is placed in the story of a family being held hostage in their vacation by four masked strangers who look exactly like them.

Production Techniques

In the process of creating a well-produced horror film, using little to no sound use in scenes filled with extreme intensity is one of the many production techniques horror film creators use. However, the horror/mystery movie The Shinning uses a high-pitched sound in one of its scenes, which is used to make us draw our minds into the approach of fear itself.

In contrast, infrasound is a 19 Hz (or lower frequency) noise that is inaudible by the naked human ear, however it can be felt by the human body. Paranormal Activity , for example, isa famous supernatural horror franchise, used these infrasound noises perfectly with 20 Hz frequency placed in specific moments within the scenes that depicted moving ceiling fans or doors randomly opening by themselves in order to create some inner-suspense within the viewer.

In the thriller film series Jaws , a specific kind of background music is used whenever the shark gets near or moves to his new target. This technique also aids to build up suspense.

Usually in the middle of watching a frightening scene, you may try to avoid any mirrors or sources of reflection as much as possible. Mirrors and reflective surfaces are widely used in horror films to paint reality and the duality of the characters. In the horror genre, mirrors can be used to build tension, drawing in the audience for the next jump scare.

In the horror/thriller film Oculus , the two main characters are siblings who discover an ancient mirror in an auction house, which then reveals more and more about their past lives and shows dark secrets about their family, especially of their deceased parents.

Marketing

The target audience for the horror genre ranges from 15-24 for year olds, usually male. Younger people lean towards these kinds of movies because teenagers and young adults are more attracted to the aesthetic of horror films. Although, yes, horror films are targeted at both males and females, males still fall under the majority of being the typical target audience gender. The use of darkness, violence, blood, and unusual creatures are thought to be more liked for males than for females.

Several horror movies depict quotes in their previews from film critics that talk about how chilling the movie is, how you won't want to remove your eyes from the screen, or how it's one of the best horror films of the year. This technique is a clever way to lure in horror-crazed fans into any horror film production by having people see these quotes. People want to see a horror movie to get scared, right? They want their experience in the movie theatre to be worth it. And showing the audience these kinds of quotes from critics is a perfect way for them to tell the audience that they will have what they are asking for once they see their movie.

Samples

Alfred Hitchcock's, Psycho

The 1960 film Psycho is one of the most classic horror films. The film tells the story of Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), a secretary who ran away from her home town after stealing $40,000 from her employer in order to run away with her boyfriend, Sam Loomis (John Gavin). While traveling on the road and trying to not get caught by the police, she decides to stop for the night at the Bates Motel and meets Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), who is the main antagonist. Although Bates may seem to everyone as a polite person, the movie reveals that he is actually a man filled with great darkness and an obsessive relationship with his mother. In an extremely violent scene, Crane prepares herself for a shower in her motel bathroom, until she is met by death when a mysterious figure (later revealed to be Bates) slashes her with a knife several times to death. When the audience first saw this frightening scene, everybody was left in pure shock after witnessing this surprising cinematographic performance. As Michael Brooke, Screenonline curator at the British Film Institute best described it, "The (audiences) had never seen anything quite like it before," and how it the scene gave out "A complete feeling of disorientation." It is this out-of-the-box idea that director, Alfred Hitchcock, who is commonly known as the "master of suspense", that changed the cinema world forever. Psycho is now one of the most iconic horror films to date. This shower scene also shows many close-ups of the woman screaming out of fear as she is being killed, which ends with her falling down on the bathroom floor and the camera doing an extreme close-up of her lifeless eyes after this deadly incident. This helps to set up the adrenaline in the audience and makes them more attracted to what they are seeing and how fearful and vulnerable Crane is.

William Friedkin's, The Exorcist

The 1973 horror/supernatural film The Exorcist is another cinema classic horror film. When young Regan (Linda Blair) begins to shockingly levitate and speak in tongues, her concerned mother (Ellen Burstyn) pleads for medical help, but has become unsuccessful to get any aid. However, a local priest (Jason Miller), predicts that Regan might be possessed by the devil himself. Turns out, he was absolutely right. As Regan begins to show more sinister demeanors (such as her eyes turning completely dark and speaking in a very low, manly voice), the priest's church send in an expert (Max von Sydow) to help Regan be freed from the demon inside of her. The Exorcist is also one of the most profitable horror movies ever to be made, after making $441.3 million in the box office. One of the reasons this movie became such a hit was that since it was obviously the goal for the audience to get scared when they saw this movie, a series of close-ups of both priests and Regan during the exorcism was exactly was this horror-driven people needed. They helped to show the fear and evil throughout the whole exorcism, which was a very important element for director, William Friedkin to include in this production. The heavy use of special-effects makeup for Regan's demon look, as well as a very realistic scene of her completely spinning her head and of her walking down the stairs like a spider , were other fantastic elements used by Friedkin to establish real fear and make the story more alive.

Other Samples

The Shinning (1980)