Monster in the Mirror

The horror genre of movies is the most captivating category for audiences that want a thrilling movie in the safety of a movie theatre or their own home. This project used many of my skill sets such as my artistic, teamwork, leadership and problem solving skills. For this unit we were assigned a project that the previous grade 12 PLP cohort had done two years ago. As a class we had to create a film in the horror genre that responded to the question ‘Why is horror such an effective way to reflect and comment on our society?’ In other words, we would be making a horror movie as a class and including a social issue in it.

We started off this project by taking a trip down to Washington state and studied the greatest horror movies in history. At MoPop or the Museum of Pop Culture we visited an exhibit about the history of horror movies and how they draw their viewers in. Some main headliners at the exhibit were major blockbuster horror films likeHalloween’, ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ andFrankenstein’. These exhibits focused on the impact that these older horror movies had on newer movies of this time period. We also went to the Georgetown Morgue Haunted House. This was an elite haunted house that was set just outside of Seattle. This haunted house is no joke. The creators of this attraction have taken an old abandoned morgue and turned it into a 8-minute hair-raising walk through a haunted maze. The majority of our class took part in this activity. This is definitely aone and done’ activity for me. It was definitely scary and I dont plan on going back.

As we returned home it was time to get down to study more of the horror movie culture and how it impacted society. First our class watched the iconic horror movieHalloween’ with Michael Myers. This movie sets a precedent for many horror movies to follow it. The director used Michael’s silence to intimidate the viewer was the key to the movie. The other fact that scares people is that Michael never seems to die in the movie. The main character Laurie seems to kill Michael multiple times in the movie and this is where you get scenes of relief. Next thing you know Michael is coming right back at her just as she feels it is safe. After analyzingHalloween’ we moved on to watch another horror movie which was the movieGet Out’. This modern horror flick was nominated for over 23 different awards ranging from the NAACPs Image Award forOutstanding Actor in a Motion Picture’ to the Academy Award forBest Original Screenplay’. This movie comments on racial profiling in the modern era as well as stereotypes. As we watched this movie we looked for examples of these types of discrimination. The movie follows an African American man going to his girlfriend’s house to visit her parents. There he is auctioned off to the highest bidder which seems very strange but that is why it is a horror movie. I dont want to give too much away but this auction speaks to African American history, where people were auctioned off as slaves. This is an important movie about injustice in society and I suggest you watch it. Next we moved on to an old classic, ‘Frankenstein’. This movie has been seen the world over. People of all ages have seen some version of the Frankenstein story. The monster that is created by the crazy doctor comes to life and destroys the town. This is known as a classic Halloween or horror movie. The 1920s black and white version is the best one to watch because it gives the viewer a sense of how classic the story is. The last movie we watched was an interesting piece of cinematography. The movieGods and Monsters’ gives the audience a peak into the life of the director of the originalFrankenstein’ movie. This movie shows the director’s struggles with being a boy and growing up during the war and the lasting impact that those events had on him.

A snapshot from the movie Get Out

Another milestone in this project to get us ready to create the horror movie was to read the classic novel, Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’.  Although we also watched the movie, it was also insightful to read the book. Although it was first published a very long time ago, in 1818, ‘Frankenstein’ is a name that is still commonly known today.  The scientist, Victor Frankenstein, decides to put together body parts and bring a creature to life and creates a ‘man-monster’.  He thinks his project will lead to further scientific advances but once he has brought the monster to life, he has big regrets.  The monster wreaks havoc and readers learn how lonely and desperate he is for companionship.  There are many twists and turns but in the end, Frankenstein dies and then his monster creation goes off to die.  Mary Shelley highlights the importance of thinking about the consequences of scientific work and being prepared for the good and bad outcomes.

The final step of this project was the part where we were actually makinghorror movie. The movie-making process tested our work as a cohort and tested our ability to work in big groups. This movie had to answer our driving question for the unit, ‘Why is horror such an effective way to reflect and comment on our society’?  We picked an issue that is relevant in today’s society which is mental health and violence that relates to mental illnesses. Our teachers were the executive producers and they assigned roles for the movie. We had two producers who were second-incommand to the teachers but still in charge of the rest of the class. Next in line was the director and his job was to look more at the artistic side of movie. I started off being the second line producer as well as the camera operator. We learned a lot about planning during the pre-production stage and the different roles need to make a movie.

Heading into the production stage, there were many challenges like trying to find filming times outside of school hours when people would be available since everyone is so busy with different activities. There was a lot of work done but partway through the production, the teachers decided that they wanted to go in a different direction with the leadership. I was nominated and elected to replace the two producers. It was quite a difficult to jump into the top leadership role of a project that had already been half started but I was happy to try it. First I reviewed the team’s feedback on their roles to understand their perspective up to that point. I had to think on my feet with questions and creative ideas coming forward from many people. I considered everyone’s input but I also think the project benefited from my more centralized decision-making to move things along. I had to clean up some situations but at the same time I could use some of the good ideas that the previous producers had. The unfortunate part of the move was the product wasn’t as long as originally planned. Due to timelines and other unforeseen setbacks we were unable to finish all the filming that we had planned in the allotted time. These setbacks included camera malfunctions, discontinuity in props while shooting and the hardest part of this process was scheduling.  Combine all these problems as well as many more and you can start to understand the struggles we went through while trying to make this movie. Sometimes you cant win them all, this time we had to compromise and come to a decision to make a trailer with the footage that we had already shot. On the positive side, moving people around gave us a chance to try out different roles and gain new experience.  Even if the final product has been changed, there has been a lot of learning in the journey and milestones to get there.

Take a look at the trailer below. I will also link a document outlining all the roles that are necessary in making a movie and a description of what each role does.

I have a different understanding of the genre of horror movies than I did before.  Now that we are done the project, it is time to re-visit the driving question ‘Why is horror such an effective way to reflect and comment on our society?’  I think that it forces readers or viewers to face their fears on topics they may not be comfortable with.  Horror stories can be a platform for presenting important social issues like discrimination or mental health and the unfair consequences that can occur.  They present possible bad outcomes that should be avoided or can present good outcomes that give people ways to deal with situations in real life. As students, we had the chance to experience the horror genre personally, at the haunted house, through movies, literature and then by creating our own video.  I was happy with my work on this project. Working on the film, I learned about the technical parts of movie production, planning, teamwork and took on a leadership role partway through a difficult project. I demonstrated my communication and decision-making skills and that I was flexible in coming up with an alternate way to wrap up the project. These are all skills and experience I can take with me for future leadership roles.

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