Horror & Science Fiction

/in /by

They Live, a wildly under-celebrated horror flick. Watch this one only if you meet ALL of the following criteria: a) loved Get Out, b) can dig some low-budget realness, c) are cool with 80s mullet stylings, and d) want to bust out of Ideology from time to time.

Horror & Science Fiction (omgsoexcitedlovethesegenres)

INSTRUCTIONS:

  • Screening Options:
    • As usual, read the watch list in this module to see your choices.
  • Deadlines:
    • Thursday night by 11:59pm: Respond to my prompts; follow the instructions below.
    • Sunday night by 11:59pm. Respond to another student in a substantive way. Go far beyond “I agree” or “great post.” Engage with someone else’s ideas by doing something like asking a question, comparing posts, applying her/his example to your own post, come up with an alternative perspective, or similar. The goal is to expand the conversation.
  • Use The Readings:
    • The entire purpose of these discussions is to synthesize the readings (and lectures) with the film. Use quotations, bring in terms or concepts… find ways to illuminate the film by way of applying the readings.
  • Images:
    • Embedded images are really important for film discussions. See instructions below as to how you can easily capture and embed images from the film. If you choose not to include images there will be a small but not catastrophic point deduction.

Answer one or more of the following questions below. Use the prompts relevant for your film (horror, scifi, or both!).

Horror Screening Questions:

  • Prompt: Write a substantive paragraph in response to one or more of the following. Feel free to combine questions.
    • How is the film evocative of horror in terms of standard generic traits, including: iconography, settings, story patterns, character types, and themes?
    • How does your film address any of these traits:
      • Focus on past trauma
      • Generate horror, terror, dread
      • Pit the human against monstrous
      • Monster embodies the other, what threats?
      • Give the monster human traits?
      • Humans with monstrous traits
      • Horror and the family at risk

Science Fiction Screening Questions:

  • Prompt: Write a substantive paragraph in response to one or more of the following. Feel free to combine questions.
    • How is the film evocative of horror in terms of standard generic traits, including: iconography, settings, story patterns, character types, and themes?
    • How does your film address any of these traits:
      • In what ways is the film dystopian, and less commonly, utopian?
      • How is advanced technology idealized?
      • How does the film compare humans with machines/technology?
      • How does the film address the posthuman, blurring the lines between machines and humans? Do these questions inspire existential angst?
      • How does the film pose the “what if” question? What are the film’s answers?
      • Is there an element of the uncanny?
      • Relevant for many, but not all films: how is it cyberpunk?
      • Would you characterize the film as speculative or extrapolative? Why?

IMAGES REQUIRED! Yes we’ve arrived at the part of the class where a post without a picture is like Star Wars without R2D2 (unthinkable!). CLICK HERE to view my screenshot collecting guide. I also highly recommend making use of the EMBEDDING SANDBOX discussion. Canvas might make this process unnecessarily challenging but we can prevail!