The use of predictably from mainstream films is a film device that's used to develop and change the spectatorship response, however follow this universal scheme. I’m using the films of Arachnophobia and The Sixth Sense, which both contrast through this idea of predictability and difference of genre. Arachnophobia is a Hollywood distributed, evenly famous, 1990 film which focuses on the fear of spiders amongst its audience. The Sixth Sense again is Hollywood distributed, a groundbreaking film for its director M. Night Shyamalan, in the same decade as Arachnophobia, steers its focus towards the fear of ghosts, jump scares and psychological fright. Both of these films follow the concept of predictability and unpredictability, changing the spectator's emotional response.
Contextually, these movies are within the same decade, but take two very different roles within the same genres. They share the genres of horror and thriller; which are typically hard to break away from being predictable and presenting a very similar type of emotional response. But in this particular decade, there was a change in the stylistic functions of this genre, as well as the progression of thrillers beforehand with directors such as Steven Spielberg with his film the Birds for example. But within the 90s and into the naughties, with the change of technology and filmmaking as a whole. The idea of being unpredictable was becoming a trend, as well as the spectatorship response becoming more anesthetized and disinterested in the repetitiveness of the horror plot. Arachnophobia follows the pattern of predictability however popular, whereas the Sixth Sense breaks this pattern and changes the stylistic features that are behind a film within this genre.
Arachnophobia and The Sixth Sense both employ the feature of fears to evoke an emotive reaction from the spectators. Through both the fear of spiders and ghosts, which are contrasted rational and irrational, and specific film language, the film focuses on the fears we have as humans to change our emotions. The expectation of a fear used within a movie is for the fear to grow and get worse, to a specific point within the movie, to which the protagonist overcomes their fear. This is true within the fear of spiders in Arachnophobia, as the spectator is aligned with many different characters of the plot but has a major allegiance with the protagonist. Dr. Ross Jennings takes a weakened role as the protagonist, which creates this initial empathy with him and the spectator and continues throughout the progression of his fear of spiders.
However, my personal reaction to this film, whilst watching with my family, specifically this idea of the arachnophobia didn't provoke an emotional response from me. As a horror and thriller, with what I knew and had watched contextually, I didn’t feel connected with the fright that was supposed to be occurring within certain scenes through motifs and the use of the spider. Technically following the constructs of a monster movie, however playing upon the common fear amongst the audience is what makes it popular. The use of the specific horror music motifs is what had an emotional affect on my sister, who consistently found it difficult to watch scenes with the larger spiders. This dynamic is different between the age of spectatorship here, and is what changed the attitude of predictability and fear. With my response, my filmic knowledge of the horror and thriller genre gave me the understanding of how predictable the ending of the narrative, therefore concluding my fear of the spiders. However, the younger age of my sister decreased her understanding of the horror genre filmic knowledge, and the predictability of the perception of the narrative. Similarly, the adoption of fear is more abundant with children, however the contextual allowance for her to watch the ‘horror’ movie shows the tame change of horror over the two decades. But what enticed me with the film, what made it particularly interesting was the comedy angle. An example of this is the use of John Goodman, a notably comic character, with a background of comedy genre films and this presence changed the tone throughout the film. Instead of adopting this use of the perpetual seriousness of the genre, it switched to include the witty features.
On the other hand, the Sixth Sense is the example of a film that takes the unpredictability and plot twist in fear to develop its popularity amongst viewers. Still a Hollywood distributed film, so the concept of over-predictability contrasts with the budget of the film, to go to great lengths to entertain its audience and make profit. Earning $26 million on its opening weekend, it profited better than Arachnophobia and its twist at the end of the narrative explores how unpredictability has the better effect.
My personal reaction to this movie was much different to that of Arachnophobia, as I had perceived it in a different way and already had a knowledge of the film. Its international fame has led it to have motifs into most people’s knowledge, as well as the plot twist being spoiled for me. The process of watching this film changed, considering how I knew the unpredictability was lost and it was a clear predictable and tainted ending for me as the spectator. However, I still found the narrative emotionally compelling and certain scenes to provoke more fear than others. I knew that I was more focused on the character of Dr. Malcolm Crowe rather than the child protagonist, purely because I knew the plot twist and it intrigued me to see his reactions and changes throughout the film.
This predictability however didn’t dull the excitement and fear of the thriller movie for me. Additionally, certain motifs of the horror/ghost specific genre were already an understanding for me, however the effect was still there. For example, the scene in which Cole runs from his bedroom to the bathroom and a ghost appears, had a particular jump scare effect on me. Even with the typicalities of this narrative section, with the additional motifs of the ghost story, there was still a fear there for Cole and his emotional weakness. Another particular scene that excited me was the scene that stereotypes this film's international success, with the particular line of “I see dead people.” Which I was excited to understand the buildup that was through the film examples I had heard. These two concluded certain aspects that were enabling the structure and genre through motifs, as well as the already popular context I had of the film.
In conclusion, the use of predictable mainstream films has a notable continued effect on the spectator, even with this concept of genre specific filmic knowledge. Between the two films, Arachnophobia and the Sixth Sense, I had a better interest in the film that took the comedy stance, as it intrigued me more than the simple use of thriller and ghost. In main understanding, predictability still had the outcome, due to this concept of the Hollywood distribution and advertising, but more owed to the use of the fears to pique the interest of the audience.
Contextually, these movies are within the same decade, but take two very different roles within the same genres. They share the genres of horror and thriller; which are typically hard to break away from being predictable and presenting a very similar type of emotional response. But in this particular decade, there was a change in the stylistic functions of this genre, as well as the progression of thrillers beforehand with directors such as Steven Spielberg with his film the Birds for example. But within the 90s and into the naughties, with the change of technology and filmmaking as a whole. The idea of being unpredictable was becoming a trend, as well as the spectatorship response becoming more anesthetized and disinterested in the repetitiveness of the horror plot. Arachnophobia follows the pattern of predictability however popular, whereas the Sixth Sense breaks this pattern and changes the stylistic features that are behind a film within this genre.
Arachnophobia and The Sixth Sense both employ the feature of fears to evoke an emotive reaction from the spectators. Through both the fear of spiders and ghosts, which are contrasted rational and irrational, and specific film language, the film focuses on the fears we have as humans to change our emotions. The expectation of a fear used within a movie is for the fear to grow and get worse, to a specific point within the movie, to which the protagonist overcomes their fear. This is true within the fear of spiders in Arachnophobia, as the spectator is aligned with many different characters of the plot but has a major allegiance with the protagonist. Dr. Ross Jennings takes a weakened role as the protagonist, which creates this initial empathy with him and the spectator and continues throughout the progression of his fear of spiders.
However, my personal reaction to this film, whilst watching with my family, specifically this idea of the arachnophobia didn't provoke an emotional response from me. As a horror and thriller, with what I knew and had watched contextually, I didn’t feel connected with the fright that was supposed to be occurring within certain scenes through motifs and the use of the spider. Technically following the constructs of a monster movie, however playing upon the common fear amongst the audience is what makes it popular. The use of the specific horror music motifs is what had an emotional affect on my sister, who consistently found it difficult to watch scenes with the larger spiders. This dynamic is different between the age of spectatorship here, and is what changed the attitude of predictability and fear. With my response, my filmic knowledge of the horror and thriller genre gave me the understanding of how predictable the ending of the narrative, therefore concluding my fear of the spiders. However, the younger age of my sister decreased her understanding of the horror genre filmic knowledge, and the predictability of the perception of the narrative. Similarly, the adoption of fear is more abundant with children, however the contextual allowance for her to watch the ‘horror’ movie shows the tame change of horror over the two decades. But what enticed me with the film, what made it particularly interesting was the comedy angle. An example of this is the use of John Goodman, a notably comic character, with a background of comedy genre films and this presence changed the tone throughout the film. Instead of adopting this use of the perpetual seriousness of the genre, it switched to include the witty features.
On the other hand, the Sixth Sense is the example of a film that takes the unpredictability and plot twist in fear to develop its popularity amongst viewers. Still a Hollywood distributed film, so the concept of over-predictability contrasts with the budget of the film, to go to great lengths to entertain its audience and make profit. Earning $26 million on its opening weekend, it profited better than Arachnophobia and its twist at the end of the narrative explores how unpredictability has the better effect.
My personal reaction to this movie was much different to that of Arachnophobia, as I had perceived it in a different way and already had a knowledge of the film. Its international fame has led it to have motifs into most people’s knowledge, as well as the plot twist being spoiled for me. The process of watching this film changed, considering how I knew the unpredictability was lost and it was a clear predictable and tainted ending for me as the spectator. However, I still found the narrative emotionally compelling and certain scenes to provoke more fear than others. I knew that I was more focused on the character of Dr. Malcolm Crowe rather than the child protagonist, purely because I knew the plot twist and it intrigued me to see his reactions and changes throughout the film.
This predictability however didn’t dull the excitement and fear of the thriller movie for me. Additionally, certain motifs of the horror/ghost specific genre were already an understanding for me, however the effect was still there. For example, the scene in which Cole runs from his bedroom to the bathroom and a ghost appears, had a particular jump scare effect on me. Even with the typicalities of this narrative section, with the additional motifs of the ghost story, there was still a fear there for Cole and his emotional weakness. Another particular scene that excited me was the scene that stereotypes this film's international success, with the particular line of “I see dead people.” Which I was excited to understand the buildup that was through the film examples I had heard. These two concluded certain aspects that were enabling the structure and genre through motifs, as well as the already popular context I had of the film.
In conclusion, the use of predictable mainstream films has a notable continued effect on the spectator, even with this concept of genre specific filmic knowledge. Between the two films, Arachnophobia and the Sixth Sense, I had a better interest in the film that took the comedy stance, as it intrigued me more than the simple use of thriller and ghost. In main understanding, predictability still had the outcome, due to this concept of the Hollywood distribution and advertising, but more owed to the use of the fears to pique the interest of the audience.