Police officer Howie from the West Highlands came to the isolated Summerisle Island to look for a missing girl. However, as a devout Christian, he was shocked to discover that the residents here worship Celtic paganism; the answer is that Howie was lured to Summerisle as a sacrifice, and in the end, the hunter became a prey. As an authority figure from a civilized Christian society, policeman Howie found himself in a retreating environment in a rural village where anti-Christian beliefs were preserved. When everything is operating under opposing ideologies, Howie’s familiar contemporary values are challenged, and he soon realizes that he "does not belong" and is thus threatened. In connection with "The Wicker Man" (1973), some similar settings and methods of depicting fear can also be found in "VVitch". A New England Folktale (2015). The story takes place in New England in the 16th century. When the William family of farmers were expelled from the Puritan plantation and forced to settle in a new isolated homeland, disaster knocked them to the ground; when they were in their sins. At the time of liberation, their daughter Thomas Lynn was accused of being the source of all evil-witches, making them an unimaginable prey of evil. In trying to explore and define what caused this alienation and tragic ending, and how fear was created in the two films, the two scholars' insights on the type of folk horror will be helpful. Johnston's views on how folk terror talks to our contemporary uncertainties, and Pasiorek's analysis of how folk terror awakens fear in the atmosphere will be the focus. In addition, Walton's paper on explaining the role of movie emotions by focusing on audiovisual elements will help understand the fear of folk horror. Based on their discussion, Robin Hardy's 1973 folk horror film "The Wicker Man" and Robert Eggers' 2015 supernatural horror film "VVitch" both used similar methods: location setting, natural Influence and the help of audiovisual language to portray or produce fear-a fear of being alienated and becoming "others". Specifically, the pagans in "The Wicker Man" and the witches in "The Witch" are not the real source of this fear, on the contrary, they are rationalized terms as a response to contemporary uncertainty.
For a folk horror film, by constructing a remote location and integrating the forces of nature, two kinds of fettered fears can be awakened: the uncertainty/unknownness evoked by the contemporary values of leaving civilization, and following closely behind The alienation of being an opposed "outsider". As Paciorek introduced, a basic element of constructing folk terror is to construct a sufficiently remote rural and idyllic location (14). In this location, it is best for nature to play its role to help arouse primitive fears related to alien life forms and ancient cults. For the established location setting, "city" and "remote" are "psychogeography" The concept, as explained by Paciorek, represents the psychological experience of the characters and the audience of the geographical environment (14). In this sense, the specific location is not that important. On the contrary, when they enter a remote, built environment, the emotional difference they experience is the key to portraying an approachable fear. In "The Wicker Guest", Howie from the West Highlands first took a seaplane to the remote Hebrides Island of Summerisle. The film is introduced with Howie singing religiously in the church, which strengthens the feeling of leaving the familiar urbanized society (Hardy). Summerisle, this fictional remote area is set as a society that worships Celtic ancestor gods, peculiar burial rituals, phallism and rebirth. Although the physical distance between the two places is limited, these opposing belief systems have stretched the distance psychologically, and when Howie first arrived, they captured the sun flag and fish totem on the ship through introductory extreme close-ups. , It shows up immediately. Similarly, in "VVitch", due to different religious principles, the family of farmer William was expelled from the Puritan plantation controlled by the church. Due to separation from society, they were forced to resettle in an isolated house near the forest. Police Howie and William's family have entered an unfamiliar, more remote environment. Their previous connection with the city was linked to their dedication to their religious beliefs. In addition, nature emerged as the culprit, and by disclosing its previous tameness, it catalyzed their uncertainty into a weak rationalization and turned it into a sacred unruly. In Summerisle, May Day celebrations are held to appease the gods and get a good harvest, but the price is human sacrifice. William's farm was deserted, with only bad crops growing. The whole family suffered from hunger physically and emotionally troubled by the forbidden forest and the ominous witches inside. Until then, the mixture of dislocation and the uneasy emotions brought about by the original fear further triggers a chain reaction of fear-the fear of isolation and alienation. Anywhere, no matter how remote, as long as there is a community, there will be a social role. Johnston believes that if a person finds himself unable to determine a place in a united community, the imaginary attraction of an isolated rural community will collapse and be replaced by alienation (4). Police Howie is classified as an "outsider" by the residents of Summerisle His Christian faith makes his only role here as a devotee. A family is also a small community. Therefore, as the only young adult woman in the family, Thomas was under pressure from the Puritan patriarchy and patriarchy, and was oppressed by the title of a'witch'. Therefore, "paganism" and "witchcraft" are only in a binary opposition to the contemporary beliefs and values of the city; their connection with evil may be partly real, but they are demonized by most people's fear of alienation and the unknown.
In addition to setting, in order to effectively convey these fears to the audience, a folk horror film needs the help of audiovisual language, especially the soundtrack and sound effects, to help convey the fear felt in a designated environment. As for "The Blue Strand of the Road", as a musical, its folk songs have a narrative function and produce false authenticity (Scovell). Abandoning the old-fashioned dull cod ballad orchestra, Hardy chose a substantial ballad with rich lyrical content in order to better audibly convey the community of Summer Island (Scovell). For example, "Song of the Willows" played a suggestive role, revealing the traps of the islanders and the destined fate of the tempted protagonist Howie. It also shared the belief system of summer island's sexual embrace through its ritual and attractive lyrics meaning. "Am I young and beautiful? Come and say, how are you?" (Giovanni). The Song of the May Pillar and the Song of the Finale Ceremony actively attract the audience by reconstructing Celtic pagan rituals, and arouse their shared fears with Howie through real live music. Compared with the relatively simple style of "The Wicker Man", "VVitch" is dedicated to generating a grand, sensory movie mood to infiltrate the hearts of the audience. There is no specific evil shape, "Evil has many forms" (Eggers), mainly through sound elements. Walton discussed in detail how much "sonic dissonance" (7) affects perception. When the family came to the edge of the forest and prayed to their owner, Eggers moved away from the character and zoomed into the forest, accompanied by the wailing of the gradually high-pitched female orchestra. Here, the unknown power presented by nature is magnified, indicating that the spiritual influence of the natural environment will have an impact on the family in the future. Eggers also blacked out violent images to make them less conspicuous, deliberately forcing viewers to pay attention to audio and discordant scores. Assume that the plot of the witch performing the ceremony is mainly to hear rather than see: the sound of the body's percussion on the wooden block, the howling of the wind, and the rhythmic music score, intertwined together into a vague, terrifying silhouette, "Cannot use the body Come grasp" (Walton). Therefore, people cannot boldly assert that there are witches in "The Witch". This uncertainty will later accumulate into rhetorical doubts, which later leads the audience to question whether witches are the true source of fear and evil. Therefore, the soundtrack and sound effects help portray fear, and most importantly, convey this experiential fear to the audience and evoke their first-hand confrontation with opposing beliefs in folk horror films.
In short, as described by Adam Scovell, syntactically, interlocking elements including "distant landscape setting", "nature" and "isolation" will successfully depict folks like "The Wicker Man" and "Witch". The fear in a horror film; with the help of the soundtrack and sound elements, these fears will be conveyed to the audience in an immersive experience. Most importantly, this personal encounter with folk horrors will arouse rhetorical curiosity to explore whether opposing manifestations of evil like "paganism" and "witchcraft" are really the origin of evil; therefore, To further reach an understanding that this fear stems from contemporary uncertainties, a profound rejection of alienation in the face of opposing ancient, religious, and community-centered lifestyles. These understandings provide the audience with room for correction, that is, whether small groups like witches are represented by facts, or are they based solely on public understanding.
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