The document provides questions about the film Dracula and horror narratives more generally. It discusses typical narrative structures in horror, including the three-act structure and phases of onset, discovery, and disruption. It emphasizes that narrative structure is important for defining genres and creating expectations and predictability for audiences while also allowing for surprises.

2. Quiz 1
• What is the male gaze?
• How was the male gaze used in Dracula?
• How are we first introduced to Lucy Holmwood and
what does this signify about her role in the film?
• When we next see Lucy she is lying in bed, unwell and
weak due to the fact that she has become one of
Dracula’s victims. How does the mise-en-scene and her
performance construct her as weak and childlike?
• What iconic prop does Lucy remove from her neck?
And how does this signal deviant behaviour?

3. Quiz 1
• ‘In Dracula, both heroines enjoy the vampire’s
unconventional style of coitus. They are transformed by his
unratified penetration, which destroys them as moral
beings’
- What does this sentence mean?
- How is represented when Dracula visits Lucy?
• How are the audience encouraged to view Mina through
the eyes of a male spectator?
• To what extent can the Vampire Bride be seen as a strong
female character?
• Dracula is characterised as a sexual predator that preys on
women and will kill any man who gets in his way. How is
this represented in the film? (reference the micro features)

4. HORROR NARRATIVES
Narrative conventions are important
for defining genre.

5. HORROR NARRATIVES
• When we think of
horror narratives, we
are really considering
the devices that are
used to communicate a
story to you. In the
exam you may come
across questions like…

6. HORROR NARRATIVES
• How far are the storytelling methods used in the films
you have studied for this topic typical of their genre?
• To what extent are the narratives of the films you have
studied for this topic typical of their genre?
• How are narrative devices used to increase the impact
of horror in the films you have studies for this topic?
• What are some of the narrative features that are
distinctive in the films you have studied?
• How far are the narratives of the genre films you have
studied for this topic predictable?

7. HORROR NARRATIVES
• The assumption is that the WAY a horror film is told is
going to be the very similar across all horror
films, that's what makes it recognisable to the
audience. For the most part these questions want you
to:
1. Make known that you are aware of the narrative
features of the horror genre and how they are
used in the films to communicate their stories
2. Discuss how this is done in a similar/typical way
across all films
3. Consider how the films manage to break the
‘genre mould’ and not be typical

8. HORROR NARRATIVES
• Aims (for the next few weeks):
• To discuss and understand the storytelling methods used in
Dracula, The Descent and Creep (we will return to Eden Lake)
• To do this we need to consider the use of:
• Narrative Structures
• Narrative Theory
• Narrative Themes
• Use of characters
• Use of settings
• Micro features (typical visual and sound techniques)
• And how they are used to draw the audience into the diegesis
of the film.

9. HORROR NARRATIVE STRUCTURES
A narrative convention of any
genre is its predictable set of
plot events
• Read the narrative hand out
• What could we say is similar
about these films in terms of
plot events?
• Work in your study groups and
write each film out in 3
acts, and then 4, explaining
how each act is similar/
dissimilar
• Taking evidence from these
film can it be said that horror
genre narratives are typical?

10. Typical 3 Act Structure (Horror)
Choose the 3 key scenes that
could exemplify these 3 stages
• As sited in Film a Critical Introduction for each film
• The first act in a horror film focuses on central characters beginning a
venture into a strange and ultimately threatening setting.
• Stumbling into a forbidding, and often forbidden, setting unleashes a
wave of violence that leaves many (if not most) of the protagonists
dead. As those who survive the initial onslaught begin to fight
back, fear and fatigue provoke dissention within the group, putting
them at greater risk. Those who have come in contact with the
monster may try to warn the larger community, or they go to the
authorities to muster up support, only to be met with disbelief and
derision.
• The climax of the film generally involves a dramatic, sometimes
apocalyptic, showdown between the main characters and the
monster, with varying results. In contemporary horror films the
resolution of the plot leaves open the possibility of the monster’s

11. NOEL CARROLL
• Noel Carroll, in his essay The Philosophy of Horror, maps out the
traditional narrative structure of the horror film in three stages.
• The first he names the ‘Onset phase’ where a disorder is
created, generally in the form of a monster.
• The second Carroll calls the ‘Discovery phase’, where the characters
of the story discover that the disorder has occurred.
• The third phase he calls the ‘Disruption phase’, where the
characters destroy the source of the disorder and restore normality.
• This similar to what Todorov stated, he argued that the basis of
conventional narrative structure consists of an initial situation
(situation 1); a problem which disrupts this situation; a resolution of
the problem which allows the reinstatement of the initial
situation, perhaps with slight changes (situation2).

12. Onset
Phase
Discovery
Phase
Disruption
Phase

13. Dracula is wreaking Is there an ‘Onset Phase’? The Craig kills one of the workers
Onset havoc in the area in
female spelunkers entered into
the ‘monster's’ territory
in the sewer pipe
which he lives -
Phase going out a killing
people
Van Helsing sends When they realise that they Craig kills the man trying to
Discovery Harker to dispose of
were in the Crawlers feeding
den. The POV through the
attack Kate She is now witness
to his actions she also knows
Dracula and Dracula
Phase kills Harker. Van
camcorder is used for this then
we see on of the Crawlers.
when the controller is killed
then Mandy
Helsing realises the
reason for Lucy’s
illness.
Van Helsing and The women fight for their lives Kate tries to escape with
Disruption Holmwood work
against the Crawlers, only
living Sarah – but is order
Jimmy but he dies. Then Kate
Fights on with George. Kate
together to kill
Phase Dracula. Van Helsing is
restored? And if so who’s
order? (Ideological messages?)
finally kills Craig – but who’s
order is restored? (Ideological
messages?)
successful during a
climatic battle

14. Why is narrative structure important
in genre films?
• Narrative structure provides a formula or
template in film production
• It works as a ‘contract’ – the implicit
agreement between a film and it’s audience
that governs the way fans enjoy it
• Without a typical narrative structure genre
films would not be recognisable to audiences
and conversely films would not be able to
break with predictability
Use Dracula, The Descent and Creep
to exemplify these points.

15. Meeting Objectives of the lesson
• You should now be able to:
• Discuss how narrative structure can be used as a
storytelling method
• Discuss the ways in which horror films have
typical narrative structures
• Argue if narrative structure can be used as a
device to create impact in a horror film
• Consider if the narrative structures of the films
we have studied are distinctive or predictable