Bound By Law - Duke Edition

               
             Nowadays it seems that everything in the world is copyrighted and owned by someone else. As David Guggenhaim stated in the introduction of the book "Bound By Law", he told of one of his films had the soundtrack "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin in one of the scenes which he was not allowed to be screened because he didn't have the legal rights to. I completely agree with what he has to say about the law, quote  "when I lift my camera and look through the lens, there is less and less that is free to use: do I have to clear that soda can, that poster, that car or that highrise? What happens to our culture when some of us can pay and others can’t?" This means that any work done by an artist, film-maker, studio maker etc. has to be original.

           

Documentary Films
 Documentary's are films of our culture, but as it states in the comic, our culture nowdays are full of artifacts protected by intellectual property rights,for things such as music, art, films, anything. When making films we don't know what should be copyrighted and what not, which is why the law has changed it now that creative arts are now automatically copyrighted, however the only way you can use copyrighted work without permission is if it's already in the public domain. It is even that if you film something that is copyrighted and it's just in the background, not actually on purpose, you still need to get permission to show this or pay for it.

Terry Gilliam had borrowed plenty of images for his work and 20 years later a court distribution of his movie "12 monkeys" he was then faced with a 6 figure payment to use the set design. It's not become a vicious circle, simply because if you're going to be made to pay for using other work, you're going to want people to pay you for your work. As Judge Kozinski stated " Overprotecting intellectual property is as harmful as under protecting it. Creativity is impossible without a rich public domain... Overprotection stifles the very creative it's supposed to nurture."

Post 9/11 Horrors -Part 2

War and Terror

           President Bush had the influence on the people that you are either "With us or against us" and there was no in-between. This was definitely even more so after the 9/11 took place, when the birth of Islamaphobia took place. Bush made the people feel that if you weren't voting for him, a true born American, fighting for his country then you were seen as supporting terrorists. He was the kind of man that made his opposition out to be "evil" just to make himself look like the good guy, this was through the use of his words, calling America "home" and suggesting that "they'll take our children" when speaking of terrorists, simply mind washing Americans and whipping them in to vote for him.

             
           However it's not the point of Bush's Presidency, it's the fact he criminalised such a horrific event and used 9/11 as a propaganda. Bush's patriotism was nothing but a myth, and his idea of the only thing to solve the problem is by using guns and violence to sort it out, which in reality is completely not the right answer.Also Dixie Chicks music was Boycotted due to the lead singer Natalie Maines told the audience during a London Concert

"We don't want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that the President of the United States (George W. Bush) is from Texas"

This was on the 10th of March 2003, 9 days before the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. The band was denounced by talk-show conservatives,while their albums were discarded in public protest.  

          Bush is a powerful person, he always plays for rural due to his background and he makes himself relatable and comes across as masculine. As a man from Texas and coming from a well known family for their richness and rural background, he had to keep up the masculine image. 

The Devil's Reject (2005)

 The Devil's reject is a Rob Zombie film based in a rural landscape. The characters in the film are a family of Rednecks/Bluegrass, similar to the Bush family, and they are completely crazy, murderers who have no moral compass. The montage makes you give empathy with the victims. Also like I mentioned previously it is a post 9/11 horror, meaning there are various images throughout the film relevant and related to the 9/11 event, such as news clippings of the victims in the film, which was a common factor for many of the victims family's and just worldwide after 9/11 occurred.It was scenes like this that are continuously recycled because of their relevance and connection people have with them.The music throughout the film makes you feel sorry for the monster and it is even seen that their enemies (the law) were just as sinister and backwards, because of such a diseased and polluted region.However this film shows us that even the law is corrupt and just as twisted as the enemies, which Bush called "Evil" and "against" his ways, yet there are conspiracy theories that Bush was involved and knew about 9/11 before it happened, however we will never find out the truth.

          Wrong Turn is where Civilised versus Uncivilised. It was based in a barbaric land with poor economy, and the films storyline was based on an economic metaphor. 

            Our infatuation with misrepresented "monsters" is in everything we are watching now, such as true blood, where they're called the "fang bangers".These represent how trauma is left in our culture, it plays with our perception of the family and makes us feel empathy with the monsters like in the Devil's Reject. They are Demonised in the film but the final scene has the Lynrd Skynrd - Free Bird sound track with the lyrics "bird that cannot change" representing how these monsters have been born like this will never change for anything. Here is the final scene showing this. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOadx4ZICaQ

Post 9/11 Horror 4/12/15

               

                 For our lecture today we had Victoria McCollum talk to us, a new lecturer in Magee. She studied Post 9/11 horror for her PHD, so she based the lecture on what she knew best, Horror films and why we watch them.

What are the best horror films made?

The best horror films are the ones that challenge us and make us question the norm. Take Psycho for example, its culturally relevant and has something to say about the world. Texas Chainsaw Massacre though, took 5-10 years for healing process to be accepted by the public. It was too gory to be accepted at the time it was released and the public couldn't understand or accept Hooper and Henkels work. 

Post 9/11 horror

This is evidently the time period after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in which horror films were released. Most, if not all films, not just horror were related and linked back to the horrific event. The majority of films that were ranked high, were all terrorist related or linked back to the time period of 9/11. This is because the public can sympathise with it and have more understanding of the emotion and terror caused in such events. 

Popular Culture 

Pop culture is seen as a bad thing by the majority of people. It kills brain cells because of how unoriginal and repetitive pop music is, it's made for masses. All music these days are the same when broken down and this has been proven by scientists. However, we're all brain washed to listen to it because it's relevant. It's more than likely that the next new horror films released will be based on Syria in Britain, a culturally relevant issue. All of the images used however are constantly recycled just like Pop Culture.

"If movies are the dreams of the mass culture- horror films are the nightmares"- Stephen King.

Clover Field is a good example of a story that is not seen or heard but felt. Watching a video from the film made me feel on edge. The imagery from 9/11 are used, skyscrapers falling and the statue of liberty beheaded ( After 9/11 the Statue of Liberty wasn't open for 14 years. ) The movement of the camera found footage make the viewer uneasy due to the amateur cam perspective, below is the scene where the Statue of Liberty's Head was knocked off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkFcHUvyJ-k

How horror has changed and developed

• In the 1920's people thought that the people in horror films were ghosts because of this Gothicism time period.
• 1950's was more of the time period of mutated monster mash, this was at the time of invasion of body snatchers making the films culturally relevant. There was nuclear tension and fear made by the characters.
• 1960's 14% of films were horror films, and people related to them because it showed that anyone could be a killer.For example Rosemary's Baby, is a horror film about the new technology used for reproduction and this was the fear of people in the 1960's, the fear of the new generation being born, making them once again culturally relevant.
• 1970's was the time of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it showed the social cratigue, immorality of the youth and drug/alcohol abusers etc. making this all relevant during this time.
• Horror films now, Post 9/11 are all based in rural areas, featuring a rural monster, usually a hill-billy.

It was evident after 9/11 that Die hard's views increased due to it being relevant. There was also a 90% increase of population voting for the president whilst conspiracy theories began. Majority of horror films were based in urban areas because the landscapes look apocalyptic, decimated, relevant after 9/11.