Gothic Topic, an introduction...

 Thursday 23rd November, 2021

1. What is the Synoptic Topic ? Quick answer: it is part of your oral exam and is on the Gothic Topic.

See handout and see your allotted key questions.

2. Understand you need to create a blog entry 3 times before June 2021 (see blog entry on how to create a blog entry!).

3. In your teams, watch this trailer for the British Film Industry's "Gothic Heart of Film" Trailer (two or three times).  What elements of this trailer form a link with your Key Issue? Provide feedback to the class...

Here are all of the film clips used in the trailer, in order:

Night of the Demon (Tourneur, 1957) Rebecca (Hitchcock, 1940) The Innocents (Clayton, 1961) The Woman in Black (Watkins, 2011) The Devil's Backbone (Del Toro, 2001) The Shining (Kubrick, 1980) Queen of Spades (Dickinson, 1949) The Woman in Black (Watkins, 2011) The Innocents (Clayton, 1961) Nosferatu (Herzog, 1979) The Ghoul (Hunter, 1933) The Mummy (Freund, 1932) The Devil's Backbone (Del Toro, 2001) Nosferatu (Murnau, 1922) Dracula (Browning, 1931) The Wicker Man (Hardy, 1973) Being Human (Haynes, 2009) Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (Aldrich, 1962) Phantom of the Opera (Julian, 1925) La Belle e la Bête (Cocteau, 1946) The Ghoul (Hunter, 1933) The Mummy (Freund, 1932) The Mummy (Fisher, 1959) The Shining (Kubrick, 1980) Frankenstein (Whale, 1931) Dracula (Fisher, 1958) Frankenstein (Whale, 1931) Curse of the Cat People (Wise, 1944) Frankenstein (Whale, 1931) The Night of the Hunter (Laughton, 1955) Nosferatu (Herzog, 1979) Black Swan (Aronofsky, 2010) Twilight (Hardwicke, 2008) Rebecca (Hitchcock, 1940) Gaslight (Dickinson, 1940) The Woman in Black (Watkins, 2011) Black Swan (Aronofsky, 2010) Phantom of the Opera (Julian, 1925) Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (Aldrich, 1962) The Innocents (Clayton, 1961) American Werewolf in London (Landis, 1981) The Night of the Hunter (Laughton, 1955) The Devil's Backbone (Del Toro, 2001) Haxan (Christensen, 1922) Eyes Without a Face (Franju, 1959) Night of the Demon (Tourneur, 1957) Dracula (Fisher, 1958) The Wicker Man (Hardy, 1973) Twilight (Hardwicke, 2008) The Wicker Man (Hardy, 1973) Black Swan (Aronofsky, 2010) Witchfinder General (Reeves, 1968) Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (Aldrich, 1962) Nosferatu (Herzog, 1979) Night of the Demon (Tourneur, 1957) 
The Woman in Black (Watkins, 2011)  

3. There are lots of Gothic films available on Youtube (for example, this What Film? site). As you watch such compilations, you will quickly realise that many of the films, books, plays and songs you have been exposed to over the years contain gothic elements or are gothic masterpieces. That's good news: you're already an expert (of sorts :-)

4. The best starting point for Gothic film, though, is the British Film site  . Take some time and explore its offerings, and spend a moment on its Gothic-themed poster page. 

5. In addition to films there, of course, books (no surprise there !). So, let me now direct you to the British Library site on Gothic literature. 

6. To begin at the beginning, I would like you to now read the British Library's page on "The Origins of Gothic." and also this one called "Gothic Literature in Victorian Literature."

7. And to direct us towards the gothic in Picture of Dorian Gray, can I ask you to read this page and watch this video on the Gothic for next week's class too. Realise there is a transcript under the video, so you can read along at the same time. 


Ps/ I'm becoming curious about the link between the Goth music movement and Gothic literature.. If you are too, then this site is interesting. 


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