Here is a good example of a monster Film which was made in 2010. The Film titled 'Monsters' Directed By Gareth Edwards, It's about the earth being invaded six years ago and a journalist decides to escort a tourist through the infected areas which contain the 'Monsters'. However the film did have a few mixed views towards critics but one critic quotes
"With a small budget, he is stingier at showing the full-blown living creatures, but when he does, they are truly magnificent. Scary, yes, but glowing orange, they are also beautiful, at once awful and awe-inspiring.What is bound to disappoint a lot of sci-fi fans is that the titular monsters take a back seat to Andrew and Samantha."
★★★★ Rating
Grady.P, 'Monsters' (2010) review, BoxOffice Magazine. OCTOBER 30, 2010
Grady, P. (2010).
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| Scene from The film 'Monsters' 2010 |
Vertigo Films. (2010). Monsters the movie media - stills.
imdb, inc. (2010).
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WHAT DEFINES A MONSTER!?
Dictionary.com, LLC. (2011).
Mindmap made by using www.bubbl.us
Mindmap made by using www.bubbl.us
Looking at this information, it helps me lead off into different directions of how 'Monsters' are viewed and used, instead of looking at the obvious examples.
Firstly I will look into abnormal appearances of creatures and Humans and the psychological motive which causes people to be accused of being monsters and see what truly makes a monster which the market would class as a popular monster.
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The Blob Fish
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| The Blobfish (Psychrolutes marcidus) |
Shamefully for this Fish, it is not a pretty sight however is very interesting, with its sagging depressed face and blob like features, this dark depth creature is not really appreciated up on land.
"As for the Blobfish, nobody wants them – they’re usually tossed back into the ocean but exposure to the surface’s lower pressure either mortally injures them or kills them outright."
Steve. WebUrbanist and WebEcoist. (2006).
A Monster? for its appearance... its abnormal but it doesn't really do any harm, it just hangs out at the bottom, although fisherman chuck this fish back into the water and this creature is not really presented throughout much media but with this website showing this creature because of it's appearance shows that abnormal looking creatures are interesting to the public and could be popular just because of the strangeness of it.
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"What is it about seeing spiders close-up that gives us the willies?"Steve. WebUrbanist and WebEcoist. (2006).
Spiders are not pretty, well not to a lot of people. They are good representation of what could be classed or turned into a monster, even those Spiders are natural and appear in everyone's life, they have something about them which just triggers a fear. The creepy legs, the jolting speed, cobwebs; Many things.
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Another example is
But Strange creatures aren't the only ones which are accused as a 'Monster'
The fact that these mutants are killing people makes them monsters. So maybe actions conquers appearances. This film is rated 18 and made for a much older audience so that the monsters can be represented as cruel as possible. These type of monsters are very popular and have appeared in a variety of media. Where else have actions over come appearances in the media?
Killers are a very good example of what resembles a 'Monster'. - Shown through newspapers and news channels etc.
Another example is the Norway Island shooting which was a horrific event
Killers are shocking and are despised by the public and this is how Monsters are viewed in people today. Murderers appear a lot in the news and are a very interesting topic which people read about. The Bigger the crime the larger the story and more people are interested in it.
With these Horrific events in mind and how the Killers are looked upon by the public, this is represented very well by Villians in films.
For example - The Joker From Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight'
The Joker is a psychopath who is determined to show that the city is forever corrupted and it is his playground and with no mercy he just kills innocent people without a second thought. The make-up that he wears is quite creepy by itself. He was a great villian in the film and became very popular with audiences.
imdb, inc. (2008).
"Nearly 70 years after "Batman" #1 first hit stands, there still is really only one name that perfectly fits the Dark Knight's greatest adversary, a villain alternately portrayed as a harmless prankster and a vicious sociopath, a man who's equal parts deranged, goofy, psychotic and comical: the Joker."
Adler, S. (2008).
The Joker is also shown within Graphic Novels
Overall this shows that strange looking human features and evil actions of humans is very popular in the film industry and is also popular in a variety of media which proves that this topic is a very popular theme.
Another example of a villain in today's films is 'Jigsaw' From The Saw Franchise
As well as the "Saw" franchise being very popular with its seven released films and two video games, it also sells merchandise which fan will adore. The fact that the franchise is selling the puppet shows that the weirdness and creepiness of the puppet's image is liked and is a very unique things to the serial killers popularity.
A well know series 'Dexter' is a hit show about a killer who hunts down killers - A guy taking out the trash, the thing is he is a completely different view on killers in society today, instead of people looking negatively at him, they love him and hopes he gets away with his kills.
Cherry, K. (2011).
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Another example is
"It's hard to imagine anyone cuddling up to this nocturnal monster, one of the largest millipedes in the world."
Reinbold, M. (2010).
The Millipede is a very large insect which can grow up to 15 inches in length and has a lot of legs, it isn't really an appealing insect. I found it quite interesting due to its simplicity and doesn't really look too harmful but in reality if this was to crawl onto someone by surprise the reaction wouldn't be "awww". Insects has alot of features which artists can use to create a so called "Monster".
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But Strange creatures aren't the only ones which are accused as a 'Monster'
McCormick, R. (2008).
Lal, K. (2010).
This Man who was featured on the show 'Extraordinary People' isn't a monster right? but he has abnormal appearances and defects. When I look at this image I don't instantly think he can relate to a monster.
Some People can Accuse them as being monsters, some people claim them to be Gods, others just say it's a disability, Although these people have extraordinary appearances, a high population of people would not relate them to monsters. This topic of extraordinary people does not spread over a variety of different media but only in television shows.
Channel 5 Broadcasting Ltd. (2011).
So when would you say a human is a Monster?
that audiences want to see.
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vaibhav. (2009).
The Hills have eyes 2 is a film based on a group of national Guards working in the desert for their training and are attacked and abducted by a mutant family.
These humans were affected from a nuclear bomb which had been set off close to where they lived. They all have abnormal appearances and are mentally wrong. These Mutants kill men and use them for dinner and capture women for their own pleasure.
★★★ Rating
Russell, J. (2007).
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Trolling is a phrased used when people post up abuse about someone up on the internet, either it's laughing at some horrible event or either mocking someone alive or dead
"An internet "troll" has been jailed for mocking dead teenagers on various websites. Public figures, including Stephen Fry and Miranda Hart, have also been victims of trolling. So what is it and why do people do it? For some the word derives from a fishing term for towing bait behind a boat, for others it comes from the Norse monsters. But today trolling is more likely to involve a keyboard and mouse than a trawler, and if not a monster, it is a very modern menace"
de Castella, T. Brown, V. (2011).
The actions of abuse being sent over the internet has become quite a big subject as it is causing alot of problems to people. So the idea of mocking someone over the internet is has made people look upon it as menacing. The fact that negative actions are happening a lot is making it appear more in media today.
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"Here is a male nurse, bright and with no history of violence, accused of a six-month murdering rampage. He was convicted of poisoning with insulin five frail, elderly patients in his care in hospital.
He was predictably dubbed the "Angel of Death" and got 30 years in 2008. Few would shed any tears for such a monster."
Daly, M. (2011).
Another example is the Norway Island shooting which was a horrific event
"A gunman dressed as a policeman killed 84 people at a summer camp, police have now revealed."
Gray, R. (2011).
Killers are shocking and are despised by the public and this is how Monsters are viewed in people today. Murderers appear a lot in the news and are a very interesting topic which people read about. The Bigger the crime the larger the story and more people are interested in it.
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With these Horrific events in mind and how the Killers are looked upon by the public, this is represented very well by Villians in films.
For example - The Joker From Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight'
Movie Chronicle. (2008).
The Joker is a psychopath who is determined to show that the city is forever corrupted and it is his playground and with no mercy he just kills innocent people without a second thought. The make-up that he wears is quite creepy by itself. He was a great villian in the film and became very popular with audiences.
imdb, inc. (2008).
"Nearly 70 years after "Batman" #1 first hit stands, there still is really only one name that perfectly fits the Dark Knight's greatest adversary, a villain alternately portrayed as a harmless prankster and a vicious sociopath, a man who's equal parts deranged, goofy, psychotic and comical: the Joker."
Adler, S. (2008).
The Joker is also shown within Graphic Novels
Manning, M. Amazon. (2011).
Overall this shows that strange looking human features and evil actions of humans is very popular in the film industry and is also popular in a variety of media which proves that this topic is a very popular theme.
Another example of a villain in today's films is 'Jigsaw' From The Saw Franchise
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| Esplatter. (2008). |
The Main villian 'Jon' collects people who he believes must be judged for their actions and to see if they are willing to fight to survive. The films are filled with so much death from traps which victims have been placed in, there are seven films out and two games. These films are very popular and have many merchanise which has been sold etc.
McWhertor, M. (2009).
McWhertor, M. (2009).
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| Sideshow Inc (2008). |
As well as the "Saw" franchise being very popular with its seven released films and two video games, it also sells merchandise which fan will adore. The fact that the franchise is selling the puppet shows that the weirdness and creepiness of the puppet's image is liked and is a very unique things to the serial killers popularity.
A well know series 'Dexter' is a hit show about a killer who hunts down killers - A guy taking out the trash, the thing is he is a completely different view on killers in society today, instead of people looking negatively at him, they love him and hopes he gets away with his kills.
"You see, Dexter is no ordinary serial killer murdering innocent people, he only targets other serial killers and really hardened criminals who somehow escape the criminal justice they deserve. So now it becomes clear, Dexter is a vigilante ridding society of its absolutely worst elements. Of course we love him, that darling murderer!"
Good, R. (2010).
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Powerful Villians (The bad guy) can be represented in Horror to be able to scare the audience, to make them truly feel the horrificness from the Monsters
Pasaje del Terror
"Located in the basement of the casino building lay some of the scariest horror movie characters waiting for you to visit. With real live actors inside expect big screams from this terrifying attraction! "Blackpool Pleasure Beach Limited. (2011). .
There are many Horror attractions which are made strictly for adults, Using all different types of beasts, monsters, killers etc (People dressed up) to frighten the public. Audiences love being frightened, this is why The Horror Genre is still popular today - especially around Halloween.
Another attraction is the 'Farmageddon'
"FARMAGGEDON 2011 – - SOLD OUT ! !"
Farmaggedon. (2011).
Horror attractions are also very popular in American -
Rogues Hollow Productions. Wisconsin Feargrounds. (2011).
Attractions can be found all over the place where people seek to be entertained by fear, with disgusting displays etc.
Haunted Attraction Magazine. (2011).
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As it is very popular with its Television show and films, it has sold a lot of other products like toys, costumes, clothes, music and others.
Another famous puppet franchise is "Sesame Street", a children show to teach children lessons like counting, spelling and other simple lessons. With the release of "Sesame Street - 40 Years of Sunny Days" shows that the Sesame Street and Monster Puppet IP has been very popular for many years and continues to do so.
The cookie monster from the television show "Sesame Street" also continues to sell in many products with the examples of this "Count 'n' Crunch Cookie Monster" toy; this shows that there is still a market for the cute fluffy monsters and that because of its popularity it is still selling today.
Sweney, M. (2010).
This shows that the 'Honey Monster' still lives as it continues to feature in Television campaigns advertising their product, if the monster wasn't such a success then why keep him?, obviously the monster is pleasing towards audiences and is very popular.
The Monster Raving Loony Party
Monster cable. Amazon. (2009).
Monster cable. Amazon. (2008).
Bradshaw, P. (2009).
Edwards, M. (2009).
Squires, J . (2010).
"Radical Entertainment's impressive new title is a jaw-dropping achievement"
Although killers and horrified things are popular in the media - but in this situation, something to dislike but enjoy at the same time, Killers in real life are hated and are greatly feared but in different media, people need that villian aspect.
I've looked into how Monsters can be represented through appearance and actions but how else is the media using the word 'MONSTERS'
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Prigg, M. (2010)." The site has become a phenomenon since Acton Smith, 35, started work on it in 2004. Players log on to adopt and care for a virtual monster, which can interact with other creatures in their own virtual world. It is one of the world's biggest sites for children, and this week reached a staggering 15 million members — including Gordon Brown's sons."
"Moshi Monsters" is a completely different look on monsters compared to previous research, it seems that this franchise is targeted mainly just for kids with its cute colourful looking creatures. Taken the aspect of abnormal appearances and twisting it to a childish enjoyable factor makes franchises very popular very quickly.
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| Toys R Us. (2011). |
Besides just having a popular animated website which children can adopt the little monsters, the monsters are also being sold in the well known toy stores today.
Mind Candy Ltd. (2011).
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However Cute little creatures like Moshi Monsters have been quite popular for a long time and are still very popular today and an example of this is the franchise called "Pokemon", First started out as game which then lead to a full animated series and card game. East, T. (2009).
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| FBS Bilisim Gozumleri Ltd. dot.tk. (2011). |
Kohler, C . (2011)."In its various incarnations as a cartoon, Nintendo game and trading cards, the franchise has maintained its popularity. By some measures, it’s bigger than ever: The latest games, Pokémon Black and White, were the first to sell more than 1 million units in their first day of availability in the United States when Nintendo launched them this March. In Japan, the games sold 2.6 million copies in the first two days."
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'Muppets' is another well known franchise and has been around for a very long time and is still popular today with a new 'Muppets' film to be released in November 2011 in the USA. These would fit the Monster Category because of their strange outrageous appearances etc. but they as well as the other examples this franchise is aimed at children but loved by families. Imdb.com Inc. (2011).
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| Freeman, H. (2011). |
As it is very popular with its Television show and films, it has sold a lot of other products like toys, costumes, clothes, music and others.
Just for Fun. Amazon. (2009). Muppets, The. Amazon. (2011).
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| Abbey Home Media. Amazon. (2010). |
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| Buy Toys Online. (2011). |
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robogobodo. (2010).
Monsters have been presented as many different types of characters from bad to good , now I'm going to look into different ways of how Monsters are involved in the media today.
Monster - The Energy drink
robogobodo. (2010).
The Monster Energy drink is a big brand and is up there with the rest of them as being a noticable well known brand, The Monsterous claw ripping logo on the front is very iconic and is seen alot on extreme sports sponsoring and on clothing .
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| Ripsaw. Amazon. (2011). |
Not only is it for drinks, the logo has been used on many different clothings, vechicle branding etc.
Dirt Rider. (2009).
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| Popsop Team. (2009). |
The Monster Munch crisps have been around for years and is well known for its funny monster characters on the front of the package and its hand shaped snacks.
The Design has changed over the years but they have still stook with the idea of the weird colour creatures on the package to represent the flavour. Like Monster Energy Drink they have "The claws" or some sort of shape designed around the monsters hands as one of the main logos about the brand.
Walkers Snacks Limited. (2010).
Walkers Snacks Limited. (2010).
Britstore Ltd. (2011).
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| BIGFOOT® 4x4, Inc. (2010). |
Take the meaning of monstrous as huge, these trucks are car crushing beasts. These are used for extreme sport activities like crushing cars, causing large amount of damage and doing large jumps from ramps and racing. Monster Trucks have been around for quite a long time and are still used a lot today, an example of where monster trucks are popular is in the game 'Motorstorm'
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| Desai, S. (2008). |
"Friday 15th December/...Runcorn-based computer games developer Evolution Studios is celebrating international success today, as its MotorStorm title tops the Japanese PlayStation 3 Charts."
GamersHell. (2006).
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| Poundland Limited. (2011). |
Sugar puffs is a cereal which has been around for a many years and still selling today, the cereal use "The Honey Monster" as their mascot and logo to sell their brand. With the yellow fur and huge body the honey monster is a very friendly monster who makes jokes and does silly things trying to sell the product through humour.
"More than 30 years after the Honey Monster first promoted breakfast cereal with the catchphrase "Tell 'em about the honey, mummy" the gravel-voiced character is back in a new TV campaign for Honey Waffles."
Sweney, M. (2010).
This shows that the 'Honey Monster' still lives as it continues to feature in Television campaigns advertising their product, if the monster wasn't such a success then why keep him?, obviously the monster is pleasing towards audiences and is very popular.
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"The OMRLP are distinguished by having a deliberately bizarre manifesto, which contains things that seem to be too impossible or too absurd to implement – usually to highlight what they see as real-life absurdities. Despite its satirical nature, some of the things that have featured in Loony manifestos have become law, such as being able to vote at 18, "passports for pets", and all-day pub openings."bvthunderclap. (2009).
"The Monster Raving Loony Party in London has launched its manifesto - calling for floating bicycles to ease the city's transport problems."
BBC. (2010).
In previous research monsters have been represented as strange looking and kind of weird so the title for this party is relevant as the party come up with some strange ideas. So even the meaning of "Monsters" has a large influence of things happening in our world today.
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Monster cable. Amazon. (2009).
Monster cable. Amazon. (2008).
The products are popular and are selling more than one product under the title of 'Beats' by Monster. The word 'monster' being used in the title makes the product sound more powerful and fierce. This once again is another example of how even the title of "Monster" helps sell products.
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| Dunlop, R. (2009). |
Monsters vs Aliens by Dreamworks Animation is another example of Monsters who are funny and much more comical than the original approach of evil monsters. The film is about a group of funny monsters who have been assigned to save the united states from the alien invasion.
"As well as playfully sending up great monster movies of the past, this DreamWorks animation, presented in both 2D and 3D, slyly hints at Dr Strangelove and even The Wizard Of Oz......
It's all very good value, although I have a vague feeling that a gallery of freaky sci-fi creatures, as in Monsters Inc, may not engage the young audience's sympathies as much as humanoids. Great fun, anyway"
Bradshaw, P. (2009).
"Everyone has a soft spot for classic B-movies don’t they? The Blob, The Thing, Godzilla, an endless list of entertaining throwbacks to a time of simple joys when people were scared by claymation and men in monster suits. Monsters vs. Aliens is just the tool to introduce such pleasures to the kids of today, and it is perfectly equipped to do so."
Edwards, M. (2009).
Taking the popular monsters from the old classic films, dreamworks have made a film which uses those monsters but makes them entertaining to children.
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| HalfBrick Studios. (2010). |
Another example of media which involved monsters from the classic B-Movies is the Mobile game "Monster Dash", the design of the monsters is very colourful like "Monsters vs Aliens" and a more comical approach to the classic monsters but still sticks with them being evil.
"Battling cartoony renditions of classic monsters never gets old, and despite only offering one game mode, the ever-changing environments keep things fresh game after game. If you’re looking a fun new twist on the Canabalt formula, you can consider Halfbrick’s latest release 99 cents well spent."
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Imdb. (2010). A Nightmare on Elm Street
Imdb. (2009). Halloween II
Looking back at people being classed as monsters and the horror genre, there are well known serial killers from classic horror films that have recently had remakes done.
The first example is the "Nightmare on Elm street" franchise, Freddy Krueger and the Nightmare on Elm street has been around for a long time but has now started to have the original stories remade to fit in with the modern day.
flixter. (2010)."Visually faithful but lacking the depth and subversive twists that made the original so memorable, the Nightmare on Elm Street remake lives up to its title in the worst possible way."
Another example is "Halloween" which has a remake directed by Rob Zombie, made based on the original film, the first remake was made in 2006 then a sequel was made in 2009. The monster in this franchise is the serial killer "Michael Myers" who kills innocent people in the town around the time of Halloween.
Newman, K. (2009)."Rob Zombie loves John Carpenter’s Halloween so much he had to kill it with a grunge remake. Now he trashes his own vision with a sequel so shoddy it makes the disappointing 1981 Halloween II (homaged in a lengthy hospital stalk which turns out – gasp! – to be only a dream) seem classic."
Although the Horror genre of killers continues to be popular with new releases through media and the market still wishes to continue the stories of classic characters, reviews and audiences seem to prefer the original monsters than the new ones, film makers fault? or are the classic killer not as defying any more?.
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| Kim, P. Elvis.. (2011). |
Another film which contains monsters is "Coraline" from the producers of "The Nightmare before christmas", this film was made with stop motion animation which made the feature very unique and made the monsters look outstanding and very creepy. The Evil Mother of the story is formed around a spider like creature which relates back to previous research of fearful appearances, although the films target audience may seem at first to be at children but this dark animated motion picture is very frightening at times.
With its vivid stop-motion animation combined with Neil Gaiman's imaginative story, Coraline is a film that's both visually stunning and wondrously entertaining.flixter. (2009).
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prototype is a completely different view on a modern day monster, this game was that successful that it is now releasing a sequel to the original (this information can be found in my Horizon section).
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| Activision Publishing. Dek. (2009). |
Cowen, N. (2009).
In the game the player can play can the monster and destroy the city with quite a few fun monstrous attacks, maybe people like being the monster instead of the victim.
