I have thought of an idea for my proposal for a two minute film that would fit the requirements of the brief for the uncanny proposal. I read the first few pages of the Das Unheimliche article by Freud and got an idea of what the word uncanny was and this helped me think of how to realise this word successfully. The general idea of it was that familiar things could become unfamiliar and in turn cause fear because of their uncanny nature. This instantly triggered images in my head of things that I had seen in my life that were part of normal life and seemingly familiar but out of context or just under close examination would invoke a sense of fear for no apparent reason. One of the most immediate things this reminded me of was an old house we used to visit when I was younger which had wooden floors painted black and all of the wood/furniture was dark/dilapidated. Other things this reminded me included my Grandparents old house which is a very old and very large house in the middle of the countryside and has big black beams on every ceiling as well as strange old appliances like big metal irons, a loom, big book cases and a few other strange quirky little things that while being familiar and obviously ornamental always seemed a little out of place and strange to me especially in comparison to the quite modern flat that I lived in.
I would also compare the idea of uncanny stemming from something familiar to the way in which many good scary films have took familiar aspects from everyday life and re-shaped them in order to make them grotesque and scary but somehow believable. A clear example of this would be when horror films say things like "Based on a true story" and one that I find quite relevant is the repeated use of small children which you would usually consider to be quite innocent suddenly turning horrific and screaming/killing people violently such as the small girl in "The Grudge" or the creepy girl in "Silent Hill". Many creatures in horror films are also based on real animals so that they can stay somehow believable to the audience such as Alien being quite loosely based on an insect or a lot of films taking average people that would blend into society and making them a psychopath behind closed doors.
Considering the above points I would like my idea to reflect these ideas and hopefully be as effective in utilising the same techniques that I have highlighted.
