Narrative Research On The Enclosed Space Of Horror Movies

As early as the second half of the 20 th century,there was a trend of “spatial turn” in the Western humanities and social sciences.Under the influence of such factors as post-industrial society,globalization,digital technology and the competition in the film industry,the shift of post-modern theory,visual culture and the cognitive science have all contributed to the spatial shift of movie narrative.The contemporary film theory has gradually begun to apply the spatial expression of the film and the narrative function of space as the research objects.With the development of the digital technology,this shift in space has gradually become an aesthetic and cultural revolution in the film industry which has swept the globe.Space is a fundamental feature of movie narratives that distinguishes it from written narratives.It serves as an important entry point for the study of contemporary movie narratives,having great importance to the updating of the structure of the film,the expression of thematic meaning,the expansion of narrative methods and the promotion of the aesthetic appreciation and enjoyment.As a typical visual symbol in space narrative,closed space exists extensively in the movies creation.As a classic means of film creation,the narrative study of closed space is undoubtedly of great research value.In such type of films as horror movies,closed space has become a characteristic visual symbol,surpassing other spatial forms and narrative conventions and forming a unique "space convention".As a kind of comprehensive art which integrates audio-visual and somatosensory,the horror film has formed an endless stream of classic texts in conjunction with the closed space,creating plenty of masterpieces that have earned reputation and box office.However,for the moment,the literature on narrative research with regard to the closed space of horror film is still scarce.This paper takes the unique space form of closed space as the entry point,mainly selects the classical films in the history of horror films as the research texts and discusses the styling features,narrative functions of the audience outside the screen.Through the analysis of the types and attributes of closed spaces in horror movies,relevant somatosensory experience are involved into the discussion of horror movie narratives,which plays an active role in the theoretical guidance in the development of horror movie types.The guiding significance of the theory makes it possible to expand and improve the level of narrative application of closed space and the theoretical expansion of horror movies.