About "American Horror Story", there are still so many things I did not know before!
The "American Horror Story" was back again in November 2022. The story of this season is set in New York City in the 1980s. Have you watched it?
By 2022, this legendary series has won 16 Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, three Satellite Awards, and 360 nominations.
Compared with other traditional horror series which are full of blood and violence, “American Horror Story” is not that scary, but it has reached a brand-new aesthetic height in the horror genre.
It focuses on psychological horror and the evil of human nature and redefines the way we view horror from a special perspective. For ten years, watching this series seems to become a habit that one cannot get rid of.
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Haunted houses, mental hospitals, covens, circuses, haunted hotels, summer camps in the 1980s, vampires, alien mysteries… All the horror elements you can imagine are in this series.
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Do you still remember these classic scenes?
Is horror not enough for you? Then the mental patients, the disabled people, the LGBTQ people, and the marginalized people…. This series never ignores their existence, in addition to the similar expression form of the Anthology Series of "Black Mirror" and "Love, Death & Robots". Perhaps this is the reason why this series still attracts countless fans in the 11th season.
The basic cast has been retained, but in each season, there is an independent story, which avoids the common failing that American TV series always head into a narrative dead end after several seasons. This model later has been used by many series, such as "American Crime Story", "Why Women Kill", "The White Lotus", etc.
The beginning of everything
The title sequence of "American Horror Story" must be the one you don't want to skip. Fast image stacking, broken pictures, disconnected scenes, unpredictable shots, dark and tense pictures, and nervous BGM have all become its symbols.
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These highly psychedelic and eye-catching title sequences were designed by Kyle Cooper, who was nominated three times for Outstanding Main Title Design at Emmy Awards.
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Kyle Cooper has designed more than 350 title sequences, and the title sequence of "Seven" is one of his classic works
During the production of the title sequence of the first season, Ryan Murphy, the director, invited Kyle to the filming location and told him all the stories that happened in the house. Then they walked around the house and thought about the suitable music for the title sequence of "Murder House".
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The font of "American Horror Story"
At the first cooperation between Ryan and Kyle, they finalized the visual language of the whole series. This font style is unforgettable.
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In season 10, Steve Jobs suddenly appears at the alien research base
It is worth mentioning that Mackintosh, the designer of this font, is also the naming source of the Macbook, and the first season of "American Horror Story" was broadcast on the day of Jobs' death. Therefore, in season 10, the crew revived Jobs and commemorated him in this special way.
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The title font is slightly adjusted according to the theme of each season
It is because these title sequences and fonts are perfectly integrated with the feature film, finding clues about each season from each frame of the title sequences has become the most passionate thing for the fans.
However, not all clues are related to the plot. Kyle would create according to the theme after getting the script and would also put in some elements that are not related to the feature film but are suitable for the theme.
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In the title sequence of "Murder House", there is a man with scissors. This character is also Kyle's “title sequence only”
In this way, dull, depressive, surreal pictures, weird characters, strange fonts, ticking sound of BGM... As long as you see this, you know that "American Horror Story" is about to start again.
The Art of Posters
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Appreciating the posters of each season is also something that fans are looking forward to. Those posters always attract me, but at the same time, they make me feel a little disgusting.
For instance, the poster design of "Murder House" is very straightforward. In a red cube, the rubber man and the heroine are opposed to each other, and the picture is full of sexual tension.
On the poster of "Asylum", the image of a nun, the alien eyes, the ink flows out of the eyes…. This is inspired by the human experiment during World War II, which drops ink into human eyes for ophthalmic research.
"Coven" is a season about female stories, female power, connection, and competition among women. So, on the poster, a white snake is passing through women's mouths.
In "Hotel", there are transgender characters, a living dead sewn on the mattress, parents tortured by the disappearance of their son, and the enclosed space on the poster is full of everyone's pain.
Although many years have passed, these posters are still amazing. The integration of various elements, the expressions and movements of the characters, and the still pictures with very dynamic emotions. All these secretly imply the content of the new season.
A mental patient who is always awake
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Sarah Paulson revisited the asylum
Devil nuns, human experiments, monsters in the forest, serial killers, aliens, you can never imagine how these elements should be put together. But in season two, Sarah Paulson returned to the weird asylum with a film crew to experience these elements.
The plot of this season is based on real events. Lana Winters, the character in the series, is Nellie Bly, an American investigative reporter in the 19th century. She used her camera to record various injustices in the asylum.
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Lana Winters
In reality, to get into the asylum, Nellie exhausted all means, and she even made local headlines.
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Nellie Bly
Paying tributes to the double feature
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The title of season 10 is "Double Feature", the story of aliens and vampires, which divides this season into two parts, Red Tide, and Death Valley. This is Ryan's homage to Hollywood history.
In the United States from the 1930s to the 1960s, affected by the Great Depression, cinemas often showed "Double Feature" -watching two films with only one ticket. The first half was a big-budget, great-production A-movie, also known as "Main Feature", while the second half was a low-budget, rough B-movie, which was shown together.
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Double Feature released by United International Pictures: "Die, Monster, Die!" and "Planet of the Vampires"
Although the B-movies were not very well made, they attracted a large audience with weird shooting methods, which laid the foundation for the subsequent development of horror and cult movies.
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In the 1980s, the classic cult movie, "A Nightmare on Elm Street"
The creation of "American Horror Story" was inseparable from the B-movies. Therefore, the return of this release mode in season 10 is a love letter for the era of "Double Feature". The difference is that "American Horror Story" has a strong cast.
Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Emma Roberts, Lily Rabe, and Taissa Farmiga, are actors with great reputations. Even if you are not a fan of this series, you must know them. They rewrote the stereotype that horror movies are shoddy.
Let's sing a song together
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Evan Peters covered Nirvana's "Come As You Are"
Since "Asylum", a Grammy Award winner joined the production for almost every season, from Adam Levine and Lady Gaga to Patti LuPone in the latest season.
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Patti LuPone sang in Season 11
Ryan, the director, once filmed "Glee", and he also duplicated the musical clips to "American Horror Story". The joyful and lyrical song-and-dance parts do not conflict with the horror genre. On the contrary, they vitalize the characters and impress the audience.
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Lady Gaga
The most touching song is "The Name Song" in "Asylum". Jude, who suffers from dementia, recovers her sanity when the music starts and reunites with all the people in the asylum, which becomes the most tear-jerking scene in season 2.
Although Jessica Lange started her actress career in Hollywood in the 1970s and won the Oscar in the 1990s and starred in “American Horror Story” for the first time at the age of 62, she became the most influential and amazing character in the series.
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In season 4, Jessica Lange even performed a cover version of "Life On Mars?", a tribute to David Bowie. The style of this song is very absurd. In the series, Elsa can't help singing this song in the freak show, releasing the suffering and helplessness of the freaks.
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Jessica Lange's blue suit and makeup are also Ryan's homage to David Bowie
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Jessica Lange's favorite character is Elsa in season 4
Postscript
"American Horror Story" is like your ex-boyfriend’s social media account. Each time you tell yourself you will never watch it again, you watch it anyway. Some people think it is getting worse and worse, they just watch it as a habit.
But aesthetically, it offers more possibilities for the horror genre and is keen to discuss the topic of human nature and society, so that we can know more stories about marginalized people.
Which season of "American Horror Story" is your favorite? Let me know in the comments.
L. Guavara
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