Inspiration for Narrative - The Roommate

Sara Matthews is starting her freshman year of college. She meets Tracy, Stephen, her love interest, and Rebecca, her roommate. Initially, the girls begin to bond and Rebecca learns that Sara had an older sister, Emily, who died when Sara was 9. She has Emily's name tattooed on her body. She also has an ex-boyfriend, Jason, who keeps calling her to reconcile. As time goes on, Rebecca's obsession with Sara grows and she tries to drive away anyone who could come between them.

Rebecca attacks Tracy in the shower and threatens to kill her unless she stays away from Sara. Tracy, fearing for her life, moves to another dorm. Sara's friend Irene invites her to move in and when she tells Rebecca, Rebecca takes Sara's pet kitten, Cuddles, and puts him in the washer, effectively killing him (offscreen). Rebecca lies to her and tells her that the kitten ran away. When Sara's philandering fashion design professor  kisses her, Rebecca seduces him, while recording their dialogue on a tape recorder to make it look like he was assaulting her. Later Rebecca claims to have been attacked in order to gain the sympathy of Sara, in reality the wounds are self inflicted. Sara, feeling bad, decides to spend Thanksgiving with Rebecca and her family.

During her stay, Sara overhears a conversation between Rebecca and her father, hinting Rebecca has had trouble making friends in the past. Rebecca's mother mentions Rebecca is supposed to be taking medication. Sara and Stephen later find a full bottle of Zyprexa pills. They find out it is used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Irene, an old family friend of Sara's and who is also a lesbian, goes to a club and sees Rebecca and they kiss in the club's bathroom and, not knowing that she is Sara's roommate they go to Irene's place. The following morning Sara goes to Irene's place but she does not answer.

Rebecca gets Sara's sister's name tattooed in the same place on her body as Sara. Sara, shocked and upset, packs all her things, except her sister's necklace, which she can't find and moves in. Later, Stephen and Sara find Rebecca's sketchbook filled with sketches of Sara's images. Jason arrives at Sara's dorm and slips a note under her door, saying he wants to see her. Rebecca reads the note, posed as Sara with her sister's necklace, the tattoo, and her newly-dyed hair and goes to Jason's hotel room. She stabs him in his bed with Sara's art knife.

Sara gets a text from Irene, saying she needs her right away. Sara informs Stephen she will be at Irene's place. When she gets there, she finds Irene held hostage by Rebecca with a pistol. Rebecca reveals that she was responsible for what happened to Tracy, Cuddles, the professor and Jason and that she did it all to win Sara's friendship. When Sara apologizes, Rebecca forgives her but wants to kill Irene. Stephen arrives just in time to help stop Rebecca from pulling the trigger on Irene.

In the ongoing struggle, Stephen is knocked unconscious and Sara is left dangling out of the window. Although Rebecca pulls Sara back to safety, Sara reaches for the pistol to shoot Rebecca; however, the cartridge is empty. Enraged, Rebecca attacks Sara and attempts to strangle her. Sara stabs Rebecca in the back with a boxcutter whispering "You were never my friend." Sara moves back into her dorm and moves the extra bed out of her room, proclaiming that she does not want a roommate for a while.

 

Draft ideas For Film Narrative

In my pitch, I said I wanted to creative a narrative following a young student who had died suring her first week of University. It was from then that I started to come up with ideas as to how this student may have died, whether or not the protagonist would be male or female or whether or not the death was an accident or a murder.

The death

In my pitch I also suggested that the death of the student might be the cause of a freshers week prank inspired by the film Sorority Row. One idea that I had was that the student experimented with some kind of drug after a night of heavy partying and drinking eventually causing a fatal overdose, another suggestion was that the student was not a particularly confident person leaving them to be excluded from their roomates and fellow students. Upset and alone they would commit suicide due to their lack of involvement in the University culture. Upon pre production investigation into real life cases, another idea that also appealed to me was that the student would be murdered by their roomate. I liked this idea as, living out in University can seem like such a huge change in a young persons life and how awful it would be if you were living with the room mate from hell. Through no fault of their own the roomate would poison them and no arrests would be made leaving a sense of injustice on the murdered student.

Male or Female?

As I wanted to aim my film at a larger male target audience I was undecided whether or not to choose a male or female student as the main protagonist as ultimately you want your audience to feel as though they have some sort of similarites with them. However whilst conducting textual analysis, I realised that the majority of Supernatural horrors feature an attractive female protagonist whether it's The Unborn, The Uninvited or Paranormal Activity. This is probably due to the fact that in the past, demons and spirits had always invaded the body of a young woman or child, leaving female audiences to develop a emotional bond with the character. However for men, the protagonists before they are possessed or haunted they are often young attractive women, providing some screen visual appeal for a male audience.

Setting

After being allowed to film in a friends student halls I then wondered where else would be effective to film on campus, for instance would I show the protagonist partying at a Freshers week nightclub to show that the characters finally involved themselves within the culture, or would I delve deeper into their University life by showing them running (The Uborn), attending class (Sorority Row) and visiting their family to allow the audience to feel sympathetic towards them.

Time

Even though I knew I wanted to set my trailer in the present day, I wanted to establish that the students death had become so publicised and well known that the reports of sightings had almost become a myth. One idea I had was to set the protagonists story in the mid nineties where the 'freshers week' craze really took off. Another suggestion was to set it between 10-15 years ago to establish a period of time for Police investigations to take place and to use the latest in technology for the film crew to use.

I essentially wanted my trailer to be aimed at young students between the ages the ages of 18-24 who are maybe at University or are currently in a creative profession utilising their skills gained from University. They'll be able to relate to the culture of University and possibly be able to empathise with the protagonists as most of them would have had the similar experience of leaving home to move into their own flat/halls and truly understand what it is like away from the comfort and protection of their families. They'll enjoy the scare factor amongst the narrative as the themes within it will strike a chord with their own personal experineces.

Codes and Conventions of Supernatural Horror Films

Settings

Supernatural Horrors are usually set in the home of the protagonist, or a place where the audience would feel at their most safe, this could be from their house to the suburban area in which they live in.  Supernatural Horror’s biggest appeal is its ability for the audience to question the world in which they live in and also to question if there are others among us, they successfully achieve this by setting the story in a place which is close to the character and would eventually make them fearful of their surroundings. The setting of a house within horrors is common however it within Supernatural horrors, the home almost becomes a character itself, it emphasizes the fear of the unwanted and unexplained in which the character cannot control or escape from making the audience feel frightened in the one place in which you should feel at most safe. The popular revival of ‘Supernatural Genre’ has been one of particular interest within the past two decades, with television programmes such as ‘Ghost Hunting’, ‘Psychic Stories’ and ‘Supernatural’ all zoning in on its cult status.  In order to balance out the ‘make-believe’ with reality, this type of horror is set in a person’s home to establish common ground with the viewer, making the narrative seem more realistic. 

 House from The Others

Basic Plotlines

Other conventional features to the plotline involve the audience being led to believe that a certain character is one that we can trust, when eventually it is exposed that they are the cause of the horror. For example, in “Paranormal Activity” the couple believe they are being followed by a spirit, when in fact; the female character turns out to be the one possessed. This involves also, in “Insidious”  where the audience is led to believe that it is the hosue that is causing much of the distress when in actual fact it is the couples child Dalton who is cursed. Another basic plotline includes the protagonist being a child, one that was murdered and has come back to seek revenge by tormenting the main character.

Characters

The main characters appear to be ‘normal’ people, who live their lives in a normal average manner. Conventionally female, they are harmless, caring and loving beings. Supernatural Horrors differ to slashers because, the main characters are not being punished by experiencing the horror and in most cases have done nothing wrong to deserve the visit from the spirit. This type of main character occurs in the films, “The Unborn", "The Uninvited" and "Drag me to hell". The main characters are likely to be troubled by something that has happened in their past, which leads other characters to view them as mentally unstable once they speak of supernatural interaction.

Usually the first impression of the audience on the paranormal is negative, however, as the narrative progresses, the audience come to realise that this spirit is actually present for a reason and that it is not just there to mindlessly torment. Usually, the paranormal presence is there to help the protagonist unveil a mystery, to guide them and help them understand something more clearly.
 
 The Exorcism Of Emily Rose
 

Costumes

In supernatural horror, the key to costume is simplicity, this is so that the audience’s attention is not diverted away from the action in the scene, so we can identify the mood of the character and distinguish between different character personas.
The main character is likely to wear simple plain clothes, nothing provocative or revealing. The main female character is likely to be a grown woman and so she wears clothing that is smart and sophisticated when leaving the house, whether that’s for work or play, and is also likely to wear casual garments, such as jeans when relaxing at home. She is likely to wear neutral, pastel colours, such as light greys, baby blues, soft yellows, nudes and creams. The make-up of the female character gives her a natural, fresh faced look.
During the more horror-induced scenes we are likely to see the character looking erratic, with dishevelled appearances and unkempt hair and make-up.

Events/Occurrences

The creaking of a door and the curtain blowing in the wind by the open window are common occurrences, as they symbolise the entry of the unknown. These tend to take place in the earlier stages of the narrative, as their occurrence only minutely indicates the presence of a ghost or spirit. In supernatural horrors, there is always the scene that involves the protagonist looking into the bathroom mirror, to see that beside her own reflection is the reflection of the ‘ghost’.

Often we see the main characters participating in a stand off of exorcism in an attempt to contact the wondering spirit, to find out what it wants. Often, we see scenes of the protagonist in the bath or asleep in bed, having some kind of vision or nightmare of the spirit during relaxation.

The discovery of the spirits past: this involves the protagonist exploring their house and finding clues that further inform them of the life the spirit once had, why they are being haunted and what they can do to solve it. For instance, in “The Unborn” the main character searches the attic in order to find out more about her childhood and she finds video tapes of her family but soon discoveres that she had a twin who dies when they were very young.

Other conventional occurrences include flickering of candles, peering through the ‘key-hole’, evidence of unknown wet footprints, squeaky noises such as creaking doors or floorboards, dripping water and the protagonist hiding in a darkened corner like a vulnerable child.

The Woman In Black

Weapons

Uses of weapons in supernatural horrors come out of what is surrounding the victim, for instance, household appliances, kitchen utensils, ornaments, and garden equipment anything that is sharp, long and or heavy. This subgenre tends to have less blood and violence as it is more focused on paranormal events. The antagonists greatest weapon one could argue is the power to invade the mind of the protagonist and control their thoughts and emotions.

Sounds

For the musical soundtrack, it is conventional for this subgenre to use orchestral music as it suits the narrative of scene. Empathetic sound is used to reflect the mood of the characters in scenes of fear, panic and chaos. Contrapuntal sound (sound that doesn’t match the scene) is used to create a juxtaposition of sound and image, for instance, in this genre, especially ones that involve a child-ghost, you can create contrapuntal sound by adding sound  that is supposed to be sweet, innocent and endearing to a scene where something terrible is about to occur. Adding child’s laughter to a scene like this can make it appear sinister.
Other uses of sound, usually asynchronous and parallel include faint whispering, children’s laughter, crazed laughter, an old woman cackling, sounds like these are usually presented to us as we view the protagonist hearing them as if they are coming from another world.

Lighting

It is conventional to use backlighting in scenes where the spirit will not be exposed, we can only see the silhouette that has been created. Profile lighting is also used to make a character appear sinister; it indicates to audiences whether or not this person can be trusted. Under lighting is lighting that comes from a light source below, used in scenes of desperation, during blackouts of light, characters resort to torches, lanterns and candles to help them see.

In supernatural horrors it is conventional for the protagonist to experience cold, wet and stormy weather, as it re-enforces the turbulent, unsettling bluster of the plot. The main character is also likely to experience a power cut in their home, this promotes the childhood fear of the dark, making the character appear vulnerable and naive.

Codes and Conventions of 'Slasher' Horror

 In short, there is usually a psychotic masked killer stalking and systematically butchering a group of young adults (teens), away from parent supervision and usually up to no good. Until eventually the "virgin/final girl" prevails and seems to destroy the killer thus stopping the carnage from continuing. But the killer often comes back in multiple sequels declining in quality and media interest. These sequels often going straight to video. But to completely understand what a slasher film is we need to look at these codes and conventions in more detail.

 

Friday 13th

The miss read stereotype of a slasher film killer is often a supernatural boogie man in a beat up jump suit and hockey mask, wilding a machete. But the killer character is much more complex. In most slasher films the killer is an ordinary person who has suffered some kind of great trauma abuse or injustice in there life and there killing streak is a way to get revenge and forward angers trailing from past events. The victims are never random but linked with the killers past. The killer is more than likely to be masked to console the killers identity until the final scene, if unmasked there identity is again kept secret and only revealed in the final scene. Most are homicidal maniacs and not sadistic tormenters this is illustrated by the quick kills in slashers with little victim pain or suffering and often 1 fatal slice or stab. The killer is by and large overtly asexual and sexually ambiguous even thou it is always implied that the killer is male with extreme burst of masculinity. The biggest convention with the killer that is almost always used is the non realistic immortality/indestructibility and super strength of this character. This is done so the killer can always come back in numerous sequels and rain terror once more. One of the most common conventions in the slasher is the point of view from the killer shots, only seeing a disfigured or gloved hand holding the weapon of choice.

 

Wrong Turn

In slashers these are always a knife or blade of some kind hence the name "slasher". Slasher film weapons of choice include; swords, razors, axes, machetes, arrows, chain-saws, power drills, hammers, spears, saws, scythes, hatchets, darts, sickles and pitch forks. Basically anything that slashes and also any other sharp or pointed objects lying around. Also sometimes a specific weapon is reserved for a specific victim.

There are a set of familiar characters in slashers including the key character the final/virgin girl. Who is always the sensible collected type who generally refuses to take part in any illegal or sexual activities, (hence the name virgin girl) that seem to be the down fall of the other characters. The final/virgin girl is the sole survivor of the psychos killing spree and the character who finally defeats the killer. Other frequently used character types include, the cheerleader/bimbo (usually the first to be slaughtered), the jock, the badass or outcast, the prom queen or popular girl (also a bimbo), the nice guy, the nerdy kid who sometimes develops into the final/virgin girl and finally the token black guy. The only adult characters in slasher films seem to be 1 of 3 character types. Ether the killer himself/herself, the elder wise person who gives advise on how to defeat the killer or the less than helpful authority figure usually a "cop" who refuses to believe or acknowledge there is a psychopathic killer on the lose.

Scream

Because a large proportion of the audience for slashers are teenagers and they have teenage actors and characters for the audience to identify with. The settings for slasher films correlate with these conventions and are often universally recognised with teens. For example high school, college, summer camp, the creepy house at the top of the hill, the hang out in the woods and blood can even be spilled on the comforting streets of suburbia. These settings seem to give the hunted teens an advantage over there stalking psychopath because they are immediately familiar with these surroundings. Thus they know where the dark corners are to hide or where daddy keeps his shotgun. This seemed advantage can sometimes be reversed within the film taking the characters and placing them in an unfamiliar killers domain, for example the "dream world of Freddy Kruger". And when night falls these proposed advantages go out the window. Also the settings in slasher films are more than likely to be isolated in some way from the rest of society and the adult community this takes out the possibility of a rescue of some kind and also gives the characters an opportunity to do bad things e.g. taking drugs and sex. The time and date that slasher films take place in, is almost always an anniversary of a past event. Slashers often start with a prologue of this always traumatic or humiliating past event. A very good example of this is Halloween, witch stats with scenes of the killers traumatic past.

Codes and Conventions of Horror Films

Horror films are unsettling films designed to frighten and panic, and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience. They deal with our most primal nature and its fears: our nightmares, our vulnerability, our alienation, our revulsions, our terror of the unknown, our fear of death and dismemberment, loss of identity, or fear of sexuality. Film genres have different codes and conventions that separate them from one another. This allows the target audience to identify immediately which genre is presented in a specific media text, whether it is moving or still images. Similar things crop up again and again in horror films setting these codes and conventions. Some, however, challenge them to create originality, freshness and uniqueness making them in some ways, unpredictable. Nonetheless, you cannot challenge them to the point where the codes and conventions are lost and the media text’s genre isn’t recognisable. Different aspects of media texts are made to set the horror genre. These include: settings, characters, costume, sound, events and occurrences, sights, lighting, weapons, camera shots and angles.

Settings

Settings are very important in the horror genre as it can say a lot about it. It sets the scene, giving of a certain mood and atmosphere which allow the audience to identify the genre. Common settings in the genre of horror include uses of large, spacious environments; this gives the characters, who are feeling adventurous, the space needed to explore the area and means they have more spaced to hide.

Horrors are also often set in suburban areas, for example, a common location is in a characters home, which is especially common in supernatural and psychological horrors. Common settings in Horror movies include uses of large, vast, spacious environments; this gives characters more area’s to explore in the ‘middle of nowhere’ and means they have more spaces to hide. Horrors are often set in suburban areas, for example, a common location is in a characters home (especially in supernatural horrors), and this achieves common ground between the character and the audience which adds to the scare-factor. Also, with more modern horrors, the houses in which the film is set contain more cosy and homily vibes but still maintain an eerie, austere presence. The houses in which the films are set contain a warm hospitable vibe but still maintain an eerie presence; having a normal looking home makes the target audience more uncomfortable in theirs, making the horror film successful in frightening and scaring the target audience. The way in which horror films make these settings, which are known to be safe, scary, is by using appropriate lighting and contrapuntal sound to provide a spooky and unsettling atmosphere. 

 Camp Crystal Lake - Friday 13th

House featured in the Amityville Horror

Other settings include churches (huge relation to supernatural and Christ and this is the main base for the supernatural genre); barns and farms as they are deserted, dark and old; fields and country roads as they too are deserted, and associated with creepy looking surrounds e.g. trees, animals etc.

Characters

At the centre of the horror genre, you have this battle between either good and evil, or innocent and evil and this has a big influence on the characters we meet. All horrors, regardless of subgenre there is some sort of antagonist.

Antagonist

 In supernatural they are either viscous ghosts/spirits or demons determined to get revenge, create terror or communicate and try to send a message to the character they are terrorising. An example of a character of a demon inhabiting a characters life is the dead twin of the protagonist in 'The Unborn'. The Antagonist; serial killer, demonic possession, ghost, monster (vampire, werewolf, zombie etc.) If they are human, they will often wear a mask, disguising them completely of appearance or emotion, and the audience can make no connection to them whatsoever. Wearing a mask also plays on the fear of the unknown. They will never react in a normal way to injuries; if they were to be stabbed, they usually manage to get back up again unharmed, hinting towards the idea of them being inhuman. Any other type of killer, such as a monster or demon also plays on the fear of the unknown, and as there is never any solid proof that they do not exist, they play on the audiences more primal fears and the thought that they could actually be all around at night. This character obviously has the biggest impact on the audience and strikes fear into them. They are what the suspension throughout the film and all other codes and conventions have been building up to.

Protagonist

The protagonist is the innocent victim. However, near the end of the film, it can be revealed that the protagonist is indeed the antagonist so therefore it would shock the target audience and make them re-evaluate their thoughts and opinions on this character which they thought was the victim. An example of this would be in the film ‘Hide and Seek’ as David is seen as the victim whiles his daughter and Charlie as seen as the evil ones. However it turns out to be that David is “Charlie” as he has a split personality- this is only revealed near the end of the film. These types of twisted character types fits in nicely with supernatural and psychological horrors as it allows the target audience to be open minded. I will include this convention in my own production as this interests me and the way the characters appear to be twisted in the end will make my narrative more interesting.

Sacrificial Lamb

This type of character is mostly presented in slasher horrors, however are sometimes featured in supernaturals. This character is the first to die, a sign to everyone of what’s coming up. An example of this would be Casey Becker in ‘Scream’. They tend to be female, who is weak, vulnerable and incapable of saving themselves which reinforces traditional representations of gender. Carol T Clover says these victims fit in with the fantasy that men have of women having blonde hair, big breasts and dress provocatively and she suggests there is almost pleasure for the male target audience to see the brutal murder of these women. Female Victim There is almost no horror film without a female victim, as they are portrayed as being vulnerable and in need of protection. This representation dates back to earlier horror films where women were just seen as forms of visual pleasure for a male audience, and the idea continued. Usually young, blonde and attractive, helping to appeal to a wider male audience. This character is often portrayed to be stupid and annoying, one of the only characters the audience sometimes will to be killed. Although she is shown to be dumb, she isn’t typically the first to be killed, but when she is killed, it is usually gruesome or graphic. This character helps to build up suspense in the audience, as her behaviour often puts them on edge, and whenever she jumps, even if unnecessary, they jump too.

Final Girl/ Central female Character

Generally, it is normally a female who is the last girl standing or the main character across all sub-genres. In Slashers, the girl who is the last one to survive is called ‘the final girl’. They are intelligent, brave, resourceful, and able to solve problems, unravel things and crack mysteries. The Final Girl/Hero in these cases, he tends to be the brave character that goes after the murderer, often never returning. These characters tend to show little emotion throughout the film, perhaps to stay strong and supportive for the other characters that cope less well. In more recent horror films, the hero has begun to appear as a female. This makes the film more unpredictable, and challenges the older, more traditional conventions.These types of characters tend to have experienced a troubled past themselves. Examples of these types of female characters would be: Laurie in ‘Halloween’; Sydney in ‘Scream’; Rachel in ‘The Ring’ and Christine in ‘Drag Me to Hell’. It is conventionally a female who has to go through all the terror because it is unexpected- this adds interest to the sub-genre as they are an ultimate symbol of innocence. Moreover, it is also a horror tradition where the females are the victims of males and this links back to the 1920s from the film ‘Nosferatu’. It is far more interesting for the target audience to see a woman battling up against a man as this can show female power making the female target audience feel more powerful themselves and give them confidence.

 Cassidy in Sorority Row

Ghosts and Demonised Children

This whole idea of demonised children is scary for the target audience because it goes against nature as they are the ultimate symbol of innocence and purity. When horror makers wanted to include children in films, they thought about the idea and whether it was ethically right to include children being brutally murdered and thought it would be too unbearable for the audience to watch. ‘The Changling’ is a film which is focused around the murder of children, but you do not see it happening. However, it is still very uncomfortable and intolerant to watch, let alone if the target audience actually saw it happening. They then decided to make the child’s character be possessed with evil, sick enough to be scary, but not sick enough for it to be unstomachable. Often the child antagonist will be the conduct of evil and will be possessed or they could be a ghost, the victim of some wrong doing.

 Young boy from The Unborn

Medium/Psychic

This type of character is who the female protagonist turns to when trying to get rid of the ghost/spirit within their life and unravel the mystery they are living in. this character is important part of the reaction and repair to the narrative of the film because the protagonist will go to the psychic in response to the disruption that has occurred. Examples of this would be in ‘Insidious’ and the psychic in ‘Drag Me to Hell’.

Non-Believer

 Can be of either male or female, although often male. Portrayed as being cocky and at ease, convincing the other characters that they are over reacting and that nothing is going on Typically overconfident, which usually lead to them being the first to be killed, and their death will trigger a mass killing of the other characters. To begin with, the audience will listen to this voice of reason and be reassured and calmed slightly by them. However, when they are shortly after killed, the audience will panic and all sense of security has gone; nobody is safe. 

Hysterical Character

  Usually female They are typically known to not want to leave the building they are in, usually after witnessing the murder of one of her friends. The other characters try to move her, but she often breaks down into hysterics and refuses to move. This will usually either result in her staying behind and being killed, or all other characters being hunted down and her saved until last. One way or another, she is always killed. This character has quite an impact on the audience, and her hysterical tendencies reflect onto them and helps to build up more suspense. 

Loved up Couple

 Male and female characters, usually involved in embracing before their gruesome death. They are typically away from the rest of the group when the first murder occurs, and therefore don’t know that there is a killer out there So preoccupied with each other that they don’t notice the killer, even when he is close to them. At this point, the audience are often shouting at the characters, and are frustrated at how oblivious they are. They are usually killed just as they are about to have sex. They have an impact on the audience, as they get frustrated at them, putting the audience on the edge of their seat, building up tension further.

Costume

Costume contributes hugely to the genre of horror as different types of costume insinuate different things. In horror, very minimalistic clothes are worn, with no great detail or bright colours. Costume helps the target audience determine the type of character they are viewing. For example, the killer would most likely be wearing black, and the character wearing red will either be in danger, or danger themselves; dark clothes make them look mysterious, evil and troubled. Other characters tend to wear dull, boring, normal clothes such as t-shirts, trousers, jeans, cardigans etc. the colours of these however are most likely to be cold, earthy colours such as grey, brown, dark blues, and blacks. 

Other types of costumes can be worn such as masks and “Halloween” type costumes. Wearing masks makes the killer seem a lot more scary as his/her identity is hidden, meaning that the killer could be any one of the characters presented to us when he/she is not wearing the mask. Examples of this are the killers in the ‘Scream’ sequel, Jason in ‘Friday 13^th’ and the 3 characters in ‘Strangers’. Masks can also make a face look demonic and non-human, covering up any emotions making the killer seem emotionless, cold and detached from humanity.

Hooded costumes, capes, clothes and gloves also make the killer seem more dangerous and evil, someone who brings death to all the character he meets. This promotes fear of the unknown as the audience will not be able to identify them making them seem in-humane lacking emotion and morality. Sometimes the characters clothes are dirty and ripped, which makes them look like they have been through a tough time, trying to escape their death. 

Sights

There are common sights that you are likely to see in every horror film even between sub-genres which are: graphic killings, shadows, dark lighting, weapons, blood, guts. These sights are the things which allow the target audience to recognise this genre, and they expect to see these things crop up again and again in horror films as it is conventional- without these sights, the film may not be a successful horror so within my production I will be using these different sights in order to try achieve a successful promotional package.

Weapons

The Texas Chainsaw Masacre

A range of weapons are used which depend on the sub-genre of the film. Household items such as kitchen utensils and garden equipment are mostly present in supernatural and psychological as they are normally based in homes so this sort of weaponry is easy to get hold of. For example, the film ‘Psycho’ is famous for the shower scene where the female is attacked by a knife in the shower. The killer would have easily got hold of this weapon making the death easier. It is an obvious phallic symbol as the killer is repeatedly stabbing the woman which can metaphorically be seen as rape. Having weapons that need to be physically used such a knives means the killer needs to get upfront and personal with the victim, giving the killer more pleasure as he/she can feel it going in. for these two sub-genres, the characters tend to go for the first thing they can grab which could be anything ranging from a lamp on their bedside table or a baseball bat. 

Slasher’s have more brutal deaths so more brutal weapons are used to create a violent and gruesome attack such as a chainsaw, axe, dagger, knife, and even blunt objects. An example of a film that uses these types of weapons is ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’. Guns are also a common weapon however they are not as scary and gruesome as the ones mentioned above so the death isn’t as brutal making it not as scary as the others.

Lighting

Lighting is used to create a certain tone and atmosphere to the place. There are different types of lighting all used for different purposes. 

Low key lighting allows dark shadows to form as there is a sharp contrast between light and dark areas, otherwise known as Chiaroscuro.  It tends to heighten the sense of alienation felt by the viewer.

Back lighting is the type of lighting that creates a silhouette of a person/object by shinning the light from behind making them appear dark. This makes them look evil and sinister as their identity is hidden.

Under lighting is when the light comes from below a subject which is creates a distorted effect and the target audience will feel as if something will come out from the area where there is no lighting.

Results From Questionnaire

 

 

    

 

This shows that the new revolution of horror films resinates with younger audiences and that the 'found footage' style of filming is what society deems to be the most etertaining at the moment.

 

Conducting the questionnaire proved to be incredibly beneficial in order to find out a little bit more about my chosen target audience. It will be quite easy for me to understand and expect what they would like to see from a supernatural horror as I am from the same age group. With teen audiences becomming the most lucrative within cinema, there is alot to be done in order to satisfy their expectations.