Filming We booked a camera and tripod out over Christmas so we planned to take a whole day (30th December) filming during this time. Gina have tested the lighting for the shots of the outside of the house, which we will need to provide alternative lighting for because they will be filmed in the dark. In this case it is very simple and we can just switch the outside lights on which will illuminate the house. We planned for our main actress, Ellie to arrive on set at 1.30pm which gave us a few hours to talk over the plan for the afternoon and give her some direction on what to do. After testing Gina had found that the best time to go and film in the dark is dusk (around 4.30pm) so we tried to work with this however it was not crucial because torches, an alternative choice of lighting, were to be included in the wood scenes anyway. Ellie was only available until 5.30pm so we had to film her parts in the wood separately. Our blonde girl (Abi) could only meet us at 6pm so we arranged to meet the other two extras then as well. We told them vague timings for the day but they were finalised nearer the time and we kept in touch on the day. If any of this needed to be re-shot we had the chance to do it over the weekend or it can be done during the editing process. Editing By completing all of our filming in the Christmas Holidays, we have left plenty of time for editing our footage. We are going to aim to get our first rough cut done by Friday 21st February, with our second rough cut, including sound will be complete by Wednesday 2nd February. This gives us a bit of spare time to sort out any problems with it and have our final version complete by the Friday 4th February.
(The observations highlighted in pink are indicating the parts of the openings we have watched that influenced our opening.)
Friday the 13th
(Marcus Nispel, 2009)
Budget: $19,000,000
USA Box Office: $64,997,188
UK Box Office: £1,955,271
Camera Shots Handheld
Point of view
Over the shoulder
Shot reaction shot
High and low angles
Extreme close up
Close up
Long shots
Panning
Establishing shot
Mise-en-scene
Dark
Rainy
Shadows from over hanging trees
Lightening flashes
Windy
Blonde girl is wearing revealing clothes - short shorts/skirt, white top which goes see-through from the rain
This contrasts with Jason's mother who is wearing loose, long black clothing which is quite stereotypically. By wearing all black, most of the time she is an outline and blends into the background. This makes her face stand out and also focuses the audience on her silver necklace which we assume is a key part of the film because after she dies someone comes to collect it.
In some of the shots the trees and branches obstruct some of the shot
Both of the characters have a weapon which signifies that one of them will die
When the head drops to the floor is splashes in a puddle which is quite dramatic
Lightening bolt flashes illuminate the scene in short sections
Sound
Starts eerily throughout the opening titles and credits
We can hear the lightening and thunder along with the rain and the wind
There is a bang when the second character jumps out
The beat of the drum in the background music is in time with the claps of thunder making it louder and more dramatic
Very little dialogue but when words are spoken it is from the older woman, the blonde girl just screams and mutters
To heighten the tension of the scene is certain places, one long note is played getting louder as the action intensifies
Non-diegetic is used throughout with diegetic on top
The music that has been added in editing messes with your heartbeat making it more tense
Editing
A red tinted has been added to the first credits which list the companies that were involved with the production of the film. This colour represents blood which instantly tells the audience the genre of the movie
Serif fonts have been used for the names and titles
Cross and jump cuts have been used between the action and the credits
The credits are presented in a white font against a black background which is binary opposition of good and evil
The first shot anchors the date: Friday the 13th
The second shot anchors the location: Camp Crystal Lake
By having small sections of action between the credits it builds suspense and makes the audience not fully understand what is happening which makes them want to carry on watching the film. Also the fast pace of the editing and the reluctancy to show everything makes it more tense and in the fight and death part it makes it more real
It pauses the girl for a few seconds when she has killed Jason's mum making it more dramatic
Lighting flashes every time the action cuts to the credits
Bride of Chuckie (viewed with no sound)
(Ronny Yu, 1998)
Budget: 25,000,000
USA Box Office: $32,368,960
UK Box Office: £526,510
Titles written in a serif font
blue tint
flashing
wind moving the curtains
lightening
rain
fire
blood
shadows
blonde, busty woman with long nails who sucks blood
light coming through the windowns, raindrop on windscreen in just one line showing it is derelict, isolated, rarely visited
shes wearing a tight PVC dress which is revealing and cheap signifying slut
the police officer is breaking the law, talking on the phone, it is unsolved so he shouldnt be taking it
close ups
long shots
establishing shot of police department
ecu of the eye shows must be tense
tapping the lighter- impatient, waiting for someone
follows high heels around the car - mysterious
femme fatale - evil
phone is a life line - safety
face in the rearr view mirror
All the boys love Mandy Lane
(Jonathan Levine, 2006) (8mins 25secs)
Budget: $750,000
USA Box Office: $41,000
everyones looking at a girl - could signify shes new or an outsider. The girl is sexually attractive which we can determine from the looks she recieves (admiration)
pool party signifies the american setting
they are all wearing limited clothing (bikinis etc) which hints the sexual nature of the teens
they are all partying and drinking - rebelious, and kissing - something will happen between the teenagers
Girls in the film opening are pretty, slim and the males are very muscular (REPRESENTATION)
fight scene - tension between Mandy Lane's best friend and the person who wants to have sex with her.
it is set at night indicating that the party has been going on for some time and the teens are now drunk
he shoots the guy with a waterpistol which foreshadows what might happen later on in the film
titles are in a serif font - blood splatterd - screaming, blood drips, non- diagetic sound
pan down - happy music,. schools out after last bell has rung for the end of school
close up of large boobs framed by her long blonde hair - secual element of the character/film
close up of boys and girls looks that they give her
binary opposition - geeks/pretty - cheerleader
Mandy Lane flicking hair - emphysising binary opposition
close up of bum - framed
quick cut to white screen - ellipsis signifies time has passed
quick shots of the alcohol, smoking, drugs, kissing, boobs/bum/blondes - typical teens are misbehaving
Mandy Lane and binary opposition, he is lonely, nerdy and not stereotypically muscular or 'fit'
blonde, busty, skinny - but not a scream queen as expected. she is still hints at being sexually available for is a FINAL GIRL instead.
girls have been included in this horror movie as 'eyecandy' for the guys but it is also the same for the female viewers and the male characters
this film is playing against the conventions of horror - final girl rather than scream queen, usually it is the death of a blonde girl in the beginning but in this case it is death of a male
Babysitter Wanted
(Jonas Barnes, 2008)
Budget: N/A
USA Box Office: N/A
UK Box Office: N/A
Blood stained weapons suggest that they have already been used on someone else
the lines on her body have been drawn out like they would be put on a pig by a butcher
no death is seen on screen as the imagination can be more scary than the real thing
it is one long drawn out note which adds tension to the scene and the volume and pitch increases as the seen goes on, intensifying it
the butchers hook signifies that the babysitter is being treated like a piece of meat
hand held camera makes it more realistic like you are seeing something you shouldnt be
sadistic
girl is only in her underwear which could be how she was found (hinting a sexual act had taken place previously)
Sorority House Massacre
(Carol Frank, 1986)
Low budget and wasnt very successful
Long opening credits with tense music building up - 1.17 minutes long
Picturesque house
Extremely slow zoom in as credits play
Credits are sans-serif font
Creepy, eerie and suspenceful music
Wind blowing un the trees signifies presence
White house with all the lights on
When the title of the film appears
Traditional greek lettering for a sorority
Then "massacre" is shown with blood-red colour, serif font, blood splatter - Sets the theme of the film
Futuristic sound effect when "massacre" is revealed, building up tension
Shots/Plot
Cuts to medium close up of main character in hospital, in the bright daylight
Shot changes to midshot/2 shot of main character and the new entered character
Flashback cue
Creepy, scene setting music begins to play again
Camera tracks footsteps- Low angle shot
Door of the big white house is ominous and forboding
Zooms in on another character sleeping- this hightens tension as footsteps are also heard
There is a shadow next to the bed; someone is leaning of the character
Scene cuts to a tracking shot of the empty sorority house - signifies lonliness
Zooms in on character again; death is imminent
Camera tracks through dark, creepy hallways
Cut back to main character, close up to show fear
Figure in bed
Scene cuts to main character and new one- mood is lightened temporarily
Camera looks downstairs, long shot of a girl in the doorway
Music/atmosphere rises
Man in the bed wakes up- Extreme close up of his face
Blood- curdling scream from room- camera zooms out quickly
Cut to 2 characters in daylight - midshot
Final shot of little girl again
Effects
A blue tint may have been used to create a dark effect
Sound
Tense music throughout to create the illusion that something bad is going to happen
it becomes fast and upbeat during parts to get the audiences hearts racing
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
(Tobe Hooper, 1974)
(3mins 21secs)
Budget: £83,000
BO: $31mil
scrolling and voiceover gives the idea of a documentary - verisimilitude - based on a true story
the date 'August 18, 1973' provides anchorage
blank screen, still sound - audio bridge linking the opening shots to first look at the screen
sounds of digging - diagetic but unanchored
freaky music - not overpowering but non diagetic
(1m 22s) to going into the first part of the movie until now it has been a blank screen - off screen violence - your own imagination can be more frighting
flash photography denotes a police investigation - sense of mystery narritive enigma
polysemic
radio playing over the top provides exposistion of where it is set
no main characters (not standard convention of an opening)
only really one shot being used which mmakes the audience provide the horror for themselves
equilibrium is introduced
The Ring 2
(Hideo Nakata, 2005)
Opening- 6.30 minutes (including production titles etc 6.50 minutes)
Budget: N/A
USA Box Office: $75,888,270
UK Box Office: £5,168,265
Establishing shot - shows a dark picture of a rough sea against rocks, its from a birds eye view of the sea, zooms into water, this is in daylight
Has Dramatic music playing
Shows a close up of dirty water, still in daylight
Then pans back out to show a much calmer sea, the camera is following the swaying of the seas movement, this is now sunset
Shows a close up of darkness and dark water, sea is glistening from the moon and fades into a aqua colour of sea and fades out to blackness, this is night time
Zooms out from a town surrounded by sea, there are many buildings as the camera pans out to show a high angle of the town
Fades into a street showing a particular house, camera has trees infront of it
Each different shot when black then faded into the next shot
Fades into a living room, with a teenage blonde girl sat on a sofa
Over the shoulder shot of the girl
Looks like someone is behind her as the camera zooms in on the girl
Music gets more tense, faster beat
Close up of the side of the girls face then zooms into her ear
A teenage boy whispers in her ear "hey" and she jumps, still close up
The two teenagers start having a conversation, 2 shot
Dutch angle on the two teenagers talking, both sat next to each other touching
Zooms out to a tape nearby
Two shot again-Mid shots
The guy is trying to make the girl watch a scary tape
They kiss, the boy seems nervous and tense (suggesting it could be his last kiss)
Music becomes high pitched as the boy leaves the room
Shows him coming through a door, mid-shot, a loud bang as the door opens
Pans to the microwave, focusing on the time, 8:58
Shows the boy stood anxious, saying "play it", mid-shot
Music is tense and faster beat
The goes to a close up of his worried face
Goes back to the girl, shows her reflection in the t.v walking towards it to play the tape
Close up of her putting the tape in
Zooms in for an extreme close up of tape
Close up shot showing her reflection in the t.v, she looks worried
The music has faded out
A fuzzy screen then comes on the telly (black and white)
Shows the boy from a low angle in the kitchen, zooming from his face down his body
Music starts again, its tense and upbeat to show urgency
Pans down to his arm, as he rolls his sleeve up, it shows a red burnt hand print on his arm
Goes back to the living room where the girl is looking worried, its a mid-shot
Sound-fuzzing of the t.v and music becoming faster
Close up of the girl picking the remote up
Close up of the boys face
She presses play on the remote
Screen comes up with a close up of the t.v showing a cold woods
Tense music
The guy is now in the room (girl in the background in a curled up postition, shes scared), midshot
This is all in face movement
Background behind the guy is blurry then fades into the guy being in the woods which was previously shown on the telly
Zooms to a well but the guys reflection is still in view, grey and old hands appear and start climbing up the wall of the well
Music picks up pace
A wet girl climbs out of well, as if she is chasing the boy
Shows the boys scared face
Shows a black/red fuzzy screen
The shows an extreme close up of an eye
Shows an extreme close up of the girl crying and screaming
Zooms in on a terrified boys face
Back to black and white fuzzy screen, still here scream
Shows a black background with a white ring on it
Hostel
(Eli Roth, 2005)
Budget -$4,500,000 (estimated)
USA Box Office: $47,277,326
UK Box Office: £4,216,561
Opening- 1.73 minutes (including production titles etc 2.08 minutes)
Starts off in blackness
The sound is whistling and in the background water dripping this sound is through out the whole opening
Titles appear in white, with pipes and dark room in the background
Shows some tiles with dirty foam running down them. This gives the audience an impression that something bad is being washed away
Shows a close up of a rusty pipe and water dripping onto a dark black floor
All the setting is dark and mucky
Close up shot of a pair of blood red scissors going into a glass of liquid (could be cleaning acid - Sterelizer) on top of the whistling they clatter into the glass
Close up of blood being washed away
Pans out to a dark room, small, dirty
The the door of the room closes, blocking the light out gradually, makes a loud squeeking noise, then they screen goes to blackness, the titles carrying on appearing in white.
Granny
(Luca Bercovici, 1995)
Budget: $1,000,000
Opening-7.22 minutes long
Teenagers are telling stories of the boys granny, haunted stories and then touching her dead hands and insides, fake scare
All realise it was a joke and go and wash there hands in the kitchen
Girls are in the bathroom talking, audience thinks its POV shot of the killer going down the corridors, tense music
Music stops, but girls are still talking
POV from the mirror, girls fixing themselves, false scare
Then outside at night, watching of the house
Halloween
(John Carpenter, 1978)
Budget: $320,000
USA Box Office: N/A
UK Box Office: N/A
Low budget, indie film
1min 58s
pumkin - lit up, flickering flame - zooms in
colours of text (yellow and red) signifies hell, fire, horror
music gets louder, fast pace making it eery, builds suspense and changes the audience's heart rate making them more tense.
title cards signify and anchors the location (country) which provides exposition, dennoting
black screen - plain white lettering - connotes binary opposites good and evil - representing aspects of the film
is set in Illinois - not New York, smaller and more sucluded
POV shot - handheld - shaky camera shot
blue filtered lighting for the house signifies the supernatural, cold (metaphorical - cold atmosphere/heart)
trees are overhanging creating creepy shadows
the use of a detatched house for the location represents isolation and vulnerability
couple can be seen throught the net curtain kissing etc - quiet volume adds suspense and the camara shot is as if someone is looking in
long drawn out notes adds tension
The last house on the left
(Wes Craven, 1972)
Budget: N/A
USA Box Office: $$32, 721, 635
UK Box Office: £880,716
Titles provide anchorage for where it is set, America
Woods, daylight, deserted road
Old car indicates the time period of the film
Name on the mail box shows who the main character of the film is, the heart signifying that she is a girly girl and likes love, sex etc
Bathroom/shower scene - frosted glass screen covers up exposure but we can still see she is naked
Zoom in through the bushes on the house
Titles in a bold red font
Final girl, challenging the conventions of the genre, she is brunette, pretty and skinny
Cherry Falls
(Geoffrey Wright, 2000)
Budget: $14,000,000
USA Box Office: N/A
UK Box Office: £818, 465
4mins 24s
Titles: Red on black signifies blood and evil
Anchorage of location- Virginia
Long shot through the bushes, bushes are in the camera shot which creates a POV
Close up shot of the moon alone in the sky
A car is present, the car dates the time period
Good looking teenage boy and girl canoodling, whispering
Leg shot (close up) of the girl
The girl refuses sex with the boy
Deserting car behind them
Car headlight beams into the teenagers car, cannot not see who is behind the steering wheel, mystery
The boy checks out who it is, then has a fight and gets killed by a mad man
Cant see the kill, leaves it open for audiences imagination
Music builds up tension, girl is crying, she is left with the killer
You see the weapon pressed up against her face
The killer then puts blood on her lips like lipstick
Urban Legend
(Jamie Blanks, 1998)
Budget: $14,000,000
USA Box Office: $38,048,637
UK Box Office: £1,146,110
7mins 57s
Titles: a thunderstorm with white titles flashing up, lightning
See long shots of a car going round a bendy deserted road
Pans into the car with the brunette girl, radio is on, radio is talking about sex
Nearly crashes her car into an oncoming car because she is trying to reach for CDs, put on total eclipse of the heart song
There is a storm
Close up shot of a low petrol signal
Girl starts to swear/sin
Pulls into a deserted gas station, old and battered
POV in car looking around the station
False scare, guy bangs on the window and helps her fill up the gas
He looks into the back of the car suspiscially
Then goes inside with her credit card
Music is creating tension as it builds up
The guy comes back and says the bank is on the phone, he tries to get her out of the car
The girl puts on her coat and puts a spray (self defense) in her pocket
Follows the man inside
Man locks the door, blocking her escape exit
The girls realises no-one is on the phone
The guy attacks her, starts grabbing her, she sprays in his eyes and she smashes the window in, all fast pace and climbs out the window and runs to her car
Guy follows her, she starts the engine and hits the man and drives off
The man shouts 'there is someone in the back seat'
Tense panick
Song is now back on, the girl is singing along nervously
rain blurs the windscreen, unsure of the events
See a black figure creeping up on the back seat
Shows blackness behind the girl
Flash of lightening (alternate lightening) showing a axe shape
ECU of girls eyes looking through the mirror to the back, scared and realising someones there
Fast motion. see windows smashing and blood
American Psycho
(Marry Harron, 2000)
Budget: $8,000,000
USA Box Office: $15,070,285
UK Box Office: £3,563,472
Titles – White and black with blood dripping down, binary opposites
Tense music
Red (blood) being pooled onto white background
Cutting of bread viciously
Strawberries / raspberries falling
Shows pork surrounded by blood
Close up of plate being moved
Showing table decorations
Posh people sat around a table
‘Blood’ raspberry sauce
Voice over explaining menu – waiter
Shows 3 men talking at a table, two shots – going into a club – music playing
Girls using fingers as guns
People dancing – having fun
Dark room, loud music
Men ordering drinks
Man starts having a go at the bar staff – indication of him being the psycho, talks about playing with her blood
Ginger Snaps Unleashed
(Brett Sullivan, 2004)
Budget: $CAD3,500,000
USA Box Office: N/A
UK Box Office: N/A
White font on black background – whispering
Close up of a girl grabbing her razor – potential weapon
Close up of pale skin
Girl shaves her back
Washes razor – washing away mystery?
Close up of shaving her leg
Shaving back
Blood hitting the floor
Shaves whole body
Close up of bruises on her arm
Sound – screaming and sharp noises all the way through
Close up of putting razor down and picking up scalpel
Close up of scars on her arms
Cutting arm with scalpel
ECU of scalpel cutting arm, blood dripping down
Blood dripping in water
Hand covered in blood, blood everywhere
Bandaged arm and hand
Titles floating across the screen
Needle in a pot
Tapping needle to get air out – red coloured
ECU of injecting the substance
Long shot of her injecting, on her own, bathroom with blood everywhere
Bits of sharp objects and pans down to a picture of two girls
Sea of blood
Nightmare on Elm Street
(Wes Craven, 1984)
Budget: $1,800,00
USA Box Office: $10,777,659
UK Box Office: N/A
Close up of bottom half of legs, only in the middle of screen surrounded in blackness
Close up of hand, knives as fingers, on the table – weapon
Screeching background noise plays throughout opening
White writing credits, sans serif font
Still small screen, hands put on a glove with knives
Big title appears in bright red lettering signifying blood
Hand goes through cloth material, is it that easy through a body?
CU of woman’s face white background
Runs down a dark deserted corridor, towards the camera
Turns back to the camera, over the shoulder shot
False scare- sheep runs out
Pipes dirpping, dark room, girl is on her own and vulnerable
Music is fast pace
Face lurking and jumping out on the terrified girl
Audience fears for girl, she is lost
Girl shadow creates false tension
Steam makes surrounding unclear
Over the shoulder shot of girl
Freddie Kuger pulls metal nails across pipes, high pitched screech
CU of girl jumping from the screeching
Freddie tearing lines through the cloth near the girl
Girls runs into a dead end, with fire behind her lightening her up
CU of girl screaming and crying
Shadows creeping around
Freddie creeps up on girl, hand goes to her face
She wakes up, startled ECU
The hills have eyes
(Wes Craven 1977)
Budget: $230,000
USA Box Office: N/A
UK Box Office: N/A
Music/sound – crow, black crow signifies bad luck
Animated black hills, dusk, relates to the film title
Yellow sans serif font
Barren area, old western barns
Man and a woman, man questioning woman
CU of the people
Two shot conversation
Strong American accents, western
Country/Farm clothes, hillbilly look
Dogs react strangely- addition of characters
Middle of day to dusk- passing of time
Warning yelled as characters drive away, signifies danger is near
Car explodes
Change of scene
Black Christmas
(Glen Morgan, 2006)
Budget: $CAD686,000
USA Box Office: N/A
UK Box Office: N/A
red wine, red ink - represents blood/romance
pretty girl
close up of everday objects (scissors, bottle opener) which could be used as a weapon
heart on the card represents it is too her lover, signifying she is rebellious, sex etc)
pen is missing but plastic bag gets her first, then the pen stabs her (this is unexpected)
the music playing at the begining of the film is jolly so the audience is not expecting anything bad to happen
Dressed to kill
(Brian de Palma, 1980)
Budget: $6,500,000
USA Box Office: $31,900,000
UK Box Office: N/A
5min 10s
1min 36 of titles and music
font and music lead towards a romantic drama - polysemic. This lures us into a false sense of security, narrative is about confusion of identity so the music choice represents this
conveys a more sophisticated approach which is enticing oler females to come and watch the thriller
dated design interior signifies the time period of the 70's
ensuite hints towards wealth as well as the large bedroom
soft focus - very bright light signifies a dream
not conventional for a slasher - older married couple rather than teens
REFLECTION
My Little Eye
(Marc Evans, 2002)
USA Box Office: N/A
UK Box Office: £2,566,742
Opening - 4mins 25s
Universal and working titles are fuzzy
in the background there is a phone connection dial tone followed by a hang up andd blank line tone whilst the titles are playing. This fades out into the intro
ECU of a computer screen and an advert says 'Wanted'. The mouse arrow indicates it is a computer rather than anything else
This advert goes full screen and subtitles on the screen explain what it is advertising - what the film is about
title of the film appears, fuzzy and pixelated by sharpens up
we now meet all the characters that successfully applied for the competition with a mid shot of each contestant introducing themselves. All start pixelated but sharpen focus
not a very pretty room - holes in the walls and cracks - abandoned
some close ups of faces to show emotion of the characters
blue tint used for thesse introductions
mixture of males and females in the house, all pretty and attractive, suggests some intimacy may occur over the 6 months they are there
girls are wearing rather tight and revealing tops
screen divided into sections each watching a different big of the house like CCTV. Shows they are being watched.
editing is slow to begin with when the advert is being shown allowing people to have enough time to read what is on screen. The pace quickens slightly for the interview, jump cutting between what they are saying so they finish each others conversations. Very fast changes for the CCTV effect to signify that they are all constantly being watched
This conversation anchors the time saying 'this time next week we will have the money to buy new stuff' indicating that they have nearly finished their time in the house.
CU and MCU of faces around the table show the characters emotions
Girl opens the curtains to let in the light indicating that hope is outside. Camera zooms in on her face (zoom affect is heard). The last line she says 'this house is a f*cking creepy ass house' then the camera cuts to a night vision, green tinted LS. Zoom noise can be heard again
sans serif font. typed effect.
Psycho
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
Budget: $806, 947
USA Box Office: N/A
UK Box Office: N/A
Opening - 2mins 45s
Black and white signifies the time it was made and set
as titles play - music that messes your heart beat up - loud
Both names and titles need to be pieced together as they are jumbled
black screen, white titles and grey stripes
names change position around the screen, fits with the jumpy music
high angle, establishing shot of buildings in a city, pan of rooftops, 'pheonix arizona' anchors the location - music more slow and sophisticated here
anchorage of the date 'Friday, December the Eleventh'
Anchorage of the time 'Two Forty Three p.m'
Still pans but zooms into one building and an open window, room is dark
man is putting shirt on, women in underwear in bed - kissing
Slasher film is a sub-genre of the horror film genre typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a chainsaw. Although the term "slasher" may be used as a generic term for any horror movie involving graphic acts of murder, the slasher as a genre has its own set of characteristics.
They can generally be split into two distinct sub-types: one type in which the killer's identity is known from the outset and he is shown overtly (even through sometimes in a mask), and one in which the killer's identity is not known and which employ a whodunnit angle, often with a twist at the end.
Slasher films loosely follow this formula below.
Past event
1. The young community is guilty of a wrongful action.
2. The killer sees an injury, fault or death.
3. The killer experiences a loss.
4. The killer kills the guilty members of the young community
Present events
1. An event commemorates the past action.
2. The killer's destructive force is reactivated.
3. The killer reidentifies the guilty parties.
4. A member of the old community trys to warn the young community (optional).
5. The young community takes no heed.
6. The killer stalks members of the young community.
7. A member of some type of force like a detective etc, attempts to hunt down the killer.
8. The killer kills members of the young community.
9. The hero/heroine sees the extent of the murders.
10. The hero/heroine sees the killer.
11. The hero/heroine does battle with the killer.
12. The hero/heroine kills or subdues the killer.
13. The hero/heroine survives.
14. But the hero/heroine is not free.
It is thought that slasher movies appeal to its audinece because:
Catharsis—Through a release of fears about bodily injury or from political or social tensions of the day.
• Recreation—An intense, thrill seeking, physical experience akin to a roller coaster ride.
• Displacement—Audiences sexual desires are displaced onto the characters in the film.
Other common characteristics include:
The Killer—With notable exceptions, the killer in the slasher film is usually male. His identity is often, but not always, unknown and/or concealed either by a mask or by creative lighting and camera work. He is often mute and seemingly unstoppable, able to withstand stabbings, falls and shootings by his victims. His background sometimes includes a childhood trauma that explains his choice of victim, weapon and location (the killer can be made out to be pitiable or understood). Slasher villains tend to prefer hand held weapons such as knives, axes, hatchetes, and chainsaws as opposed to bombs or guns. As the sub-genre developed, some argue that the real star of a slasher is the killer, not the victims or Final Girl. Throughout most of the franchises, the killer is constant.
The Victims— tend to be young, attractive, high school-aged adolescents. Some claim that the young people are punished for indulging in vices such as pre-marital sex or illegal drugs. Others claim that is simply a matter of the activities making the victims unaware of their surroundings, making them easy prey for the killer.
The Location— set in isolated locations such as on islands, deep in forests, small towns, abandoned buildings and farms. The killer may have a connection to their chosen location, such as from a tragic event or just live/frequently visit. The locations are genuinely low populated, sometimes with very few to no inhabitants and are far away from civilization, which can present a problem for the police and other emergency services to arrive quickly if requested by the victims. However mobile phone reception may be too weak to make a phone call, and the killer can isolate his victims further by cutting the phone or electrical lines, disabling communication devices (short wave radio) and destroying their means of escape such as their vehicles which makes escape near impossible. By doing this it allows the killer to freely kill his victims without the need to worry about interference from the outside world.
Final Girl— the only survivor. The girl is often a peer of the victim. She frequently does not indulge in the unlawful activities of her friends. The heroine is also known as the final girl because by the end of the movie, all of her friends are dead, and she's left alone to deal with the killer. Certain movies do deviate from this in favour of having a final boy who tends to be morally suspect.
The Violence— Is the main thing that separates slashers from thrillers and murder mysteries. Slashers de-emphasize plot and character development in favor of violence and terror. Plots are constructed around giving the killer a reason to kill. The deaths are often violent and graphic, and the more original they are the more the audience enjoys it.
Teenage Wasteland: the slasher movie uncut – J.A. Kerswell
Violent horror thrillers from Europe have played a huge part in shaping the sub-genre around the world.
The use of a seemingly helpless but sympathetic young woman, who then goes on to become the heroine, more commonly known as the Final Girl in modern day slasher.
Originally false scares were an effective way to engage the audience however it is now thought that they have become so overused that they have become clichés.
Many slasher films take element of real-life cases and spin fiction out of them, but few are straight adaptations of actual murders.
The use of a jazz soundtrack accompanying the action, e.g. in Jack the Ripper (1959), (soundtrack by Stanley Black) creates a ‘hysterical crescendo’ during the murder sequences.
American Nightmare Documentary
Director Wes Craven
Went to university in Baltimore
Came into the motion pictures industries
On the a-list of Hollywood directors
His father past away when he was 4 years old and his family then became religious but the church didn’t believe in movies, only Disney ones which were deemed as safe, and they believed that Hollywood was the work of the devil
Because of the church he grew up on novels which came to inspire him in later life
A film club was made and he joined, and they made a movie which sold quite well for teenagers
Went broke during his career, no one would fund Nightmare on elm street
Some of the movies Wes Craven has directed
Deadly blessing (made Sharon Stone famous, her first role)
Scream 1 2 3 4
The serpent and the rainbow
Swamp thing (badly funded and was an action/adventure)
Welcome to the blog of Untitled Productions' Jess Thorne, charting the evolution of the opening to the new feature film The Last One Standing jointly produced with Gina Maunsell. You'll be able to see the final cut on my YouTube channel as well as various short videos and podcasts right here on this blog! Enjoy, and please feel free to comment/add suggestions!
Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.
match on action - A match on action, a technique used in film editing, is a cut that connects two different views of the same action at the same moment in the movement. By carefully matching the movement across the two shots, filmmakers make it seem that the motion continues uninterrupted.
shot/reverse shot - Shot reverse shot is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.
180-degree rule - The 180° rule is a basic guideline in film making that states that two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line
What problems occured and how we solved this problem
The camera we got jumped as we loaded it into imovie, so some of our clips eg, Jem coming through the door, jumped. To solve this problem we had to refilm it and upload onto a different computer
What we would alter/do differently
We would spend more time on costume ie, get less noisier shoes (flipflops)
Better location because it was set in a corridor with steps going down towards the door, so the run would be a lot smoother if there wasn't any steps there
What we learnt from constructing this
We learnt that you have to get the 180 degrees shot perfect otherwise it wouldn't look right
Also Jem coming through the door was hard to show because of our camera
What inspired us
What inspired us was the T.V program, Baywatch, so we decided to do the very famous "Run down the beach, swishing the hair" and put the theme tune on to give it the overall Baywatch effect.
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