ICONIC SLASHER HEROINES

A common character in many slasher movies is the heroine or "the final girl". They sometimes have some sort of relation to the killer and are often equipped with a special skill or certain ability to combat them. More often than not they survive the film and defeat the villain in the 'final battle'.


Laurie Strode

Laurie Strode is the main antagonist of the Halloween franchise, despite not appearing in all of the instalments she is easily the most iconic person ever to go head to head with Michael Myers. Laurie Strode is widely recognised as the first true female heroine in a slasher film, one of the earliest and most influential examples of the "final girl", and it is made clear to slasher audiences that several of later movies heroines have some of her traits and adhere to several conventions that she was part of introducing.

Nancy Thompson 

Nancy Thompson is the main antagonist of A nightmare on Elm street and one of the main deuteragonists of A nightmare on Elm street 3: Dream warriors. She was the daughter of an alcoholic mother and a policeman father. In the first film she was haunted by Freddy Krueger the dream demon during his original killing spree on the children of Elm street, whilst in the third film she was a researcher at Western hills hospital who helped the remaining children of Elm street defend themselves against Freddy. She falls victim to Freddy towards the end of the film when he stabs her with his iconic bladed glove. She is the last person to die in the film. The death of Nancy brought a big change to slasher films as it broke the convention of the heroine serving until the end and defeating the villain.

Sidney Prescott

Sidney Prescott is the main protagonist of the Scream franchise, appearing in all four films. Linked to all of the killing sprees committed by all those who took on the alias of 'Ghostface', Sidney showed that she was more than a match for all of the killers. Originally surviving the first killers Billy Loomis and Stu Macher and eventually going on to encounter her own cousin, Jill, in the fourth film. Daughter to the infamous Maureen Prescott ( the woman responsible for the divorce of Billy's parents and victim of the rape and murder committed by Billy and Stu in response) Sidney showed she was nothing like her mother by remaining a virgin( until the ending) and considered as being conservative in terms of character. She goes through a great deal of change; being somewhat tough already in the first film to Being nothing short of a true hero by the fourth- she's even brave enough to take on Ghostface in a physical combat. The attempts on her life have made her braver and tougher, allowing her to save the lives of others even in the face of danger, not like your typical damsel in distress.

            

Alice Hardy

Alice Hardy is the main protagonist of Friday the 13th(1980). She is one of the counsellors at camp crystal lake and was the only survivor of Pamela Vorhees killing spree. Alice fits many of the traits that make a final girl, she's a virgin and quite conservative, especially in comparison to her fellow counsellors. Horror movie conventions dictate that she will be the final girl and she does so in great fashion. Towards the end of the film , Pamela Vorhees confronts Alice about how the counselors let Jason drown in the lake. Obviously Alice is not one go these counselors as Jason died many years previous to her arrival at the camp. After a long chase, Alice finally gets the upper hand and decapitates Pamela- ending her killing spree. In a dream, she falls asleep on a boat and Jason pulls her under killing her, for her to wake up and find it was only in her head. However in the second film she isn't so fortunate when Jason shows up for real. He finds out that she murdered his beloved mother and seeks revenge. He puts his mothers head in her fridge, once she discovers it Jason stabs her through the head with a screwdriver, becoming his first victim. Showing not every heroine lasts the entire franchise.

CODES & CONVENTIONS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR

Psychological Horror is one of the most popular and up-and-coming sub-genres of horror. They tend to create discomfort and fear amongst audiences through use of common psychological fears and vulnerabilities. It is argued that the psychological sub-genre is more relatable to that of the thriller genre, however the main intention when making these films is to scare the audience mentally, and making them question every-day things- thus not being a thriller.

In Psychological horror films, the 'weapons’ used are less physical objects, and tend to be more supernatural and manipulative. For example, a killer’s distorted minds and ways of manipulating their victims act as weapons of fear against the protagonists in the film. Characters’ visions and jump scares are also used as weapons of fear, instead of an antagonist actually possessing a knife, or gun etc.

It is very often that an audience will see an eerie and often abandoned setting or scene when watching a Psychological horror film, such as large gothic houses, forest and dark woodlands, abandoned schools and other (usually thriving) public facilities including hospitals etcetera. These types of settings create both a sense of fear and realism for the target audience as they are able to relate to the setting of the film as they have seen or are currently in these settings. 

This makes the audience more afraid as it is easier for them to picture themselves in these positions, and makes said settings more frightening to them when thinking about what they have witnessed as a member of the audience. Quite often within psychological horror films there is use of flashbacks which make the audience aware of why the killer is the way he/she is- disturbed; they are used to explain what happened to them previously in their lives that has lead them to become mentally distorted.

Some well renowned psychological horror films include:

•Jacob's Ladder (1990)

•The Shining (1980)

•Black Swan (2010)

FILM OPENING DECONSTRUCITON- JAWS (1975)

One of the most famous horror films to ever be made is Steven Spielberg's Jaws. Set in the seemingly peaceful island town of Amity, not all is well as a series of attacks on the residents of the island start to happen. It is up to Police chief Martin Brody to assemble a team to stop the shark that is wreaking havoc in the shores of Amity island.

The film opens with a bunch of young people drinking and sitting by the campfire.  Various couples are kissing and generally having a nice time. Then ,in a pan,Chrissie teases one of the boys in the group and entices him to playfully chase her. During the case scene they begin to remove their clothes and end up on the beach at which point she says that she is going skinny dipping and suggests that he join her. The lighting throughout the whole sequence is very dark and this enhances the ominous feeling of the scene.

A long shot of Chrissie swimming in the ocean is feature at an angle below her is zooming in on her   constantly. This is the point of view of the shark getting closer to its prey, it puts the audience in the position of the shark, perhaps making audiences uncomfortable.

Then a close up shot of a happy Chrissie smiling and calling to her love interest on the beach (who is in the process of undressing), who is highly intoxicated and close to passing out, asking him to join her in the water.

 Another close up shot of Chrissie from below is shown briefly which leads to Chrissie being dragged under water in a close up shot, this close up shot is particularly effective as you can see the horror on her face, even though the shot is dark(which for me at least enhances the scene, as it could be argued that the whole situation is shrouded in darkness as it Chrissie has no idea hat is going on). Another notable thing about this shot is that the iconic Jaws theme starts to play. The theme is so iconic that even if you haven't seen the film you have at least heard it, and for first time viewers they have a feeling that something bad is going to happen.

The medium shot that follows  shows Chrissie being dragged around, which is combined with close up shots of her face. The fast paced editing demonstrates the chaotic nature of her ordeal, with is furthered when we see the look of terror on her face.

For a short moment in a medium shot, Chrissie manages to grab hold of the buoy and the carnage stops, making the audience think that she may make it out alive, but this sense oh hope is snatched away when the chaos resumes and she is yet again being thrashed about in the water, the sounds included are her screams of terror and the phrasing of the water, I feel that this really puts the audience in the scene. 

Then, in a final close up of Chrissie, she screams for help but it's futile and she is quickly pulled under the water- this time for good. After this the music stops completely and all we hear is the sound of the buoy. 

The next shot is a long shot of her friend lying on the beach passed out.The way the scene changes from absolute terror to a calm atmosphere shows how quickly a situation can change. It created an effective opening and sets the tone for the rest of the film. An example being when all the children are in the water by the beach enjoying themselves and suddenly the tone changes from happiness to absolute chaos when yet again the shark claims another victim, this time a little boy.

The whole sequence is effective because it creates a real sense of hopelessness. Chrissie is all alone in the water and no one is around to help her. The darkness creates an ominous tone and this fits as Chrissie and the audience don't know whats going on below the waves. The use of sound enhances the tension and terror especially the iconic Jaws theme, along with the fast paced editing. All of these aspects make one of the most memorable and iconic film openings in history.

ICONIC SLASHER KILLERS

An integral part of a slasher film is the killer. Whether a supernatural villain or a regular everyday person, they all have one thing in common- they kill people! Here is a list of some of the most iconic slasher killers.

Michael Myers (Halloween)
Michael Myers is the central antagonist of the Halloween franchise. At six years old he was admitted into a psychiatric hospital because he murdered his sister, Judith Myers. After 15 years of being held he broke out from his psychiatric prison and hunted down the rest of his family in order to kill them. He fits into the category of the "masked killer" as he is seen wearing a mask that is meant to be the face of Captain Kirk from the Star Trek franchise. Physically he is a massive specimen of a man. He seems to posses superhuman strength, given that he is able to survive injuries that would otherwise result in death; such as being shot, stabbed, electrocuted and burned. He is never depicted as speaking through the films(at least in the original films), although this is intentional. He is notable for being the killer in what is seen as the first true slasher film, thus making him, effectively, the first slasher killer.

Freddy Krueger (Nightmare on Elm street)
Frederick Charles "Freddy" Krueger is the main antagonist for the Nightmare on Elm street franchise. When alive he was known as the "Springwood slasher', he was eventually hunted down and killed by parents of the children of Springwood( his victims), after he was released from police custody due to a technicality. They chased him to a shack where he once worked and burned him alive, responsible for his burnt appearance. Rather than dying he was offered to become a Dream Demon, where he gained the ability to enter his victims dreams and kill them. The victims would be killed in the "Dream world" but the effects of their death would be visible to those in the real world. Fredy's signature weapon is a glove with knives for fingers, which he is seen many times killing with. However he doesn't use the glove exclusively, being in the Dream world he is able to use creative methods to murder his victims.

Jason Vorhees(Friday the 13th) 
Jason Vorhees is the main antagonist of the Friday the 13th franchise. As a child Jason was bullied as a child for being physically deformed and eventually drowned in Crystal lake whilst trying to escape the other children. This abides by the convention of a tragic backstory for the villain. Jason isn't actually the killer in the first Friday the 13th film, that position is held by his mother Pamela Vorhees, who is set on killing the councillors of camp Crystal lake for letting Jason drown. However it turns out that Jason didn't drown and now he haunts camp Crystal lake killing the campers to avenge his mother, after she was killed by Alice in the first film. Jason is an unstoppable killing machine, surviving many things that should have killed him. Things such as, bullets, impalement, limbs being cut off, being frozen and electrocuted. He even manages to take down Freddy Krueger in the crossover film, Freddy vs Jason. His signature weapon is the machete, however if he doesn't have it, he'll always find a way of disposing of his victims. Another iconic part of his character is his iconic hockey mask, placing him in the category of the masked killer.

 
Ghostface (Scream)
Ghostface is a fictional persona adopted by several killers in the scream franchise. In the first him Ghostface is two actually two people (a twist in the usual formula for a slasher film), they are Billy Loomis and Stu Macher. Billy was the mastermind behind the Woodsburrow murders whereas Stu was the more physical of the two, not to say Billy didn't kill as well. The plotted to kill Sydney Prescott because her mother(who they also killed) had an affair with Billy's mother which resulted in the divorce of Billy's parents. Inspired by horror films, these two were clearly crazy. They were eventually killed when Sydney pushed a tv on Stu's face- electrocuting him and Gale Weathers shoots Billy, only to come back for one final scare, resulting in Sydney putting a bullet in his forehead. 

In the second film, the persona is adopted by Billy's mother and Mickey. The third film see's Sydney's half brother Roman become the masked killer. Scream 4 features Sydney's cousin Jill and her friend Charlie. All of whom perish by the end of their respective films, which usually isn't the case for a slasher film. The name "Ghostface" was coined by the fact that his costume does indeed have a ghosts face, other than the iconic mask the killer also dons a large balck cloak. 

Leatherface (Texas chainsaw massacre)
Leatherface is the main antagonist of the Texas chainsaw massacre. This handicapped/disturbed killer wears a mask made out of human skin, hence his name. The character is loosely based off of real life American serial killer Ed Gein who also skinned his victims and made their skin into clothes. The weapon most associated with is his iron chainsaw, but is also sometimes seen with a sledgehammer. The films do not portray him as ,necessarily evil but more simple and not out to kill out of viciousness. He just does what his family tells him to do. Some even believe he kills out of fear and is only scared of all of the new people who enter his house. The victims of leather face are barbecued and processed into chili which his father sells at the local gas station. Leatherface never speaks but makes grunt noises, making him different to several other slasher killes like Michael Myers or Jason Vorhees. 

Chucky(Child's play)
Chucky is a killer doll that is the main antagonist in the Child's play franchise. Despite being only a small doll Chucky has the strength of a full grown man. Criminal Charles Lee Ray was pursued into a toy store and using his voodoo amulet he is able to transfer his soul into a good guy doll. The idea of a doll in a horror film isn't exactly the most unique thing, however Chucky is different as he is a more physical killer compared to the supernatural dolls, such as Annabelle, who are more supernatural. The only way to kill Chucky is to shoot him through the heart, showing he can be killed.

CODES & CONVENTIONS OF HORROR

The Horror genre is and has been one of the highest viewed genres in the history of film. Despite it having an abundance of sub-genres, they all share several codes and conventions which make clear to the audience its general genre.

Horror Sub-Genres

Listed below are just some of the sub-genres related to horror.

• Body Horror
• Classic
• Posssession
• Gothic
• Psychic
• Psychological
• Slashers
• Supernatural
• Teen Terror
• Vampire
• Werewolves
• Zombie Horror

Horror in general has many specific codes and conventions both related to on-screen and off-screen.

The primary target audience for horror is from ages 16 and above, which can be seen through use of 15 and 18 age certification depending on the sub-genre of horror; for example, a Body Horror is most likely to have an age 18 certificate, due to the high levels of violence and gore- something less seen in sub-genres such as psychological and supernatural horror.

On-screen, it is made clear to the audience that horror films are commonly based in an 'every day' setting, with a (commonly) adolescent and young-adult cast. This is the case as it puts the audience into a sense of realism, as they are used to setting, adding to the general sense of fear given off by horror films due to the fact that it would be something that they are used to themselves.

In horror films, the cinematography plays an important part. There is commonly a slow pace of editing, framing and camera movement, thus building tension. Use of low key lighting, CGI and SFX are also components of the horror genre and are used in different ways to other genres, evoking a different range of emotions in the audience. There is an extensive use of close up shots within the horror genre, making viewers aware of the precise emotional state of certain characters in a particular situation. Non-diegetic sound is used frequently amongst distorted diegetic sound to both build suspense and shock the audience.
Use of hand-held camera shots are used occasionally in the horror genre, providing the audience with a sense of identification and realism in a certain scene. Point of view shots also aid this feature.

It is also made evident that there are clear binary oppositions (e.g. good & evil) in horror films, and it is a general convention that there is a dominant and hegemonic representation of gender-  victims are commonly females.

PRELIMINARY TASK

Preliminary Video

The video below is our prelim video for our AS media coursework. The requirements for the video were:

• Door opening (match on action)
• Walking across a room 
• Over the shoulder shot
• A conversation between two people with both of their faces shown

 

We opened the video with a mach on action medium shot of the interviewee (Jess) pushing a double door open in one shot and in the shot following shot she is seen going through the doors.

 The next shot is a pan of Jess walking across the room, so already we have two of the requirements ticked off the list. 

Just as the interviewee is about to walk through the door, the shot cuts to an over the shoulder shot following her as she walks outside. 

As she walks outside we see the interviewer (Maria) and what follows is a series of medium shots and over the shoulder shots as she interviews the interviewee. Thus checking off the final of the objectives for the video.

This gave us the chance to practice our camera framing skills and editing skills on final cut pro.

Greetings mortals. We are Imogen and Callum, and we welcome you to our domain...