CODES & CONVENTIONS OF SLASHER HORROR

Slasher movies are one of the most predominant sub-genres within the Horror category, and are highly popular amongst horror fans. Despite many slasher films having vastly different storylines, they all abide to a similar formula and abide to the same conventions.

The Killer

Of course, A killer is one of the main components of a slasher film. Although they are usually male, their identity is commonly hidden through the use of a mask, and is revealed (if at all) at the end of the film. Even if the killer's identity is known by the audience, they still keep their face hidden by the mask. This, combined with the fact that he usually has no or little dialogue, portrays the killer as having a sinister, omnipresent and threatening nature. His back-story is likely to include some sort of childhood trauma that lead him into becoming the homicidal maniac he is today, creating some sort of sympathy in the viewer, despite being aware of the horrific crimes committed by him throughout the film.

The Heroine

Although the slasher genre sometimes causes controversy for being arguably sexist, the 'heroic' role is commonly acquired by a female. It is evident to the audience that the Heroine (or The Final Girl) is conservative; she doesn't drink alcohol or take any drugs, and is most often a virgin. It is notable that a particular skill/ set of skills is possessed by the character, as this is known to help them defeat the killer in the final battle.

The Victims

The victims are one of the most substantial elements of the Slasher sub-genre, and are often teenagers, most commonly in high school, and have morals entirely unparalleled to that of the Heroine. Rarely does the killer pick off these characters specifically because of their immoral behaviour, however the unspoken code of slasher films is that they must be punished for their wrong doings. As sadistic as it may sound, fans of the genre tend to look forward to the deaths of these types of characters because they believe they deserve it.

However it isn’t always bad characters that get killed off, ultimately many characters die who, in any way, have an association with the main character. Sometimes a protagonist is killed off for shock value, for example Randy in Scream 2.

Violence

It is obvious that Slashers differ from other horror sub-genres when looking at the violence depicted throughout the films, and instead of focusing on such themes as character development, concentrate on the macabre gore. The storylines within Slashers hence allow the killer the opportunity to cause mayhem amongst the characters. The deaths are extremely graphic and bloody, and are caused by a particular weapon of the killer’s choice, for example Jason Vorhees’ iconic machete. 

History

John Carpenter's 'Halloween', made in 1978 is considered as being the first "true" slasher in terms of using all of these components within the same project, therefore setting the standard by which all other films within this sub-genre are viewed upon. 'Halloween''s success led to 'Friday the 13th' in 1980, which then opened the door for hundreds of similar during the 1980s, such as 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' containing the original and infamous villain, Freddy Krueger.

By the start of the '90s, the slasher concept had worn thin, with fewer and fewer films at the box office relating to the genre. However in 1996, Wes Craven's 'Scream', became the biggest hit the genre had ever seen, featuring all of the main codes and Conventions of the slasher sub-genre with a mildly ironic twist. 

PRODUCTION- MISE EN SCENE

Of course, a main element to include within our final film opening was mise en scene. We feel as though we have managed to accomplish this in many ways, including the mask, missing poster and other more implicit items throughout the sequence.

This video assists our explanation on how the use of small props and setting has an influence on how the audience views the character.

This video explains how the poster has a large influence on the rest of the film opening, and how the smallest added prop could change the entire plot.

WORK LOG- SPECIAL EFFECTS MAKEUP

For elements for mise en scene, special effects makeup in addition to mask making and costume is helpful to input into the film opening as it helps give the audience an insight as to what the current situation of each character is as well as creating some sort of link to their personality.
In the case of our film opening, we have used various makeup types to show what has happened to certain characters after a time frame which we could not include due to both the technicality and length of the opening.

The opening features a girl who was a previous victim of the killers in the storyline, and is shown both in a missing poster and later on, dead in the place which the main victim wakes up in.
As she was a victim of killers who take skin from the face of their victims to create a mask, we had to show this in the makeup, so by using home made scar wax [see mask making for recipe] ,skin colourant, cosmetic makeup and fake blood I created the specific look we were aiming to portray on the face. Additionally, I applied makeup to areas such as under the eyes, around the lips, and on the eyebrow, to make Anna appear dead, and as though she had been attacked in some way before meeting her demise.

As I did not own any professional special effects makeup, I used the same mixture used when making the mask, adding more vaseline so that it met a more malleable consistency. I pressed it onto Anna's skin, and then used her own foundation to match her skin colour as accurately as possible. Then, using a basic eyeshadow palette, I added bruising, created a sunken in eye look, and made the lips pale so that she would appear dead on camera.

I then added a small amount of fake blood both inside the fake wound, and above the eyebrow as this would make the character look as though they had gone through some sort of physical trauma before their death.

Also, we needed to find a way of making the victim look beaten and bruised after she wakes up once she has been captured. For this, I used simple eyeshadow colours which when blended created a bruised appearance around the eyes, temples, and jaw- this creates the idea that the victim has been taken to the location she wakes up in in a brutal manner. As well as this, I have added a small cut over the eyebrow and on the lip, and have used fake blood to add to the beaten effect.

Here is a close up example of this:

BEFORE: 

AFTER:

WORK LOG- MASK MAKING

MASK MAKING

A substantial part of our coursework is of course the use of mise en scene, which includes costume and makeup. For our final character profiling we have decided to adhere to the codes and conventions of slasher horror villains and are giving our silent killer a mask which will hide their identity.
We have decided that our mask will be designed in a way which resembles patches of skin taken from different victims, sewn together to make the mask's base. However, instead of having a mask which will cover the entirety of the killers' faces, we have decided to make it so that it only covers approximately half of the face, as it will be the killer's work in progress- they are still 'harvesting' skin from victims, thus it will not yet be complete. This is also good for mise en scene as we are able to show parts of the killers' emotions- they will of course be pleased when they catch the victim in the film opening, therefore we will leave the mouth free of any form of cover so that a smirk etc is visible.

When thinking of how to make the mask, I brainstormed ways in which I could make it realistic looking. I came across several online tutorials regarding special effects skin making, however they all involved use of expensive equipment and products which was not ideal for us as we didn't want to have to limit ourselves to a budget.
I then did further research into young film making companies made up of mostly university students whom had little to no funds when making their films- by doing this, I found out that simple household items could be used to make faux skin...



The items I used to make the mask are as follows:

• A pre-made plain paper mache mask
• plain flour
• vaseline
• skin foundation
• flexible wire
• watercolour paints

Firstly, I mixed together the flour and vaseline to make a scar-wax like consistency- after experimenting with different amounts, I discovered that using one-part vaseline to two-parts flour gave the ideal consistency for the mask.

After this, I added some simple foundation makeup to give the mixture a skin tone- as it was very pigmented, I only needed to add about 1/4 of a teaspoon to give the wax the correct colour. As the mask is supposed to be made up of multiple victims' skin, each new batch of faux skin would be mixed with a different foundation colour, or another household item such as coffee, so the entire mask wasn't made up of the same skin tone.

Once all of the fake skin was made, I began to flatten it out into random shapes with untidy edges, seeing as they would be brutally removed by the killers. Then, I dampened the pre-made paper mache mask, and pressed the faux skin into the mask so it stuck to the surface. I gradually built the side of the face and nose up to make the shape of mask which we wanted for the killers, and once it was done I used watercolour paints on top to create a dirty, bloodied surface on the skin, as before, it looked too clean.

Once the main skin base of the mask was complete, I used flexible wire to make stitches between each patch of skin, so that it would resemble separate sewn patches, by cutting it into small pieces, bending it slightly, and pressing it into the edges of each skin section.

Finally, we cut around where the 'skin' was glued onto the mask, so it created the illusion of only covering a selected part of the face.

UPDATE: This is how our mask appeared on camera. It looked even better when filmed in the dark, as it was not completely clear thus creating a sense of the fear of the unknowing, yet the focus group we asked to watch our piece said still easy enough to tell that the mask was made out of victims' skin.

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.