The killer in our trailer is first of all a female figure. This already twists the codes and convention of the usual slasher film. This will cause more suspense between the audience and the movie, because the characters themselves do not know who the killer is, and the audience does, so they will feel ironic sympathy towards the characters within the film. Also because our society is Patriarchal, in which the male gender acts as the primary/dominant authority figure central to social organization, and where fathers hold authority over women, children and property. It implies the institutions of male rule and privilege, and entails female subordination. The majority of the audience will be relating to this, if not all. Also the fact that the girl is taking control of the situation will challenge the audience sub-consciously; this will also help keep the tension rolling for them. This will all seem new to them, because of the patriarchal society we live in. However we have also chosen other ways in which we can get the audience’s attention, the fact that the girl was at first depressed and caused to become a killer, will help do this. The message behind horror/slasher films usually tend to be, that sex is bad for you. To reinforce this, the knife symbolises sexual contents, and usually the blonde, sexually active girl is the one to die, and she is killed by the knife which is mostly held by a male figure. We could easily create a new message behind our movie, because we chose to break the codes and conventions in a specific way. The message we are conveying over to the audience is that, ‘if you take a girls virginity, she will take your life.’ Not technically, but in a way that, you could get her pregnant, or you could end up in a bad place because of this event. When thinking about the society which we all live in, which is a little patriarchal, which intends that males have more power over women, which in some cases is true. Our trailer will portray the message out to the audience that having sex before marriage, or just for the sake of it, can lead to serious conclusions. We have also given the girl the power, so that means that girls are more dominant than men, when thought about within this film, or they are equal, and just doing what is right. This also shows that just because a girl is a mousy, nerdy girl she is not to be taken advantage of, as at first she is seen holding books in our trailer and then she is holding a knife, which will get the message out loud and clear. Also this is something the audience can relate to, because our audiences, who are 18+, will definitely know or encountered someone of a similar status to that of the killer in our trailer at some point in their lives.
Given that of the props, we have decided to make the killer have some sort of obstruction to her face; this will create tension between the audience and the film, because they can then portray their very own fears onto the figure on screen. Usually this is done via a mask and scars, we have chosen to use makeup, because the killer is a girl, and the makeup is normal to her, also reinforcing the fact that women are seen as monstrous at points, which can also be linked in with the Male Gaze. To help reinforce this, we can also take into consideration of Barbara Creed’s theory, in which she states that women are seen as monstrous. In the majority of horror generic films, monsters usually tend to be seen as a male figure, and the women are usually seen as ‘mans castrated other form from the Freudian position.’
We are also planning on using some elements of German expressionism, which is the effect of using lighting to create mood and tension. It is not the lighting itself but the shadows created from the lights. Using the light at different angles create sharp ragged shadowy shapes which allow the character to be seen with a lot more consideration, great example for this, is ‘Psycho’ where the killer, is seen standing, with shadows on the floor, which do not look normal. This makes the audience think, and so that the character is portrayed in much more detail. You can almost get an instant judgement towards them.
Iconography plays a big part in the film, because as explained before, the villain in a horror film will have a knife, and this has representations of sexual contents, and for our trailer, we have chosen to keep this, mainly because it breaks the usual codes and conventions, the main character in our film is a girl, who is the villain. We have decided to subvert some more of the codes and conventions of an average horror/slasher film, in order to do this, we have chosen not to give her a mask, this is to create an ironic sympathy, the audience will know who is the killer however the characters within the film will not know who the killer is, and because at first she is sweet and innocent, the audience can also then relate to that.
Within our trailer when talking about sound, the majority of the trailer will contain diegetic sound; however we will also have some elements of non-diegetic sound. We will also be using the ‘hand held camera’ style for some parts of the trailer; this is to create a shaky effect. This will immediately give the trailer some intensity, as it looks like a point of view shot, and not shaky means that it is like watching from the view point of someone else, as this will put the audience in the shoes of the killer or the victim. For the non-diegetic sound part of the trailer, we will have some eerie music playing in the background; this again is to help the intensity of the trailer. We have also thought about the camera angles, in ways the shots we have taken, this has a huge impact on the representation we will portray on each of the characters. Having the girl in the shot from above, makes her look small, however we will then take the shots from below, giving her huge power, and letting the audience consciously know that she has gained a dramatic amount of power.
We have taken into consideration of Vladimir Propp’s theory. Which are basically that there are always 8 types of characters, these are the benefactor, the villain, the hero, the ineffective character, etc. These characters can easily be identified within the majority of films, the benefactor is usually an elderly person, which gives advice to the youth, however obviously the youth do not take the advice being given by the benefactor, and then realise they were wrong to choose otherwise. The villain always in some shape or form will always have an obstruction to his face; this is because it creates tension between the audience and the product. The reason behind the mask or scars or anything obstructing the face of the villain is to create an effect that the audience can then interpret into their very own image. They see their worst fears behind the mask, on the subject.
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