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- press
Sunday, 4 November 2012
film marketing
Horror conventions in the opening of Scream (1996)
Icons:
- knives
- blood of boyfriend
- shadows
- darkness
- mask on antagonist
Sounds:
- atmospheric suspense
- loud bands during fire
Mise en scene:
- night-time
- dark room/hall
- hidden villain
- shadows from dim lamps
- isolated setting
- shadows cast by branches
- smoke
- lone swing swaying - implying he had been watching her
Characters:
- lying girl
- unfaithful girl
- hedonistic teenager
- villain's voice is disguised
- disguised villain
- a girl with boyfriend coming round to watch a movie
- a girl dating an high school american footballer
The film also make many references to other horror films as many horrors do:
- phone call from villain just as in 'Halloween' (1978)
- upsetting the seemingly nice villain so he becomes angry just as in Psycho (1960)
- mentions of 'Friday the 13th', 'Halloween' and 'Nightmare on Elm Street'.
Halloween (1978) horror that is suggested but not actually seen
What you actually see and what is implied
- A knife being pulled back then lunging off screen - The girl is being stabbed
- A shoulder facing Laurie and heavy muffled breathing - Someone watching Laurie is wearing mask
- Hair of a person hiding in the house - The shady figure is Myers returning home
- Point of view from inside a car watching Laurie - Myers is watching Laurie from the stolen
- The doctor and officer looking at something in disgust - The horrific scene of a dead animal
- View from behind a tree of Laurie - Somone is watching Laurie
- Dark room and muffled breathing - Myers is in the room
- Myers wielding a knife and then Bob's feet off the ground - Bob has been stabbed so that the knife is holding his body pinned off the ground
Examples of final girls in horror films
The Grudge (2004)
Karen Davis
Karen Davis
- Final girl - The first and only survivor of the curse
- Smart - suspecting everything is not as it seems she researches the curse and the house's origins
- Quick wit - In the moment she decides to burn the house to kill the curse
- Resourcefulness - she retrieves her dead boyfriend's lighter and spots petrol in order to burn the house
Kayako Saeki the antagonist shows the non final girl traits such being adulterous and vengful.
other examples of final girls:
- Alien (1979) - Ripley
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) - Sally
- Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) - Nancy
- Friday the 13th (1980) - Alice
looking at female and final girl traits
Initial perception of how women are represented in horror films:
- Smart
- masculine
- pretty but dumb
- lucky
- hysterical
- revealing or tight costume
- objectified
- the damsel in distress
- vulnerable
- final girl
Final girl traits:
- male actions
- tomboyish clothes
- emotionally strong
- quick witted
- resourceful
Moral fibre in horror
In 'Halloween' (1978) the moral fibre of the characters is directly linked to their potential to survive. Chase virginal characters survive and vice versa this has become a convention of Slasher films.
In 'Halloween' we see the final girl's friends give her drugs, lie to the police/parents and prepare to have sex, these girls are killed. After witnessing the final girl refuse to date a boy and show genuine concern over school work she is left the only of her friends to survive.
This convention has even been subverted in many films. An example of this would be Cabin in the Woods (2012) in which the narrative openly highlights the character's roles from the 'whore' who must die first to the 'virgin' who must suffer but can become final girl. However although the final girl favours intellect and finds pleasure in studying she is not a virgin and the narrative mocks this as the manager says "we take what we can get". Also it is not certain whether the 'virgin' ends up as final girl as she is rescued by a boy; the labelled 'fool' whose drug antics save him rather than being the lack of morality that ends in him being killed.
In 'Halloween' we see the final girl's friends give her drugs, lie to the police/parents and prepare to have sex, these girls are killed. After witnessing the final girl refuse to date a boy and show genuine concern over school work she is left the only of her friends to survive.
This convention has even been subverted in many films. An example of this would be Cabin in the Woods (2012) in which the narrative openly highlights the character's roles from the 'whore' who must die first to the 'virgin' who must suffer but can become final girl. However although the final girl favours intellect and finds pleasure in studying she is not a virgin and the narrative mocks this as the manager says "we take what we can get". Also it is not certain whether the 'virgin' ends up as final girl as she is rescued by a boy; the labelled 'fool' whose drug antics save him rather than being the lack of morality that ends in him being killed.
Feminism and horror
Some
feminists see horrors as debasing women in a sexual way, this is evident
through knife penetration. Feminist Carol. J. Clover suggests the opposite
arguing that women are heroinised though the final girl concept. However
John Kenneth argues that the final girl does not survive due to brains but
simply luck in most cases.
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