Stereotypical Horror Fan

Stereotypical Horror Fan

This is an insight into what a stereotypical horror fan of the gory genre would look like. A person named John, 24 years old working at his local music shop. Known for playing the guitar and playing Football. His favourite horror film would be the Human Centipede. He is a fan of the mainstream horror films and would fit into the C1 category when looking at his social class. Overall, he is a mainstreamer.

 He is the kind of guy who enjoys going out with friends to their local Pub, but would also like to sit around and play Video Games. Studied Media Studies at College and passed with a B having a knowledge of the subject. Used to Microvwave dinners to save time cooking, generally laid back and lazy person.

From doing this exercise, I've now got a better idea at the kind of person that I am aiming the chosen trailer at. This lets me know their interests in the film, best places to advertise when pinpointing this certain group and what they would want in the trailer in ways of Gore.

Halloween (Rob Zombie, 2007) Trailer Analysis

Trailer Analysis
Name of Film - Halloween
Year Released - 2007
Genre of Trailer - Horror
My overall review - 8/10

Brief outline of the trailer - To begin, we are introduced to our main antagonist in the film. A serial killer who is currently in jail and well known for wearing a mask. The action immediately kicks off as he kills all of the guards escorting him and leaves the area to continue his rampage. The main part of the trailer is the key scenes shown giving it an overall look of being a highlights trailer.

Positive Aspects - I particularly liked the editing and title screens in this. They are iconic to the genre and seem to give off a suspenseful look to them. I also liked many of the highlights within the trailer as it didn't ruin the story but gave an insight into what the film will be about. The sound used was good as it was a suspenseful calm tone which could change at any moment.

Negative Aspects - Some of the things that I didn't like in this trailer were the narration. It didn't fit in well with what was happening and seemed to just annoy you. I wasn't too fond of the fact that there wasn't any gore shown in the trailer. For a horror trailer, there should be a specific amount of gore to give the audience an insight into what is happening.


Saw (James Wan, 2004) Trailer Analysis

Trailer Analysis
Name of Film - Saw
Year Released - 2004
Genre of Trailer - Crime Mystery Horror
My overall review - 7/10

Brief outline of the trailer - In the trailer, we see many of the key points throughout the film. We start out with what seems to be a detective analysing a house. Within 30 seconds we've got a jump scare after a laugh that would put a person off slightly. We enter the main area of the film and meet a few of the survivors, after being given hints as to what they'll be doing. There are quite a few cuts of people still investigating the case as others are stuck in this dungeon.

Positive Aspects - Some of the things that I found interesting in this trailer were the use of jump scares. We get multiple of them throughout the trailer and they are to portray one of the main villains in the film. I also particularly liked the sound as it has a suspenseful effect to it leaving the audience wondering when any jumps will happen.

Negative Aspects - A few things that I didn't enjoy in the trailer is that we don't get a good look at the main villain. This leaves us wondering who it is and gives no hints as to why they're doing this. Also, for a horror trailer there is no gore involved in the trailer and this is what Saw is mainly known for.

ENSFC Health and Safety

This is my Health and Safety report. I have made this so I know of all the possible risks that have been pre-planned and how I can avoid them. From this, I now know when to be careful when filming compared sto scenes where I won't need to worry. Many of the problems will come from possible use of real props, which could be switched out later on to reduce the overall risk of getting injured.



ENSFC Props List

This Props List helps me see what items I have already obtained for my trailer and what I still need to get. I haven't done the Group Member planning as we'll be splitting it out amongst us. The current required items will fit into the £20 budget, allowing me to collect everything I need for cheap.

 

 



Horror Storyboard - Lamp Shade Killer

For this exercise, we were told to make a 6 shot scene of a horror film. For our idea, we have got a woman working at her local store, rummaging through a set of drawers who is stabbed by a man with a lamp shade on his head. We chose to do this as it is an original idea of having a slasher murderer, yet the lampshade gives it a slightly comical element to it. The overall time for this would be less than 15 seconds, meaning it is a very short sequence.

Horror Mood Board - Flickr Analysis

This is my Mood Board which is mainly linked in with the chosen trailer "Butchered". Many of the images here are either effects that woe would like to use or things that can link in with our idea. The Mood Board has been analysed on Flickr and is linked in with the image.

The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980) Trailer Analysis

Trailer Analysis
Name of Film - The Shining
Year Released - 1980
Genre of Trailer - Mystery Horror
My overall review - 7/10

Brief outline of the trailer - Throughout the trailer, we can see our three main characters, who have been offered to stay in an old hotel for the weekend. It starts out to be quite a normal vacation, until our main male character is shown to be the main villain through psychological problems. Throughout the trailer we get to see multiple shots from different points in time. We see this when he is breing offered the vacation, him and his family doing some activities at the hotel and the attemptive murder of his family.

Positive Analysis - The things that I particuarly liked is that we get the storyline given to us from multiple different points in time which are randomised. This gives us the idea that the overall story is a complete mix up and also links us back to their previous events instead of just running through the whole story.

Negative Analysis - The only thing I found bad in this trailer was that it was a rather slow trailer. For a horror, we were given no gore which is what is expected in trailers. It seemed to have quite a lot of slow points throughout it which didn't draw you in completely and left you there waiting for the next big thing.

Evil Dead (Fede Alvarez, 2013) Trailer Review

Trailer Analysis
Name of Film - Evil Dead
Year Released - 2013
Genre of Trailer - Gory Horror
My overall review - 8/10

Brief outline of the trailer - In this trailer, we start out with getting a look at the cabin that it is mainly set in, we then cut to a scene of two characters talking which builds suspense around what is going on in this film. We get multiple text titles, giving as an overview of what a narrator would say without having a cheesy talk over which cuts to a shot of the book of the dead. We experience some gore shots with insights into the plot, giving the audience expectations into what to expect in this film, when the final title seems to be breaking apart which could symbolise what is going on in their minds whilst these events are happening. The final scene is one of the most gory as the main villain slits open her tounge and proceeds to kiss one of the main characters.

Positive Aspects - The things that I liked in this trailer are that it didn't ruin the plot, it just gave hints. It had a beat that seemed to drag you into it. Throughout the trailer, there were no real slow scenes and we got a good amount of gore which is what fans of the genre would expect in a trailer.

Negative Aspects - The only thing that I would improve in this, would be to make the gore more accurate. This is through the use of the orange blood that the main villain throws up at one point in the trailer. This would make the trailer more realistic. 

Cloverfield (Matt Reeves, 2008) Trailer Review

Trailer Analysis
Name of Film - Cloverfield
Year Released - 2008
Genre of Trailer - Action Horror
My overall review - 8/10

Brief outline of the trailer - In this trailer, we see our main character at his farewell party with his friends in an apartment building. The film has been done on a handheld camera which puts us in the shoes of someone at the party. As everything is going well, an apparant earthquake happens, causing everyone to move to the roof to go to the roof to see what is happening. Its at this point, that a building off in the distance explodes causing panic. As everyone moves outside, we see the head of the statue of liberty fly into a building and into the street next to where they are. At this point, everything cuts to black.

Positive Aspects - I particularly liked the fact that we can see this trough the point of view of one of the characters, giving the feeling that we are there with them. The special effects in this trailer were done very well alongside with the editing. One of the best parts would have to be the dramatic irony in the last scene where we see someone saying about how amazing this night will be, after we have seen all of this happen.

Negative Aspects - Some of the points I didn't like in this trailer are that it gave no real insight into the plot, we didnt even get told the title of the film so it leaves the audience questioning even though we're given a date and that there wasn't any horror shown at all.

Dawn of the Dead (Zack Snyder, 2004) Trailer Review

Trailer Analysis
Name of Film - Dawn of the Dead
Year Released - 2004
Genre of Trailer - Action Horror
My overall review - 8/10

Brief outline of the trailer - In the trailer, we see Ana (Female surivor) leading her normal life. It starts out with a slow montage of clips of her leading a normal life which then has an immediate pace change when all the action breaks out. Throughout the rest of the trailer, we see some of the best moments of the film and get a slight insight into the plot, whilst leaving a lot of unanswered questions about what the outcome may be.

Positive Aspects - I liked the piece where the film appeared to pause, break down and then burn. This is because it gives us a look into what this film symbolises about society and how it is broken down through this outbreak. Another great part is how the text titles link iin with the main film when it shows us the dawn of the day, giving links to the title. The trailer gives an insight into most of the characters and lets the audience get a slight idea into who they like and dislike.

Negative Aspects - I didn't like the fact that the slow motion on some parts seemed to make it look more dull. It didn't work for the scenes that were chosen. We also got no look into what horror was in the film, which we can see when Ana's daughter bites her husband. Throughout the trailer, we don't get as much of the plot as we could want, showing that the film hasn't been delivered to the audience as well as it could have been.

Dawn of the Dead (2004) Image Analysis - Ana on the Boat

 

At this point near the end of Dawn of the Dead (2004) we can see a close up of Ana standing next to the American Flag. This is important as it gives off the effect that America is against the world in this outbreak. We can also use this to show that America is a more powerful country when it links back to the theory that the outbreak started in the Middle East which links back to the 9/11 attacks in 2001, just three years before the release of this film. Reviewing this allows the audience to get an overall analysis of how America is displayed as being powerful. At this point in the film, we have Ana, Kenneth and Nicole which is unconventional as we have a black person as the male hero, a final girl with blonde hair and a final girl with red hair. It is quite unique that Kenneth is our male hero as we can link it in with George Romero's auteur theory by the fact of he prefers to have a black male hero. We can see this in Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Night of the Living Dead (1968) where both heroes are black. This film was good for horror fans/ fans of George Romero's films as it had a sentimental feeling to it by bringing back nostalgia of the previous versions of his films.

Dawn of the Dead (2004) Image Analysis - Steven's Death

Within this scene, we see Ana finally killing off Steven. This links into an earlier point of the film where Ana says she’ll kill Steven if he turns. At this point, we can see that Ana has more power over Steven with her phallic weapon. We could link Steven’s death with that of the Female Victim as he has had sex before he dies. This gives Ana more power over Steven and makes her the more likable character. When looking at Ana in this scene, we see that she has blonde hair which is conventional to our female victim. Although we know Ana is the final girl, she breaks conventions by having her hair in a ponytail which gives her another point into the final girl category. If Ana had her hair down instead of bunched up, it would probably give off a much larger sense of her being the female victim. We can compare this with K-Mart (Spencer Locke) from Resident Evil: Afterlife (2004) who also has blonde hair but is a female survivor. Although K-Mart is different from Ana as she has her hair down instead of bunched.

Dawn of the Dead (2004) Image Analysis - Monica's Death

In this scene, we see our Female Victim  dying after coming near to escaping in the fortified van. It is quite iconic that Monica dies as she is the person who has sex most recently with Steven, which fits into the standard conventions of the Female Victim. You could also notice that the Chainsaw was used earlier as a phallic weapon when Michael shows Ana what he’s created. In this scene it gives Glen power he didn't want. If we compare this to the original Dawn of the Dead (1978) we can see that there would have been a high chance of this being cut out with the Hays Code, showing the development of films over time. When looking at the institution context (industries point of view) we can see that the industry has tried to keep all of the standard conventions of Dawn of the Dead, whilst the historical context seems to have a similar look to the original Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Night of the Living Dead (1968).  With this scene, it is edited very quickly to not show as much gore to the audience. This shows us that it is an action horror displayed through the amount of time used on this quick montage. We can compare this horror with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) which has its horror dragged out for a longer period of time, compared to Dawn of the Dead's quick montage death scene.
 

Dawn of the Dead (1978) Image Analysis - Fran and Peter

In this scene, we see Fran and Peter at the end escaping the mall. From this, we see our archetypal Final Girl and Male Hero who challenge their conventional appearances. This is because we have a Blonde woman who is pregnant and a black man. In the time of release, this would have been seen as uncommon, although we can link this into George Romero’s auteur style through the fact of he is anti-racist. We can compare this with George Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968) where Ben (Duane Johnson) has also had his role flipped around and is the male hero. At the time, this would have been frowned upon by the American audience who weren't fond of the idea of a black person having more power than a white person. This scene is iconic as we see the last survivors and leaves the audience on edge for a possible sequel. We also get the idea of an open ending as the last scene shows that they are low on fuel, leaving many possibilities as to what could happen. The close up allows us to see their emotions, and their expressions show that the characters have become tougher due to getting over their losses.

Dawn of the Dead (1978) Image Analysis - Mall Overview

Here, we see the zombies roaming the mall which is meant to display the thought that they are clinging onto human, consumerist aspects of their previous lives. We can link this in because this was around the time that America was adding a load of Malls, from which a lot of people wanted to go there. We can see links into George Romero's opinions on this as he shows it as a place that people are clinging to when he in fact wasn't fond of the idea of Malls. This is why they have such a desire to be in the mall. The use of sound in this is a joking piece of music and its sound effects that make the zombies seem like a joke. This is through the use of contrapuntal music where it has a reverse role on the shot. This is useful to use as it allows people to laugh about something that would be seen as serious, this gives it a slight unsettling feeling as it is a matter that wouldn't be joked about, but after viewing it you find it quite funny. The use of the long shot here also allows us to get an overview of the mall and get an insight into how many of them are currently entering the mall.

Dawn of the Dead (1978) Image Analysis - Stephen and Roger

In this scene from Dawn of the Dead (1979), we can see Roger and Stephen near the beginning of their trip to the mall. This scene is very important as we can see Roger having the use of a phallic weapon being his gun, which is symbolically more powerful than Stephen’s. From doing this, we learn that Stephen is the weaker of the two and is given the overall impression of being less of a man than Roger. This also gives the audience a look into the characters’ overall abilities and it lets the audience choose who they like the most. We can also see that Roger can be viewed as your stereotypical male hero which is then shown as false later on. This scene is also quite interesting as it flips character stereotypes. We see this by looking at the difference in Stephen, who is a TV producer and is classed as "good looking" compared to Roger, who is just working with the military, doesn't have the best of looks and is looked down upon. This could be seen as one of George Romero's auteur theories as he is well known for flipping characters overall roles (shown with Peter).

Psycho (1960) Image Analysis - Norman as "Mother"

When looking at this scene, we can see a difference in the zeitgeist of when this was made. This is illustrated through the fact that Norman is dressed in women’s clothes, and transvestites weren’t very commonly acknowledged in 1960. We also see links in with Ed Gein, giving this a clear historical context. Ed Gein would dress up as a woman, kill his victims and even make a suit out of their skin, giving a slight comparison which is what Hitchcock was aiming for. At the time, this scene would have been more powerful to the audience who aren't used to transvestites. This could also be noted through the references to Ed Gein, which was a recent event in America so it would have been the first thing that anyone watching this at the time would think of. This scene has low key lighting to start with, but jumps in with some ambient lighting revealing Norman as the killer. This lets us see a variety of lighting techniques used simultaneously. With this scene, we start out with Lila looking for Mrs Bates. We see slight collision cutting here as it is very tense with her walking up to Mrs Bates, then cuts to a sudden scream and dramatic music of Norman coming around the corner.

Psycho (1960) Image Analysis - Hole in the Wall

In this scene, we see Norman spying on Marion who is getting ready to shower. We can see a hole in the wall which is behind the painting of the Rape of Lucretia. It is ironic that this painting describes Norman’s feelings. When looking through this scene, we can see a lot of resemblance as to how Hitchcock chooses the women for his film. Hitchcock was always interested in the blonde women, which links in with his auteur theory. This is because he had many blonde haired victims usually with blue eyes, from which he would play practical jokes on them (cold water on Marion in the shower scene) and when we look at this, we can see how Marion fits into his stereotypical female victim part. This scene can also be linked in with Laura Mulvey’s theory on the Male Gaze (“Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”), seen through using women in films to be seen as a pleasurable image to men. We can see how this theory is correct as Marion is a figure that Norman gets pleasure from watching.

Psycho (1960) Image Analysis - Birds of Prey

In this scene from Psycho (1960), we see Marion and Norman in the back office of the Bates Motel. This scene gives the audience an insight into what could happen and develops the idea that Norman would kill his victims and use his taxidermy on them leaving the audience to predict the future of Marion. When looking at the Birds of Prey in the background of the mise-en-scene, we can see that they are directed at Marion, which gives hints to us that she is the target of Norman. When reviewing the sound on this scene, it’s a quiet and tense echo, an example of subtle parallel music. Behind Norman, we can see the painting of the Rape of Lucretia (a famous historical painting). This is important as it is the painting that covers the spy-hole that is used to spy on Marion. It connotes sexuality and links in with what Norman is thinking regarding his sexual feelings for Marion.

Favourite Image Analysis - Resident Evil Afterlife (2012)

My favourite choice of scene from all of my horror research is from Paul W.S. Anderson's Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010). In this scene, we see Alice (Milla Jovovich) as the main protagonist conforming to the overall stereotype for female survivors. We see this through the use of her short, brown hair, tomboyish dress sense, lack of interest in make-up and her overall attitude. From this screenshot, we can see an empty emotionless expression which tells the audience that she isn't afraid of what may happen giving her a tougher outlook than most other females in the film. The use of her guns could be seen as her phallic symbols, which are kept on her at all times and give her the symbolic power of males. This is also quite useful as later on in the scene, she is thrown the weapons when defenceless by K-Mart (Spencer Locke) who is portrayed as being a weaker character, but develops male strength throughout the series. The fact that both of them help to deal with Bennett (Kim Coates), a person displayed to be your ideologically “slime-ball” villain shows that there is a much stronger picture of female empowerment throughout these films.

Class Research: Favourite Horror Sub-Genre

With this Pie chart, we can see what everyone in our A2 Media class prefers with their chosen genres by gender. This gives us an idea into specific stereotypes for genders and their chosen genre for horror. From this, we can tell that Psychological horror is the most fond with 12 votes, 9 of which are female. 

Resident Evil: Retribution (Paul W.S. Anderson, 2012) Film Review

ENSFC Media Studies
Film Review

Film Title – Resident Evil Retribution.
Year of Production – 2012. 
Director – Paul W.S. Anderson.
Genre/Genres – Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller.

Brief Plot Outline - Alice awakes at home with her daughter Becky and her husband. But soon she realizes that she is actually in an Umbrella Corporation's underground facility. Out of the blue, the computer security system shuts-down and Alice flees to the central control room of the facility. She meets Ada Wong, who works with Albert Wesker, and she learns that a five-man team has been sent by Wesker to rescue them. However, the Red Queen sends Jill Valentine and Rain to hunt them down.
Which two scenes impressed you the most? Why?
Scene 1 – The Elevator fight scene.

  It a lot of different angles to it; High angles, low angles to it which sets power developments. One of my favourite shots is a long shot of Barry’s walking out and accepting defeat. From this we get a good look at the area and what he’s up against. This clip seemed to have collision cutting in it when it went from a silent atmosphere to a lot of things happening. In the Elevator fight scene, we see the death of Barry, one of the main characters on the survival team. Within this scene, Barry is shot by Luther (one of the villains) and as he hit the floor you presume he is dead. At this point it goes dead silent and within 5 seconds his eyes open bringing the music back and it jumps straight back into the action where he quickly shoots Luther.
Scene 2 – The city scene.

 In this scene, Alice and Ada (Main characters/Female Survivors) are against two of the BOW'S (main infected/slow moving monster). We see how they have to struggle with two guns against some giant undead monsters with axes. We see slow editing techniques as the monsters move in which then switches to some collision cutting as the music immediately starts with a lot of action. We see close ups of Ada as she is trapped in the bus to give an idea of her emotion which then switches to a POV shot of her looking at the axe. This scene is very good as we can see emotion from the character and makes the audience develop specific feelings for the victim.

How has watching this film helped you understand this genre of filmmaking? Which features on the genre checklist did you spot in the film? When? How?This film has helped me understand the horror genre by looking further into the Slow Moving Monsters subgenre of Zombies. With many different films related to them, we can see how they change when comparing the two (Resident Evil – Slow Zombies, 28 Days Later - Fast Zombies). The differences in gore seem to go by the speed of the action, as 28 Days Later has a lot more gore in it than Resident Evil, yet Resident Evil has a more understandable storyline with the gore being slower. From this, I’ve come to the conclusion that the slower zombie films usually drag out their gore to make the viewer shudder more, whilst faster zombies have much more gore but you don’t pay as much attention to it with how fast it goes.
Horror Genre Checklist -
Characters:
Slow Moving Monster – Zombies
Female Survivor – Alice, Ada
Male Hero – Chris
Helper – Wesker
Fast moving Monster – Jill
Editing:
Slow Editing – As the Biohazard walks from behind the bus – They seem to drag out the feeling as they are walking very slow.
Fast Editing – The laser grid scene – The lasers are moving at high speed in an attempt to kill Alice.
Collision Cutting – The laser grid scene – Quiet, nothing happening and as Alice walks in the room activates and everything is moving very fast.
Which aspects of the film would you like to INCLUDE in your own trailer? Why?I would like to put in the scene with the Biohazards. This is because it creates tension in the viewer as they wait to see what will emerge from behind the buses. In a trailer, there would only need to be a quick shot of something like a foot to show the overall size of this thing in comparison to the main characters and it would symbolise a boss fight. The thought of a giant boss that is an obstacle has always been one of my main things when watching horrors as it is an enemy that has been perked up and will require a lot of efforts for a group to kill.
Which aspects of the film would you like to AVOID in your own trailer? Why?I would like to avoid the long cuts of dialogue. This is because I’m not a fan of a long dialogue talk between two characters. Short discussions should be made under pressure and in a situation such as this a quick judgement would be best for time management. This lets the audience relate to the current situation in the film as they can get an idea on how it would be if it was real.What was the best aspect/more enjoyable moment of the film? Why? The best moment of this film would have to be the introduction for me. This is because we get a slight back story from the previous film that wasn’t put in so we are up to speed with what’s going on. I also like the idea of the previous main villain teaming up with the Heroes as it shows that in tight situations like this you can’t be having arguments.
Can you recreate this in your own film? How?I can have a person portrayed as villainous so that the audience starts out by addressing him as the villain and then cut to a further scene of them all working together. This would put my viewers into confusion as to who is the overall enemy of this film, having a chance of more people being interested in the film to find out who it is that they are actually up against.How does the film reflect its institutional or historical context?This film portrays its historical context by relating back to the previous films with the characters. We can see this by seeing characters that were missing from previous films brought back to the camera. This is good as it shows how the film has adapted and how the characters personal files have changed since their first encounter. I particularly like this as it means a reunion of the heroes and also an addition of characters from just seeing Alice on her journey to find Wesker. We can see when this film is made on average by the scene where they are re-enacting the first signs of the outbreak in a massive testing ground of Tokyo. This gives us an idea into what is going on at the current time of the Zeitgeist through the advertisements placed around the city and the style of fashion that can be seen from the zombies. This scene also relates us back to the first film where we get a shot of how this outbreak started, showing relations back to previous additions of the film.

Resident Evil (Paul W.S Anderson, 2002) Film Review

ENSFC Media Studies Film Review

Film Title – Resident Evil.
Year of Production – 2002.
Director – Paul W.S. Anderson.
Genre/Genres – Action/Horror/Sci-Fi



Brief Plot Outline – Alice, the former chief of security has lost her memory of previous events and been put unconscious by a gas after the hive (main location) has been shut down due to quarantine. A military squad is ordered to investigate what has happened and has brought Alice down with them. Once down there, they find out that everyone has died, yet they have been brought back to live by a Virus developed in the Labs (T-Virus). The struggle of the main characters is to collect the sample of the T-Virus from the further parts of the lab and re-program the Red Queen (Main villain, computer projection and controller of the hive). After many people die trying to obtain this, Alice and a few more people manage to make it onto the train way back to the manor where they entered, only to find out that Spencer. (Alice’s false husband) was the one that let the T-Virus free on the lab and has tried to obtain it for his own needs. Alice is the only survivor and is then taken into custody by the Umbrella Corporation (Owners of the Hive).

Which two scenes impressed you the most? And why?
Scene 1 – The Laser Grid scene

 This scene is good as we see the multiple attempts to avoid being hit by this laser, although most attempts work, the final attempt ends up killing One. I liked this scene because it is repeated later on and gives a plot twist where Alice is nearly killed by it, to find one of the replicas of her stopping the laser from killing her.
Scene 2 – Final Train Run – I liked this scene as there is a lot going on at this time. The survivors have nearly escaped only to be stopped by one of the mutated animals that Umbrella had been working on. With little to no weapons, we see a different way of killing the Licker which hasn't linked in yet with how they have dealt with the previous problems.
How has watching this film helped you to understand this genre of film-making? – This film has made me understand the Horror genre by using one of the main horror conventions being the zombies. This links in with earlier film making by displaying a monster that hasn't changed over time since Night of the Living Dead. This lets me compare the two and figure out how the horror genre has advanced further than it could of before.Features of the Genre Checklist:
Mise-En-Scene:
Blood and Gore – Blood is displayed throughout the whole film, used as background scenery on the walls, blood of the characters, blood on all the zombies.
Creepy Locations – Silent Lab underground. Develops entrapment, lab is seen as abandoned because of the lack of workers, conditions of it.
Low Key Lighting – Power is usually down forcing the characters to use Flashlights.Characters and Representation:
Slow Moving Monster – Zombies.
Female Survivor – Alice.
Psycho/Serial Killer – Spencer.
Male Hero – Matt.

28 Weeks Later Poster Analysis

28 Weeks Later Poster Analysis

-Year created: 2007.
-Country: UK/Spain.
-Type of Horror: Horror/Sci-Fi/Thriller.
-Target Audience: 18+ Male.
-Main image shows a Soldier with a gun ready to protect. The whole outlay of this image relates to Quarantine.
-Colour scheme keeping to mainly Red/ Cream.

The Orphanage Poster Analysis

 The Orphanage Poster Analysis

-Year created: 2007.
-Country: Spain.
-Type of Horror: Drama/Mystery/Thriller.
-Target Audience: 16+ Both Genders.
-Main Image of the Villain surrounded by Ghosts of Victims.
-Center Bottom Gothic Text, representable to the setting given (Old Fashioned).
-Light Colour scheme, unconventional to Horror.

Nightmare On Elm Street Poster Analysis

Nightmare On Elm Street Poster Analysis

-Year created: 2010 (Re-released).
-Country: USA.
-Type of Horror: Thriller/Mystery/Slasher.
-Target Audience: 18+ Male.
-Main Image of central Female Character Powerless. Villain in the background with all the power (not seeing his face).
-Colour scheme of a Fiery Red and Black.
-Gothic Red Text Centre Bottom.
-Sub Header develops fear with “He knows where you sleep”. Nowhere is safe effect. 

Terror Vision Poster Analysis

Terror Vision Poster Analysis

-Year created: 1986.
-Country: USA.
-Type of Horror: Sci-Fi/Comedy.
-Target Audience: 18+ at the time of creation. Both Genders.
-Sci-Fi/Medieval Horror text. Ideological to Dracula?
-Main Image of an Eye sets the Villain/Killer.
-Colour scheme of Purple/Blue stereotypical to Sci-Fi genre.
-Text located Centre Bottom, Sub header Centre Top.

Quarantine Poster Analysis

Quarantine Poster Analysis

-Year created: 2008.
-Country: USA.
-Type of Horror: Sci-Fi/Thriller.
-Target Audience: 16+ Male.
-Green colour stereotypical to common Sci-Fi’s.
-Centre Bottom text, Font represents the Sci-Fi genre.
-Female Character in pain, representable to common horror posters of Female entrapment/danger.
-Sub Header gives a back story and a punch line being “Until now”. Gives the audience a reason to watch it.

Final Destination 4 Poster Analysis

Final Destination 4 Poster Analysis

-Year created: 2009.
-Country: USA.
-Type of Horror: Mystery.
-Target Audience: 16+ Both Genders.
-Sub-Header stereotypical to Death’s “Rest in Peace”. Relates to the shattered cover.
-Blue/Black are the main colours, events aren’t murders but “natural” events.
-Gothic Text Centre Bottom, lighting effect on top of the main text.
-Main Image of suffering/Skull. Represents Death.

Scream 4 Poster Analysis

Scream 4 Poster analysis

-Year created: 2011.
-Country: USA.
-Type of Horror: Slasher/Mystery.
-Target Audience: 18+ Male.
-Mask is representable to the Target Audience, familiarity with it set within the previous films.
-Red “4” is eye catching, stereotypical colour to the horror genre.
-Blade on Mask connotes the choice of weapon used throughout the film.
-Bold, Centre Bottom text, triangle off coming the “M” stereotypical to a Knife (Chosen weapon).
-Main image of the Killer. Vicious, no emotion displayed.

The House Of Hammer Cover Analysis

The House Of Hammer Cover Analysis

-Year main focus point was created: 1961.

-Magazine’s publish date: 1980.

-Editor: Dez Skinn.

-Main image shows an extreme clos up of the villain, with victims placed below (power difference).

-Colour scheme of White, Yellow and Red.

-Bold text with a slightly cracked look to the chosen font (chips in the text).

-Sub headers relate to the main focus point.

-Cover has an old fashioned feel to it (basic editing).

Fangoria Magazine Cover Analysis

Fangoria Magazine Cover Analysis

-Magazine published – September (No year given).

-Main image of the villain, gives an insight into the main focus of the issue.

-Editor: Chis Alexander.

-Colour scheme varies between Red, Black and Yellow (Most of which are common colours used within the horror genre).

-Mastheads font stereotypical to a gothic look. 

-Main font is a bold plain text.

-All issues created by this brand follow a stereotypical style (Main image relating to their main focus with sub stories relatable to the genre).

- Sub header relates to a well-known item of people who are familiar with the genre.

Entertainment Weekly Magazine Cover Analysis

Entertainment Weekly Magazine Cover analysis

-Year main focus point was created: 2011.

-Magazine’s publish date: 15^th April 2011.

-Editor: Mark Golin.

-Main image shows the villains face, an insight into the killer.

-Colour scheme stereotypical to the horror genre (Red, Black).

-Main cover line links in with the main image, relation between the overall topics of the issue.

-Bold, simple font used for the Masthead and coverlines, colour contrast on the Main cover line.

-Extreme close up on the main image. No background to set a storyline or give hints into the events of the film.

Let The Right One In: Film Analysis

Let the Right One In Analysis

Director – Tomas Alfredson.
Writer – John Ajvide Lindqvist.
Year Created – 2008.
Genre/Sub Genre – Drama/Horror.
Country – Sweden.
Budget – $4,000,000 (Estimated).
Gross - £878,070 (UK).
Age Certificate – 15+.

Let the Right One In Poster Deconstruction

Characters:
-Kare Hedebrant – Oskar.
-Lina Leandersson (Elif Cevlan, Voice) – Eli.
-Per Ragnar – Hakan.
-Karin Bergquist – Erik.
-Henrik Dahl – Yvonne.
-Peter Carlberg – Lacke.
-Ika Nord – Virginia.
-Mikael Rahm – Jocke.
-Karl Robert Lindgren – Gosta.
-Anders T. Peedu – Morgan.
-Pale Olofsson – Larry.
-Cayetano Ruiz – Magister Avila.
-Johan Somnes – Andreas.
-Patrik Rydmark – Conny.
-Mikael Erhardsson – Martin.
-Rasmus Luthander – Jimmy.
-Soren Kallstigen – Erik’s Friend.
-Bernt Ostman – Virginia’s Nurse.
-Kajsa Linderholm – Teacher.

Overview of Let the Right One In:
Let the Right One In is a film of a lonely boy naked Oskar who is bulled daily at his school. He is commonly referred to as a pig which ties in with the first quote which is “Squeal like a Pig. So, squeal”. It isn’t until a new family move to the neighbourhood but do not mix in well with the community. Oskar immediately falls for Eli, his new neighbour who is actually a vampire. No matter how much she denies him, he is persistent up to the point of which they are friends. Eli, who relies on Hakan to kill people for her so she can live, finds it hard after Hakan messes up and gets himself caught attempting to murder a college student. It is at this point that Eli feeds on him before he dies after leaning out of the Hospital window to see her (Links back to the thought of Vampires having to be invited in). Eli and Oskar becomes a couple at this point and she gives him the strength to fight back against the bullies. This is where Oskar hits Conny who threatens to push him in freezing water. Oskar learns the realisation of what Eli is and is there to help her. As Eli leaves because it becomes far too dangerous, Conny’s Brother Jimmy decides to attempt to attack Oskar whilst he is having a swim. It is at this point that Eli comes to his rescue murdering Jimmy, and eventually running away with Oskar as her new Helper.

Todorov’s theory in placement of this film:
When reviewing this film, there are key points that can be linked back to Todorov’s theory of how a story is placed. His theory is as follows:
-Equilibrium (Normality).
-Disequilibrium (Conflict/Disruption of the Equilibrium).
-Recognition of the Disequilibrium (Notices the disruption).
-Attempts to repair the Disequilibrium.
-New Equilibrium (New normality).

We can see this theory in placement very well by following this for a basic structure:
Equilibrium – Oskar is lonely and bullied, nobody is willing to help him and he won’t stand up for himself.
Disequilibrium – A new family arrives in the neighborhood and people start dying horrid deaths.
Recognition of Disequilibrium – Oskar and Eli have become friends and Oskar realizes what Eli is when she drinks his blood off the floor after he cuts his hand.
Attempts to repair the Disequilibrium – Eli tries to leave as it is becoming too dangerous for Oskar.
New Equilibrium – Eli comes back to help Oskar whose life is in danger because of Jimmy, from which they both leave together.

Levi Strauss’s theory in placement of this film:
When we look at Levi Strauss’s theory, he believes that there are common characteristics hidden behind how we see the Hero and the Villain in a film. We can see his theory shown below:

HERO	VILLAIN
Good	Evil
Native	Outside
Love	Hate
Handsome	Ugly

When we look at this related to let the Right One In, it is somewhat unjustified as the Hero and Villain follow the same stereotypes. There is a slight difference with the Villains attitudes by picking on Oskar but they show no sign of differences in personal appearance. This sets them as a common human yet their villainous side is mainly on the inside with the intentions of violence. 

This image is a good example of the balance of Heroes and Villains with Conny (Left) and Oskar (Right). I specifically chose this image because it is iconic to the theory that the hero is always displayed on the right in conjunction to the villain who is placed on the left side of an image.

 

Evil Dead 2: Film Analysis

Director – Sam Raimi.
Writer – Sam Raimi, Scott Spiegel.
Year Created – 1987.
Genre/Sub Genre – Comedy/Fantasy/Horror.
Country – USA.
Budget - $3,600,000 (Estimate).
Gross: $5,923,044 (USA).
Age Certificate – 15+.

Evil Dead 2 Poster Deconstruction

                                      
                                                                        Characters:
                                                       -Bruce Campbell – Ash Williams

-Sarah Berry – Annie Knowby
-Dan Hicks – Jake
-Kassie DePaiva – Bobby Joe
-Ted Raimi – Possessed Henrietta
-Denise Bixler – Linda.
-Richard Domeier – Professor Ed Getley
-John Peaks – Professor Knowby
-Lou Hancock – Henrietta Knowby

Overview of Evil Dead 2: Evil Dead 2 is a film about a man called Ash who arrives at a Cabin disclosed in the Forest with his Girlfriend Linda. Their plans for a romantic weekend get cut short when Ash plays a tape recorder with reads a passage from something called “The Book of the Dead”. This summons the undead from which Linda is kidnapped and murdered. As the night goes on, strange events begin to occur to Ash one of which involves him beheading Linda’s controlled Corpse. As more events are brought to place, Ash ends up having to cut off his hand. Around this time, Annie, the daughter of the Professor who owns the cabin arrives with two people named Jake and Bobby Joe. Seeing the mess and her parents missing she assumes that Ash is a murderer and lock him in the basement. After realisation, they let him out and attempt to figure out how to escape. This leads to the spirit of the Professor arriving and explaining that the only way to defeat the evil is to read a passage from the final pages of the book from which Annie brought with her. As Bobby Joe runs off in fear, Jake turns on Ash and Annie who are unwilling to go into the forest to look for her seeming how they see the realisation of what happened to Bobby Joe. As Jake is murdered, Annie reads the last few passages as they fight for their lives against the main monster; they successfully open the portal to vanquish the dead although Ash gets sucked into it too. This leads him to the 14^thCentury from where he is forced to battle against more of the dead, imprisoning him in this time period and concluding the film.

Todorov’s theory in placement of this film: When reviewing this film, there are key points that can be linked back to Todorov’s theory of how a story is placed. His theory is as follows:
-Equilibrium (Normality).
-Disequilibrium (Conflict/Disruption of the Equilibrium).
-Recognition of the disequilibrium (Notices the disruption).
-Attempts to repair the disequilibrium.
-New equilibrium (New normality).

When looking at this, we can see how this is shown within Evil Dead 2. Below I will give examples referring to the story as to how this theory is carried out in this film.
Equilibrium-Ash and his girlfriend Linda expect a romantic weekend out, staying the night in a nice, peaceful cabin out in the woods secluded from the rest of society.
Disequilibrium– Ash plays a tape recorder which states passages that summon the undead by reading a segment from “The book of the dead”. This summons the undead into the forest.
Recognition of disequilibrium – As the Ash hears a scream from his girlfriend Linda, he investigates to find her missing and the window smashed, presuming she has been kidnapped or is dead. It is at this point where the realisation of what is going on happens and the equilibrium is disturbed.
Attempts to repair disequilibrium – The fight for survival whilst finding a way to vanquish the undead summoned, with help from others he manages to send the dead back into a portal which banishes them from the current time zone.
New equilibrium – Ash has landed in the 14^th century where he will begin to fight off the undead there and is seen as a saviour to the people of that time for defeating the undead they encounter.

Levi Strauss’s theory in placement of this film: When we look at Levi Strauss’s theory, he believes that there are common characteristics hidden behind how we see the Hero and the Villain in a film. We can see his theory shown below:

HERO	VILLAIN
Good	Evil
Native	Outside
Love	Hate
Handsome	Ugly

When we look at this in comparison to the hero and villain of Evil Dead 2, we can see that this fits in very well shown below as the hero being someone who would be your average guy with nothing wrong in his life compared to this evil, disgusting demon.

After looking at the above images, we can see that Levi Strauss’s theory ties in very well with this film, displaying the main characters through specific characteristics in their appearances and this will change how the audience’s views on both characters will be.

As this film is of the horror genre, we see how the characters standardised settings are placed in with this theory too. This is because Levi Strauss had a theory as to how certain characters were symbolised by the settings and their back stories to give a different impression towards the audience, giving them a liking towards what character they prefer.

GOOD	EVIL
Day	Night
Light	Dark
Christian	Supernatural
Innocence	Violation

Barthes’s theory in relation to this film – Action Code: When we look at Barthes theory, it has slight relations towards Todorov’s theories. This allows us to already have some idea behind how we will anticipate the films ending and judge it at the end once we see the results. When looking directly at the horror genre, there are specific things we can learn from this as to how specific characters will act.

Action	Assumption
Going into a dark alley/room alone	Going to die
Being promiscuous or flirty/suggestive	Going to die
Virgin, good hearted female	Will live

When looking at this, we can link it straght back to Evil Dead 2 by the following:

Action	What Happens
Runs into Forest alone	Dies
Runs after his Girlfriend in the Forest	Dies
Tries to save them all	Lives from what we know of

Barthe’s theory in relation to this film – Enigma Code: Another one of Barthe’s theories is the “Enigma Code”. This is usually based around the Thriller/Mystery Sub-Genre and leaves the spectator wondering who the killer is and why they are doing this. This is used to leave the audience questioning the actions of a character, drawing up a mystery in the plot. In ways, this links back to Evil Dead 2 in the sense that we have a slight understanding as to who the killer is but we don’t have an idea as to why they are carrying out these actions. This leaves the audience wondering as to why the actions are actually happening and if they will be explained in the future.
Barthe’s theory in relation to this film – Semantic Code: Barthe’s theory on the “Semantic Code” relates into the main connotations of the film. This lets us link certain items into a stereotypical representation. For example, the colour red links back to Blood in the Horror Genre. This as shown in Evil Dead 2 describes murder or pain amongst a character and sets common characteristics for Horror. It also sets common iconic items into placement, such as the Machete becoming a very well-known item for the Horror Genre. In relation to Evil Dead 2, we have the chainsaw as an iconic weapon seen in many other Horror films allowing a connection between this and another film.

Barthe’s theory in relation to this film – Symbolic Code: This theory allows us to see characteristics described in the characters dominance in the situations. This lets us link how they react to certain situations depending on the current actions. If we look at Evil Dead 2, we see that this theory is argued against for quite a bit of the film. This is with Ash and Annie showing strength and courage in comparison to Jake and Bobby Joe who are both petrified. This battles Gender stereotypes with a strong male and female in conjunction with a weak male and female. This balances Gender representation and sets an equality issue in the film.Barthe’s theory in relation to this film– Cultural Code: When looking at this theory, it is how the audience relates the events of the film to a historical event. This lets us see a relation to events and places that have occurred in the past giving us an understanding into current events in this time period. I personally would say this is challenged in Evil Dead 2 seeming how it doesn’t give much of a background into the historical events. Although, at the end of the film we see the 14^th Century, giving an understanding into common beliefs of the people of this time, being afraid of demons.

Propp’s theory in relation to this film – 7 Spheres of Action
Hero: When looking at the film, the character sent there to protect them is portrayed mainly as Ash, risking his life to push back the spirits of the Dead.
Villain: The villain in Evil Dead 2 is clear to be the dark spirits that come from the Book of the Dead. This is because of all their destructive powers and in relation to all the people that were killed because of this.
Dispatcher: There isn’t really a Dispatcher displayed within the film. Although I chose to put Ash as the Dispatcher. This is because he is the one to initially start his own journey by fighting for survival to restore the equilibrium.
Donor: In my opinion, the Donor of Evil Dead 2 would have to be Annie’s Father, the Professor. This is because of the information he gives them regarding the remaining pages of the Book of the Dead and its abilities to vanquish the evil.
Helper: I would say Annie is the Helper seeming how she is the only other one actually putting in any form of effort to defeat the evil. We see this through her attempts to get the pages and her ability to read them.
Heroine: The Heroine would also have to be Annie; this is because by the end of the film she seems to be the one that Ash is protecting. This gives Annie connection to the Hero and although it isn’t a happy ending with them together, he protects her with his life and she lives from what we know.
False Hero: The main moment when a False Hero is displayed is when Jake turns on Ash and Annie to go looking for Bobby Joe. This shown him turning on the Hero and Heroine to complete his own goals, displaying his form of betrayal.

This battles Gender stereotypes with a strong male and female in conjunction with a weak male and female. This balances Gender representation and sets an equality issue in the film.