Deconstruction of I Spit on Your Grave

-The trailer opens with the production companies alongside sinister non-diegetic sound, already creating tension.
-A tracking shot of the open road allows the audience to see that the location will be forest area. This is typical of the slasher genre as it is secluded and allows many places for the killer to 'hide' or appear from.
-The close up of the girl, gives the first introduction to the main character who is at first the victim before getting her revenge as the villain/hero.
-There is the on-screen diegetic sound of a harmonica as a mid-shot introduces us to male characters. 'Yeah you're lost alright' followed by sinister laugh as the shot pans to the girls face followed by a non-diegetic boom makes the mood uneasy for the audience.
-The point of view shot of her in the home before an over the shoulder shot of the camera used to capture this allows the audience to understand that someone is watching her without her knowledge.

-There is a non-diegetic bang as the scene straight cut to text. The text is a white background with red writing, the black marks and blood splatters make it look distressed and this links to the violence and distress of the slasher/horror genre.
-As the sinister non-diegetic music builds, creating tension, a panning shot of the female characters worried face before a loud knock on door and straight cut to man knocking is alarming the audience.
-Close up shot of girl visibly distressed is upsetting to the audience. An extreme close up of her surrounded by the men makes her look vulnerable and provokes audience sympathy for her.
-Fast paced straight cuts show audience that she is abused by the men, providing them with a reasoning for her later actions.

-A long shot straight cuts to a close up of the girl looking visibly changed and scary which is unnerving for the audience, accompanied by a low pitch sound.
-Straight cuts become fast paced and begin to build, showing glimpses of what she does to get her revenge against the men. There is a repeated sound every time it cuts to the next clip, accompanied by diegetic sound.
-The film title appears in the same distressed style as previous text had been, followed by the credits.

Lighting Practice

I wanted to practice different ways of creating light and the effect that they had when thinking about how to show the killers mask. Although the appearance of the mask is known and recognisable to the audience, as are many within the slasher genre, for example the 'Scream' mask, it is still important to keep some mystery within the trailer. The fear of the unknown within horror is what is so effective for the audience.
I used four different light sources which were a lighter, match, flashlight and red flashlight to evaluate the effect of colour lighting also. I had the basement scene in mind, in which one of the teenage characters creates light through one of these methods and the outline of the killer can be seen behind her, disturbing the audience.

Red Flashlight: I feel that the use of a coloured flashlight such as this is not appropriate for the type of 'natural' light we wanted to create, making it seem unrealistic. I feel that it is not really appropriate for our chosen slasher genre, and would more likely suit a sci-fi genre trailer. Having said this, it could be used for the poster image or an image to be featured on the website as the shade of red that it creates would give a strong link to violence and gore, therefore to our slasher genre.

Normal Flash Light: This provided a strong light source, giving off a lot of light. This is not ideal, as we want to keep some of the killer covered with low key lighting. This could be done however by shining the light on one side, as shown below right, instead of straight on (below left) or held above (top) as it still leaves one side unlit. The various positioning of the flash light also creates good shadows and although this cannot be used for the basement scene as it will be too dark, we can look at perhaps incorporating the creation of shadows into another scene.

Match: The match provided decent light, enough to see the shape clearly but still keep a fair bit of the detail hidden, which was what we were aiming for. The problem was that it was hard to do without the match burning out too quickly, meaning that it may be difficult to film a scene using this as a light source as it will fade out too quickly.

Lighter: At first it seemed that the lighter did not give off nearly as much light as we needed (right.) Yet interestingly, when the match was held close to the object, it provided enough light for the object to be seen and identifiable without showing too much detail. This may be the best light choice if we find a way for the lighter to be seen on camera without looking out of place e.g teenage character using a lighter to find her way, as the lighter must be very close to the object in order for it to be effective at all.

Making A Mask - Part Two

After being inspired by the 'sack mask' and 'The Scarecrow' in "The Batman", I was finally ready to make my mask. Below, is a step by step process of how I made my mask. 

I first placed the sac over my cousin. This was so that I could correctly plan where the features of my mask would go.

 

I then drew an outline for the eyehole on the sac.

Then, I cut an eyehole in the mask.

Afterwards, I made stiches near the eyehole. I also drew the lining of the mouth which was an idea from 'The Sac Man' in "The Strangers".



I then made some adjustments behind, so the sac would fit as a mask around the person wearing it. This was achieved through stiches.

As the sac was too long, I had to trim its length with scissors. The finishing touch was the rope around the neck area. Overall, the task did take long. However, it was easy to find my materials. The only thing left for me to do, was adding the dirt to the mask to give it a more rough look.

Making A Mask - Part One

My interest in the 'sack mask' has inspired me into making my own. Below is an image of a 'sack mask' which I am aiming to create. I am particularly keen in making this mask, as the idea would be more distinctive compared to the 'sack masks' which have already been used in slashers.  

What will I need to do?

• Find white material, either a white bag made from cloth.
• Cut a hole into the mask to create an eyehole.
• Find a rope to attach to the mask.
• Apply some dark shades to the mask.

As I was also fascinated by 'The Scarecrow', I will try to add features of my own e.g. stitch like patterns. I will achieve this by sowing a black thread through the mask. 

Narrative Theories

• Bordwell and Thompson (1980): “a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship occurring in time”.
• Sydfield, an American screenwriter: a good film needs to interest the audience and inform them of the narrative in the first ten minutes.
• My group and I had to conform to this theory to a huge extent, as we had limit of sixty seconds to draw the audience.
• Due to the trailer’s format, we used a restricted narration to interest the audience quickly through the use of an enigma. This is evident by the shot of the blonde, female victim opening the door (at the beginning) and seeing nobody there after the door knocks.
• We also used a restricted narration, as this is a common convention of the horror genre. Our trailer has a subjective character identification, as the trailer never focuses on one specific character.

• Vladimir Propp’s theory of narrative: characters have the role of narratives ‘spheres of action’ or functions.
• From a comprehensive study of folktales, Propp made seven character types, each with a different function such as the ‘hero’, ‘villain’, ‘donor’ etc.
• Our trailer partially conforms to this theory, as our hero is the main girl which subverts Propp’s suggestion of the hero usually being male.
• Having the main girl as the hero however, the one who restores the narrative equilibrium, is a convention of a slasher film.
• Our villain, the killer, disrupts the narrative (which conforms to the theory) after he knocks on the door. This is evidenced near the beginning by close up shots of him attacking the main girl and the two shot of the killer behind the young male with his knife, ready to attack him.

• Todorrov’s theory of narrative: conventional narratives are structured into five stages including the state of equilibrium, the disruption of the equilibrium and a reinstatement of the equilibrium (at the end).
• Our trailer conforms to this theory to an extent, as our trailer begins with a state of equilibrium of a party being held at a house.
• A disruption of this equilibrium is recognised once the killer arrives at house. This is expressed by the door knocks and the change in soundtrack – from a party beat to silence. On the other hand, we subvert the theory by not reinstating the equilibrium at the end of the trailer, which can be seen through the last shot which denotes a low angle of the killer which visually signifies his dominance.

• Alan Cameron’s theory claims that modular narratives “articulate a sense of time as divisible and subject to manipulation”. Cameron identifies four different types of modular narrative: anachronic, forking paths, episodic and split screens.
• In our trailer, we conform to this theory, as we use an episodic narrative which is seen by the killer attacking his victims.

• Aristotle’s unities, the first ‘narrative theory’ puts forward the idea that a narrative should be created within a ‘unity’ of time, place and action – it should all take place in the same location, in real time, and with all action moving towards a logical conclusion.
• Our trailer conforms to this as we have one plot, no sub plots which takes place in the same location. Having one location conforms to the convention of a horror film of victims being entrapped.

• Barthe’s codes claim that narratives are like “tangled balls of threads which need unravelling”, some open with many different interpretations and some being closed, with only one possible interpretation.
• Barthe narrowed down the action of a text in to Five Codes which are woven into any narrative. Our trailer utilises two of the codes, one being the Hermeneutic Code which is the way the story avoids telling the truth in order to create mystery.
• We conformed to this through our shot towards the end which denotes the killer appearing out of nowhere, connoting that he may have supernatural powers. However, the audience are not told this, so a mystery is created. In the same shot, the killer is behind the main girl with a knife, ready to attack her. This shot conforms to the Enigma Code as the audience do not see what happens to the final girl, leaving them guessing what happens next.

Deconstruction of Scream 4 Trailer

-Opens with the production company, overlapped with the non diegetic sound of a phone ringing, a main feature of the past scream films as the killer first communicates through a phone call.
-A female character (Sidney from the previous films) answers the phone during a pitch black transition. The killers voice on the phone is instantly recognisable.
-There is a non-diegetic sinister boom and straight cut to a close up shot of the female character looking distressed.
-There is a non-diegetic narrative from the killer as mid shots of characters flash up to low pitch boom that begins building up, starting to create tension for the audience which is the key component of the horror genre.
-The non-diegetic sound of the killers evil laugh is un-nerving for the audience, followed by a diegetic scream within a mid-shot of two characters before the screen fades to black and text appears.
-The instantly recognisable scream mask is shown. There is already the familiarity with him as the teaser trailer introduces other main characters to the audience. Most of these are teenagers, which is a character choice typical of the slasher genre.

-Both the use of a high school and suburb location is typical of the slasher genre.
-The sudden straight cut to a long shot of the first victim dying is shocking for the audience, but sets the tone for the slasher film.
-The line 'and virgins can die now' in which the characters are talking about slasher conventions within the film.
-There is a fast paced long shot of a girl trying to escape killer, another victim before more text appears. The text is black and white and red, which is typical of slasher genre as black and white can be dull yet sinister while red links to the violence and gore of the slasher genre.

-An over the shoulder shot gives the first glimpse of the killer in action with the instantly recognisable mask and weapon of choice.
-A close up shot of the character Gail links back to previous films.
-The fast paced straight cuts of the masked killer attacking his victims begins, accompanied by a non-diegetic narrative.
-The dramatic orchestral music begins to build to a climax, creating suspense for the audience before a blackout.
-The blackout fades into a mid shot of two blonde characters with no sound, before the sudden interruption of the scream killer coming towards screen, distressing the audience. The scream title appears in its classic typography, before a short phone call scene followed by the release date.

Genre Theorists

'A genre is ultimately an abstract conception rather than something that exists empirically in the world'- Jane Feuer 1992

-True of the slasher  genre in which despite classic conventions, ultimately anything can happen.

'Genres are instances of repetition and difference and difference is absolutely essential to the economy and genre'- Steve Neale 1980

-Our trailer conforms to these conventions such as the final girl and masked killer. One scene in which a series of close-ups and mid-shots of the final girl and the killers struggle clearly displays these conventions for example the mask, the final girls’ simple clothing and brunette hair.

'Genre is not … simply “given” by culture, rather it is in a constant process of negotiation and change’- David Buckingham 1993

-An example of this within the slasher genre would be the conventional character of the final girl. As women gained power within the 60’s/70’s with more freedom such as access to contraception (1961,) less religious restrictions as society began to become more secular and economic globalisation meaning women were being accepted into the work place.

'A new genre is always a transformation of one or several old genres'- Tzvetan Todorov 1990
'The boundaries between genres are shifting and becoming more permeable'- Abercrombie 1996 

-Our trailer followed the convention of a masked killer, using a distorted white pillow case and rope. The killer also has a weapon of choice, in this case a large knife, as is a convention in slasher movies. Our trailer also conforms to the ‘suburb location’ with a long shot of the outside of the house in low key lighting establishing this at the opening. There have been many remakes of famous films such as Nightmare on Elm Street (2010,) Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003,) Halloween (2007) and Scream, which like some of the other films, features various sequels that follow the storyline up until the present day. More recently, the genre has taken on more sex, violence and nudity, particularly towards women, morphing into a sub-genre now called torture porn. An example of this is Saw which is now a major franchise with seven movies made in total and I Spit on your Grave (1978) which is a rape and revenge horror film.

'The number of genres in any society depends on the complexity and diversity of society'- Carolyn Miller 1984

-For example, the slasher genre within horror has diversified in recent years to incorporate elements that it did not originally include. Our A2 teaser trailer, which follows the story of a masked killer terrorising a group of teenagers, is a classic example of a slasher genre film, following many conventions.

'Generic conventions embody the crucial ideological concerns of the time in which they are popular'- John Fiske 1987

-Such as women becoming liberated. Within the slasher genre there is always the sexually free, promiscuous, stereotypically blonde and attractive female character. This character will almost always be killed off first. The final girl is typically hard-working, plain and virginal. The fact that she then goes on to survive until the very end shows that this makes her more powerful than the other female roles. This was subverted when Scream (1996) presented the final girl as non-virginal yet still able to defeat the killer. In our trailer, a high angled close up of our final girl sees her applying makeup, subverting the convention that the final girl takes no care over her appearance.

Final Girl Theory- Carol Clover

-Use of final girl, conforming to conventions such as brunette, plain and well behaved but ultimately showing the change in genre due to the empowerment of women as she is the only one able to overcome the killers, not one of the male characters.