Genre Development

Over the years the horror genre has developed from films such as ‘Psycho’ (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960) to some of the most resent horror films such as ‘Halloween’ (Rob Zombie, 2007). If we compare these two films the most obvious difference are the killings in each film. In ‘Psycho’ during all the murders you never see the knife have direct contact with the victim only sound effects and splatters of blood, the film being in black and white also means that we never actually see the colour of the blood we just assume it is. This allows the film to spend less time on making up the stab wounds and the BBFC could drop is to a 15 so the target audience would be of a wider range. If we then compare the killing from ‘Psycho’ to the killing of the boys step farther in ‘Halloween’ it is a lot more visual, we see the boy cut the neck and the blood pour out of the cut as he slowly dies. We can see how over the years the brutality of killings in horror films has slowly gotten gorier. A horror film which I didn’t use in my analyses demonstrates the point I am making, the Saw films are all every gory to the point of not being able to watch, for example in ‘Saw 5’ (David Hackl, 2005) the final test they have to do is they have to put their arms into a power saw and fill the a bowl with their blood. During this scene you see all of what happens, the saw cutting their arms and the blood pouring into the bowl and when the bowl is full and they take their arms out you see the man’s arm cut in half from his hand to his elbow. Between the times ‘Psycho’ was made and ‘Halloween’ there has been a lot of other slasher films released such as ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ (1984). This film is a lot more gory and plays with your mind more. For example, at the end of the film when the boy gets pulled into his bed there is an excessive amount of blood used for one person and we as an audience relate our bed as a place of safety. Another film that shows gore but isn’t to over the top with the amount of blood is ‘Scream’ (1996) we see the killer kill his victims in this film like ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ but the blood level used in ‘Scream’ is more realistic which makes the film scarier. Even though the more resent horror film show a lot more gore and have more brutal killings in ‘American Psycho’ (2000) they use the same technique as in ‘Psycho’ even though the killings are more brutal the audience never see’s the murder weapon make contact with the victim. When you finish watching the film you sort of understand why this techniques is used because the killer doesn’t actually kill anyone he just thinks he does because of the mental state he’s in. Even though we don’t see the weapon hitting/stabbing the victim’s because the film is in colour and we as an audience fill in the blanks the effect of the murder has a bigger impact then the murders in ‘Psycho’. Another thing that has become more popular in horror films is non-diegetic music to build up tension, if we look at ‘Psycho’ there isn’t that much non-diegetic music for tension building but in the more recent films like ‘Halloween’ and ‘Scream’ non-diegetic is used all the time for tension. A common occurrence that we see in all of the films i analysed is the time of day the murders are committed, all of them are done during night, apart from ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ (Tobe Hooper,1974). This is a very symbolic stimulus of a horror film because night time is always scarier and when there is non-diegetic music it builds up the climax and being a horror film the audience is expecting something to happen.

In conclusion even though over the years technology has updated greatly depending on director, rating and type of horror slasher film will depend on the amount of gore shown. In my case because i don’t have a high budget i wont be able to do much blood and gore so the technique used in ‘Psycho’ may help me a lot.

Questionnaire

1. Gender:

Male Female

2. Age:

15 – 18 19 – 25 26 – 35 36 – 45 46 – 55 Over 60

3. Employment status:

Unemployed Part time job Full time job Part time student Full time student

4. How often do you go to the cinema:

Once a week Once a fortnight Once a month Other........................

5. What is your favourite genre?

Comedy Rom Com Action Horror Other, please state.................................

6. Do you watch horror films?

Yes Sometimes

7. What is your favourite horror slasher film:

................................................................................

8. Do you watch classic horror film e.g. Psycho?

Yes No

9. What do you like about the horror genre?

Its scarier It has a lot of tension The story line When there is just on killer When there is more then one killer When the murders are really brutal If the killer plays games with there victims e.g. Saw The non-diegetic music

10. Do you think there is a difference between modern horror films e.g. Saw, Prom Night (2006) and classic horror films e.g. Psycho, Texas Chain Saw Massacre?

Yes No

11. When watching a horror film do you think having non-diegetic music is better to build up tension then not having any music?

Yes No

12. Do you like it when there is a twist in the film and the killer isn’t who you think it is?

Yes No

13. Where would you think the main storyline of a horror film would be set?

Motorway hotel Spooky House In the woods In a locked room In the city In a busy park On a bus a shopping centre

14. Do you want the killer at the end of the film to still be at large so a sequel can be made?

Yes No

7. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre directed by Tobe Hooper in 1974

This scene starts with a long shot in high key lighting of a man walking round the side of a house to the front door shouting to see if anyone is home as he looks for his friends. The camera pans round so the man stays in the shot as he goes to the door. We can hear nightly sounds such as crickets and other bugs making noises and the non-diegetic music is a very quiet like a low humming sound, with the man talking and knocking at the door it’s very hard to hear it but that makes it seem as if it doesn’t want to be heard. We then see a medium shot of the man though the netted door his face in low key light, because inside the house is very dark and the only light is from the sun as it sets. As he starts to walk away the camera goes back to a long shot as he sees his friends jacket, the camera slowly zooms in but still keeps his whole body in shot, it then changes to a long medium shot and straight away zooms into a medium shot of the man looking at the jacket. He then turns back to the door shouting his friends name thinking there playing a joke on him, the camera goes back to the long shot with the man facing the door and zooms in, we start to hear chains rattling. The camera goes back to the medium shot of the man looking though the door as he is telling his friends to stop goofing around; we still haven’t seen any evidence that his friends are in the house which makes the audience starts to get nervous. He goes to walk away again and the camera changes to a medium shot from the side of him and we hear what sounds like someone groaning, he goes back to the door and the camera goes back to a medium shot from inside the house, the man opens the door and walks towards the camera, the camera pans up slightly so it’s almost a low angle shot looking as if he has the power as he demands his friends to stop messing. He walks forward calling his friends out, the house is very low key lighting and has no lights on at all, as he walks forward the camera changes to a medium shot from behind the man as he walks towards the door at the end of the hall way. A close up of the man at the door when we hear tapping coming from inside the room the man calls his friends name and walks in, then the camera zooms out and a meat hook comes into focus and is lit up by the sun light. The non-diegetic music at this point starts to get louder and this makes the audience really on edge. As he walks in the room the camera changes to a high angle shot and we then hear tapping, the man turns and looks at the freezer. The camera then goes to a medium shot of the man as he stares at the freezer with a look of fear, probably thinking if the tapping really came from the freezer and hoping it didn’t. The camera goes to a high angle shot of the freezer and more tapping is heard, the camera then changes to a low angle of the freezer as even more tapping is heard. It is clear to the audience because of the different angle of the freezer and the tapping that someone is in the fridge. The high angle shot, medium shot and low angle shot that have been used in the room are all used as the man walks quickly to the freezer, again building up tension. As he opens the freezer the non-diegetic music starts, the music sounds would be used when something shocking happens. When he opens the freezer the high angle camera shot zooms into the freezer to see a girl in there, possibly one of his friends. She tries to jump out of the freezer as she does the camera angle changes to a shot of her leaning over the edge. The camera angle changes again to a medium shot of the man and before we see the killer we hear him moaning as he walks though the door, coming from the darkness, and goes to hit the man with a hammer. The camera changes to an over the shoulder high angle shot from the killers shoulder of the man screaming and the camera goes back to the previous shot as the killer hits the man as he does the non-diegetic music become a little faster but still quite slow. As the killer continues to moan he walks to put the girl back in the freezer and shut it. He walks around the room looking for anyone else, we see him run back into the room he came from moaning as he runs to the window. The camera angles in the last few seconds changed a lot to create the atmosphere. As he gets to the window the camera changes to a medium shot of him opening the curtains and looking outside. The music starts to slow down as the killer realizes that there isn’t anyone else and sits down and puts his hands to his head. It almost looks like he didn’t want to kill the man, this is the first time we have seen a killer possibly regretting what he did and it makes the audience think twice about the killer. The killer is wearing a homemade mask with eye and mouth holes and a long coat type jacket. At the beginning of the scene there is no over dramatic non-diegetic music to build up tension the diegetic sounds and fast camera changes do that just as well as non-diegetic music would, some made find it more effective because it makes it more real. At the beginning of the scene you knew something was going to happen to the man because in most horror films when someone walks into a dark scary house in the middle of nowhere will die, it’s quite a typical part to a horror film.

6. American Psycho directed by Mary Harron in 2000

The first shot of this scene is of a man slouching in a chair holding a glass and a bottle of alcohol next to him, the chair has been covered by a sheet, a little table also covered by a sheet with a ash tray and a cigar is next the chair and around the chair and table is newspapers taped to the floor but only this part of the floor. Straight away the audience can tell that this room has been set up so that when Patrick kills the man his blood doesn’t stain the chair or get on the floor so it’s easy to clean up. The next shot is a close up of Patrick picking up a CD case and asks the man if he likes the artist. We then see a high angle shot of the man sat in the chair as he mutters an answer we see that he appears to be very drunk. The camera changes to a low angle medium shot panning as Patrick walks across the talking about what he thinks about the artist. As Patrick walks out of the room then camera changes to a wide angle shot of the room, we see him walk into a different room as the man in the chair reaches for the bottle, also we see another piece of furniture covered by a sheet. The next shot is taken from the reflection of a mirror, as Patrick walks in the room we see him pick up a rain coat which was on top of an axe. He walks up to the mirror and puts the rain coat on still talking about this band, he stops talking and the camera changes to an extreme close up as he picks up a pill which we see the bottle for in the back ground with his name on it and a glass of water. The shot then goes back to the mirror shot as he drinks then looks at himself for a second, but not a ‘am I sure I’m going to do this, look but just a blank look. He then turns around and picks up the axe as he walks out. The camera then goes back to the wide angle shot of the room, that the man is sat in the chair is in, as Patrick skips backwards across the room still talking about this band, this make the audience think that he is a bit strange. The man sat in the chair is staring at the newspapers on the floor in confusion. As Patrick gets to the other side of the room he stops facing the man in the chair and puts the axe down, as he does this the camera changes to a high angle close up of what looks to be a brand new axe that has never been used before. Not like your typical horror movie axe were its all rusty and old. We then see a extreme long shot with both characters in as the man in the chair points at Patrick and mutters something, Patrick response “Yes Allen” the camera then goes to a medium shot of Allen sat in the chair from behind as he asks why there is newspaper on the floor and asking Patrick if he has a dog. The camera goes to a close up of Patrick’s face as he replies in a very jolly voice with a smile on his face, “No Allen”. We then see a shot with bother characters like the last one but closer this time as Allen asks if Patrick is wearing a rain coat. The audience starts to see how drunk Allen really is by the way he is muttering his words and can hardly hold himself up, were as Patrick is completely sober. Patrick replies in the same over jolly voice with a huge smile on his face and walks to the CD player. The camera goes to a low angle medium shot of Patrick as he turns the CD player on very loud and continues to talk about the band. As he does the camera changes to a long shot of Patrick doing a little dance to the music as he walks towards the camera, again showing the odd behavior of this character. The camera goes to a low angle shot medium shot of Patrick picking up the axe still talking about the music. He calls Allen and the camera changes to a shot of him turning around with a look of shock as Patrick comes at him with an axe. The camera goes back to medium shot as Patrick hits Allen with the axe and blood is splattered over his face and rain coat. He pulls Allen to the floor and the camera angles changes to a low angle shot of Patrick shouting at Allen as he continues to hit him with the axe. After he finishes he stands up straight takes the rain coat off, steps over the body sits on the sofa that was next to the little table picks up the cigar and as he lights it the camera goes to a low angle shot were we can see Allen’s legs then Patrick sat on the sofa smoking the cigar. His facial expression after he killed Allen was just a normal look he had no reject or happiness in his face just a blank look, the same look he had when he looked in the mirror. The diegetic music that was used in this scene is call contrapuntal sound; this is when the music is the opposite of what is going on, for example in Scream the music used when the girl dies at the beginning of the film is sad and eerie but in this film it’s up beat and happy. There is also no non-diegetic sound in the scene and the lighting is always high key there is never a time were it goes even a little bit dark.

5. Psycho directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1960 (black and white film)

I’m going to analyze two scenes from this film because the murder’s are over in a matter of seconds, unlike in the other films were the climax for the murder takes longer. The first scene starts with a low angle shot of a woman in a gown putting ripped up paper down the toilet the camera changes to a close up of her doing this so its clear to the audience. The non-diegetic music isn’t very eerie or scary so it makes the audience think that nothing is going to happen we just relate the music to what the woman is doing and its obvious that she is trying to hide something by flushing paper down the toilet, so that’s what we relate the music to. The camera angle changes to a medium shot and the music stops we can just hear the diegetic sound of the toilet flushing. The woman closes the door to the bathroom and takes of her gown, the camera changes to a high angle shot of her legs as she gets into the shower and pulls the shower curtain across. The camera changes to a medium shot of the woman in turning on the shower, we hear the diegetic sound of the shower. The camera then changes to a low angle shot looking directly at the shower with the water coming at the camera. The camera then goes back to the medium shot. We see a medium close up of the girl washing herself from the side where the shower curtain is, still the only sound heard is the shower. The camera then goes to a close up of the shower head from the side. We then see a high angle shot so we see the shower curtain and the girl but she isn’t in the center of the shot she is to one side, we then see the door to the bathroom open without the woman knowing and someone standing in the doorway. This is the first obvious indication that the girl is going to die. Even when the door opens there is no non-diegetic music to create a tense atmosphere, compared to the scene is Halloween were eerie music is used when he is standing behind the couple on the sofa without them knowing. As the person starts to walk towards the shower the camera zooms in on them. When the person pulls back the shower curtain the non-diegetic music starts, all it is, is a sharp high pitched sound that is repeated over and over. We see a person holding a knife above there head but the lighting is positioned in such a way that you can’t see the person’s face it’s just blacked out. The camera then changes to a medium shot of the woman turning around, as she starts to scream the camera angle changes (not zooms) from a medium shot to a close up and then a close up of the woman’s month. The camera then goes to a low angle shot of the killer through the water from the shower, the lighting used Makes the killers face be covered by shade, this makes it so the audience can’t see the persons features just a silhouette of them. In this shot we see the knife and in more resent horror slasher films if a knife is used its silver but in this film its black, we as an audience relate black to evil, it may just be because of the lighting or it may be done for a symbolic effect. We then see a medium shot of the woman against the wall as the knife goes to stab her, however we don’t see she get stabbed we just hear the sound. We then see the killer again but from a front on medium shot as he/she pulls back for another stab. The camera then goes to a high angle shot of the woman grabbing the killers arm, we get to see the killer costume in this shot and by what they are wearing and the style of hair it seems to be a woman. This is the first woman killer in the films I have analyzed. The killer then gets free and stabs the woman again, the camera then changes between the killer pulling back for stabs and the woman’s facial expression. The camera gets closer to the knife each time the killer pulls back for another stab, but we still never see the woman get stabbed we just hear the sound effect. After a few stabs we see a high angle shot of the woman’s legs as the blood pours down the bath. Because the film is in black and white we don’t see the colour of the blood as it pours down the drain so it isn’t as disturbing as the more up to date films, this would also make it easier for my film if I filmed in black and white because no fake blood would be needed. We then see the killer do one final stab to the woman’s back as she turns around and collapses against the wall. We then see a medium shot of the killer leaving and get a good look at the back of them and when I saw the film I was certain the killer was a woman. The camera the changes to an extreme close up of the woman’s hand, at this point the non-diegetic music becomes a lower pitch and slower. The camera changes to a medium shot with the woman to one side as she turns to face the camera and slowly sides down the wall to the pace of the non-diegetic music. We then see her reach out and the camera slowly zooms out to keep her arm in shot and changes to an extreme close of the woman’s hand grabbing the shower curtain, the non-diegetic music at this point slowly fades out and the sound of the shower is heard again. The camera then changes to a high angle shot of the woman trying to pull herself up using the shower curtain, by this point the non-diegetic music has completely faded out and only the diegetic sound from the shower can be heard. The shot then changes to a low angle shot looking up at the railing as the shower curtain gets pulled of the railing. The woman then falls to the ground and the camera goes back to the shot of the shower with the water pouring on it, we then see the woman’s blood pouring down the drain and as the camera gets closer to the drain a cross fade is used and the camera starts to zoom out very slowly from and extreme close up of the woman’s eye. When the camera has zoomed out we see the woman’s facial expression as she looks directly at the camera, this makes the audience feel unnerved having a dead woman stare directly at you.

4. Friday the 13th directed by Sean S. Cunningham in 1980

At the beginning of the scene there is a shot of a full moon with clouds blowing over it and there are no starts, the only sounds you can hear at this point are night sounds. Then when the camera starts to pan we start to hear singing over the top of the night sounds, the camera pans down to show a cabin by a lake and at the bottom of the screen “Camp Crystal Lake 1958” comes up. The shot changes to a wide angle shot of a cabin with a red door, in films we relate the colour red as a symbolic symbol for either death or love this being a horror film the audience would relate it to death. When the camera changed the singing became louder over the night sounds so the audience knows that this is where the singing is coming from. There is very little lighting, we can see that inside there is high key lighting but where the camera is outside its all low key. The camera then changes to a shot inside the cabin but its position right at the back of the room in the dark, we can see a group of people all sat round a fire singing, the camera angle is like someone is spying on them. We then see the same cabin from outside but from behind a tree giving the audience more of the impressions that someone is watching these people. The camera then changes to a point of view shot of someone walking towards a door, we start to here non-diegetic eerie music as the person gets closer to the door. The sign on the door which is a pitcher of two red arrows crossing over each other is the only part that is lit up everywhere else is low key lighting. As the person opens the door the eerie music becomes louder and we start to hear the person’s foot steps and this makes it so you can almost not hear the people singing anymore. As the person gets into the room we see children asleep in there beds, this makes the audience very unnerved because we don’t know what this person is going to do to these’s children. As the person walks through the room he/she goes up to every child and looks at them closely. The lighting in the room is low key but there is a lit on at the other end of the room where the person is walking to. When the person has walked to the other end of the room where the light is, they look at a door with a red towel on it. Again the colour red, the amount of symbolic sign’s that have pointed to death makes it very obvious to the audience that someone is going to die. As the POV shot gets closer to the red towel the eerie music gets louder, the person opens the door and it creeks loudly and then suddenly the camera goes back to the corner of the cabin where the people are singing and the eerie music stops. The camera angle changes again to a low angle shot of the girl playing the guitar and others behind her singing, they are all in high key lighting from the fire but that seems to be the only scours of lighting. The audience gets the impression that the girl is looking at someone and the camera changes to an over the shoulder shot from the girl of a boy looking back at the girl playing the guitar. They both get up, the camera goes back to the shot of the room in the dark corner and we see the two walk into the dark and kiss. We then see another shot of the moon a lot closer this time again with clouds blowing across it and we can still hear the people singing and night sounds. The camera goes back to POV and we see the boy and girl walk into what seems to be a low key lit barn, the boy turns on the lights and they go upstairs. When they get upstairs the camera angle changes to a low angle shot of the two kissing, they lay down a rug to lie on and continue kissing. The camera the goes back to the POV with the person looking up where the two are, we can hear quiet non-diegetic music and the diegetic sounds from the two people. The person who we are in there POV starts to walk up the stairs but slowly trying to make any noise, because the person walks up the stairs slowly it builds up tension for the audience and the non-diegetic music changes slightly and this helps with the build up of tension. When he/she gets to the top of the stairs they just look at the two kissing for a while then the floor creeks and couple notices that someone’s there. The person walks to the top of the stairs and the couple doesn’t seem to be afraid of the person but the boy gets up and starts to explain what they were or weren’t doing. The person then starts to get closer and closer to the boy, then the non-diegetic music makes a sound which we as an audience relates to someone being stabbed, but we don’t see a knife, at the same time the non-diegetic music makes this sound the girl screams telling the audience that something happened to him. The camera angle changes to a high angle shot of the boy falling to the floor holding his stomach and there’s blood where he is holding prove for the audience that he was stabbed. Then back to the POV camera, the person is now stopping the girl from getting away, the non-diegetic music becomes faster and at a higher pitch. The girl starts to throw things at the person then as the person gets closer to the girl it goes into slow motion, the girl screams and then ends on a still close up of the girl screaming and zooms into an extreme close up of her facial expression and a flash of white light ends the scene. I really liked the POV camera work in this scene and the fact that we don’t see a knife so in my film if I were to have someone stabbed I could use this technique to save having to use a fake knife or similar.

3. Nightmare on Elm Street directed by Wes Craven in 1984

The scene starts with a long shot of a girl in a house turning on the outside light, we see her sanding in the window as if she is looking for something then opening the door and we see that she is just wearing a shirt. We can hear night sounds in the back ground from the beginning of the scene but when she says “Is anyone there?” we hear a man say quickly the girls name in a scary voice and the night sounds stop and are replaced by non- diegetic eerie music starts. She walks towards the camera into low key lighting by what could be the moon. The camera angle changes to a wide shot to show the back of the garden and we hear the man say her name again even faster this time. The camera then goes back to a medium close up of the girl looking worried as she asks “Who’s there?” and walks towards where she heard the man, she walks out of the back of her garden. The camera changes to a low angle shot as we see the girl enter a dark ally way but unlike most low angle shots which make a character seem like they have the power this shot seems to make her seem like she has no control of what is about to happen. The eerie music starts to fade out and we can hear water trickling. The camera then changes to follow a dustbin lid roll along the floor and make a very loud sound when it falls. We then see a medium shot of the girl turn around quickly as the dustbin lid startled her and then goes back to the low angle shot and we see the dustbin lid on the floor. This makes the audience think that the man is behind the camera but then the camera changes to a long shot of the other end of the ally where we see the shadow of a man wearing a Indiana Jones style hat. In a normal horror film this might make the audience think that there are two people but because this film is based on people’s dreams you know that there is just one killer. When we see the shadow eerie music suddenly starts the girl turns around in shock and we then see a low angle close up silhouette of the man walking towards the girl saying her name and laughing at the same time, the low angle shot give makes him seem threatening and his evil laugh adds to it. His voice is very deep and muffle and his laugh was very sinister which made the audience fear him. The next shot we see of the man is a long shot, still in a silhouette, but this is the part that makes the audience realize that it has to be a dream because the mans arms start to stretch out so he fills the ally way. Again the camera goes to the low angle close up of the man, we still haven’t seen a clear shot of his face but there have been a few times when we see parts of his face and it looks as if he has scars or marks on his face. This adds more questions about the man which builds up continue suspense which last throughout most of the film. We then have a close up of his hand, which he seems to be wearing a glove with knifes on and scraping them against some metal to make a very high pitched screeching sound over his scary laughing. Them there is a close up of the girl as she says “Please god” and the camera goes back to the low angle shot of the man and he we see his face for the first time. His face looks like it’s been badly scratched or badly burnt, he puts his hand with the glove up to his face and replies “This is god.” I really like this line and think it’s very affective because it tells the audience that he is not afraid of killing anyone, it’s almost like he enjoys it. After he says this the girl turns around and starts to run and the non- diegetic music picks up in pace, the camera changes to a long shot of the ally as the two run towards the camera. We see the man chasing her in the background doing his evil laugh. But as the camera pans round following the girl she runs right into him, which is impossible in reality therefore giving the audience more reason to believe that it’s a dream. Ever time we see the man a quick sharp sound is made which could increase the audience’s reaction when he comes on screen. The camera then changes to a hand held camera as if we are the one who is chasing her. She runs into her back garden again and then we see her running towards the camera, after she runs past the camera the man jumps out from behind a tree which is about the width of a lamp post. This is the first long short of the man were we can see his costume, the key features that sick out of his costume are his red and green jumper, his hat and his glove, his jumper is very strange for the killer of a horror movie to wear most of the time they wear dark cloths. For example the two films above, in Scream the killer wore black and in Halloween he wore gray. The girl stops and looks at the killer, the camera goes to a medium shot of him and he cuts off two of his fingers, but instead of red blood the killer starts to bleed green blood like an alien would. This makes the audience feel more uncomfortable about this character. We see a close up of the girls facial expression, she looks like she’s about to burst into tears from shock, she turns and runs towards the door. The camera angle changes to hand held and we see the killer run after her and grab her just as she gets to the door. As in all classic horror films the door is locked, they both fall to the floor and the girl goes to grab the killers face as she does the camera angle changes to a close up of his face as she pulls off his face and so we just see the bones. The camera changes to an over the shoulder shot so we see the girl screaming in horror and then a cover goes over her. The setting changes to a bed room where earlier she and her boyfriend were sleeping in bed, proving that it was a dream. The camera starts on a close up of the boy who wakes quickly and jumps out of the bed because the girl is screaming and moving around so much she is moving the bed. The camera then goes to a shot under the cover and we see the killer on the girl, this is the point in the film where the audience think how can it be a dream if he’s under the covers with her and that’s what makes this film scary. When the boy pulls the cover off the girl it’s just her struggling with herself the camera goes back to a medium side shot of the boy walking backwards to the wall with a look of confusion and fright on his face. Then the camera goes to a close up of the girl’s stomach as cuts appear and blood starts to pour out. This hole film is all about making you fear your dreams because when we dream we always know that its just a dream that when we wake up we are back in our beds unharmed, but this film takes away that security and makes the dreams real. This is how the killer kills people in there dreams so he can never be caught or stopped because he doesn’t exist, he gets into there dreams and kills them without leaving a trace. The idea of taking away the one place where everyone feels safe is a brilliant idea for a horror film and is something I may chose to use in my film.

2. Scream directed by Wes Craven in 1996

When the title comes on screen there is a non- diegetic sound of what I think is a door closing and a phone ringing. The writing starts out white but the starts to flash red as you can hear a heart beat then you hear the sound of a knife and the same door closing sound as the writing turns red. The writing comes towards the camera the screen goes red and there is a close up on a phone ringing (diegetic sound). The camera follows the phone to show a girl answering it. The man on the phone sounds very strange the girls not knowing who he is hangs up and doesn't think anything of it, after she hangs up the audience hear night sounds telling the audience that it is at night. The camera follows her as she walks away, the phone rings again the girl turns with a slight look of confusion on her face. Close up of her answering the phone and the camera follows the phone but this time the angle of the camera is slightly tilted and as they talk slowly zooms in and turns 90 degrees. The man on the phone says he wants to talk to the girl she makes a joke and hangs up again thinking nothing of it. Then there is a low angle shot of a tree and can hear night sounds and squeaking the camera moves down to see a swing in front of a house which is most likely the girls, the swing is swinging but when the audience saw the tree none of the leafs were moving. This creates the suspicions that someone is there. Then there is a close up of a stove turning on and the girl putting pop corn on, the camera changes to a medium shot and the phone rings, the girl goes to answer it and shies on the way. When she answers the phone this time she seems a bit more suspicious of the man who is calling her but then starts flirting with him. The man starts to talk about ‘scary movies’ and by the way he sounds and talks about them makes the audience feel unnerved by him. The camera follows the girls through the house and we see her locking the doors as she goes. The man on the phone keeps asking the girl what her name is and she asks why and the man replies ‘Because I wanna know who I’m looking at’ at this point the camera starts to zoom in on her so the audience can see her facial expression and some non-diegetic eerie music starts over the top of the night music. The girl starts to look scared and worried we then hear a dog barking which people usually relate to something being wrong like an intruder. When she turns the outside light on and looks out the window we see what looks like mist across the pool which creates a spooky atmosphere and at this point the eerie music becomes louder and high pitched. We then see an extreme close up of her locking the door and the man on the phone says aggressively “Don’t hang up on me” as she hangs up the phone. When he calls back again the way he sounds is a lot spookier as if he is enjoying scaring the girl. The girl looking and sounding slightly scared and annoyed at this point hangs up on him and goes back to her popcorn. When he calls again she shots at him and calls him a “Ass hole” but he interrupts her sounding a lot more aggressive and says “If you hang up on me again I’ll gut you like a fish” when he says this the camera zooms in and the eerie music gets louder and sharper but then dies down and but a loud drum is repeatedly played getting louder. The man carries on scaring this girl and says he wants to play a game and calls her ‘Blondie’ the girl has blond hair therefore we know that he can see her. As he says this the music becomes a lot faster and louder as she runs around the house checking all the doors are locked. The there is a close up of her looking though the window and we can just see the top of her head. When she asks what the man wants his reply tells the audience what kind of man he is and when he tells her there is a medium shot of her and we see the shock and fear is her facial expressions. Also the music suddenly becomes loud again, she hangs up and slowly walks away. As she does the door bell rings giving more proof that someone is there, the girl asks “Who’s there” a few times goes to call the police and as she picks up the phone it rings and the man relates what she said to scary films, he says that saying who’s there is a death wish. When she answers the phone the camera starts to zoom in again but unlike the other times this time its zooms in slowly but eventually ends up as a close up of her face. When she talks about her boyfriend being there any second and is walking backwards you can see a silhouette of someone sat out side in the same place she turned the lights on earlier. Even though she thinks her boyfriend is going to be there she is still in floods of tears and the man doesn't seem bothered by it at all. When he says her boyfriends name the non- diegetic music ends with a loud thud and diegetic night music can be heard, then he tells her to turn on the outside lights again (the same ones she turned on earlier and saw nothing) the non- diegetic music starts again with the same loud thud it ended on. As the shot changes to the boy tided to the chair there is another loud thud in the music. As she sees him she screams and there is a close up of her opening the door but the man sees it to and tells her not to do that and she locks it again. He tells her that he wants to play a game and we see a close up of the girl through the glass crying her eyes out and he tells her if she doesn't play he dies. She then turns the outside lights off and sits down ext to the TV. The music at this point becomes a lot quieter and you can only hear a piano playing. She unplugs the light so she is sat in a dark corner so she is less likely to be seen. As they play the ‘Movie Trivia’ game as he calls it the camera again zooms slowly in. When she gets the question wrong and Steve is killed we don’t see him being killed but we hear it and see his facial expressions as he dies. I think this is a good way to have a first death in a horror film because it’s not too gory or to over the top so you can develop the volume of the deaths later in the film. We do see a medium shot of Steve in the chair with his guts hanging out, which makes the audience feel very worried for the girl because they have seen what could happen to her to. The non- diegetic music at this point the notes that are played aren't long ones like earlier when the tension was building up but short, loud fast ones. When she runs into the kitchen the room is filled with smoke (because of the popcorn) she grabs a knife and slowly walks to the widow. The shot changes to a point of view shot of where the girl is looking and we see a man in a black outfit with his hand in the air run past and the music speeds up when he does then slows back down. The girl gets outside and hides, we then have another point of view shot of the girl looking in the kitchen and we see the man in a black outfit with a white mask looking around. The music gets louder and sharper when we see the man. Then there is a long shot of a car coming towards the house, this gives the audience hope for the girl. She looks through the window again and sees the back of the man he suddenly turns and try’s to grab the girl, the music becomes a lot faster again the girl gets away and runs towards the car that is pulling up to the house. There is a close up of the girls face and we see a little smile as if she is thinking she is going to be alright now. The killer then jumps out from nowhere and starts to chase her, as they are running towards the camera it starts to go into slow monition, the killer grabs her and stabs her, however when he stabs her he you can see him aim for a particular place. This is what I’m going to take from this film the fact that the killer chose a particular place to stab her, I think it makes the killer scarier if they know exactly what there going to do. I also like the phone calling and telling her what he is going to do to her.

Film Analyses

1. Halloween directed by Rob Zombie in 2007

The film Halloween is a horror film which falls into the slasher sub-genre. At the beginning of the film writing comes up which says ‘Darkest soul are not those which choose to assist within the hell of the abyss but those which choose to brake free from the abyss and move silently among us.’ I think this is referring to the difference between killers and ghost’s. Halloween is about a boy Michael Myers at the age of ten he killed four people and was put in a mental institution, then 17 years later he escapes and returns home to find his little sister and will kill anyone in his way. When first see Michael he is wearing a clown mask and this is a thing that goes through the whole film. I really think that the mask idea really works especially when Michael’s ten because he doesn’t look very scary with, he look like the stereotypical kid that gets bullied. However when Michael puts the mask on his body language suggests that he’s not this stereotypical boy. We usually relate clowns to funny, happy people we see at the circus but in this film they’ve made it so it counter acts what people aspect from a clown. As Michael gets older the mask’s are still there he makes then when he is in the mental institution but when he gets out he gets the mask which he wore when he killed his family.

The scene begins with a close up on a boy and girl kissing, the romantic music in the back ground could be played from a CD player but there is no proof of this so it could be either diegetic or non-diegetic. The lighting is high key and flickering suggesting that the room is lit by a fire. Then the camera goes to a wider shot so the audience can see the whole room and stood at the back is the killer blending in with the darkness. The low key lighting makes it hard to spot him at this point because he is stood so still and the camera isn’t focused on him. The camera then goes back to the same shot it started with, with the couple kissing, the music still playing and the lighting still the same. At the start of this scene the camera switches from these two shots a lot. When we go back to the wide shot we see the killer slowly move across the room, still in the darkness slowly moving into a lighter area still in the background, but the focus is still on the couple not him and the romantic music is still playing. The shot goes to the close up and when it chances back to the wide shot the killer is right behind the sofa where the couple are. As the killer steps into the light a quiet non-diegetic high pitch sound is heard over the top of the romantic music. The camera angle changes to a close up you the killer starting to move and the camera changes to the wide shot (the wide shot has stayed at the same angle throughout this scene) and you see the killer walk out of shot and another non-diegetic sound is heard over the top of the music at a slightly lower pitch. Then you get a medium close up of the couple and you see the killers shadow move over them. We then see a wide shot of the room with just the couple in it and the diegetic music becomes louder suggesting to the audience that the killer has gone. Then the it goes back to a close up on the couple kissing with the romantic music in the back ground making the audience believe that everything is going to be fine, then the killer steps into the shot we see him grab the boy and he is holding a knife, this is obvious to the audience that he is gong to die. As the killer grabs the boy non-diegetic high pitched music starts and when the killer grabs the boy the sound that the grab makes is a lot louder then it would be in really life. This emphasizes the situation and makes the audience react more. When the killer pulls the boy up the camera angle changes to an over the shoulder shot looking down at the couple. We then see a medium shot of the killer stabbing the boy again the volume of the knife stabbing the boy is over emphasized to create a more shocking effect. Then the audience see’s a close up of the boy’s facial expression showing his pain and the camera switches to a medium shot of the girl sitting up and screaming. Before the killer attacked the boy all the shots were still, like the camera was on a tripod but as soon as he grabs the boy the camera moves like a hand held shot. We the see the killer throw the boy across the room this shows the audience that he’s a strong man, with his height as well this makes him more scary. As in all horror films we see the damsel in distress, the girl runs to the front door screaming while the killer chases her. There is a medium shot of the girl opening the door and the killer going to grab her arm then we see a close up of the killer grabbing her are and it goes back to the medium shot. Throughout all of this the girl is screaming and the non-diegetic music is still playing. The next shot I think is brilliant, the girl gets pulled back into the house by the killer the door shuts and we see a wide angle shot of the house with the door lit up and to pumpkins either side of the porch, also the non-diegetic music and the girls screaming stops as soon as the door closes and you can just hear very quiet night sounds.