Assessing Past Coursework

Titles have intertextuality with Scream (Wes Craven, 1996). Long drawn out notes,
Framing of the branches, signifies someone hiding. Shot is not steady, again reinforcing the fact that someone is watching the girl.
False scare used early on, also intertextuality with the name 'Damien', from the film The Omen (Richard Donner, 1976)
Mise en scene (the wall colouring, posters and bedding) are all signifiers of a girl.
Dialogue is good for exposition, but if too much is used it can look and sound very staged.
Elipsis - moves on time.
Throwing clothes and a cut away shot - signifies sexual activity without actually showing anything.
Female gaze
Camera in cupboard - good way to break up shots
could have used a whip-tilt (moving the camera up quickly) to show the reaction to the loud noise
could have used different shots instead of a two shot
Fast paced editing could have been used at the end



Titles - white font on black background signifies realism
Straight away the bottle of alcohol signifies that the character is going to die
Point of view shot, signifies drunk
Framing signifies someone is watching
No diagetic sound
No violence shown
Narrative enigma used for the killer -  only shows the killers feet when dragging the body,  so the audience has no clue about gender, age etc
Effect used to signify CCTV
Diagetic sound - victim moaning
Faster paced editing could have been used to increase tension
Mise en scene works well, can clearly see and hear that the victim is chained up
Intertextuality with Psycho's shower scene - blood going down the drain, and on the wall



Titles - Font is thought through, animations and transitions
Lack of verisimilitude is lost because there is no diagetic sound
Point of view shot,
use of mise en scene and props - kettle boiling, creates tension (heat rising)

Slasher Overview Vodcast

Stalk & Slash Vodcast

SlasherEG6: Terror Train

Terror Train

(Roger Spottiswoode 1980)

PRODUCED BY: Astral Bellevue Pathé Sandy Howard Productions Triple T Productions

DISTRIBUTED BY: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (click here to see the full list)

BUDGET: $3.5m

RATINGS: Rotten Tomatoes 36% IMBD  5.7/10 

Killing Scene analysis & Sound

The first shot we see is a long shot of the killer coming towards the victim. We can see that the killer is wearing a mask. The music is non-diegetic long drawn out string notes, which is steadily getting more fast paced to increase tension.

We then see a medium close-up of the victim so the audience can see her emotions.                                               

Then we cut back to a close up shot of the killer in his mask to increase tension. There are high notes to increase the heart-rate.










The next two shots we see are medium long shots of the killer grabbing the victim.

We then see a point of view shot from the victim as the killer is strangling her. 

Then we see a medium close up of the victim and the killer fighting. The editing is very fast paced so that we dont see too much of the violence.



The music is long drawn out notes to subconsciously make the audience hold their breath. 

The violence scenes are edited so we only see a few seconds of each shot, so the verisimilitude is not lost.





Then we see a low angle shot of the killer to show his dominance in the scene.

Then we see a high angle shot of the victim to show her helplessness in the scene.

We see a final close up of the killer strangling the victim, and the music is fast paced and features lots of high notes to increase the heart rate during the killing scene.

Then we see another medium long shot of the killer in the mask killing the victim. We dont see the actual violence again to keep the verisimilitude.

Narrative Representations in 2 Slasher Films

Scream (Wes Craven, 1996)

The first character is a blonde woman. Her blonde hair signifies she is the scream queen of the film. As well as having the stereotypical appearance of a scream queen, she is home alone, which is a common signifier of the slasher genre. We learn that the girl has a boyfriend, which is also anchorage to signify she is the scream queen figure. Equilibrium is portrayed at the very start as well, as the girl is simply preparing popcorn and is on the phone, although she does not know that the man she is talking to is the killer. As she begins to realise, the equilibrium becomes disrupted. This is another example of Todorov's theory being applied to a slasher film. Barthes' theory of narrative engima is also slightly applied to the opening. To begin with we only hear the voice and don't see the physical body. When we do see the killer, he is wearing a mask, so we still do not entirely know who it is and what their motive is. 

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Marcus Nispel, 2003) 

The start of this opening goes against Todorov's theory of equilibrium as he said that we should start with equilibrium, encounter a dis-equilibrium and then solve this by creating a new equilibrium. The film starts off with images of a crime scene and police officers, which signifies dis-equilibrium. We then go to equilibrium as we view the 5 main characters, which is not the order in which Todorov suggested it should be. Carole Clover's theory of the final girl is also reflected. The first character the camera fully focuses on has brunette hair and appears to be the sensible one out of the group. This character is the stereotypical final girl, used in many slasher films. However, she appears to have a relationship with one of the boys in the group, which goes against the stereotypical final girl character, who, in Clover's book, supposedly does not have a boyfriend. We then see people in the back kissing. Both the boy and girl are blonde, which signify that these characters are most likely dumb, and sexually active. The girl is the stereotypical scream queen, which is the binary opposite of the final girl character - the theory of binary opposition was created by Levi-Strauss. Within the group, there is a character who is framed as 'the other'. He wears glasses and is nerdy and appears to be the only character within the group to not be in some kind of relationship which signifies he is different. He appears to be the annoying one, who the others do not like very much which therefore means the audience do not empathize very much with him. 

Prelim

Location: Linton Camp