2. AGE: Typically in horror films, the convention of age is used to portray a character in a specific way (in contrast with the
location the narrative is set) in order to provoke a sense of fear or empathy from an audience. Protagonists are
often in ‘groups’ or individualistic in the way that they fend for themselves. They tend to be younger (around twenty
tears of age). In spite of this, recent horror films incorporate a variety of character ages that are a subversion of the
typical convention, so that it intrigues an audience.
Examples Include:
• Annabelle (2014) – The young girl of around 9 years is centred at the climax of the scene. This elicits a sense of
fear and provides an audience with enigmas in the way that the possessed doll is foreboding the events of the
narrative.
• The Visit – Antagonists are of the ages of sixty years and older which is rather intriguing in the way that we (as
the audience) are presented with stereotypes in society of elder people being frail and vulnerable, which is
contrasted greatly in this film.
• Friday the 13th & Orphan – the antagonists are presented as children and demonstrate the possessive nature of
this age. Therefore, this shows that films have diversity in the way that they present ages and social groups in a
variety of ways which elicit emotions from an audience.
In our production, the age of our victim is fairly young and is of the similar age of the target audience, Hence, the
audience may adopt a form of social solidarity in the way that both the actor and the audience are of similar age.
We intended to provoke fear from the audience and therefore, they may feel discomfort themselves as they may
relate to the isolated situation we have created.
3. Victim: Qualities: The victim we intended to create was that of a
‘damsel in distress’ character. The fact the victim is female
suggests vulnerability and stereotypically weaker in the
way that this sex appears inferior as they are ‘unlikely’ to
have the ability to fend for themselves in a demanding
situation. They are often young and this helps to highlight
the disturbing nature of the scene, especially as the
audience are of similar age.
Appearance: To highlight the social
solidarity further, the victim wore
clothes that were ‘casual’, yet fairly
vintage in order for the audience to
associate the old-fashioned setting
with the mise-en-scene we used.
Naturally petite in height, the victim
we chose wore a blue, vintage shirt &
we followed typical conventions of the
reading a book to divert the audience
from what was about to happen. Our
victim is somewhat introduced at the
beginning via a voice mail which allows
the tone of the atmosphere to be set.
Similarities: Our production shares similarities with
the ‘Scream’ in the way that the main victim is
wearing clothes that represent the social norm. In
addition, we liked the idea that in ‘Scream’ the
presence of someone (with their identity hidden)
such as when the victim was in contact with an
unidentified character via the telephone. This added
to the discomfort of the atmosphere. We decided
that the use of sounds and unusual things that were
happening around the house created this same effect
in the way that it appeared as though a ‘stranger’ was
in the house and turning off the vinyl & breaking glass.
This acts as disruption in the narrative.
