Media work

2. •Production company comes up first while
creepy music plays in the background
setting an scary atmosphere

3. • Screen / music fades into the first scene of the
film, music carries on playing, “SCREEN GEMS
presents” (second production company)
• Establishing shot of house – is this an important
location?
• Shot taken from a van (point of view) as a man
drives down throwing newspapers outside houses

4. • Establishing shot carries on through
neighbourhood showing all the houses, looks like
an American neighbourhood
• More production companies
• Eerie music keeps on playing in the background

5. • Jump cut to newspaper guy

6. • Close up on his address book, one address
highlighted “cancelled”
• Music gets more intense during this moment,
drums start playing louder highlighting
importance of this house.

7. • Jump cuts from address list to the “cancelled
house”, long shot, eerie music continues
drawing our attention to this house.

8. • Title ‘The Stepfather’ next to a close-up of this
character, suggesting this is the stepfather and
he is an important character
• Drums in music keep playing, creating an
intense build-up

9. • One of the main actors Dylan Walsh, jump cuts
between scenes
• Close up on applying hair dye on hand
• Scary piano music begins playing in the
background leading up to a climax?

10. • Another main actress Sela Ward, intensity in
music builds up while the ‘Stepfather’
character showers

11. • One of the main actors

12. • Another main character, eerie music in the
background while the main character is now
out of the shower and shaving.

13. • Main character has now dyed his hair, shaved
and changed his contact lenses from brown to
blue.

14. • More actors names, character goes downstairs
and the creepy music stops, long shot as he
turns on a choir singing ‘Silent Night’

15. •‘Casting by..’
•Followed by Costume Designer
•Followed by Music Supervisor
•Followed by editor

16. • In the background character is walking round
what seems an empty house, silent night is
playing in the background as he makes himself
breakfast
• Set in the morning? At Christmas time?

18. •As Silent Night continues playing in the background the camera
shows the dead bodies of what looks like a family around the
house as the stepfather walks around drinking his tea. You can
hear muffled screams and voices while drums begin to play
making a scary atmosphere and a build up to a climax.

19. • Close up on objects used to supposedly
murder the family in the opening, the
stepfather now seems guilty. Scary music
building in intensity

20. • Close up on his face as he sees flashbacks of
the murder and hears muffled screams just
before he leaves the house.

21. • Executive producers, last scene before opening
finishes. Drums increase in tempo and volume as
intensity builds. Close up to his shaving cut in his
car as he drives away from the murder scene,
suspicion builds as this scene ends.