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1. PR7: Me and My Movies
For the final assignmentinmyfilmstudiesunit,Ihave tostudyandanalyse the aspectsof many
differentfeaturesof movies.Theserange fromgenre codesandconventions,intertextuality,star
theory,active spectatorship,medialiteracyandfandom.Iwill alsouse twotechniquesIhave usedin
previousassignments:StuartHall'sReceptionTheoryandLacey'sRepertoire of Elements.The genre
of filmIhave decidedtostudyandanalyse inthisassignmentishorror.More specificallythe sub-
genre of 'water horror' movies.These filmsare oftenthrillinginnature due tothe elementof the
'fearof the unknown'owingtothe mysteriousfactorof openwater.The three filmsIhave chosento
studyare: Lake Placid,DeepBlue Sea(both1999) andJaws (1975). All are horrorfilmsandall can be
classedas‘waterhorror’ films.Eachof the filmsalsofall undertheirowncategoriesof horroras well
as the listedprecedingtwo.Lake Placidisa Horror-Comedy,DeepBlueSeaaScience-FictionHorror
and Jawsa Thriller-Horror.
Jawswas releasedin1975 and is oftenregardedasthe firstblockbusterandisstill citedasbeing
amongthe greatestfilmsof all time.The filmwasproducedinthe years1974 and 1975 andis
directedbyStevenSpielberg.The filmisbasedonPeterBenchley’snovelof the same name fromthe
previousyear.The filmstarsRoyScheider,RobertShaw andRichardDreyfusswiththe filmbeing
distributedbyUniversal Pictures. Fromabudgetof nine milliondollarsthe filmreturnedan
impressive$470.7 millionatthe box office while alsospawningthree sequels. The filmcentreson
the small beachtownof Amity,where ahuge greatwhite sharkisterrorizingthe locals.Afterseveral
killings,ChiefBrody,accompaniedbysharkhunterQuintandmarine biologistHooper,setoutina
bidto kill the beast.Theyeventuallysucceed,thoughQuintiskilledinthe process.
Lake Placidwas releasedin1999 and isdirectedbySteve Miner.Some of the cast for the filminclude
Bill Pullman,BridgetFonda,OliverPlat,BrendanGleesonandBettyWhite.The filmwasproducedin
the years1998 and 1999 and was distributedby20th
centuryfox. From a budgetof $27 millionit
made $56,870,414 andhas spawnedthree sequelsandspinoff.The filmfeaturesasmall townthat
isbeingterrorizedbyanenormouscrocodile.Variousofficersandexperts are sooncalledinafter
the deathsof a man andvariousanimals.Soon,theydiscoverawomanis feedingthe crocodilesand

2. has broughtthemup since theywere young.Later,the crocodile iskilledandanotherone is
revealedtobe active,whichisthencaptured.
DeepBlue Sea,like Lake Placid,wasreleasedin1999. The filmhasscience fictionhorrorelements
whichmakesitquite differenttothe othertwo,thoughitstill retainsthe waterhorrortheme.The
filmwasproducedinthe years1998 and 1999 and wasdirectedbyRennyHarlin.The filmfeaturesa
cast includingSaffronBurrows,ThomasJane,LLCool J,StellanSkarsgardandSamuel L. Jackson. The
filmisaboutsome scientistswhoare usingthree sharksasexperimentstofindacure for Alzheimer’s
disease.Theirexperimentshave leftthe sharksextremelyintelligentandgive themenhanced
abilities.The sharkssoonescape andbeginkillingpeopleatthe researchcentre. However,theyare
all killedeventually.
There are manythings I like aboutthe horrorgenre and whichattract
me to it’sfilmsandholdmy attention.One of the majorthingsthatI
enjoyabouta horror movie isit’sgenre.Ienjoygrippingplotsthat
leave youguessingaboutwhatisgoingtohappennextandare full of
twistsandturns. The storyis a keysellingpointforme andis
somethingIprioritiseoverthe cast,director,etc.If the story is
boringthenI will oftenlookelswhere.Ienjoyfilmplot’sthatare
original andthat feature aunique visionanddirection.Therefore,I
may be attractedto auteur directorsandtheirwork. I enjoythe
aforementionedwaterhorrormoviesbecause of the thrillingfearof
the unknownaspecttoth stories. FreddyvsJasonisa 2003 crossover
horror filmdirectedbyRonnyYuand distributedbyNew Line
Cinema.The storyliterallyrevolvesaroundaconflictbetweenthe
titularcharactersJason Voorhees(Fromthe FridayThe 13th
series)
and FreddyKrueger(Fromthe Nightmare onElmStreetseries).The
storyfor thishorror filmisdefinitelywhatattractedme toit. Though
I hadn’tpreviouslywatchedanyof the filmsfromthe titular
characters respective series,the storyof twoiconichorror villainsengaginginanepicbattle to the
deathgreatlyenticedme towantto watch the film.Anotherfilmhadthiseffectonme:Alienvs
Predator.The ideaof two genre heavyweights(thistime fromscience fiction) battlingeachother
interestedme. SomethingIenjoyabouthorrormovie stories the elementof the unknownandthe
mysterythatmany of themhave.I like tobe keptguessingina horrorfilmandfor themto be
unpredictable.Forexample,Ilike the filmtohave plottwistswhichkeepme fromcorrectlyguessing
whatthe outcome isgoingto be,suchas the identityof the killer.AnotherthingIenjoyabouthorror
filmsisthe scare factor involved.Ithinkthatthe scarierthe filmis,the more likelyitisgoingtokeep
a holdon my attentionandkeepme watching.Ilike the nervouswaitas
youwait forsomethingscaryto happenand thenthe excitementof seeing
whatit iswhenit finallydoeshappen. Ithinkthe psychological tensionis
quite excitingduringthese partsof a horrorfilm.AnotherthingIenjoy
abouthorror filmsare the characters. If the characters have good
personalitiesandare likeable,Ioftenfindmyself rootingforthemand
watchingonthe edge of myseat,hopingfortheirsurvival.Horrorfilms
sometimesevenhave fantasticvillainswhichalthoughyoumaynotwantto
see themcome out ontop, youdo enjoywatchingthem.Anexample of a
verypopularandlikeable villainisHannibal Lecter,playedbyAnthony
Hopkinsinthe 1991 movie ‘Silence of the Lambs’.The characteris witty,
intelligent,scaryandinmany waysdistrubing.However,the fantastic

3. actingon the part of Hopkinsmakesthe charactera veryinterestingandpopularone.Hisunique
perspective oneventsandengagementswithFBIagentClarice Starling(JodieFoster) are brilliantly
workedoutscenesandhelpmouldandprogresshischaracter.I also oftenlike the groupof people
tryingto survive inhorrorfilmsandas mentionedabove,Ioftenrootfor them.If theysurvive the
story(a small groupusuallydo) thenthere isa chance of a sequel.Iwill oftenwatchsequelstosee
howthe characters have progressedsince the eventsof the lastmovie andtosee whatdifficulties
theyface thistime around.Anexample of thisisthe quadrilogyof Screammovies.Theyare horror
filmswithaslightelementof comedyandall fourfeature the three same maincharacterswhile
several othersalsoappearinone or twoof them. I enjoythe three maincharacters:Sidney,Gale
and ‘Dewey’(David).Each have unique,likeablepersonalitiesandare the type thatyou wantto see
survive.The fourscreamfilmswere releasedin1996,1997,2000 and 2011 respectively.
The term intertextualityisusedtodescribe similaraspectsandpropertiesthatfilmsmayshare with
each other.Forexample one filmmayborrow aspecifictechnique of filmingthatistraceable to
anotherfilm,aswell asthingssuchas certaincamera anglesandeditingstyles. The firstthree films
that I wrote about(Jaws,Lake PlacidandDeepBlue Sea) all have intertextual linkswitheachother.
Al three feature avulnerable womanaloneinthe water,unaware of the huge beast lurkingbehind/
belowthem.Jawscame firstandthe posteris quite iconic,withitbeingparodiedandbecoming
easilyrecognizable inthe publicmainstream.The postersforLake PlacidandDeepBlue Seawere no
doubtinfluencedby the Jawsposter.Theymayevenhave hopedforpeople tomake asubconscious
linkbetweenthe two.The dangerisinall three circumstanceshiddenfromthe characterof the
poster,possiblytodemonstratethe thrillingandelementof the unknownnature of the film. There
are manyothertypesof intertextualityinhorrorfilms,assome maypayhomage to pastfilms.Inthe
movie ‘Scream’,the characterswatch‘Halloween’,apivotal movieinthe slasherfilmgenre andone
that wasmade 18 yearspreviously.Thisisalmostpayingrespecttothe filmandthisisalsopaidback
whenin‘Halloween:H20’,the characters watch ‘Scream2’.
Star theoryisthe theorythatby havinga big,popularandestablishedstarina film, itwill increase
the movie’scritical andcommercial performance.Italsohelpstosell the filmtothe audience who
will see the bigstarand assume itis a guarantee of quality.None of the actorsinJaws were
particularly‘huge’actorsfortheirtime,thoughtheywere all establishedandrespected.However,
none necessarilystoodout.InLake Placid, Bill Pullman,BridgetFonda,OliverPlatt,BrendanGleeson

4. and BettyWhite all starred.These are a mix of establishedandlongperformingactors. Pullmanwas
a big actor aroundthe time of the film,alongwithBrendanGleesonandBridgetFonda.BettyWhite
can almostbe classifiedasa‘Hollywoodlegend’due toheryearsof actingand hundredsof credits.
The combinedmixture of youth,experience andcurrentpopularstarshelpstocreate a unique
ensemblewhichwouldattractmanydifferenttypesof people.Also,the filmisahorror/comedyfilm
so seeingthese actorsperforminthisstyle maybe attractive tomanydifferenttypesof audiences.
In DeepBlue Sea,youhave manyactors includingLLCool J and Samuel L.Jackson.These are very
popularandlikeable actorsandthustheyalsocan be usedas an example forstartheory.
Lacey’s Repertoire ofElements:Jaws Trailer
Character:The characters shownwithinthe trailerare veryconventional typesof people thatusually
appearin thrillerfilmsof thisnature.The victimsare showntobe variouspeople,thusnotkeeping
to one age range or gender.The maincharacter isclearlyshowntobe a police chief, whichis
generallyastrongconventionof thrillerandhorrormovies.He hasa wife,whoina wayis depicted
as the voice of reasonwithinthe trailer.The twoothermaincharacters are shownto be a smart
scientistwhoisanexpertonsharksand a sharkhunterwitha bad attitude.These are also
conventionsof thissortof filmasthe maincharactersin thisgenre will oftenbe fromdifferent
backgroundsandofferdifferentthingstothe story.
Narrative:The narrative isshowntobe a quite linearone,withanormal beginning,middle andend.
Firstly,we findoutthatpeople are beingkilledbyahuge sharkat a small beachtownand the police
chief isinvestigating.We thensee thathe eventuallydecidestoattempttokill the sharkand thushe
enlistsamarine biologistanda sharkhunterto help.
Iconography:We see manythingsthat youwouldexpecttosee ina trailerfora filmlike this.Yousee
people runningawayscared,brief shotsof the beast,gunsfiring,gunsloading,peopleshoutingand
a lot more dramaticscenes. These are all thingsyouwouldexpectinahorror/thrillerfilmandby
appearinginthe trailer,theywhetthe appetiteforthe viewer,astheysee all of the aforementioned
drama and actionand wantto go and see the film.
Setting:The settingforthisfilmisquite conventional,due tothe nature of the film.The settingisat
a small beachtownnamedAmity,andsome of the filmisalsosetat sea.Thismakessense asfor a
shark to be appearinginit,waterneedstobe heavilypresent.The townisalso quite conventional as
it isa small holidayresortwhichisbeingblightedbythe spate of sharkattacks.
Technical andAudioCodes: The classicjawstheme playsatthe beginningandatselectscenes
throughoutthe trailer.Thisbuildstensionandexcitementforthe viewingaudience,whowill wantto
see it.A man alsonarratesthe firstfewscenesof the trailer,where underwatershotsfromthe point
of viewof the sharkare shown.He usedphraseslike ‘killingmachine’whichbuildstensionand
possiblyscaresthe viewers. The editingisquite fastinplaces,thoughIthinkthe slownessmightbe
due to the datednature of the filmanditstrailer.
Lacey’s Repertoire ofElements:Lake Placid Trailer
Character:Like the Jawstrailer,the charactersinLake Placidappearto be verysimilarinstyle.There
isa sheriff,thoughinthistrailerhe appearstobe there for comicrelief,amarine biologistandother
scientists.The charactersare all differenttoeachotherand are there to make differentactions.

5. Narrative:The narrative isshowntobe quite astandard horrorfilmstoryand to be linear.There isa
large beast(inthiscase a crocodile) terrorisingacommunityanda groupof people setabouttrying
to kill it.The trailerhasa beginning,middle andend,toshow the builduptothe climax inthe film.
Iconography:There are veryconventional thingsthatcan be seenwithinthe trailer.Youcansee
people running,gunsfiring,explosions,epicandlarge stunts,brief glimpsesof the beastandmany
otherdramatic andscary things.These thingsserve asanincitementforthe filmandmake the film
attractive to an audience.
Setting:The settingisveryconventional andisnecessarydue tothe nature of the film’splot.The
filmisprimarilysetatthe titular‘Lake Placid’whichishome toa huge man-eatingcrocodile. The
widerareaof the filmislocatedina small town.
Technical andAudioCodes: Youcan see much of the film’sactionwithinthe traileranditcertainly
enticesaviewertowantto go and watch it.You can see gunshots,explosions,crashes,loudsplashes
(where the crocodile strikes) andmuchmore.The trailerneverdirectlyshowsthe crocodilefull on,
insteadoptingtogo forbrief shots.Thiswill be done sopeople are excitedaboutseeingthe full
beastinthe full movie.The lastscene inthe trailerfeaturesamanin the water,withthe soundof a
heavilybreathingcrocodile nearhim. Thisisquite scaryandisalsoa narrative enigmaaspeople will
wantto watch the filmto see what happenstothe man.
Lacey’s Repertoire ofElements:DeepBlue Sea Trailer
Character:The characters are quite stereotypical of actionandhorror films(aswell asscience fiction
inthiscase).There is a smart scientistwhoislookingtocure a disease, amanincharge of the
companyshe is part of,several marine biologistsandachef (usedforcomic relief).Theyare all very
standardand generalizedcharactersforthistype of filmandtheyare conventional.
Narrative:The storyis veryconventionalandhasa verycommonplottheme.A scientististryingto
make a breakthroughinmedicine bytryingtocure Alzheimer’sdisease.She experimentsonsharks
whobecome intelligentandsubsequentlybreakthroughtheircagesandattack the researchbase
that isin the middle of the sea.
Iconography:Yousee vast openwater,huge beasts,guns,explosions,stunts,experimentingand
manyother thingsthatyouwouldexpectfromthishybridgenre.These actsasenticementstothe
viewerandmake themwantto go andwatch the filmevenmore.
Setting:The settingforthe filmisprimarilyatanexperimental laboratoryinthe middle of the ocean.
It isan isolatedplace farawayfrom anyhelp,asis a conventionof horrorfilmsandparticularly
water-horrorfilms(seeJaws,above).
Technical andAudioCodes: The technical andaudiocodesare verytypical of the genre and trailers
ingeneral.Itis veryfast-pacedwithquicklyeditedshotsandhassoundsthatare scary and exciting.
The soundeffectsusedwithinthe trailerbuildtensionandsuspense andmake the filmappearthat
much more excitingandthrilling.
ReceptionTheorywasfirstdevelopedbyStuartHall andis the theorythat we react to films
differentlybasedonfactorssuchas ourage, gender,ethnicity,social class,culture/personal history,
political outlookandthe circumstancesof the exhibition(suchasat home or at the cinema).The
theoryputsthe viewerintocontextandexaminesall of the minute detailsintothe ways aviewer
reacts to a mediatext.IthinkI reactto horror moviesintwodifferentways.Firstly,Iwatchthem

6. because Ilike the thrill factorinvolvedandthe tense excitementatwaitingforthe nextscare.
Secondly,Isometimesimagine whatIwoulddointhe characters situationsasI sitand watcha
movie.IsometimeswonderwhatIwoulddointhose particularcircumstancesandif I wouldsurvive
the story. From the above factors,an individual canhave eitherapreferred,negotiatedor
oppositionalview tothe film.A preferredview meansthatyoufullyagree withall the themesand
intentionsof the producers/director,anegotiatedview meansthatyoupartiallyagree andan
oppositionalview meansthatyouare againstthe filmsrepresentationsandthemes. Ihave watched
horror filmsformanyyears,havingbeeninterestedinthemformanyyears.Froma cultural pointof
view,the 15/18 ratingson themmade thema tabooand a definite thingayoungchildshouldnotbe
watching.However,thisenticedme to themmore andmade me wantto watch them.Now,Iwatch
manytypesof horrorfilmstotry and fine hiddengems.Ienjoyall branchesof horror,fromcomedy
to zombiesandalienstoserial killers. Ienjoyawide varietyasI thinkall have differentthings to
offer. Ienjoyhorrorfilmsasa youngperson.Manyhorror filmsfeature youngcharactersandina
wayI can almostsee myself intheirpersonalities.Thisallowsme toconnectwiththe filmevenmore
and to enjoyitina non-casual watchingway.Many horror filmsare alsosetat educational
establishmentssuchashighschools,collegesanduniversities.Thisislike mycurrentenvironment
and so I can putmyself inthe characters’shoes.My circumstancesof exhibitiondonotreallyaffect
the way I enjoyhorrormovies,asIwill alwaysbe waitingforthe thrillsandshocksof the story.
However,if Iam watchingina class I maybe lookingatthe subtextmore suchas the clichés,
intertextualityandreferences.Whenathome,Iwill watchthe filmmore casuallyandbe caughtup
init more in contrastto if I was activelystudyingit.
I findoutabout mymoviesfroma varietyof sourcesandI believe theymake me medialiterate.The
biggestsource of movie informationIrelyonisfromthe internet.Iuse variouswebsitestocheckall
the latestmovie informationandnews,suchastrailers,reviewsandmore.Iuse websiteslike IMDB
(toviewupcomingfilms)YouTube (toview trailers)andWikipedia(tofindanyinformationof
sequelsforafilm,forexample).Ialsouse twitterandFacebooktoan extentasI will getinformation
fromsome of the several accountsIfollow onthem.Ioccasionallypurchase acopy of filmmagazines
such as Empire but,onlywhenthere are manystoriesandfeaturesthatdirectlyappeal tome.This
mightinclude a20 page special ona filmIam reallyexcitedfor.Apartfromthe internetand
magazinesIalsowatch TV,where Iwatch filmreview programmesonchannelssuchasskynewsand
bbc news.Theyfeature all of the updatesof latestfilmreleasesandIget muchinformationfrom
them.I will alsoviewmanytrailerswhileatthe cinema,asthere are alwayspre-screening
advertisements. Active spectatorshipisthe theorythateachviewerisdifferentanddependingon
whotheyare and variousfactors,theywill reactuniquelytoafilmandreceive itindifferentways.
Theywill notjustblindlyacceptthe messagesandwillinsteadinterprettheirownmeaningsfrom
the mediatext. People maybe attractedtoa film’sthemes,characters orthe storyand may watchit
due to experiences,personalityorsimplyenjoyment.Peoplemayevensee aremake of a filmmerely
to see if itis betterthanthe original. There are manyhorror fandoms,eachdedicatedtovarious
horror franchises.There are manyhorrorthemedeventsandconventionsthatfanscanget involved
in,if theyso wish.There are alsomany Facebook groupsdedicatedtothe genre of horror and some
are themedtospecifichorrorseries.Forexample,theymayonlyfeature newsof that particular
seriesandprovide updatesonsequels,give oldvideosetc.Conventionsallowhorrorfansto dressup
as theirfavourite character,which allowsthemto engage evenore withtheirfavouritegenre. Other
eventsallowpeople togoandmeetcast membersof writersfora filmtheylike,sotheycan
questionthemoncertainaspectsof it.Thisalsoallowsthemtogain more of an insightintothe film
theylike andto alsogeta newoutlookonthe film.Atone of the eventsbelow youcanattendmovie
marathons,whichwill appeal tohardcore fans.

7. I didn’tenjoythe movie ‘A walkamongthe tombstones’asmuchas I expectedanditdefinitelydid
not live uptomy expectations.The marketingcampaignwas,Ithought,veryexcellentandIthought
it made the filmlookmuchmore attractive thanit actuallywas.I believedthatasthe trailerfeatured
actionand thrillingmomentsthe whole filmwouldbut,theywere sporadicandat timesIfoundthe
filmtobe boring.ThoughIengagedwiththe marketingcampaign(IlookedforwardtoseeingLiam
Neeson,whichisanevidenceof startheoryas well asthe dramaticlookingpostersandexciting
trailer) Ididnot enjoythe final productandthe promotionsforthe filmwere muchbetterthanit.
At the LondonFilmandComic Con,
people canmeetKenKirzinger,the
actor who playedJasonVoorheesin
several of the Fridaythe 13th
films.
You can get hisautographas well as
photographwithhimfora small fee.
Thisallowsfansof the filmstofeel a
more personal collectionwiththe
filmastheyhave metthe actors,
gainedanautograph etc.