slasher research for media studies

1. The sound starts with the sound of tools being used and
burning, both sounds are ambient and the first blends
into the second. The killer ‘Freddie’s’ voice is heard
narrating his story (Diegetic sound & voice over that is
continuous throughout the opening.) and future plans .
This is synchronous because what we hear is seen on
screen including screams of a young girl is heard with
chilling background music. To then he introduces
another main character(Jason) where his iconic(non
diegetic ) sound effect from the jason films is the last
sound. (character theme music) that announces his
presence.
Sound

2. Lighting
The lighting tends to be gloomy and dark in
horrors. Here it is the same , and is used to
connote the binary opposites of good vs
evil. With the dull coloured setting to having
a dark cold look, that is the last shot ,which
has harsh blue light reflecting upon the
character compared to the contrast of red/fire
that was used to burn the character.

3. Shots
This is a establishing long
shot that shows the setting
which is this fits into the
slasher genre as it is an
isolated setting (a factory)
that means there is no help or
rescue where there is
nowhere to hide suggesting
danger can come easy.

4. This is Close up of a doll being thrown into the fire
and emphasis danger with fire and the colour of the
fire (red) . The doll also shows relevance as the
killer is a child killer and he died through being
burned in fire.

5. This is a close up of knife attached to a
finger, this gives information to the
audience of who this iconic killer is. The
lighting of knife emphasize its importance
to the film and reminder of the genre
(slasher).

6. This is a Medium long shot ,
allowing the audience to
see the entire victim in this
isolated setting with
nowhere to escape . From
this you can understand the
girl is in danger in a dark
setting with the colours red
and black ,both colours that
connotes danger. Lighting in
this shot works very well as
you can see the killer’s
shadow over the girl as if it
was consuming her.
The shadow this then gives
more information to what is
happening child in
danger=child killer.

7. This is a Medium shot of a well known
death flashback from the iconic slasher
when it first appeared in the 80’s , this
then shows a non linear narrative going
back into the past. With the blood, it
confirms what genre and film this is to
audiences (slasher).

8. This is a Extreme Close up
of the killers mouth . with
the black sharp dirty teeth
suggests something bad
and evil about this character
and the wrinkled dead like
looking face suggests they
are dangerous. The harsh
blue lighting highlights half
the mouth to strike mystery
and fear surrounding the
character.

9. This is extreme close up of
a mask , which tells the
audience who this is from
another iconic killer from a
slasher movie from the 80’s
with the character theme
music. This then creates
suspense and questions
both killers coming together.
There is lighting on half the
mask which suggests
danger / evil, with the mask
being dirty suggests there
setting is a outside (Crystal
lake) and reflects upon the
character.

10. Firstly black fades into the
opening, with many jump
cuts with the reminiscing of
the past, back to black to a
jumpcut to present day with
a jump cut and zoom into
the mask (jason) with a
zoom into the eye of the
mask with another jump cut
on to the next scene ,all in a
fast pace to keep up with
the fast action mid way in
the opening, to the pace
slowing down that builds
suspense to the audience to
draw their attention.
Editing

11. Binary opposite narrative
and Non-linear as there are
flashbacks in the opening of
freddy’s past , and Jason’s
past later in the film.
Narrative

12. What was withheld?
The opening allows you to know what kind of horror (Slasher) and
who the killers are (Freddy & Jason).
But what it doesn’t tell you, is Why is Jason apart of freddy’s
plan and what the outcomes will be .
Also as there are no titles , the director , cast , editor and
production are not revealed .