Question 1

2.  The antagonist is a
male who wears a
mask which is very
conventional of a
horror film • The stock characters in the film were the
female protagonists, these are presented
as vulnerable with this following the
lone girl theory, this makes the opening
sequence conventional of a horror film.
This also evident in one of the films I
analysed which was Cabin in the Woods
which helped in planning our opening
sequence

3.  In the mise-en-scene technical area we used many
examples to display the technical area, which
made the opening sequence conventional to
horror.
Costume:
The mask used was inspired by one of the films I used
in planning which was Scream. In the title sequence the
scream mask was the last shot and left a lasting effect
which is partly why we wanted to replicate that sort of
mask. So the mask used was conventional to horror as
such an iconic movie used a similar mask also. The
mask was white covering the whole of the antagonists
face. The reason we used a mask was because it created
an enigma code as it hid the antagonists identity, also
by using a mask the antagonist expression and emotion
is hidden projecting fear to the victims.

4.  We used weapons in our opening
sequence which is very conventional of
a horror film. Especially in our film as
even though it was a psycho sub-genre
is had element of a slasher film also. So
we conveyed this with the specific types
of weapon we used, as they were all
bladed and if used would present to the
audience a lot of gore which again is
conventional of a horror film. Ideas for
the weapons came from viewing the
cabin in the woods scene where
numerous weapons such as a saw can
be seen, which then we tried to replicate
by using similar weapons that would
have the same effect if used.
Props

5.  For our opening sequence we
presented the antagonist with having
a personal lair which he would plan
out his next victims, with this idea
instilling fear into the viewing
audience. This is very conventional of
a psycho horror film, there was not a
specific film that inspired are opening
sequence in this way but as it is so
conventional of a psycho thriller we
thought it would create fear as the
antagonist plans out his next
vulnerable victims.
 Next we also used another location
that is very conventional of a horror
film which was the woods, this linked
into one of the films I researched
Cabin in the Woods and did influence
our decision of where to film.
Location

6.  The costume worn by the
antagonist was a suit. We
thought this was very
conventional of a horror film
but not one in the woods. But
as the location and the
costume contrasted one
another so much we thought it
reinforced our idea that the
antagonist was a psycho and
had a mental illness, to be
wandering the woods in a
black suit.
Costume

7.  Character blocking of the final shot
was conventional of horror again as it
highlighted the girls vulnerability and
further emphasised the antagonist
dominance. The girl is seen as been
lower down and smaller with the
antagonists hand on her face with her
not knowing what's going on. This
connoted that the girl was going to be
captured and killed, with this shot
emphasising the antagonist as been in
control. This final shot was inspired
by the Cabin in the Woods shot where
the girl is shown a been crouched
while been held by the antagonists.
Character Blocking

8.  Lighting was another aspect of
mise-en-scene we considered, with
darkness used; again with this been
conventional of horror. In his lair all
was dark except for the direct
lighting from the lamp, we tried to
show portray the antagonist of
living in the darkness as well as
showing his victims in the lights.
This helped give the photos of the
girls prevalence in the shot and to
emphasise that they were his next
victims. This darkness in the
antagonists lair was an idea we got
from the seven opening which we
thought portrayed a psychotic lair
very well, so we tried to use similar
ideas from that in our own opening.
Lighting

9.  With the opening to the film we believe that sound was
our strongest technical area.
Diegetic:
 We used diegetic sounds with whispers that could only be
heard in the antagonists head this was to connote mental
illness which is conventional of a psychological/slasher
horror film.
Next diegetic sound was a technique used to emphasise
the lone girls vulnerability with screaming this helped
portray the antagonists dominance as screaming
connotes fear. This was also used in the final shot with
it then cutting to the final title, the screams were
supposed to connote that she was been captured and
killed.
Diegetic sound was next used with the scraping of the
weapon on the wall, this sound can be seen as jarring and
disorientating. It also helped turn the attention to the
antagonists weapon which was a machete which is very
conventional of horror movie.

10.  Fast jumping music is an example of non-
diegetic sound this was to build tension and
also to connote that the antagonist was
following the girls, this is very conventional
of horror as tension is built up until the final
climax which is seen when the girl screams.
 We also used the ambient sound of a wood
to set the scene, with this then contrasting
the fast jumping music when that starts,
these contrasting sounds help to build the
tension when they are juxtaposed.

11.  A close-up shot of the antagonist mask
is a shot we used. This was used to
connote fear as with the mask you
cannot see any emotions making the
antagonist look more sinister and scary
which is conventional of a horror film
 Close-ups of the antagonists weapons
can also be seen. This was to
emphasise that he uses the weapons.
The weapons that can be seen are all
conventional of slasher horror movies
as if any of them were used there
would be a lot gore and blood.
 Close-ups of the victims can also be
seen at the end this was to highlight
their vulnerability and to show their
close up facial expressions. This is also
put the antagonist in a superior
position as the victims were so scared.

12.  Tracking to follow the characters was
supposed to portray the girls as been
followed without their knowing
further highlighting their vulnerability
as the antagonist tracks them.

13.  Fast paced cuts were used
during the action to make the
scene look more hectic with this
helping to build tension. This is
very conventional of an action
scene as tension is built with the
fast cuts. Which is conventional
of horror as the antagonist is
trailing his soon to be victims

14. The plot:
The plot of our film was simple and followed conventional horror
films of the antagonist trailing and eventually capturing his victims.
The antagonist is first portrayed as lonely with the whispers
connoting a mental illness, his previous and next victims can be seen
with their pictures on his wall
The girls are then seen as walking through the woods, the antagonist
is shown as trailing them this can be seen through the use of
intercutting and the tracker.
The victims are then pounced upon with one girl being captured with
the title cutting the action.