Audience Research Graphs/Charts

Questionnaires

Horror Character Analysis

Original Questionnaire

1. Are you Male or Female?
2. What age are you?
(12-17)  (18-24)  (25-39)  (40+)
3. What horror film have you watched the most?
4. Are you interested in and watch horror films?
5. if you watch horror films, how many do you watch within a month?
(1)  (2)  (3)  (4+)
6. What is the horror film you have watched the most and enjoyed?
7. Do you ever go to the cinema to watch a new film?
8. What is it about the film that makes you want to pay the fee and watch it?
(Trailers)  (Posters/Advertising)  (Directors/Actors)  Previous films in the series)
9. What is it about horror films that attract you to watch it?
10. Does the marketing process (advertising, branding and promotion) influence you to watch movies?
11. What is your all-time favorite horror movie?
12. When you realise your favorite actors are starring in the movie, do you get influenced to just watch it?

 These are the questions that I asked my audience to try and find out really what type of movies they like/watch and what persuades them to watch a movie. From asking these questions I can then begin to plan what I can create to make the audience happy and satisfied. The feedback that I will receive will be from a series of age groups so therefore I can discover how different ages view particular types of Horror films.

Horror and the Representation of Women

In this essay I am going to be talking about the representation of women in horror films. I will be writing about how they are treated and act in horror films and whether these actions are conventional in horror films. I am going to be writing about the way they are represented as this will help give a better understanding to how audiences view horror films, and how they view women in these films. This information about the women in horror films will help the audience understand the female character roles more and have an understanding of why they are treated the way they are.

The films that I am going to be relating to about the way women are represented in horror films are The Crazies, Halloween, Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film and Scream 4. The Crazies is a 2010 film directed by Breck Eisner. Halloween is a 1978 film directed by John Carpenter. The Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film is a 2006 film. Scream 4 is a 2011 film directed by Wes Craven. In 1992, Carol Clover published ‘Men, Women and Chainsaws: Gender in the modern horror film’ and it revolutionized the landscape of feminist horror film theory. One of her most common contributions was the Final Girl Theory. Clover does not argue that every horror film is a feminist one. Instead, she argues that the genre is not the epitome of misogyny as previously thought. Clover asks not “is there violence depicted against women?” but why violence is depicted, by whom, against whom and whom does it create sympathy for? The Final Girl is the last female character in the film to be targeted as a victim by the killer. In these films it used to be largely that the audience focuses on the male killer, however the clover theory in these films shows that the audience are more focused on the girl who is the victim of the attack but yet the hero. This theory is relative to these movies as the viewers of these movies indentify the fright of the female being attacked, as opposed to the gratification or satisfaction of the murderer as he attacks in these movies. Gender fluidity is relevant to these movies, for example in Halloween, Mike Myers kills in response to his sister having sex. He uses a phallic weapon to deal with his repressed sexuality, the same situation happens in Scream 4, as it is always the weapon which indicates a phallic symbol towards a female, this instantly makes the audience feel sorry for the female victim because of the way they are being treated by the male character. Also the ‘Final Girl’ seems to be identified by the male-dominated audience even more than before throughout the movies. Clovers theory seems to be relevant to these movies as the ‘Final Girl’ is the only one of her friends who has masculine traits and is often similar to the adolescent boy, this is typical of Halloween and Scream 4 as the girl that is targeted last in these movies is the one that always survives, after being tortured and tormented by the male killer. Another part of the clover theory is Empowered Women, this is well shown in particularly in the film Halloween as Lurie is the first girl to fight back against Mike Meyers, however  Meyers almost unbelievably rises yet again with Dr.Loomis alerted by the children and shoots him in the back. This is a perfect example for this clover theory as this combines the endings of A (she is saved) and ending B (she fights back). This theory has become more noticeable and understandable more in recent Horror film such as The Crazies and Scream 4, examples have also been shown in the rise and fall of slasher movie aswell.


I feel that both theories are relative to horror films and are understandable when watching a horror film, they both change the way the audience view the film and explain the causes of what makes them act and think in this way. I also feel that both Mulvey and Clover give a good understanding of the representation of women in horror films, and they both explain that it is mainly that the female is always the victim of the attack as they are seen as an object and les s important and are also the victim of a sexual attack as the weapon they are being targeted by is a phallic symbol. From researching both of these theories I agree with Clover, in the way that she represents the way that women are treated in horror films as she gives good reasons.

The ‘Male Gaze’ is what Laura Mulvey’s theory relates to the most, and this features in all Horror films, it is easily recognised once you understand the theory. Many theorists (especially Laura Mulvey) have suggested that commercial cinema put the audience into the position of an ‘appraising heterosexual male’ by adopting camera techniques which present women as objects to be looked at and men as subjects who do the looking. In these four horror films I have watched all relate to Laura Mulvey’s theory as they all contain the ‘Male Gaze’. The techniques that are used in creating the male gaze in these films are point of view shots and reaction shots this helps make the male character the subject, a good example for this mike Meyers in the film Halloween, these shots are used a lot on him. The use of long shots, often show the male point of view of the female this encourages the audience to relate to her as an object, this creates the intimidation of the female characters. Mulvey argues that mainstream film is part of the sexist ‘regime’ of viewing which denies women subjectivity and encourages culture to view women as objects for male pleasure. This theory is what happens in all horror films as the female characters are always targeted  by the males, to indicate the sexual pleasure the male can inflict on the females, this is the way that the audience see horror films now.

Both of these theories show 2 different ways that females are viewed in Horror films, as Clover talks about how the audience indentifies the female character and how they act as being the ‘Final Girl’ being the last person to survive and take on the killer, she also talks about how the attack is normally related in a sexual attack as the weapon that is being used represents a phallic symbol of a male. Whereas, Mulvey talks all about the ‘Male Gaze’ this is basically different uses of camera that have been used to show different aspects in the way females are being viewed in horror films, she basically talks about using different shots to make the audience view her as being an object and less important making her the innocent and the victim of the attack.

Jeremy Tunstall (The media in Britain 1983) looked at a wide range of the existing research that had been carried out on gender representation in the media. He argues that overall , the existing research found that representation of women in the media emphasised women’s domestic, sexual, consumer and marital activities to the exclusion of all else. Women are depicted as by housewives, as contended mothers, as eager consumers and as sex objects.

Paranormal Activity Trailer review

This trailer tells you where the film is going to be based, it shows that it is in a house that is seemed to be haunted, the time of day shows both morning and night filming this makes the film unpredictable as most horror trailers/movies are filmed just generally at night time. The camera is handheld throughout the trailer, with some shots that are shown from placed cameras in the house, but the use of the handheld camera makes it feel you are there and creates a sense of realism. The tracking shots that are shown of the person moving around the house helps build tension to the trailer. There is a lot of Iconography in this trailer, for example the  objects are used very stereotypical to gender roles, the main one being the camera which is controlled by the male, this may be because females do not have the technical ability. The characters in the trialer are shown to the audience as being normal working class citizens living in America, with general clothing and items around the house, the personality of the characters in the trailer show what kind of family they are (a family that care about their children). This trailer automatically has a theme to it just from seeing the first part of the trailer, you almost get a sense of isolation, love and intimidation

Paranormal Activity Trailer

Narrative Theory: The Crazies

Tvetan Todorov At the start of the film (Introduction), chaos is introduced at to engage the audience to the event. This immediately makes the audience think what has caused the event. The vent that caused the event was the plane crash, which then infected the water, which would then plague the citizens in the city that drank this water. This actually goes against Todorov’s theory as it states that a balance is present at the start of the film, clearly this is not the case. After showing the burning town which was caused by an infected citizen, the text continues to be superimposed. There is also a disruption to the balance of the film as we don’t actually get an idea of when the plane crash happens, we just see it happen. The crash of the plane turned out to be a complete accident as they didn’t mean to crash there, however the plane was carrying a virus which had been developed by the government. The plane was actually on its way to be destroyed anyway as it was posed to be a big threat. In the movie the first person to be hit by the virus was Rory Hamill who approaches the sheriff with a shotgun at the baseball game which is then abandoned; alcohol was the cause of his behaviour though. After this event, the disease continued to spread and all of the chaos with it, the balance between normality and chaos shifts immensely. No full re-equilibrium exists with this film, as a containment protocol that destroyed Ogden Marsh commences on the town that the couple approach. This is conventional of Horror films but also means that Todorov’s theory does not apply. Levi-Strauss Sanity/Insanity- The sane characters (The Survivors) try to fend off the insane characters Healthy/Unhealthy- The health of the normal people deteriorates as they cannot eat properly and the insane infected people are obviously unhealthy Alive/Dead- People are killed by the insane and the other people try to stay alive Male/Female- David is the male and Judie is the female. They are in a relationship and Judie is pregnant. The male has more power; therefore the female is targeted more. Military/Civilian- The military are seen as evil in the film as they hunt the packs of civilians and the civilians are seen as feeble and innocent individuals. Known/Unknown- The unknown is the infection, how it was made, where it came from. While the town and characters are the known Fear/Courage- Courage is held by the survivors that press on even when everyone is dead and those who sacrifice themselves and the fear are those who panic and get scared and then flee and be hunted by the military Vladimir Propp Villain: The U.S Army. They are the whole reason the virus is in the community because they crashed the military aircraft containing a dangerous chemical. The Hero: David (The town sheriff) as he rescues his wife and several others and escapes from the quarantine. He is also alive at the end of the film. Donor/Helper: Deputy Russell Clark qualifies as both the Donor and Helper. He is the donor because he gives his life so that David and Judie can get past the army without being shot. And he qualifies as the helper because he saves David’ life 3 separate times. The Princess/Father: Judie qualifies as the princess because she is married to David and he is trying to save her and create a new life. She also plays the role of the father as she tries her hardest to protect Rebecca from being killed. The Dispatcher: Rory counts as the dispatcher because he is the first townsperson to become infected by the virus. The False Hero: The Mayor is the false hero as he refuses to turn off the water for the town and by doing so he allows the virus to spread throughout the town. Bordwell and Thompson In the film we don’t actually see the plane crash which infects the water, this is what starts the chain of events throughout the film as the infection swarms round the city, which causes the chaos and rampage the citizens go on because of this infection. The whole event starts off at the baseball game when a drunk civilian carrying a shotgun enters the field, after this they discover the plane which is carrying this infection and realise that’s what caused the man to go psycho. In-between the beginning and end of the film, more civilians become infected and try to inflict damage on the civilians that are not infected, as this is the cause of the infection, many of the civilians encounter different settings and infected which they have to deal with, at the end of the film the main characters survive, this is typical of Horror films.

Teaser and Normal Posters

Film Distribution

Film Distribution is basically the process of a series of steps to ‘get the movie out there’, it is up to companies to buy the film and show it in Theatres. The first part of the process is where the producer/Companies acquires the rights to film a story or treatment, then the screenplay is developed by one or two more writers. After this, the Production finance and crew and cast are confirmed. The principal photography takes place, in studios or/and in agreed locations, followed by some months of post-production, scoring and editing. The Distributor develops release strategy, considers the release date and takes delivery of a master print of the finished film, once this is done the Distributor presents the film to exhibitors and negotiates bilateral agreements to have it shown in cinemas. The Distributor’s marketing campaign aims to create a ‘want to see’ buzz’ among the target audience and launches the film. Film prints including the British Board of Film Classification certificate are delivered to cinemas a few days before opening, the film’s run extends any number of weeks subject to demand, which may be augmented by additional marketing. Finally, to complete the whole film distribution process, after following its run in the cinemas, the film is released in other formats (home entertainment, television) and quickly becomes a catalogue title. Every film has its own distribution plan, which the film distributor develops in consultation with the producers and/or studio as appropriate. The most important strategic decisions that a film distributor makes are when and how to release a film in order to optimise its chances. This is done through a combination of market knowledge, commercial experience, statistical research and professional judgement; distributors gauge the audience for each film and set clear targets for the release. Some of the things that a distributer considers are; who can be convinced to buy a cinema ticket to see it and why should they do so? Can the film be positioned within a popular, recognisable genre? What sort of audiences have similar films attracted recently? When were they released? When film distributors have estimated what their film may earn, they prepare a budget to release it. Sometimes final distribution plans may be confirmed only when the finished film is available to view. Reach relates to film distribution as the distributors need to reach certain agreements and aspects of the distribution process. For example they need to reach the correct release date by making sure the film is ready to distribute, they also need to make the film successful so they can reach the correct budget they expect to get from sales. A marketing plan contains a list of actions, this outlines the organisations overall marketing efforts. The things that are included in the marketing plan are Financial data, Product data, Sales and distribution data, Advertising, sales promotion and merchandising data. The distribution plan is where the product is organised in where it is going to be shown and sold. Also you have to consider how the customers are going to purchase the products whether it is going to be in local stores or online websites, this will be considered as you also have to think about the selling price. You also have to think about how many copies of the film you are going to produce and sell as it costs to make, do you think a profit is going to be made? Advertising is used to encourage and persuade an audience, the main focus point of advertising is tv commercials, however there are other forms of advertising as you also see banners on websites, trailers at cinemas and also posters in magazines and shop windows. Publicity is more of a promotion process as you have to promote things to get your audience to be interested in them, The forms of publicity that are suitable for promoting a film are Event sponsorship, organise a tour of your project and arrange a speech about the film Promotion is all about making the product well known before it is even released, the main thing to do in promotion is influence your audience and customers to buy it when it is released. The best ways of promoting the product are personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing and publicity. When you are promoting a product you need to present the information well to the customers and also try to increase the demand of making your customers to purchase the product. SAW IV: This film was released in October 2007; in the opening weekend the film reached number 1 and was shown in 3,183 theatres and gained $31,756,754. The average income from the opening weekend screening was $9,976. Domestically in the whole time of its release since October 2007 it has had a total income of $63,300,095. The main distributor of this film is Lionsgate which is the distributor for UK and USA.

Friday the 13th (2009 version) Trailer