Evaluation Question 2

"How does your media product represent particular social groups?"

Upon analysing the characters in our film opening, you can see they are both very different.

Our victim:

• Fairly short.
• Tough looking - shaven head.
• 18-20's.
• Wears a "hoodie" and jeans.

He is a typical British youth, nothing makes him stand out from anyone else - not much to his mis-en-scene. He is normal and could represent anyone.

Our Villain:

• Very tall.
• Tough-looking.
• Messy, long hair.
• 20-30's.
• Wears a long, dark coat.

In many ways, our villain is a normal looking man on the outside - his dress is almost work-like. Like the victim, he too could represent anyone in the outside world, simply with more years and more experience than teenagers to young adults i.e. the victim.

The difference between the two is in their characters. The victim's character is not obvious, but we know he has some guts as he tries to find out more about his horrible situation, despite the tremble in his voice. He does what many other men his age would do; assess the situation, try and retain some control and show they are not scared when they really are (seen with the alpha-male characters in 'Saw', who act "hard" but cannot take the life-and-death situation - see image below). This attitude is always seen in Britian with young men standing up to authorities and always wanting the power. Put many of these men in this situation and they may struggle to find their fearless masculine side when they really need it. Panic or loss of control could result in death, and it is this that our victim is finding difficult to grasp. He ends up provoking the wrath of his killer with too many questions, who forces him to sleep. A different, calmer approach may have lead to more answers, or maybe even his safety.

Our villain has an arcetypical character with more depth. On the outside he could represent anyone, but on the inside he can only really represent very few people. He shows friendliness but can switch at any moment. He swings from calm to angry very quickly and his feelings are very up and down - he seems to be driven by confused emotions. This kind of bi-polar character has developed in many people in the real world with mental illnesses focused on anxiety and anger (e.g. Paul Gascoigne). These often stem from past experiences, so the same could be the case for our villain - it is not yet known. He could represent these misunderstood people as it is not always obvious what they are feeling, it cuts them deep down on the inside and often drives them to insanity and to do dreadful things such as murder. Particular examples of this kind of mentally ill character are 'The Joker' in 'The Dark Knight (Nolan, 2008)' (see image below) and the schizophrenic character of 'Norman Bates' in 'Psycho'. I have read how people build up depression inside and often they just want to release their anger on the world, on the normal people living normal lives - so this is where our victim comes in. Without representing a particular social group, our film more represents the misunderstood individuals who do not believe they are like the rest of the world or have a place. They may just want to prove a point to relieve the stresses they have built up inside them.

Another point is that the killer is acting. He shows kindness and hospitality as would a worker at a hotel or shop. He insists on getting his victim a drink of water because he looks dizzy and keeps telling him everything is going to be ok. It is as if the killer paints on this picture of him being a civilised human to mask his internal rage. He treats the whole situation as if he is a hotel owner making 'reservations' for his victims as if it is the only way he can remind himself he is a normal person - it is how he deals with his emotions until he gets too angry (similar to how 'Norman Bates in 'Psycho' comforts himself by acting as his mother almost as if it has become a part of him - see image below).

Specific thing we did to construct these representations:

• Focused on very normal clothes and make up of characters - their mis-en-scene always represented that of any normal person.
• Inserted many questions into the victims script to highlight his confusion and terror, encouraging his representation of young British men in such a situation e.g. "where am i? what am i doing here?!"
• Made music rise and fall with the killers emotions to highlight his calm state of mind and sudden anger, so his mood switches are extremely clear.
• Clever script writing for the villain, with subtle hints at hotel-like vocabulary e.g. "we try to accomodate all of our guests as best we can".
• Positioned the killer to have complete control over his victim, taking up the bigger spaces in most scenes and being tall and imposing (we specifically chose a really tall and really short actor to fit these parts) - we can see who is in control and how the killer is exploiting this control - it makes us think of revenge because he is grasping hold of this power.

This brings us onto themes our film opening portrays:

• Revenge.
• Violence.
• Life and death.

They are all very sombre issues but are actually seen in every day life. Revenge is a big factor in sports or relationships and is something we all experience. Violence can be seen all the time in gang-violence or in wars elsewhere in the world - we see it all the time on the news. Upon encountering such things we also encounter life-or-death situations (though we might not have thought to deeply about such a saddening theme). With all these themes, it is only when we are faced with them personally that it will affect us. Maybe we are not so much unlike the killer after all, maybe humans are all the same, and it is only their experiences and learnings that determine how they deal with their feelings. Of course the audience will not see this, they will only see the fact he is torturing and killing an (The sequence is 'in your face' and affects the audience emotionally as they have to endure the victims suffereing). The audience will immediately hate the killer - this perhaps proves how misunderstood people can become isolated and will often always remain misunderstood upon first impressions and misinterpreted actions.

To summarize, the characters in our film have different roles to represent different social groups. They both represent young adults in Britain, particularly males, with their normal appearances and accents. Our victim represents many alpha-males in the country (not in a negative way put in a way that he is protective of himself) and our killer represents the misunderstood people who have always wanted some sort of power. He can also represent people with mental illness, some who are driven to insanity and commit horrible crimes. Furthermore, our killer masks his emotions by acting like a hotel host - so any hotel or shop workers are represented by him here (many of them put on a smile when they are working because it is their job, but they cannot always be happy). Lastly, the sequence also represents particular themes of revenge, violence, life and death that help make up the day to day stories of our social lives - they are just simply amplified to extremity in the situation our opening sequence portrays.

SCRIPT

Here is a copy of a draft scipt I wrote for our group. It was eventually shortened to fit into the maximum 45 seconds conversation time in order for our sequence to work, but there were not many changes to this script in order to create a final script.

Killer to be played by Matt Doyle and victim to be played by Rob Demont...

Killer enters the corner of the room, walks towards the victim in the chair, takes his weapon of choice and uses it to ungag him instead of kill him, to the surprise of the audience. The victim gives a confused moan.

Killer (calmly and reassuringly): Theres no need to be frightened, we're gonna take good care of you.

Victim (bewildered): What? No, please -

Killer: I said theres no need to be frightened... we try to accomodate all our new guests as best we can.

Victim: But -

Killer: Trust me.

The killer begins to feel inside his coat pockets.

Victim (in confusion): Who are you? What am i doing here?

The killer kneels down with a torch, ignoring the question.

Killer: I'm just going to check your eyes, you might be feeling a little dazed.

The killer forces the torch towards the victims eyes and checks his pupils.

Victim (with more anger): Get off me!

Killer: Hmm you look a little dizzy... would you like a drink?

Victim: Who are you?

Pause.

Killer (with more charm): It would be aweful of me not to offer you a drink. I'll bring you down some water on my next visit.

Victim (in desperation): Your NEXT visit? Wha - Whats going on? What am i doing here?!

Killer (with sudden frightening anger, quickly desceninding into calm): PLEASE - be quiet. If you wouldn't mind. We've been recieving alot of complaints recently...

Victim: What? Where am I?! Who the hell are -

Killer (suddenly): I SAID BE QUIET.

The killer grabs the victim by the jaw. The victim moans in pain and desperation. The killer thinks to himself and regathers his calm state of mind.

You seem terribly confused. I recommend you catch some sleep now.

The killer ignores the desperate moans and plees of the victim and forces him to sleep with a drug. The victims eyes roll and eventually he slumps into his chair asleep.

Killer: Better, thanks. Its greatly appreciated.

The killer smiles to himself and begins to walk out the room quietly humming to himself the tune of the lullaby 'go to sleep'. As he walks down an aisle between some shelves the sounds of other men screaming becomes more evident. Another victim chained to a wall starts to moan out to the killer as he walks past.

Killer: Now, now Mike. You take good care now.

The killerwalks towards a door where there is the sound of someone moving. The killer opens the door and walks through it.

Killer: And you Jack. Good night.

The killer shuts the door forcefully. A blood stained hand can be seen making an attempt to grab the handle but simply thumpingon the door palm first before smearing helplessly down the glass. The killer stops in his tracks and faces the door with a look of inconvenience on his face.

Killer: Ah, another job for the cleaner.

The killer laughs subtly in a sinister way before murmering something to himself.

Killer (almost secretively): She'll be dead pleased...

The killer laughs again to himself and leaves the basement to the sound of his footsteps and his "oblivious" humming.

Character Ideas

Victim 1
Possible Names: Mike, Pete, Jack, Matt, Tim, Tom.
Role: Victim, tied up in chair, struggles, uncertain conclusion.
Appearance: Bruised, battered, fake cuts, black eye, messy hair, sweating, tears?
Clothes: Suit or shirt/tie, ragged trousers or smart trousers, shoes or trainers.
Needed Acting Traits: male, fairly well built, can act really scared/confused/dazed, can produce fake tears.

Victim 2
Possible Names: Mark, Mike, Dan, Pete, Joe, Jack, Nick, Matt, Tim, Tom, Chris.
Role: Friend of victim 1, has been lead to victims location, find location to find noone there, is killed by killer.
Appearance: Bruised and battered, sweating, fake cuts, ripped clothes, out of breath.
Clothes: Plain white t splattered in blood, jeans (ripped), trainers.
Needed Acting Traits: Male, athletic, can act scared/confused/angry.

Killer
Possible Names: Unnamed or has a nickname to do with the title.
Role: Walks about victim 1 possibly assembling torture tools, follows victim 2 into basement, kills victim 2. Very childish, he never grew up. So murder ways are very strange and have child-like signifiers.
Appearance: Ambiguous, tall, in the shadows, masked or face shadowed, threatening/menacing.
Clothes: Black boots, black hoodie/jacket/cloak, black fingerless gloves, mask?
Needed Acting Traits: Can look powerful/menacing, tall, physical, well-built, can speek in deep/threatening voice.

Group Meeting 1 - Notes

Genres

- horror (slasher or supernatural)

- thriller (gangster or crime)

Possible Locations

- school (latymer great hall or basement)

- graveyard (chingford cemetary)

- woods (epping forest, pole hill, high beach or ponds near butlers retreat)

- canal (waterhouse by 'halfords' at outer chingford retail or 'boat club' by chingford resevoirs)

- abandoned house (unused house next door to a friends)

- lonely bar (Jack's dads bar or a bar near to latymer school)

- old fashioned historic buildings (tudor museum, 'the harvester', a pub or 'butlers retreat' - all leading onto chingford plains)

- alleyway covered in forest (organ lane near Kris/Jack's house)

- car park and backstreet alleyways (sainsburys car park at chingford mount)

- abandoned littered streets and warehouses (near lea valley odeon and picketts lock)

- church (st peters and chingford green)

Possible Characters

- a female teenage victim (with loud scream)

- a small friendship group of either girls or mixed gender from a posh public school

- a couple of hard-looking italian or cockney gangsters

- a confident teenage boy who can run fast

- a teenage male or grown up to act as the villain (not necessarily ever seen in shot)

- a group of youngsters our age who can sing!

Available Actors

- ourselves and other media students

- sixth formers who do drama, are past media students or are willing to make themselves available to act

- Jack's cousin and his friends

Ideas

- a murder

- a past event (either a murder or supernatural happening in the 1950's or tudor times)

- a secret gangster meeting or confrontation (leading to a murder, shooting or bust-up)

- a monster/unseen creature attack

- a vampire musical (probably not going to happen!)

Group Meeting 2 - Notes

Idea 1

Location: Latymer School Basement

A victim wakes up tied up in a chair and gagged. With only the sound of dripping water and faint echoes, he begins to hear footsteps. The scene will cross cut between shots of the man in the chair and shots suggesting someone is walking down towards the basement where he is. The sequence will provide some sort of twist, with one idea being that a climax to the scene will quickly switch to a friendlier scene from 24 hours earlier via a graphic match. A link maybe shown between the killer in the present scene and a friend the victim is with in the past (possibly showing the victim who is his friend the same knife used in the present scene, or an item of clothing, tattoo or accessory seen in the same way). This will lead to the audience already suspecting the killer in the opening sequence, but the film will lead on to reveal a different killer in a surprising twist. Another idea is that the two scenes using parallel editing (of the victim and of footsteps etc) are at different points in time, with either the footsteps being a few hours before the victim scene, or a few hours after. The first of these would make the audience think the victim was about to be attacked but would be surprised to see the killer simply setting up his trap (possibly using a knife to cut a rope or something, instead of killing the victim). The second would reveal what you think as a killer to be a friend of the victim who has apparently been lead to believe he will find his friend here (through what he says as he enters and his shocked reaction to find his friend not there). With the audience confused, the friend would face an empty chair and a wall marked with blood saying something along the lines of 'too late'. Then out of the darkness a figure would suddenly appear and grab the friend before presumably killing him. The audience would then want to know what happened to the victim in the chair but will not know until later on in the film. Themes or genres involved in this film would probably include aspects of murder, slasher horror, revenge and suspence thriller.

Idea 2

Location: Path by canal/Bridge

The sequence could be a mysterious continuity-based opening showing a teenage boy walking by a canal. He will look troubled as if in a bad way (messed up life, possibly on drugs). Sinister noises and images disturb his walk in an eery silence. The sequence will either involve someone following the boy and killing him, him witnessing a murder on the other side of the canal only to be murdered in exactly the same way moments later, or his route to be disturbed by the presence of perculiar hooded beings (possibly to look like normal youths, only to be wearing hoodies backwards to mask their faces). Another idea would be to show the boy entering onto a plain bridge to find a dead body lying in the centre. Curious, the boy could move towards the body to find it either dead, a doll or dead but with a sinister and chilling appearance such as a painted face or mask. Then two hooded figures on either side of the bridge he had entered could appear and close in on him, trapping him. They could either kill him or he could jump off the bridge into the canal (which would admittedly be dangerous to film). In each of these ideas it would be hard for the audience to distinguish imagination from reality due to the boys confusion and possibly the sight of him carrying or doing drugs that may make him see halucinations. The end of the opening may show the victim dead with scratch wounds and bruises having supposedly been attacked by the silent hooded figures (zombie-like?) but the last shot could steadily zoom out from the body to show no beings around, suggesting he was seeing things and was attacked by his own mind and ended up killing himself through the horrible images he was seeing (with the bridge scenario ending up in him being drowned in the canal because of images he had seen in his mind). The film could have a moral message against drug use and youth gang crime. I thought the rest of the film could be about a a new drug which is disguised as a standard drug such as LSD, but is actually designed to kill its victims - a possible mass murder or terrorist attack on youths of the western world. Themes or genres involved in this film would probably include aspects of murder, thriller, psycological and creep-out horror.

Idea 3

Location: Abandoned house or 'White House' at Gilwell Park

We do not have a particular idea for these locations but is simply a back up idea in case the other 2 locations are not available. This would probably involve mainly interior filming too, to be safe. One idea we have is a group of teenagers arrive to check out the haunted legends of the abandoned house. One character (a girl) stays outside on look out as she is too scared. Sinister going-ons around her unsettle her and she calls for her friends. The opening sequence could involve her entering the house upon panicing that there is no shout back from inside. She could, to her horror, discover the bodies of her friends inside and either be caught herself, or run away. In running away, the rest of the film could be centered around her trying to escape from the forested area she has entered, entirely from her point of view, or just following her character. The film could be disorientating and end up in her being trapped by her surroundings (unable to leave the park) because of this curse/legend - although this will appear as her lost and apparently going around in circles. She would eventually be killed, possibly in a twist of events. Themes or genres involved in this film would probably include aspects of murder, slasher horror, disorientation and supernatural horror.

Scripting
(4 Horror Techniques from the 'Saw' Series)

1) Use catchphrases that are immediately associated with the film. Introduce these early on in an opening sequence or in the first killing scene; and use them more than once throughout a film or series. In the 'Saw' movies these catchphrases are associated with the killer 'Jig Saw' and the way he kills (or sets up people to either escape or die). The following are good examples: 'I wanna play a game', 'remember the rules', 'x marks the spot' and 'game over'.

2) Give the audience familiar horror conventions by involving the usual phrases. Alot of the time these are questions or cries of desperation. These should be included in trailers and most scenes of the film, letting the audience know of the horror genre. The following examples I picked out from the 'Saw' films are regularly heard in all horror films: "I wanna go home", "I don't wanna die", "where are you?", "where am i?", "what are you doing to me?", "is there someone there?", "hello?", "i'm scared", "let me go" and my own personal favourite "help me!".

3) Base sripting of particular characters on the characters role in the film. For main characters it is important to not give away everything about them at the beginning, but through scripting you can gradually give away different parts of his/her story as you go along. For example, in 'Saw', the character 'Lawrence' is the main character and reveals his name and occupation (doctor) at the beginning; but he does not reveal much about his family until the middle, and his history or background to the end. This is all done through what he says in conversations with the other character, and as we get to know him, we grow closer to him. For subcharacters, we should know everything we need to know about him (name, stereotype traits etc) within a few lines of what he says, as he does not hold such a deep and detailed character. We give everything about them straight away. For example, in 'Saw II' the subcharacter 'Xavier' (stereotyped as the bully or macho man) reveals straight away his name and that he used to be in prison. He immediately makes it clear he will use force to get out of the trap laid for him, and that he is only worried about getting himself out and not any of the other characters with him. Scripting characters in this way makes it clearer to us what will happen, with the subcharacters usually dying and the main characters either getting far or surviving all the way.

4) Through scripting you can use subtle hints throughout a film as to what might happen. This makes outcomes either inevitable or ironic at the end. A good example of this is in 'Saw II' where 'Jig Saw' tells father 'Eric' that he will see his son in a "safe and secure state" if he can talk with him for a while. It is later revealed that the son is inside a safe in the room they are sitting in (exactly what was said earlier in an ironic subtle way), which is opened after the intended hour in which his son was supposed to die. By then, the father has gone to the house shown on the monitors to rescue his son, but does not know these were showing pictures an hour or so in the past and his son was rescued by the killer and kept in a "safe and secure state". The irony is laughable and very clever. It is fun for some audiences to spot these ironic statements in the scripting of a film to try and predict what will happen and what the twists will be. Others will be completely unaware of the irony all along, which is why scenes from earlier in a film are often played again to show what was really meant by that line and to help the whole audience piece everything together. This works very well in horror and thrillers.

"I want to play a game."

5 Things a Horror Film Needs

1) Iconography

Shadows, candles, darkness, lamps, lightning, rain, blood, knives, dripping water, corpses, limbs, scary trees, masks, weapons, smashed glass, ghosts, scary faces, scary objects (i.e. hooded jackets, cloaks, white sheets, open curtains), dirty bathtubs, old furniture, mansions, fireplaces, crackling televisions, slightly opened doors, colours (reds, blacks, purples, blues, whites, browns, greys), chains, litter, flashing lights, silk, guns, bullets, black boots, sharp teeth, crucifixes, medallions, jewellery

2) Narrative

Chases, serial killers, secrets, mystery, breaking down of technology, car crashes, loss of cell phone signal, twisted sexuality, surprises, shocks, twists, media/police first to be killed, bad police (useless or corrupt), lawlessness, secret watching, stalking, running away, extreme psycopaths, revenge, deep subplots, stereotypes killed, one or two main characters killed, heroes survive, high body count, lots of victims, monsters, creatures, supernatural happenings, being locked away or locked in a room, torture, falling over, escape, struggle, fights, climax betweem hero and killer, killers killed often, heartbeats faster, slow to quick editing to build up tension, not everything revealed, ECU's, distortion in spaces and tilts, low angles, not showing faces, hiding certain things, tracking, handheld or shakey movements.

3) Characters

Geeks often survive or help, smart girl survives by taking initiative half way through, bullies and cockey macho boys killed, ditzy blondes killed, bitchy good looking highschool queens killed, stereotypes such as stupid or macho often first to go, enemies often last to go before hero survives, police often killed trying to help or being led wrong way, media often killed for being nosey or ignorant, psycopaths, twisted men, killers, mass murderers, monsters, villain often with a motive or deeper reason behind kills (misunderstood), creatures, ghosts, women are haunted and followed by demons, little girl ghosts, scary children who see things, reassuring parents, teens who are ignorant of sinister going ons, victims wear silk dresses and lots of make up, killers wear cloaks and masks and carry weapons, victims in bright significant clothing or half naked, killers in dark ambiguous clothing, hidden features such as half a face, zombies, vampires, spirits, real animals, dogs.

4) Themes

Mystery, suspence, secrets, forbidden actions, evil deeds, revenge, surprise, love, sex, obsession, mental illness, twisted games, contrast, death, gruesome, torture, pain, anguish, misery, family, friends, forgiveness, sin, suffering, punishment, stupidity, panic, confusion, the devil, hell, possession, law and order, haunting, isolation, lost, trapped, claustrophobia, deceipt, loyalty, treason, seperation, togetherness, greed, passion, fright, terror.

5) Atmosphere

Low key lighting, shadows, darkness, pitch black, night time, thunder and lightning, rain, dripping water, echoes, whistling wind, wolf howls, owls, rustling, footsteps, creaking doors, creaking stairways, sudden bangs, clanks, clicking, strange noises such as creatures or supernatural noises, crackling televisions or radio signals, beeping, evil laughter, screams, sounds of agony, crying children, rustling trees and leaves, window bangs, slamming doors, deep voices, scary music, long high pitched violin noises held on one note, 'Psycho' music, deep musical notes held for long time, crashes, loud base drums gettting faster, variations in tempo and dynamics, orcestral music, sometimes techno music, minor key, organ music, church bell sounds, clowns, childrens toy noises, forests, mountains, castles, deserted cities, hills, mansions, isolated manors or cottages, long narrow corridors, hallways, large rooms, prsion cells, basements, bathrooms, torture chambers, large bedrooms, hospital wards, emptiness, attics, lairs, watch rooms, abandoned alleyways, bad ends of cities, underground caves, rivers or lakes, coasts, fields or crop fields, hotels, farmhouses, motels, warehouses, factories.

Commutation Tests

1) Plot 7 - 'The Ultimate'

I chose Arnold Schwarzenegger to play the part of 'Vince', who is the main character. In a post-apocalyptic future, where the human race has evolved with each individual adapting to his certain area, Vince has grown wings and is the hero. He is constantly being chased by evil beings who work for a leader to capture the most useful adaptations, leaving the dictator as 'The Ultimate', but Vince and other groups fight back. Arnold suits this role as he has played parts of the action hero in an apocalyptic style film (i.e. The Terminator), and is a good example of good vs evil. He is strong, powerful and courageous. The film also involves a love interest whom Vince has to rescue from the dictator before facing him off, and this is suitable for Arnold who is handsome with the angelic face of a hero and strength and body of a typically "action" hero.

2) Plot 2 - 'The Rectifier'

I chose Will Smith to play the part of 'Mike', who is the main character. Mike wakes up in New York with total amnesia and has to recollect his life and memories. It is eventually revealed Mike is from the future and has been sent back in time to warn the world of inevitable destruction - he is 'The Rectifier' and the human race rests in his hands, but he has a constant battle with the deepest corners of his confused mind to figure out exactly what he has to tell the world, and how they are to successfully battle this impending doom. Will Smith has experience in an isolated role where he does not really know who he is (i.e. I am Legend) and has all the atributes of this hero. He is strong, athletic and muscular when he needs to fight (suitable for an action hero role), but is much deeper than his likeable character and face. Deep down he has a moral and sensitive side with an urge to do right, which is exactly what this character needs. We need to know the character personally and Will Smith has played so many characters that we do not really associate him with any one of them - this leaves a space to get to know Mike not Will Smith. His witty sarcastic humour and total indepence will also bring more out of the character.

CHARACTER TYPES (HORROR)

THE KILLER

Michael Myers (Nick Castle): Halloween (John Carpenter - 1978)

Michael Myers is the main antagonist in the series of ‘Halloween’ films. He is a human mass murderer, and focuses his killings on teenagers. He is famous for wearing the ‘Halloween’ mask and carrying out his killings with a large kitchen knife. In the original ‘Halloween’ we first see Michael as a six year old, where he begins his life of murder by killing his 17-year-old sister. From here he is put into a mental institution for 15 years before escaping. At this point (1978) he begins to kill specifically teenagers and with no real reason or motive. Michael is described by his creator as ‘pure evil’ and as ‘a supernatural force’. Although he is human, we do not see him as human. His face is covered up by a mask – the mask being white, simplistic and blank (originally designed to portray a blank human face, to ‘creep’ people out). He does not seem human, shown by the fact he walks around in a simple and robotic manner. Actors who have played this part are believed to have been told by the director, not to act but simply to walk around. Furthermore, Michael never speaks, but merely just stalks and kills with no mercy or motive. He is almost like a machine with no emotions, feelings or characteristics – thus underlying pure evil (as if he was born to be evil). Michael is never fully killed, despite being repeatedly knocked down, stabbed, shot and caught in fires. He is almost “unkillable”, and is an unstoppable force, making him scarier to the audience. Normal humans stand no chance against him because of his apparent strength, speed, awareness and intelligence. He is a heartless being whom the audience never really get to open into, but are simply afraid of, which is what makes him one of the ‘classic killers’. There is no explanation as to why Michael started killing despite rumours he is the devil, he is mentally ill or he is sexually fascinated by teenage girls. The most likely explanation is that Michael was born evil and became obsessed with the will to kill. After killing his sister he felt the drive to kill over and over again and thus stalked “sister-like” figures to bring back the memory of this action of killing his sister. Michael is similar to the character ‘Norman bates’ in the 1960 film Psycho, which is believed to be the creator’s influence for making the character ‘Michael Myers’. The director’s vision for Michael was to make him even less human with an unpredictable but superhuman nature, who we really know nothing about, thus portraying fear of the unknown in an otherwise predictable series of ‘slasher’ films.

THE SURVIVOR

Sidney Prescott (neve Campbell): Scream (Wes Craven - 1996)

Sidney Prescott is the main protagonist in the series of ‘Scream’ films. She is a typical heroine and survivor due to her coming through ordeal after ordeal throughout the trilogy. ‘Scream’ begins with Sidney going through a rough time – and problems never seem to leave her side, as if she is a victim (ironically she never becomes the real ‘victim’). In the beginning she has to deal with the anniversary of her mother brutal rape and murder, and is then attacked herself the night after by a killer dubbed ‘Ghostface’ (wearing the ‘Scream’ mask), leaving her in a state of trauma and paranoia. As she continues to get pursued by her killer she is vulnerable and helpless, shown by the fact she has to stay in a house with her best friend and a police officer. Things are not helped by the fact Sidney is forced to deal with accusations deeming her attack a scandal by a tabloid newswoman, who writes a book explaining in detail the affair between her dead mother and her convicted killer. At the same time, she is being pressurised into sex by her boyfriend ‘Billy’, portraying her as a good person who is being treated badly by everyone around her. This bad influence by other people is shown at a party, where she loses her virginity to Billy. However, as the killer begins a murderous rampage at the party, Sidney develops a strong side and starts a spirited fight back. She keeps escaping the clutches of the killer and despite everyone else at the party falling down to the prey of the killer, Sidney remains standing. She tries to fight back numerous times. Eventually, after the killer is revealed as Billy (her boyfriend) Sidney shoots him in the head, killing him. Sidney is the victorious heroine and one of only three survivors. The film follows her journey throughout the films, and she is a typical survivor as she gains strong characteristics along the way and eventually comes out on top. She gains audience sympathy and eventually credit, for being different to the other characters in ‘Scream’, simply because we feel she is a good person who deserves to survive.

THE VICTIM

Juno (Natalie Mendoza): The Descent (Neil Marshall - 2005)

Juno crosses between an antagonist and the main protagonist in the film ‘The Descent’. She is seen as an antagonist as she is part of the group, whom we want to escape, but she has many traits, which suggest she is part-protagonist too – the film does not have a clear protagonist as the killers are multiple creatures with no real human characteristics, so Juno seems to fit this role of main protagonist, which is fitting and justified by her death near the end of the film, making her an eventual victim. Before the group even get trapped in the cave we learn of a dark side to Juno. She attempts to apologise to the main character and ex-best friend, Sarah, for not being there for her after her husband’s death (Sarah’s husband was killed in a car accident a year back). We immediately dislike Juno, as we perceive this as heartless and unloyal. Our dislike for Juno grows, as she begins to take lead of the group of climbers/cavers – she appears to lack patience and common sense, as well as being unable to back down from anything – she wants to be the best. This leads to the group being trapped in the cave, the whole event essentially being Juno’s fault. She tries to ell Sarah she set this up on purpose in an attempt to rediscover her friendship with Sarah but this is a hollow lie to cover up her mistake. This sets up Juno to be the villain despite trying to escape with the other girls. She is physically strong but emotionally weak, and this comes out at a vital point in the film. Many of the other characters begin to come out on top against the creatures that hunt them down (despite one or two being killed early on), but Juno cannot deal with the pressure and panics when she believes she is being attacked. She ends up stabbing Sarah’s best friend, Beth, with her pickaxe, mistaking her for a creature. Here she lacks compassion and turns her back on the suffering Beth (showing her cowardice side by running away from the situation). Later, Sarah discovers Beth and Sarah is informed of this act of cowardice by Juno. Incidentally, Beth gives her a pendant, which was dropped by Juno (Sarah recognises the pendant as her late husband’s, as it has his motto on it). Beth tells Sarah it was a present to Juno from her husband, subtly informing her of an affair Juno was having with Sarah’s husband. These underlying stories make the audience turn against Juno – almost willing her to be killed and the other characters saved (a lesson in morality). Eventually, all the characters are killed leaving just Sarah and Juno – who beat off some creatures together. Then, Sarah turns on Juno and stabs her in the shin with her pickaxe in revenge for sleeping with her husband and leaving her best friend to die. This is a bittersweet scenario for the audience, who empathise with Sarah and want her to escape. However, Juno makes no attempt to move out of Sarah’s swing and sees it as almost inevitable. Inside, she knows she has done wrong and deserves her fate, but this lesson has come too late. Sarah leaves Juno trapped, to be eaten by the creatures (a taste of her own medicine) and we hear Juno’s faint screams as she is eaten, whilst Sarah runs away. Juno represents a misunderstood and flawed character, who appears to make everything worse for the good characters and therefore, appears as bad. However, we do not really know what to feel for her, as it seems her mistakes are fairly human, and she is very resentful by the end of the film, for her mistakes. In a way, Sarah’s decision to leave Juno for dead makes Sarah just as much of the antagonist, and she never makes it out of the cave (not the typical heroine). The decision to leave Juno appears to come back to haunt her, showing the characters who do wrong are always killed in horror films. Juno is just a prime example of this sort of character, who after years of making people feel like victims, becomes the victim herself.