Evaluation Question 1 In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of the Horror Genre?

In evaluating our trailer we can conclude that it largely follows a conventional stock horror narrative form, adhering to most of the theories promulgated by Mulvey and Todorov. A stock horror narrative in this genre usually consists a group of teenagers having fun and braking rules, who are picked off one by one. The audience is generally shown more of the threat than the protagonists themselves creating suspense in the viewer. We also used the situation of entrapment; also a standard horror convention. The characters are typical of the stock characters used similar and alike films. We decided to adhere to these to allow the audience to develop a relationship with them, drawing out emotions of sympathy and anxiety. The film was constructed around the first character we created; the final girl. This stock character is found in countless other horror movies, she is the resilient strong surviver of the film, a little smarter than the average. The other characters were more or less stereotypical:
•The Wanderers - The couple stray from the rest of the group putting themselves in more danger.
•The Final Girl - Main character, is survivor of the group.
•The 'Pretty' Boy - Obsessed with his appearance making him vain and self-centered the majority of the time.
•The 'Hoody' - Slightly scruffy and tends to have a carefree attitude.
However we subverted the classic 'Tomboy' stereotype by making her boyfriend investigate the disturbance instead of her taking the initiative. We also conformed to the cliché of a male antagonist due to their stereotypical strength and power in comparison to women. These both adhere to the views of Mulvey; women are vulnerable.


Many more of Mulvey's theories were confirmed in our trailer. The girls by and large are portrayed as objects of male desire in the way we shot and framed them. This began with the footage of our final girl Bessie climbing over the wall of the school. The camera follows up the back of her leg finishing with a lingering shot of the buttocks. She is also shown strapped to the bed conforming to a classic bondage situation, both in the actions of the film, in which she's there due to a male figure, and to possibly titillate the audience.


Todorov's theory stipulates that there should be a period of equilibrium - we have this in our opening scenes of the characters in the park and breaking into their school; there is then disruption to the story - this is the escaped convict also being present within this school; after disruption comes recognition of this - the boy sees the hooded convict whilst the girls scream heard by the rest of the group. We did not include any attempts of repair or the restoration of the equilibrium in the trailer so as not to spoil the story for the viewers.