... 0220-0242 (22 seconds) An extreme long shot that tracks into the house to the front door where the next scene starts
Friday 13th ...
... 0000-0026 (26 seconds) An extreme long shot aimed at the moon, the camera pans to the left to perfect darkness and then down too an extreme long shot of the campsite
Pyscho ...
... 0013 - 0105 (52 seconds) Multiple extreme long shots over the city which pan and then crossfade between each other, each crossfade the camera gets closer and closer towards the window. It has a total of 5 shots until it reaches the window and zooms in then pans around the room setting the scene to what is about to follow.
All of these opening sequences share similar features, for example they all open with extreme long shots that establishes and sets the scene, they show the location, most opening shots in slasher films span about 20-25 seconds with the obvious exception of psycho which is 52 seconds.
Possible Influences
Inspired by Psycho zooming into window
Panning from both left and right to show the remote area
"The final girl is a trope in horror films (particularly slasher films). It refers to the last woman alive to confront the killer, ostensibly the one left to tell the story. The final girl has been observed in many films, including The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Halloween, Alien, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream." - Wiki
Here are some examples of Final Girls in Slasher movies:
... Scream - Sidney Prescott ...
... In this clip we see Sidney Prescott fighting back, she is clearly a Final Girl and follows many of the key conventions, for example, she is tough, resourceful, intelligent and survives till the end due to her fighting back.
Halloween H20: 20 years later- Laurie Strode ...
... Laurie Strode is another very clear final girl example and is a key archetype to the final girl conventions, she is a brunette, not sexually active, an introvert, tough, resourceful and uses her intelligence to survive.
Scary Movie (deconstruction = postmodernism) - Cindy Campbell ...
... Scary Movie is a great example of a final girl character as it is a post-modern deconstruction of many movies, in the clip it is a deconstruction of Scream. In scary movie, the characters roles are amplified and shown more intensely, this means that Cindy Campbell's role as a final girl is amplified and shows her to be extra resourceful, tough and a fighter all key parts of a final girl role
Carole J Clover:
The Final Girl Theory was first made famous by Carol J Clover in the essay "her body, Himself: Gender in the slasher film" (1987), in this essay she stated that Slasher movies presented woman in a way that gives a very clear picture of the sexual attitudes of men towards woman at the time. Clovers theory lay in the reversal of the male role and scream queen role in which the final girl defeats the killer instead of being the first to die.
The Archetype:
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Laurie strode is the key archetype for a final girl, as can be seen here (girl on the left with books) she is nerdy, intelligent and in this scene it is made clear she does not have a boyfriend and is not sexually active. In this scene she she also says that she forgot her book at school to which her friends mock her for. Her friends are also smoking and talking about plans with their boyfriends, Laurie does not smoke or say she has plans which enforces her role as a Final Girl.
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The costume of Laurie Strode wears helps to signify her role, this is because it is very conservative, unrevealing and stereotypically worn by someone that is nerdy.
Other Examples of Final Girls:
Here are some other examples of Final girls in a variety of slasher movies, all of these reflect parts of the Final Girl convention.
Friday 13th - Alice hardy
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Psycho - Lila Loomis
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Nightmare on Elm street - Nancy Thompson
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Texas Chainsaw Massacre - Sally Hardesty
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Many of these characters reflect the same conventions of the final girl, they all dress conservatively, they are intelligent and tough and they either die lateen the movie or survive, juxtaposing the traditional scream queen role.
Possible Influences
Will have conservative clothikng
She will be seen as a smart/intelligent character
Will be the last character to survive (along side scream queen in which we have challanged the convetions)
In this vodcast I talk about the common conventions of how sound and music is used in the slasher franchise. I talk both about diegetic and non-diegetic sound to create verisimilitude and also about the background music and how it has a psychological effect on the audience.
How we will apply this:
We will use the melon technique in our slashing scene
The establishing shots will have the same fast paced and high pitch notes
All the ambient sound we use to add verisimilitude
