Re-pitch

After we formed our group, we revised our idea and decided that certain aspects of the opening wouldn't work effectively.

New idea:
A group of teenagers go to a camp to commemorate their friend who was 'killed' a year earlier. There was actually no body found. We then see brief flashbacks of how their friend was killed. Back in the present day, one member of the group becomes separated from the others. This character is then killed by their 'dead' friend, however there is use of narrative enigma here because the audience do not actually know who the killer is until it is revealed later on in the film.

Narrative Representations

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Marcus Nispel, 2003)

The start of this opening goes against Todorov's theory of equilibrium as he said that we should start with equilibrium, encounter a disruption of this equilibrium (dis-equilibrium) and then solve this by creating a new equilibrium. The film starts off with images of a crime scene and police officers, which signifies dis-equilibrium. We then go to equilibrium as we view the 5 main characters, which is not the order in which Todorov suggested it should be.

  Carole Clovers theory of the final girl is also reflected. The first character the camera fully focuses on has brunette hair and appears to be the sensible one out of the group. This character is the stereotypical final girl, used in many slasher films. However, she appears to have a relationship with one of the boys in the group, which goes against the stereotypical final girl character, who, in Clover's book, supposedly does not have a boyfriend. We then see people in the back kissing. Both the boy and girl are blonde, which signify that these characters are most likely dumb, and sexually active. The girl is the stereotypical scream queen, which is the binary opposite of the final girl character - the theory of binary opposition was created by Levi-Strauss. The boy could also be known as the 'scream king'. 

   Within the group, there is a character who is framed as 'the other'. He wears glasses and is nerdy and appears to be the only character within the group to not be in some kind of relationship which signifies he is different. He appears to be the annoying one, who the others do not like very much which therefore means the audience do not empathize very much with him. 

When A Stranger Calls (Fred Walton, 1979)

In this opening, we see a teen girl who appears to represent Clover's final girl character. She is introduced to the film holding school books as she is babysitting, which is how the final girl is signified; being academic. However, she does not have brunette hair like stereotypical final girls do. Instead, she has ginger hair, which confuses the audience as we do not know if she is a final girl character or a scream queen, despite common scream queens being 'non academic' and hating school. The girl is then having a phone call to someone and is talking about a boy. She first appears on screen holding books, but seems to be more interested in talking to someone about 'Bobby'. This confuses the audience even more, because the stereotypical final girl is either single or is not interested in boys. This character is polysemic, meaning she could be the non stereotypical final girl or scream queen.

   We also see reflection Todorov's theory of equilibrium, as the film begins with a regular day to day event of a teenager babysitting. The equilibrium begins to be disrupted as continuous phone calls are passed through, from an unknown character, who is signified to be the antagonist as he is suggesting something is wrong. 

Scream (Wes Craven, 1996)

The first character is a blonde woman. Her blonde hair signifies she is the scream queen of the film. As well as having the stereotypical appearance of a scream queen, she is home alone, which is a common signifier of the slasher genre. We learn that the girl has a boyfriend, which is also anchorage to signify she is the scream queen figure. Equilibrium is portrayed at the very start as well, as the girl is simply preparing popcorn and is on the phone, although she does not know that the man she is talking to is the killer. As she begins to realise, the equilibrium becomes disrupted. This is another example of Todorov's theory being applied to a slasher film. 

   Barthes' theory of narrative engima is also applied to the opening. To begin with we only hear the voice and don't see the physical body. When we do see the killer, he is wearing a mask, so we still do not entirely know who it is and what their motive is. 

Stalk And Slash Vodcast

Coursework Pitch

Idea:
Firstly, we see a flashback of a previous event in a derelict building, where there are 2 boys and a girl. The 3 are messing around when one of the boys gets trapped under a plank of wood.  We then go back to the present, where the 2 survivors are standing in the same building, talking about how the place holds bad memories. This conversation progresses into an argument about how the boy made the girl leave when she wanted to help their friend. As this is going on, we get a point of view shot of someone approaching the pair from behind. Then then go back to view the pair from the front, and see a figure standing behind them. The figure is breathing heavily and the pair slowly turn round, after feeling breath on their necks. They are faced with their friend who was killed. There is then another flashback of the girl being dragged away by the other boy who is preventing her from saving their friend. As she screams, we go back to the present where she also screams. (These screams can be used as an audio bridge to link the two scenes together). The screen then fades to black and the film title appears.

The Town That Dreaded Sundown - Narrative Enigma example

The above idea may initially need shortening down however, with fast editing in the flashbacks and action scenes, it may work well. If not, then some scenes such as the argument can be taken out and the killer can reveal himself sooner.
There will be use of Barthes' narrative theory for narrative enigma. There will be use of narrative enigma up until the end of the opening, when the pair announce the name of the killer, however we do not see his face.

Levi Strauss' narrative theory of stereotypes and binary opposition could also be reflected. The girl in my opening will be the stereotypical nerdy, sensible final girl character, whereas the boy will a jock who doesn't care about school, is dangerous and does stupid things. This is a form of binary opposition  as the pair majorly contrast, which causes conflict in certain parts of the film, such as the girl wanting to help their friend but the boy dragging her away.

Part of Todorov's equilibrium theory may also be applied in some aspect, however the last 2 stages do not occur how Todorov's theory states it should. There is initially a state of equilibrium in the first flash back as the 3 teenagers are hanging out together. There is then a disruption of the equilibrium as the beam falls onto Jason. There is a recognition by the teenagers that the equilibrium has been disrupted, and there is a failed attempt to repair the disruption, as the girl wants to help but the surving boy does not let her. The final stage of a reinstatement of the equilibrium is not achieved in the opening, however it could be achieved as the film carries on.

Friday the 13th DVD cover

The name of the killer will be Jason, which holds intertextual references for Friday the 13th (Marcus Nispel, 2009) after a boy called Jason drowned in a lake but came back to life and stalked and killed any one who came near the lake. My idea is similar to this, because the killer is called Jason and he has come back to life to punish his friends for not saving him. It is also located in a derelict, rural area, similar to that in Friday the 13th, which takes place in a rundown camp.

The Strangers - mask will be similar to the male killer in this film

The weapon that Jason carries will be a plank of wood with nails sticking out of it, which links in with the way he was killed. To kill his victims, he will beat them with the stick. He will also be wearing what he was wearing when he died, however the clothes will be ripped and dirty, and his face will be covered up with a sack or piece of cloth, with intertextual references to The Town That Dreaded Sundown (Charles Pierce, 1976) and The Strangers (Bryan Bertino, 2008).






Titles and Idents Vodcast Notes

Slashers (Maurice Devereaux, 2001)
Budget - $165k
Box office - unknown; this probably means the film never had a cinematic release.
The opening scene is set out like a game show so titles for the game show appear, however there are no titles or idents for the film itself.

Urban Legend (Jamie Blanks, 1998)

Tristar

Budget - $14m
Box office - US; $38m, UK; £1m
The first title is for Tristar, which is a fairly well known company. The ident involves a horse with wings coming out from behind some clouds and the company name is in bold capital letters above. The next ident is Pheonix Pictures. We see a match lit and the flame burns into the shape of the company logo. The text is in bold capital letters against a black background. The screen then fades into black and white serif font appears saying 'Pheonix Pictures presents' then another title saying 'A Neal H Moritz/Gina Matthews production' with non diegitic music playing. The title 'Urban Legend' then appears in capital letters which fades into the first shot of rain on the ground. Actor credits appear in the centre of the screen, then move to the side as an establishing shot of a car travelling down a country lane appears The titles stop at 2:21 in, and continue after a killing at 8:33.

Scary Movie (Keenen Wayans, 2000)
Budget - $19m
Box office - US; $157m, UK; £10m
Animated letters appear on screen to spell out 'Dimension Films' in blue against a black background. This is the only ident and there are no immediate credits. From the start, it is obvious that thhis film is a spoof of other slasher films, with particular intertextual references to Scream (Wes Craven, 1996) The title of the film appears in red capitals against a black background after the first character is killed.

Madhouse (William Butler, 2004)
Budget - $3m
Box office - unknown; this probably means the film never had a cinematic release.
The first ident is Lakeshore Entertainment, where a boy runs and jumps into a lake with the company name in capitals. The next ident is Lions Gate Films. There is a green animated lion, and the large text is in gold. The titles appear after we see a shot of blood on the wall, a montage of images of a mental asylum and somebody running and being hit by a car. At this point, titles saying 'Lions Gate Films presents' appear in white font on a black background. 'A Madhouse Production' then appears. As actor credits are running, images of what the audience assume to be inmates of the asylum appear. The very last credit we see is 'Directed by William Butler'.

Black Christmas (Bob Clark, 1974)
There is white writing on a black background, which is often used in slasher film openings.

Cry_Wolf (Jeff Wadlow, 2005)
The first ident is Rogue Pictures on a birds eye shot of a forest.

Occupant Films

All The Boys Love Mandy Lane (Jonathan Levine, 2006)
Only one ident for Occupant Films appears, then we go to the titles with white serif font on a black background.

April Fools Day (Fred Walton, 1986)
Only one ident for Paramount appears. At 3:15 the title for April Fools Day appears, and the titles continue until 5:06.

Slasher Franchise Vodcast: Friday the 13th

Titles and Idents Vodcast