Essay:

How does a comparison of these two 'slasher' texts demonstrate how genre changes over time? Why is this so and what other media issues and debates do they raise?

The genre of the movie changes throughout the years and that change is what makes the genre to become much more popular and much more successful, and that ' the process is the treatment of the genre' as Rick Altman has mentioned, and this therefore shows that the change of the genre throughout the years is what improves the genre and attracts more audiences, and therefore producers and directors use the same genre and try to find other new conventions.

Taking into consideration the two texts Psycho 1960 and Texas chainsaw massacre 1974, there has been a huge change within the two texts, the first change to recognise immediately between the two texts is the colour of the movies, as the first text psycho is in Black and white which is due to the reason that this movie was made during the 60's where the colour effect was there but wasn't that popular and that is the reason that the director Alfred Hitchcock has used that effect, to keep the originality of the style of the movies at that time and to not create that much suspense within the movie, however comparing with Texas chainsaw massacre which was made a decade later but had new effects such as the use of the colours which therefore creates more suspense such as seeing the colour of the blood, which is not really shown clearly in the first movie and therefore there isn't that much suspense created into the audiences even if we see the scene, but in the 2nd movie that scene of the blood really creates suspense and that what makes more people watch it, and this therefore shows that this convention is able to change the slasher genre.

These two movies can also be compared in political and social issues, these issues have also contributed to the change of the genre conventions, the issue which is about women representation and how did it change over the years, in psycho the women is represented as weak and unable to survive the male, this therefore promotes patriarchal ideology that males are the ones who dominate society and that females are represented as weak and that they should only be represented as housewives or sex objects which is shown when she dies when taking a shower, that scene might be there to attract male audiences, however even if this is also shown in Texas chainsaw massacre, by the way that females are wearing some really showy clothing, but there is a change as in this text there is the inclusion of the final girl which is not shown in psycho, this shows again how there is a change in the slasher genre.

This inclusion of the final girl shows the change of the genre and the way that she is able to survive the psychopaths shows how the roles of the women have changed and that the women is now represented as strong and powerful and not only males that are able to dominate the society, even females now have dominant roles and are able to have higher jobs and are able to deal with harder situations, this change is therefore making the males look weak because females are able to beat them, this can create kind of conflict between males and females and might make males feel humiliated.

This convention shows clearly how the genre changed within the two movies, as females were represented as weak, however years later they are represented as strong, this change that has occurred within the genre might have occurred due to Feminism which has really focused on giving the right to women to be able to work and have more independence and making females represented in reasonable ways not only as sex objects or housewives, this helped females to get better roles and higher jobs,and this changing that occurred within the genre has made it look better and get more wider audiences.

This change is also shown when in the psycho also known as 'the grandaddy of the slasher genre', which only concentrates on one character which is the protagonist and that the whole movie is mainly based on the death of that character, which therefore doesn't create enigma and makes the movie quiet boring and when that women dies we know that there isn't a final girl, however Texas chainsaw massacre of 1974, shows many teenagers having fun, but then one by one they get killed this therefore creates more suspense and the audience are facing that emotion of being shocked and scared throughout the whole movie, but not only at one point of the movie. so this convention that is used shows how the genre has improved and how it became popular, and the inclusion of teenagers which are now being seen commonly in slasher movies, such as in Friday 13th (1980) which has also included this convention of having teenagers and being killed one after the other seem to create suspense in the movie and make the audience being interested more in the movie and make them wanting to know what will happen next.

This use of teenagers in slasher genre movies has been successful throughout the years and has been commonly used, this use has therefore attracted a wider audience mainly among teenagers and younger people as they are able to identify with them, so this try of having teenagers in movies made producers and directors to include it more and more.

To sum up, the change in the conventions of the genre in general has made the success of the genre movie, and that the progress or the change in the genre is crucial in order to make it successful, taking the example of the Hollywood industry and that it took quiet a lot of time to recognise the slasher movie as being actually a genre, as it thought that it won't be a success, so this might be a reason why producers and directors of finding a change which will make this genre popular and recognised.

similarities and differences:

There are many similarities between the two texts as they both include psychopaths killing people for no reason, and that women is still represented as weak and still represented as a male gaze, by the way that she is wearing showy clothing and the way she dies in psycho when she was naked.

however as well as similarities there are also differences between the two texts, that the protagonist in psycho is not represented as a final girl and therefore her weakness is shown as she is not able to survive the killer, whereas in the Texas chainsaw massacre there is a final girl that even if she is represented weak at the beginning but she is still able to survive the killer which therefore shows how the there is a development in the role of the women and how its developed and that the women now has dominant roles and able to survive the male roles.

the other difference is that in psycho there is a use of the b/w and therefore there isn't that much suspense as we cant really see the red blood which really creates suspense to the audiences,but in Texas chainsaw massacre we can see clearly these conventions which really create suspense into the audiences and that what makes the audience react much more shocked than they are when they watch psycho. Therefore this shows how the genre has improved a lot throughout the years and by the use of those conventions which makes it create more suspense and that what really makes the originality of the horror movie.

Cover work 11/03/08: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1974

a. Form/Function- The texts is the ending of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie that was made in 1974 and was directed by Tobe Hooper, this movie was also being seen as 'the single and best scariest movie ever'. This ending tends to sum up the story and it also to give an end to the villain and how us who is the heroine (the final girl) and even if she escapes from the house, there is still some suspense going on as the villain or the psychopath is still chasing her, it is also tries to make us feel sorry for all the trouble that she has faced and to also make sympathise and get happy for the final girl when she manages to escape, whereas on the case for the villain when he gets run by a track, we tend to relax and feel that the villain died and we feel that the girl is now safe. but at the same time when the other psychopath appears again we seem to get that suspense and fear for the girl which created Enigma and makes the audiences think what will happen to her and she might not survive, however the enjoyment that we tend to get when the villain gets killed or when he is running after her when she survives and gets into the car can be seen as a method of Sadism.



b. M-I-G-R-A-I-N

Media Language:
There is a lot of use of masks and the use of blood which are on of the main conventions of a slasher movie, as well as knives and chainsaws which used by the psychopath, the masks are used to threaten the audiences and the victims and to also hide the identity of the killer.there is also a use of ropes.
The scream sound is used a lot in this particular scene to create more suspense and which is also considered as one of the main convention of horror movie, and there is also a use of suspicious music to create Enigma and to make the audience feel suspicious about what is going to happen.
most of the killings are show in a low key lighting as most of the killing happen at night or in the haunted house where there isn't enough light, but this particular has high key lighting as it is shot outside,so therefore less suspense is created.
The final girl is shown in close-ups when she is shown suffering when crying, and there is also a use of medium-shots when the final girl's face is covered in blood and the rest of her body, to create more suspense.

The final girl is holding a knife to protect herself which can be seen as a phallic object.

This particular scene is shot outside in a deserted area in a forest, and that horror movies are mainly shot in those areas, where the victim can't be found and the killer won't be found as well.

Institution:

• Vortex
• Consolidated Film Industries (CFI) titles and opticals
  Screen Time Images film restoration
  Todd-AO Studios sound mixing- not really Hollywood institutions as it is ' an independent low budget film'

Genre:

• this scene uses mainly the horror and the thriller genre, as it includes a lot of those conventions such as blood, chainsaws, screams, etc...

Representation:

The Final girl in this scene is shown as strong and heroic, as she is shown as heroic when she is able to survive the killer, she is also being represented as a sex object by the way she is dressed, and that most of her body is shown.

The killers are therefore represented as villains and weak, because they had the knives and chainsaws but the girl is still able to survive them.

Audience:

The audiences for this movie are mainly teenagers as most of the actors are teenagers, and they will be able to identify with the characters and they will not be offended by the scenes of murder and blood, this is also shown by the age certificate of thie movie which is 15.

Ideology:

• Feminism- women should have dominant roles an more power, maily in the 70's where feminism became popular.

Narrative:

• Enigma - is created when the girl is running and the psychopath chasing her making the audience trying to predict what will happen to her next and what will happen to the killers.
• Non linear- the scene is destructed by the killing of the psychopath that was run over.

d. WC (SHEP)...how does each text relate to the zeitgeist?
S-the female being represented as Strong as she is able to survive the psychopaths and that she is not always being represented as a male gaze and a housewife, but the way that she was caught many times and she found it hard to survive it still shows the patriarchal ideology and that males still dominate the society.

H-Females still represented as weak to some extent as males in this scene to be dominating more.

P-Feminism- the movement that was fighting for women's rights which mentioned that women shouldn't be represented as housewives and as sex objects and that they should be represented more as dominant and having power, and that might be the reason why the girl is represented as powerful and heroic and is able to have dominant roles and able to survive males,and this representation is related to the Zeitgeist.

f. Relevant Theories

• Laura Mulvey: the girl being the male gaze by her clothing and therefore to attract male audiences, but even though she is represented in a horror movie but still there to attract males.
• Binary opposition: The psychopaths against the final girl.
• Propp: the hero being the final girl and the villain being the killer.
• Freud: the knife being the phallic object.

cover work 11/03/08: Psycho 1960

a. Form/Function: Psycho shower scene made by Alfred Hitchcock in 1960's, this scene is trying to show us how the women gets punished and therefore she is not shown as being the final girl.

b. M-I-G-R-A-I-N:
M-
The film is made in B/W to make it much more interesting and original and have more effect on audiences, even if in the 60's coloured movies started becoming popular, and the B/W is creating less suspense as the blood is shown in a B/W, however if it was shown in colour it would have been much more scary and creating much more suspense, because it would be the real colour of the blood.
when the victim is taking a shower, she is amusing herself as she's laughing and she also feels relaxed, and the handle 0f the shower is commonly shown, this can also be seen as the phallic object as she is having pleasure when taking a shower.
just before she dies, she is trying to hold on to something to help herself, this therefore might indicate her need of the man.
she is also represented as a male gaze when she is shown when she enters the shower.

Institution:
Paramount Pictures.

GENRE:
romance, horror, thriller, crime.

Representation:
The women is represented as a male gaze and she is there to appeal to male audiences.
The psycho is represented as confused and that he can't understand his feelings, as he acts as a men and as a mother at the same time, even if he tries to stop acting like that, he can't and the death of his mother still has an impact on him and that he is so desperate to kill people and at the same time revenging to what had happened to his mother.
he is also represented as strong when he kills her and she is represented as weak because she is unable to do anything about it.
The boyfriend of the victim looks really caring as he is trying to do anything just to find who the murderer is.

Audiences:
This movie is mainly aimed at adults of both genders, because of the killing scene which can be a bit offensive to teenagers mainly during that period of time, and the way she is shown to appeal to mainly male audiences.

Ideology:patriarchal ideology: this is shown when the psychopath attacks the women, which might mean that the men has much more power over the female and is able to control and that females don't seem to have much power on the society and the males are still the ones controlling the society, and that women is not able to have a dominant role even if she's shown in the office but she is still seen as a sex object when she is shown naked when taking a shower, as the audience is having the pleasure at looking at her in that way as a sex object.

Sadism is also used when she is being killed, the audience is having pleasure seeing the victim getting killed, but at the same time the audience is feeling sad for her.

Narrative: The movie has a non-linear narrative as it includes flashbacks, when the victim is driving she's receiving different flashbacks from the different scenes.this particular scene has a linear narrative as it shows how the scenes happen in order and that it doesn't have anything to destruct the story.

c. Other related texts
Psycho-1999
Texas Chainsaw Massacre-1974

d. WC (SHEP)...how does each text relate to the zeitgeist?

This relates to the zeitgeist as it has the women working and not anymore represented as a housewives.

Social- family problems,such as the psycho men who had an unhappy childhood and had childhood problems and the lack of parents might have led him to become like that.

Historical- that women should be represented as housewives and that males should have a more dominant role in the society.

political:.....

Economic: the victim in the movie steals money which shows that people had economic problems, and that they were desperate for money and that money offers happiness.

f. Relevant Theories

• Laura Mulvey: she is represented as a male gaze.
  Levi Strauss: Binary opposition: the victim against the hero.
  Propp: Hero against the Villain- the psychopath against the Heroes (the victim's boy friend and her sister's)
• Barthes: Enigma. This movie also tries to create enigma to the audiences, because when she is shown taking the shower and the psychopath is looking from a hole in the wall, therefore this is making the audiences think about what is he going to do, as he is shown a bit suspicious.