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.
No comments:
Post a Comment