1. A slasher film is similar to a horror or a thriller film. It usually contains a murderer or a psychopathic killer which kills a sequence of people throughout the whole film and could also be stalking them. Slasher film villains generally kill their victims in a violent manner and the scenes are usually very graphic. In a typical slasher film, the victims are usually young people who take drugs and typically do something that they know they shouldn’t be doing. There are also sex scenes in many slasher films such as Friday the 13 th.

2. Location Slasher films are usually set in places such as forests or in a country side after the group of young people decide to go on a road trip or to go somewhere where they don’t belong. The characters in slasher films tend to go to an abandoned building or some type of hospital; mainly places that would be very difficult for the victims to communicate with someone that may help them. In films such as “The Blair Witch Project” the three young people are in a forest which is unfamiliar to them and they get lost. Shortly after they get lost they separate and consequently die. Below is a picture of one of the characters and the location of the film behind him.

3. The characters in slasher films are mainly young people excluding the killer who’s identity is sometimes unknown. We looked at various slasher films to get an idea of the characteristics which the characters who we use in our film should have. We thought that studying the characters of slasher films, such as Friday the 13 th, would be really useful in helping us understand what our film opening should include. The pictured characters are from the slasher/thriller film Friday the 13 th. Typical slasher film characters are young people and a psychopathic killer with a troubled past that kills the young people. The characters also do drugs, in this case: Chewy does that. There are also the characters which have sex, these are usually the popular guy and the most attractive female of the group. As in many slasher films, the damsel in distress survives which is more scared and tenacious than the other characters. Whilst the other characters get killed one by one, most of the time; there is a couple left at the end of the film which survive and some how kill the villain in the movie. Characters

4. Lighting The lighting is very important in slasher films as they have a great impact on the cinematography and plot in general. Slasher films consist of dark lighting in the majority scenes. In Friday the 13 th, bright natural lighting is used when the young characters are displayed which connotes innocence. This type of lighting is mainly used in the beginning of the film where nothing negative has happened yet. However, once Jason Voorhees, the killer, is shown and approaches the young people, the lighting used is darker which creates great atmosphere and adds dramatic effect. This lighting is natural, as night arrives as well as artificial lighting such as power cut inside the house and dimmed lights along the tunnels underground where Jason takes his victims. After looking into the lighting of slasher films, this made us understand and realise more about the lighting which we could use in our film opening.

5. Costumes Costumes in slasher films are important in relation to the characters. The costumes are a representation of the characters. The young innocent victims are usually in casual clothing which represents normality as they are unaware of any dangers. Their attire ruins when they’ve been approached by the villain and have attempted to run away from him. Their attire could be ripped etc. Usually, the identity of the villain in slasher films is restricted as they are masqueraded or not even shown. Michael Myers from Halloween is masked. Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13 th is masked. Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre is masked.

6. Iconography The iconography in slasher films are significant as they contain various, powerful and iconic images as well as certain motifs which are used in the majority of slasher films. Some of the iconography used in slasher films include: -A weapon (typically a type of blade such as knives) -Teenagers -Blood -Masked villains -Rural location/Unpopulated area (such as country sides where the victims have difficulty finding help) Screenshot from: Friday the 13th Iconic hockey mask Rural location: Forest (Camp Crystal Lake) Weapon: Machete Mask Weapon: Butcher Knife Screenshot from: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning

7. IMDB Statistics FilmBudgetGross Friday the 13 th (1980)$550,000 (estimated)$39,754,601 (USA) Friday the 13 th (2009) $19,000,000$64,997,188 (USA) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974): $83,532$30,859,000 (USA) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) $9,200,000 (estimated) $107,071,655 Halloween (1978):$325,000 (estimated)$47,000,000 (USA) Halloween (2007)$15,000,000 (estimated) $58,267,261 (USA) House of Wax (2005$30,000,000 (estimated) $49,048,809 See No Evil (2006)$8,000,000 (estimated) $15,019,200 (USA) Slasher films are incredibly popular to a younger demographic and younger audience. They typically have a broad fan base of adolescents who enjoy watching films of this genre the most. Many slasher films also have sequels, therefore the sequels usually have an already-developed fan base which consists of loyal fans that are willing to watch the films. This is easier for the producers and film-makers as they kind of have an idea of who they are aiming the film at.

8. Cinematography Many slasher films attempt to create verisimilitude by having POV (Point-Of-View) shots during scenes which consist of any type of pursuit. Either the villain chasing the victim or from the victim’s perspective where they are running away from the villain. These type of shots create verisimilitude because they envisage the running characters and attempt to make the audience feel the fear of which the characters are feeling. In Halloween, the opening scene contains a POV shot of Michael walking through the house. The POV shot is effective because it makes the viewers empathise and puts them into Michaels shoes. By making them see through his eyes, they are forced to see things in his perspective which has a greater impact in comparison to a normal medium shot of Michael walking around the house. It makes the audience feel as if they are in the scene and get to experience the murder for themselves. In this scene you see through Michael’s mask as he repeatedly stabs the naked female until she is dead on the floor. Furthermore, other slasher films have imitated the use of POV shots such as this one of Wade (the victim) through Jason Voorhees’ perspective. This is very effective. Halloween (1978) Friday the 13 th (2009)