Typical conventions of Horror
Horror films are unsettling films designed to; frighten and panic, cause dread and alarm, invoke our hidden worst fears, captivate and entertain us in a cathartic experience and often conclude in a terrifying shocking finale.
In horror films fears are created. For different types of audiences it can deal with our fears; nightmares, fear of death, terror of the unknown and loss of identity.
In horror films there’s always a lead character, which often results as the survivor in the film. The killer/ monster often has a trademark characteristic in the way he kills, for example the people he kills or the weapon he uses to kill them. It’s usually good against evil, the two characters conflict. The outcome in most cases is the good person survives or defeats the “bad guy”.
Freddy Vs. Jason
Introduction
I have chosen to analyse the horror film “Freddy vs. Jason” which is a 2003 American crossover film directed by Ronny Yu. The main characters of the film include horror icons Freddy Krueger, who starred in the film “A Nightmare on Elm Street” series, and Jason Voorhees, who appeared in the film series “Friday the 13th”.
Costume
The first character we see in the opening shot is a little girl, who is wearing a blue dress with white sleeves. The blue in the dress shows the innocence in the child. This makes the audience worried that the child is in danger. When the audience see the male character (Freddy) who is the “bad guy” in the film, we see him wearing a brown leather jacket with brown trousers. This reflects the lighting and background colour of the shot. Everything looks rusty and old. On his hand he has finger knifes. They are a different colour to the background to make them stand out more.
After, we cut to a shot of an angry mob outside his home. They are wearing normal clothes, for example coats and jumpers. This tells the audience that they could be a part of the mob and could interact with the real mob. Following this shot we cut to a scene where we see a child jumping out of a window and children watching in horror. They are all wearing Pyjamas. The pyjamas are all white to show the audience how frightened the child is and also to show the innocence of the child. Consequently, the audience feels scared that Freddy is looming over the building where the child is. Freddy is wearing his costume that he wears throughout the opening of Freddy vs. Jason. He is wearing a Brown hat, black trousers and his iconic red and black jumper. The red on the jumper could represent blood from the children he has murdered through the other films. The black on his jumper could show the audience the darkness in Freddy. The audience could relate back to a well known children's TV program “Dennis the Menace”. Dennis was a child who was very naughty and did bad things. The viewer could think that Freddy was an older version of Dennis the Menace.
From 1:33 minutes into the clip from YouTube we see a montage of children being murdered and adults trying to kill Freddy. The children are wearing their pyjamas. The audience can tell this is set at night time. Night time can be portrayed as being a scary time and place. The adults who are seen in the opening are all wearing normal clothes.
Lighting
The lighting in the first shot of the opening scene is dark in the background but objects in the foreground are light. This could be from a fire or a lamp. When the furnace is opened, fire rages out. This bright light from the fire makes the audience more awake and makes them feel something going to happen. After, we cut to a shot of a young girl who is in the background. However, she is lit from one side from a spotlight that could represent a fire or a lamp. In doing this, the little girl is given more of a 3D look. The foreground is darker so the audience’s eyes are lead in one direction.
In the fourth shot of the opening scene we see the main character with his back turned to the camera. His back is lit from the glow of the furnace. There is light being cast through the windows from the moon or a spotlight. This gives an eerie feel to the shot. The lighting in the shot makes it look very old and rusty with the orange and browns being cast onto the walls and main character. This type of lighting is used throughout the shot of the little girl.
The last scene of the little girl is very interesting. There is a backlight on Freddy who is not in the shot but the viewer can see his shadow. This shadow is cast over the little girl. This is very effective because we can see the little girl’s fear on her face but also what Freddy is doing. The shadow that is created is large so when he opens his hand to reveal the blades it is the same size as her.
In the following shot, the viewer can see an angry mob attacking Freddy’s home. The flames made from the house burning are shown effectively. The mob is standing outside Freddy’s home; the flames are in front of them, the camera pans past the people. The back of the people are in darkness, the fire makes a silhouette of the mob. The viewer gets to see the fire in all its glory.
Next, it cuts to a close-up of Freddy’s burnt face. The lighting on Freddy is shown as 3D. Only one side of his face is lit from a light. The audience gets to see more detail and because of the lighting, the audience has to look into his left eye. The lighting throughout the montage is all equal. It is all set at night so there is a small light source. There are lots of shadows and dark patches in the montage. This gives the viewer a sense of a frightening experience.
Sound
At the start of the clip the audience hears extra-diegetic sound of burning. After the camera pans down it reveals that the sound is from a furnace. The audience hears a narrator talking about the history of the main character. This is a very deep and unsettling voice to hear. This makes the audience feel scared and makes tension in the clip. In the second clip we hear metal being sharpened. This is a very high pitch sound that can make the viewer unsettled, waiting for what happens next. The following shot is of a dolly in a fire. The viewer can hear the plastic melting and at the end of the clip the audience can hear a little squeak from the doll. The viewer could think the little squeak was a child crying. Music starts to play that creates tension and a building tone. This makes the audience feel that something horrible is about to happen. This is diegetic sound. The music stops, the audience hear blades rub against each other creating a sharp loud tone. Also we hear a little girl worrying. We can hear her breathing heavily and at the end you hear a scream from the little girl.
We cut to a shot of an angry mob outside his house. The viewer listens to a bottle being lit with fire. The narrator is still talking about the history and what can be seen. A loud sound of glass smashing is heard. This loud sound makes the audience more alert.
We then cut to an extreme close up of the main character. The viewer can now understand that the narrator is the main character. The extreme close up is of the narrator. After, we cut to a montage of clips. The viewer can mainly hear children screaming and other sound effects. The sound effects give more horror to the shot. Music is being played in the background to add tension and atmosphere to the clip. We then see another montage of clips about the parents trying to kill the main character. The sound heard is strong and loud. This shows there is hope for the children in the film.
Camera Angles
Camera angles used in the opening of Freddy vs. Jason are mainly close-up’s and mid shots. The first shot is a pan down from eye level to a furnace. We then see the young girl walk behind the furnace. The shot is a tracking shot with a high angle following the little girl. After, the camera trucks forward onto the main character at a low angle. The following shot is of the main character and the camera is tracking his left hand. Meanwhile, we cut to shots of a dolly burning. This is a close-up from a high angle. This tells the audience that something horrible is going to happen. The shot continuing from this is a clever shot. The camera uses a high angle shot trucking forwards into the little girl. The audience feels that they are looking through the eyes of the main character.
When the angry mob throws a bottle through the window, the camera tracks the bottle when it gets thrown through the window. We see the mob outside. The camera pans behind the people to let the audience see the fire. This shot is at a low angle.
Next shot is an extreme close up of the main character’s eyes. The audience has to look into the main character’s eyes making the audience feel scared, seeing anger in his eyes. After this we have a montage which includes footage of children being murdered and adults trying to kill the main character. When watching the montage, it mainly consists of close ups and mid shots. This makes the audience feel scared and with the close up’s, the audience can see a lot of detail.
Set and location
The first setting is a scene in an old factory or warehouse. We can tell this by the large furnace placed in the room and the large metal windows. The colour of the location makes it seem old and rusty. When we see the mob they are outside the building. It is very dark so the background of the location outside cannot be seen. In the montage that follows, we see the children being murdered in their bedrooms and where the adults are trying to kill Freddy, they are located in a factory. We can identify the location to be a factory where Freddy is being attacked because of all the piping and the colouring of the shot.
Performers/Body Language
The body language of the main character “Freddy” is very relaxed. The view can tell that he has done this many times in the past and is not afraid of killing. The little girl in the first shot is very scared. The viewer can see that by her facial expressions and the way she is standing. She is up close to the wall trying to push it away to escape from Freddy. We cut to a shot of Freddy looking in an album. We can see some sadness in his eyes but at the end of the shot he laughs to himself.
The mob outside the building looks angry. The viewer can see this by looking at there facial expressions. The woman, who throws the first fire bottle, throws the bottle with force to break through the window.
In the montage of footage, we see Freddy looking very angry. The first shot in the montage we see him laughing when the child jumps from the window. All the children in the montage have the same expressions, all are shocked, scared and in pain. The adults’ expressions look very aggressive in the montage. They use all their force when trying to kill Freddy.
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