Taylor Wooltorton Media Research into 3 different films Scream

One convention of horror in scream is the use of location, such as desolated areas far away from civilization. Scream uses this as a stereotypical convention consciously, and plays on the idea well, and also refers to it early in the film, when the killer says were out in the middle of nowhere, the cops wont be here for ages. This shows that although there are many uses of horror conventions in the film, the director has chosen to put these is deliberately, and has even made references to them for a comical effect on horror, but also used them to mock past horror films and their use of horror conventions. Another horror convention in scream is the use of characters. The first character seen in the film is the stereotypical dumb blonde character(drew Barrymore), who is also the first death of the movie. She is a convention of horror because in every horror movie, there is always the death of the popular, attractive and uneducated woman, who is usually blonde. However, the writers play on this very well, and use her characters stereotypes consciously, by making her answer the phone to the killer, flirt with him, and continue to talk to him even during his threats, instead of calling the police or someone to help. Another convention of horror is the use of the weapon, a simple knife. In every horror film, there is always a signature weapon, such as Freddie crugers claws in nightmare on elm street, the chainsaw in texas chainsaw massacre, and a hatchet from hatchet. In scream, the knife plays a huge part in the movie as a convention, and is used very well to symbolize the movie, and the killer himself. The budget of scream was an estimated $15,000,000. However, they grossed over $100,000,000 from the movie in over a few weeks. This shows that scream was an original horror movie of its time, and interested audiences with its conscious choices of stereotypical horror conventions.

Scream makes audiences realize all of the past horror conventions in past horror films, and how they are used stereotypically in movies, but not actually acknowledged, whereas in scream they are done subconsciously, which humours the audience and makes them feel a sense of originality with scream in its way to mock stereotypes but also use them in a way that makes a good movie. Review from www.imdb.com Making a brilliant, original horror film is pretty hard these days, since practically everything has already been told, and more than once. Using that premise, director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson came up with Scream, whose cleverness derives from the fact that it knows every single stereotype of the genre and satirizes them. Take the opening sequence, for example: a young girl (Drew Barrymore) is making popcorn and waiting for her boyfriend when she suddenly receives a phone call. Normally, this would be a huge clich, only this time the killer decides to play a little game (horror film quiz, naturally) with his victim. In fact, the only reason why he kills her is that she gave the wrong answer to one of his questions (those who haven't seen Friday 13th might want to skip that bit, as it spoils said movie's ending). In other words, Scream is a smart, effective horror film, which manages to amuse and scare in equal measures. Definitely worth watching, even if the two sequels (especially Scream 3) don't really match the original's intelligence and, forgive the expression, originality. This could show that scream was a huge success in its time, and that reviews from the world enjoyed the originality of its conscious choices of stereotypes. One way this will affect my own ideas is that I might choose to make my killer a stereotypical victim of bullying, or some kind of mental disturbance, that causes him to become a murderer, creating a stereotypical horror convention that people understand, but also enjoy.

Final destination

Final destination is an interesting horror movie to use, instead of the killer being a stereotypical psycho on a revenge mission; it focuses on the idea of a supernatural killer, which is death itself, on a rampage after a few teenage friends cheat death. This is interesting because it is unlike any horror films before its time, and has its own sense of originality. A few Conventions of final destination are: Stereotypical jock character Dumb blonde character Smart final girl/guy Blood splattered Death of many people in first few minutes The budget of final destination was an estimated $23,000,000, however, they grossed just over $53,000,000, showing that they made a large profit on the movie. This makes the audience feel a different kind of fear compared to human killers. With other horror films, such as scream, the audience know that the killer isnt real, and dont fear the movie or the killer as much as the director would hope. However, with final destination, the killer is supernatural, death itself, a natural thing, which the audience fear a lot more due to the fact it is actually a believable killer. Review taken from www.imdb.com I have to say that this movie scared me and my parents good. I also must say that this film deserves lot praise. Although the plot is not original, however the antagonist is, Death itself. What I really liked about it was that Death never showed itself and that it turned simple everyday items into murder weapons.

This reviews backs up my ideas about the supernatural killer, and agrees in a way that the fact the killer never appears strikes more fear than a human or animal killer. This affects my own ideas by using a constant streak of kills from the killer. However, unlike final destination, where the killer is supernatural, our killer is just a normal boy, meaning we will stick with the simple and classic human killer. Let the right one in

let the right one in is a very original horror film, because it focuses on a dark and very gothic theme of fear, rather than jumpy horror such as scream. It focuses on a young boy who is bullied and soon befriends a young vampire. Some conventions are: Blood Murder Dark surroundings Killer -evaluate success They were estimated a budget of $4,000,000, however, they only made a profit of $2,000,000. This could because it was an unknown production company, and the film was of foreign make. The film itself doesnt make the audience feel jumpy, or make them feel the need to scream. Instead, it makes them feel more of an uncomfortable horror, due to the large amounts of blood, and gothic themes set out throughout the film. Also, the way the fact that the killer is a child also makes the audience feel uncomfortable; due to the fact the audience usually associate a child with sweet and innocent; however in this film the child isnt like its stereotype at all.

Review taken from www.imdb.com The cold darkness of Sweden makes the perfect backdrop for the story. It was so refreshing to see a vampire movie that doesn't rely upon cheap scares, fangs and gore. This review backs up my point that the idea of the killer who doesnt constantly kill people with the need to use large amounts of blood is actually a good idea, and plays on the gothic idea very well. This affects my own ideas by giving me the idea not to make a jumpy and repetitive killer, but instead making a creepy and strange killer which will make the audience feel uncomfortable, but also keep them interested because the killer is a child.