Stock characters are important as they are a stereotypical person that the audience recognize due to them being used repeatedly. Stock characters have now become a key convention that is used or subverted. Daniel Chandler talks about genre and how the audience are familiar and recognise the different subgenres due to stock characters for example the dumb blonde and the jock.
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TRAILER ANALYSIS
For the trailers for the trailers I analysed please clip the top left of each slide. |
FILM CRIT
Get Out
2017 Jordan Peele Protagonist:The protagonist could be considered to be himself. Antagonist:The antagonistis also his mind which is trigered by his girlsfriends family which can also be the antagonists. Theme: Racism Stock Characters: Chris, Rose, Walter, Rod Williams Stock Situations:He is trapped in his girlfriends house. Her Mother seemed to dislike him. Icons: Knives which are a danger sign. Ropes used to make sure he didn't move and because the theme of the film is about racism ropes could refer to hanging. Background & Decor: The mouse on the wall Equilibrium:The man goes to meet his girlfriends family and the end up travelling to a quiet neighbourhood. Disequilibrium:When the girls mother starts to treat the boy differently and calls him to sit with her in the living room when everyone is asleep. Resolution: At the end the mans best friend help find him and the man killed the people chasing him Film Review: This film channels horror into a new kind making it about racism as the family of his girlfriend treats him differently. This horror is especially for black people and also reminds them of slavery. Cabin In The Woods
13 April 2012 Drew Goddard Protagonist: Dana= Virgin Holden= Scholar Curt= Athlete Jules= Whore Marty= Fool Antagonist: There are a number of different species of supernatural creatures used to murder the five sacrificesfor their ritual. Theme: Teen Punishment Stock Characters: Blonde, athlete, virgin, final girl, sexy girl Stock Situations: The dumb blonde otherwise known as the extremely attractive girl ia killed firs. Characters awaken the bad/evil by going into and isolated area Icons:Toys, Dolls, Knives, One way mirror Background & Decor: The house is isolated. Wolves head. Pictures. Equilibrium: Going on holiday and having fun by jumping in a lake and travelling to the location of the cabin Disequilibrium: Them being watched and locked into a particular area of the woods. They recognise the distribution when strange things keep happenin. Resolution:At the end the world fell and ended because of their decisions. Film Review: This film is a metaphor for the heavily controlled society we live in that is under the control of the dark, hidden forces. The film can also be seen in a religious sense because it is said that it is 'their own free will' so they are controlled but not in everything they do. Annabelle Creation
2017 David Sandberg Protagonist: The first character which has a faulty leg once she unlocks the evil doll the other girls become the protagonists too Antagonist: The Doll Theme: Evil preys on the week, Disobedience, Teen punishment Stock Characters: Samuel, Bee, Esther, Victor, Linda, Janice, Sister Charlotte, Father Massey, Carol, Nancy Stock Situations: The wife is mysterious, the doll goes after the sinners Icons: NA Background & Decor: Dolls, Toys, Wooden Toy House Equilibrium:The Orphans ate moving to another house. The two main girls talk about always being together Disequilibrium: When the girls start seeing things like when the two girls under the sheets telling stories Resolution: Once Sister Charlotte figures out whats going on the owner of the house as well as his wife are informed and try to get rid of the evil spirit posessing the doll Film Review: This film mainly focuses on disobedience as the girl does something she was not told to do (goes into the room). The girl confesses her sin which links it to the religious aspects. |
BY ESTHER FATUNLA
Cabin In The Woods Analysis by Panashe
Cabin in the woods uses very typical horror conventions in its movie such as the cast, which includes “the jock”, “the dumb blonde”, “the druggy”, “the smart one” and “the virgin”. The film seems like a supernatural, slasher film and its mise en scene shows this. There are zombies which show the supernatural side but these zombies are equipped with weapons, showing the slasher side. The film definitely sexualizes women such as in the scene whereby she is attacked by the zombie after she nearly drowns and is thrown around the place which is a representation of domestic violence, as she is powerless to this figure she cannot seem to escape no matter where she goes, deeming her defenseless
Cabin in the woods is interesting in how it tells a message throughout its whole runtime. The film starts with the typical “teens go to a creepy cabin the middle of nowhere surrounded by the supernatural” setting but it diverges into a deeper conspiracy about how the Gods and demons below us require sacrifices from five people, namely “the jock”, “the dumb blonde”, “the druggy”, “the smart one” and “the virgin” and how they need to be killed in an exact order, with a nameless corporation carrying out these sacrifices in order to keep the world in balance. The film is a metaphor for the horror industry and its audience. The Gods will destroy the world if this “show” isn’t up to their standard and this represents the horror audience and how if a movie fails, they will be displeased. The nameless workers are the movie makers, trying so desperately to make sure we are entertained. They even act casually as they watch these teens die and that’s representative of how we have seen the same types of movies over and over again, to the point that we are desensitized to all the death surrounding us that we even bet on how they’re going to die before it happens. The teens in the movie are the actors, being forced to do as they say by the movie writers and are just doing what they want for the sake of the audience, they are “puppets”. The movie explains the reasoning for different horror tropes such as why they would split up and there is even a point in the film when they ask why the jock character is acting like a jock because typically he is really a sociology major. The movie pokes fun at typical horror conventions and themes such as teen punishment because as an audience, that’s what we want to see.
Cabin In The Woods Analysis by Esther
This film relates to teen punishment because what these teenagers are doing is seen as sinful nature for example sex before marriage and drugs, which is a big thing because in 1889-1900s horror became more popular due to the enlightenment and more people looking for other answers instead of God however religious aspects are still heavily used. The most pure ones (the virgin) is always killed at the end as she is the one who has committed the least “crime”
Degrading representation of women. This is found particularly in slasher films. Female characters experience violence and brutality at the hands of male antagonists far more often than male characters in these films. For example the sex scene with the dumb blonde (Jules) and the scholar (Holden) the girl was stabbed with a phallic object which could be seen as a sexual representation. Female characters are more likely to experience sexual violence, particularly in the rape/revenge sub-genre as Jules was stabbed without her consent which punishes her for sex before marriage. The scene where the girl is thrown around links in with male authority and dominance and suggests that women are helpless and weak.
In addition when Jules took her shirt of the male controllers got excited which can represents the male audience who are all anticipating to see what happens next. Women are made to seem like an item which can be bought as one of the controllers goes on to say “show us the goods”
Yonic imagery would be bloodshed. Since this was a splatter there is a lot of this, which connotes loss of virginity and addresses the problem of society believing that sex before marriage is fine and justifiable.
Phallic imagery means an object that resembles a penis. These objects are mainly used by the zombies because it allows them to get close to the victims which is a sexual representation.
Summary
“The gods” can represent God watching us make terrible mistakes. This show suggests that God sees this as a “show” to see whether the people make the right or wrong decisions which have their consequences. When we do wrong God is unhappy which could be linked to how the controllers where unhappy when the scene/action did not go to plan.
Seeing the film religiously it can be argued that the controllers are seen as God who has control over us but we also have the choice whether to abide by it or not this links to free will and our ability to do good or bad. It is even mentioned in the film that it is"their own free will".
When the teens die the controllers don’t flinch which suggest that they are used to it and could signify how society is desensitized to death around us which justifies the reason to violence media around us.
This film is a metaphor for the heavily controlled society we live in that is under the control of dark hidden forces.
Cabin In The Woods Analysis by Liz
The movie "Cabin in the Woods" shares the typical conventions of which horror movies consists of and this is seen through the use of mis-en-scene, camera, editing and sound. Despite being classed a horror movie, the movie begins with very bright lighting in a factory of some sort with lots of people working in a rushed matter. Your typical horror movie would start with dim lighting and perhaps creepy music. We are then introduced to the main characters, dumb blonde, the jock (these two are also the couple constantly having sex; despite only having one intimate scene, it was suggested in the beginning that they're quite sexually active.
There's also the loner, who smokes a lot of weed, the virgin (aka the final girl) and the smart guy. Once they approach the house, the virgin/final girl approaches the house and the music played is used to build adrenaline in the audience as it builds tension to what the house holds. The characters then settle in their rooms and the sound of mysteriousness continues to build up the adrenaline as there's a disturbing painting on the wall of one of the character's room.
The movie also consists of the typical creatures, main ones being monsters and zombies. We are introduced to this after the final girl reads a diary. The Latin that she speaks is what awakens these creatures which is also another typical convention for horror movies as it's typical for zombies to be woken through another language (that way we don't understand what's being said therefore building more adrenaline). The speech often said to waken these zombies acts as a portal from earth to the evil.
Further into the movie, the couple having sex are attacked by a zombie and are first introduced when it stabs it's weapon into the blonde's hand. This is symbolic for penetration creating a phallic image. The blonde being the one first stabbed not only emphasises a "slut" image but is further typical in horror movies as she's the first to go. The jock then tries to fight the monster and behave as the hero of the day however is next to die; normal. The others are killed further on into the movie and like many horror movies, it's all for the idea of teen punishment. The movie is a mainly a splatter and gore movie as it's covered in blood majorly.
Cabin in the woods uses very typical horror conventions in its movie such as the cast, which includes “the jock”, “the dumb blonde”, “the druggy”, “the smart one” and “the virgin”. The film seems like a supernatural, slasher film and its mise en scene shows this. There are zombies which show the supernatural side but these zombies are equipped with weapons, showing the slasher side. The film definitely sexualizes women such as in the scene whereby she is attacked by the zombie after she nearly drowns and is thrown around the place which is a representation of domestic violence, as she is powerless to this figure she cannot seem to escape no matter where she goes, deeming her defenseless
Cabin in the woods is interesting in how it tells a message throughout its whole runtime. The film starts with the typical “teens go to a creepy cabin the middle of nowhere surrounded by the supernatural” setting but it diverges into a deeper conspiracy about how the Gods and demons below us require sacrifices from five people, namely “the jock”, “the dumb blonde”, “the druggy”, “the smart one” and “the virgin” and how they need to be killed in an exact order, with a nameless corporation carrying out these sacrifices in order to keep the world in balance. The film is a metaphor for the horror industry and its audience. The Gods will destroy the world if this “show” isn’t up to their standard and this represents the horror audience and how if a movie fails, they will be displeased. The nameless workers are the movie makers, trying so desperately to make sure we are entertained. They even act casually as they watch these teens die and that’s representative of how we have seen the same types of movies over and over again, to the point that we are desensitized to all the death surrounding us that we even bet on how they’re going to die before it happens. The teens in the movie are the actors, being forced to do as they say by the movie writers and are just doing what they want for the sake of the audience, they are “puppets”. The movie explains the reasoning for different horror tropes such as why they would split up and there is even a point in the film when they ask why the jock character is acting like a jock because typically he is really a sociology major. The movie pokes fun at typical horror conventions and themes such as teen punishment because as an audience, that’s what we want to see.
Cabin In The Woods Analysis by Esther
This film relates to teen punishment because what these teenagers are doing is seen as sinful nature for example sex before marriage and drugs, which is a big thing because in 1889-1900s horror became more popular due to the enlightenment and more people looking for other answers instead of God however religious aspects are still heavily used. The most pure ones (the virgin) is always killed at the end as she is the one who has committed the least “crime”
Degrading representation of women. This is found particularly in slasher films. Female characters experience violence and brutality at the hands of male antagonists far more often than male characters in these films. For example the sex scene with the dumb blonde (Jules) and the scholar (Holden) the girl was stabbed with a phallic object which could be seen as a sexual representation. Female characters are more likely to experience sexual violence, particularly in the rape/revenge sub-genre as Jules was stabbed without her consent which punishes her for sex before marriage. The scene where the girl is thrown around links in with male authority and dominance and suggests that women are helpless and weak.
In addition when Jules took her shirt of the male controllers got excited which can represents the male audience who are all anticipating to see what happens next. Women are made to seem like an item which can be bought as one of the controllers goes on to say “show us the goods”
Yonic imagery would be bloodshed. Since this was a splatter there is a lot of this, which connotes loss of virginity and addresses the problem of society believing that sex before marriage is fine and justifiable.
Phallic imagery means an object that resembles a penis. These objects are mainly used by the zombies because it allows them to get close to the victims which is a sexual representation.
Summary
“The gods” can represent God watching us make terrible mistakes. This show suggests that God sees this as a “show” to see whether the people make the right or wrong decisions which have their consequences. When we do wrong God is unhappy which could be linked to how the controllers where unhappy when the scene/action did not go to plan.
Seeing the film religiously it can be argued that the controllers are seen as God who has control over us but we also have the choice whether to abide by it or not this links to free will and our ability to do good or bad. It is even mentioned in the film that it is"their own free will".
When the teens die the controllers don’t flinch which suggest that they are used to it and could signify how society is desensitized to death around us which justifies the reason to violence media around us.
This film is a metaphor for the heavily controlled society we live in that is under the control of dark hidden forces.
Cabin In The Woods Analysis by Liz
The movie "Cabin in the Woods" shares the typical conventions of which horror movies consists of and this is seen through the use of mis-en-scene, camera, editing and sound. Despite being classed a horror movie, the movie begins with very bright lighting in a factory of some sort with lots of people working in a rushed matter. Your typical horror movie would start with dim lighting and perhaps creepy music. We are then introduced to the main characters, dumb blonde, the jock (these two are also the couple constantly having sex; despite only having one intimate scene, it was suggested in the beginning that they're quite sexually active.
There's also the loner, who smokes a lot of weed, the virgin (aka the final girl) and the smart guy. Once they approach the house, the virgin/final girl approaches the house and the music played is used to build adrenaline in the audience as it builds tension to what the house holds. The characters then settle in their rooms and the sound of mysteriousness continues to build up the adrenaline as there's a disturbing painting on the wall of one of the character's room.
The movie also consists of the typical creatures, main ones being monsters and zombies. We are introduced to this after the final girl reads a diary. The Latin that she speaks is what awakens these creatures which is also another typical convention for horror movies as it's typical for zombies to be woken through another language (that way we don't understand what's being said therefore building more adrenaline). The speech often said to waken these zombies acts as a portal from earth to the evil.
Further into the movie, the couple having sex are attacked by a zombie and are first introduced when it stabs it's weapon into the blonde's hand. This is symbolic for penetration creating a phallic image. The blonde being the one first stabbed not only emphasises a "slut" image but is further typical in horror movies as she's the first to go. The jock then tries to fight the monster and behave as the hero of the day however is next to die; normal. The others are killed further on into the movie and like many horror movies, it's all for the idea of teen punishment. The movie is a mainly a splatter and gore movie as it's covered in blood majorly.