Represention essay

There is a lot of representation within horror, this is when there are different portrayals for certain groups for example, females supposedly having to be "pure and innocent". There are many theories relating to representation in horror like, the representation of women. Mulvey found that women are controlled by the 'male gaze' this is where a females body is displayed on screen for the pleasure of the viewers who then become 'voyeurs' (they are typically male). In my trailer we do not see the male gaze so explicitly, apart from when there is a shot of the female standing and it focuses on her body which is facing the camera. To make this more recognisable, I could add a low angled tilt that scans a female character from her bare legs to her face, but with extreme focus on her face, her chest and her legs. This would then make the audience voyeurs to the film as they are taking pleasure from watching the woman's body on screen. This would therefore, make my trailer more conventional as it is very common in most horror films, especially slashers. They dehumanise the female body and look at her like an object rather than a person. The character that would play a role in the male gaze, would most probably be the 'slut' who has blonde hair and is sexually active, this means that the films focus would centre around how "sexy" this girl is. By not including the male gaze in the trailer, we are rejecting the idea that women are of a lower status to men and empowering them to prosper and do better than what is expected of them. 

Also, teen punishment is again frequently portrayed in horror films when it is indicated that teenagers should suffer to any "sins" they have committed for example, having sex or doing drugs. It shows that teens should not be concerning themselves in 'adult' situations therefore they will take the consequences, furthermore it shows that as you grow up particularly girls who go through puberty they are losing their innocence and that is apparently a bad thing. This is shown typically in supernatural horror films where a young child (usually a girl) is possessed by some form of demon (usually male) who is punishing her for no longer being pure. There is an apparent possession aspect in our horror trailer and there is supernatural indications in it, it could be suggested that the the characters are being possessed and haunted for growing up and becoming teenagers who are experimenting with different things such as sex, drugs or alcohol. This is evidenced on screen by having the actress stand in front of the camera staring directly at it appearing to be demonised. To emphasise the possession aspect of it we could have added some levitation through more detailed editing or had the character who is a female speak in a male, demonic voice. 

Another theory is The Final Girl by Clover, this character typically has masculine characteristics like a unisex name, they are also always virgins who do not succumb to the reckless antics of other typical teenagers. This girl also 'saves the day' and is the last survivor, they fight the antagonist by using a weapon (eg knife or saw) which carries phallic connotations, this then emasculates the male killer. It suggests that to be able to fight against evil you must have male power to do so. In our trailer there does appear to be a final girl who again has dark hair and appears to fight against the evil forces. The mise-en-scene of the final girl would include her dark hair which is in a ponytail, also her clothing which is just a plain t-shirt that could be classed as unisex. She does not wear provocative clothing or appear to be wearing a lot of makeup which infers that she is not a typical girly girl who revolves herself around sex, alcohol and drugs but more on education and her own priorities. This is shown towards the end of the trailer, when there is a close up POV of the final girl speaking to the camera, the fact that she is shown at the end of trailer implies that she is the last survivor and therefore, the final girl. To make her appear more explicitly as the final girl, we could have used her name in the dialogue which would have to be unisex for example, Jamie. We could also have, shown her fighting off the antagonist or overcoming the 'possessor'. However, if we did this we would have given the entire film away. 

Religion, gender and sexuality are clear points in horror, this is shown by theorist Charles Derry. He says that demons who possess young girls are controlling them sexually again because of them going through puberty, the possessor is almost always male. As the possession happens inside the body of the child it is as if the devil is raping the child. There are connotations of evil within humans in our trailer as it shows that the devil looks like it wants to make them do evil and take over their mind, body and soul.

The monster shows the fight between good and evil and mankinds propensity for evil. This is again by Derry who suggests there is a 'human monster'. There does not appear to be any monsters in our horror trailer, none that are physical only the devil and the supernatural.