Representation Essay



Theorist Mulvey researched representation of women in horror movies and discovered what he calls the male gaze in which the females body is on display for pleasure of the viewer who are mainly males. My summer horror trailer does in fact include this "male gaze" at the end of the trailer when the final girl character is seen laying on the floor, almost lifeless with her legs open. The shot is framed as a close up camera pans across her entire body in close up so the audience gets a clear view of her body. This was done to create a sense of impurity and loss of innocence as that juxtaposes her character and this represents the objectification of women by presenting them as mere glorified objects to be stared at.

Theorist Clover came up with what he calls the Final Girl theory which relates to the last female character alive to confront the antagonist in a horror film, typically slashers. The final girls is typically virginal and takes on the innocence of the group. My horror trailer does include this final girl as she is seen in all white looking for her friends. The final girl character in my trailer shows signs of bravery as she is the one looking for all her friends whilst in other sections of the trailer, the friends were running away from the antagonist. I made her recognisable as the final girl through the mise en scene, particularly the costume desigm, and 

Teen punishment is the idea that the teenagers in a horror film are made to suffer for the sins that they have committed. These sins are usually sexually related. My trailer does include this to an extent as the white girl and black boy in the trailer are seen running and presumably caught by the antagonist and a relationship is hinted at. However, there isn't much shown in the trailer that would warrant any sort of teen punishment such as having sex. These characters take the mantle of the jock character and the slut character and usually something like sex is what would get them killed so in my new trailer, should I include teen punishment, this is what I will do.

Dobbs said that females in horror are typically objectified are that there are characters known as scream queens and monsters, with the monster being the antagonist. My trailer included both of these character tropes and with the final girl also being the scream queen and of course the killer being the monster. The scream queen/final girl acts as a point of identification for the audience as does the monster. The audience, mainly females, would most likely identify with the innocent girl looking for her friends and also being terrified whilst the males would identify with the monster through his sense of dominating power of the female.

Comments

  1. ctkmedia19 October 2017 at 03:14

    Introduction - use the essay plan given to you to discuss the role of gender and monsters in Horror representation and how this is present or not in your own trailer and its success overall.

    "My summer horror trailer does in fact include this "male gaze" at the end of the trailer when the final girl character is seen laying on the floor, almost lifeless with her legs open. The camera pans across her entire body in close up so the audience gets a clear view of her body." (E) WHICH Shot Type - Close Ups? (A) WHAT effect does this have in OBJECTIFYING THE WOMAN?

    "My horror trailer does include this final girl as she is seen in all white looking for her friends. The final girl character in my trailer shows signs of bravery as she is the one looking for all her friends whilst in other sections of the trailer, the friends were running away from the antagonist." (E) HOW is this on screen in the choice of the MES or HOW you have used CAM or EDIT to create this character/make them recognizable as the FG? (A) WHAT does this mean in terms of gender - WHAT is POST FEMINIST reading of your film?

    " My trailer included both of these character tropes and with the final girl also being the scream queen and of course the killer being the monster. The scream queen/final girl acts as a point of identification for the audience as does the monster." (E) HOW is she recognizable as the SQ on screen? What MES have you used to make her obvious? WHAT SOUND have you dubbed over? WHAT CAM ANGLES have you employed?

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