GCSE Media Studies

Controlled Assessment:
The conventions of the horror genre are normally the antagonist having more
power over the other characters and they show that by killing or threatening
innocent people. A narrative event which is a convention of the horror genre is
the antagonist chasing the protagonist with a weapon. A weapon or prop that
normally appear in films are knives as it associates with murder and blood. In
the horror genre there is usually a female character which role is the trouble
maker or the damsel in distress whereas the male character is brave and
committed. It is important to study woman in film because that are normally
portrayed sexually and weak which explains the male gaze theory. The female
characters have power over men because they lure them with their sexuality
which is while woman portrayed in this way. The synopsis of Nightmare on
Elm Street is a man Freddy (the antagonist) who was murdered and burnt for
kidnapping and murdering children who now kills in nightmares. This film fits
in the horror genre because in the film we find out why Freddy is seeking
revenge which is because he was murdered by Nancys mother. The synopsis of
the woman in black is a femme fatal ghost who kills a child whenever she is
spotted in her village. This fits the horror genre because the woman is a ghost
and she dresses in black which associates with evilness and death. It also fits in
genre because there are a lot of tragic deaths. Evidence of this is when the
antagonist caused a fire on a house full of children.
The characteristics of Nancy in Nightmare on Elm Street is brave, committed,
demanding and curious because she was dedicated to beat Freddy and save her
family and friends whereas the characteristics of Tina is vulnerable and curious
because she went out in the dark at night to investigate who was make the
noises outside by herself to get killed by the antagonist Freddy. Tina and Nancy
are a similar character in way because they both curious about the man (Freddy)
in their dreams but they arent so similar because Nancy went up against Freddy
with a plan and smart way however, Tina went up against Freddy unexpectedly
and dies. The characteristics of Samara in The Ring is scary, smart, crazy and
convincing as she is a femme fatal ( female villain ). She is astute and plausible
because she tricked Rachel to think that she was just an innocent little girl who
was murdered so she would open the well so that Samara could be free but, she
is just as iniquitous and frightening as a demons soul. Her long black hair
covering her face suggests that she is covering the true evilness of her and she
wants to unleash it at the right moment. Her bold white sinister eye suggests
that she is ready to seek her revenge and it makes our heart pound and grip onto
our seats because we dont know how she is going to do it. However, Rachel is
opposite to that, her characteristics are curious and brave as she is the
troublemaker of the film. Also because she convinced herself to search and find
out the truth by studying the tape. The characteristics of the Woman In Black is
spine-chilling, eerie and predictable because she is dressed in all black, the
colour black suggests death and malevolent also whenever she is spotted people
in village knew what was going to happen and that was a child was going to die.
Non-diegetic sounds such as the high-pitched drift of the string leitmotif are
used to portray women as endangered damsel in distress. The high-pitched
string symbolises when the perpetrator is about to strike. This makes people
think that all women are weak because we know that they are about to die
through the strings and that they have no protection so there is nothing they can
do about it. An example is in Nightmare on Elm Street when Tina decided to
investigate the noise outside during the night. The result of the strings was the
unfortunate death of Tina as she felt protected with only her boyfriends shirt.
Diegetic sounds such as the unpropitious laughter of the antagonist are used to
portray women as a joke and nothing to them. This is because they are mocking
them. An example of this is when Freddy in Nightmare on Elm Street laughed
at a confused and petrified Tina when she was running away from him. The
connotations of his echoing, sinister laughter is that he making fun of the
damsel in distress and depicting her as a clueless fool as he trying interpret that
he is bigger and better than her. The irrational voice is a theory that how woman
are portrayed in a vulnerable situation (in movies etc.) for example Tina in
Nightmare on Elm Street. Tina ran out unprotected in the middle of the night
just to investigate the sound that woke her up; this is an example of a woman
portrayed to be acting in an irrational manner, called the irrational voice. It
disempowers women because they are being illustrated in a ludicrous and
mindless way. Tina walks out her of house in the middle of the with no
protection by herself when the antagonist could be lurking in any bush around
her and attack her if he wanted too. This effect the way women are being
portrayed because in reality, it would be a completely different story. A normal
woman would call the police or tell her husband or boyfriend. The denotation of
the costumes that the woman in black wear is a long black dress with a black
vale covering her face. The connotations of the the costumes the woman in
black wear is death as the black vale suggests that she is going to a funeral or
there is going to be a death and shes getting ready for it before. The long black
dress suggests that she is the opposite of a good angel as the angels often wear
white clothing. The colour black suggests evil, sinister, importance, deaths,
mysterious. The woman in black is a strong character as she is located in her
own home in Yorkshire, she is the femme fatal (antagonist) so she is hard to
defeat. She has an advantage because she knows how to get around her own
house and scare Arthur. She knows all the shortcuts and hiding spots so she has
more power over Arthur (the protagonist). In the Ring, there were many editing
techniques used in the scene of Noahs death and Rachels race to Noahs house
for example; cuts, fast-paced editing and wipes. There was a reverse shot while
Rachel was driving to Noahs just as he was about to be killed by Samara.
When Samara was crawling through TV from a well, there was editing.