The Heroine
We used a counter-type as the girl who gets killed first is almost always a dumb blonde, but we went against this as our girl was brunette and there normally portrayed as intelligent, smart and resourceful but our girl walks straight into a death trap. The fact that our protagonist has a had a boyfriend makes her look like she's not a virgin therefore not innocent and pure, adding to another reason why she should die and could be seen as one of the killers motives as sexually active characters are normally first to be killed.
'Burning' and 'Friday the 13th' are the only 2 films that have a final male so we decided to carry with the stereotype of having a final girl (not seen in the 2 minute clip) so its easier for the audience to relate to the characters as that's what there used to seeing in horror films. We decided to use the name 'Mandy' for our protagonist as it is a feminine name and means 'lovable'. John Carpenters Halloween's final girl was called 'Laurie' which is quite a masculine name, it reflects how she has lasted to the end by the masculinity in her character, which our character has non of. Also, the final girl normally has a degree of psychic ability, being able to avoid the killer, in contrast to our character who is killed in the first two minutes.
The final girl is not usually seen in any sexual/shower scenes as they are normally portrayed to have a lack of male gaze. But a film who went against this stereotype is Nightmare on Elm street as the final girl is seen in the bath. The final girls boyfriend usually tries to help to but he is usually killed. The police, who normally have a strong authority in society, are always killed and are never able to help the characters no matter how hard they try and are normally shown as being stupid and making wrong decisions. An example of this is in 'John Carpenters Halloween' as the police attempt to help but end up getting killed. Characters tend to be most vulnerable when in a bath or shower scene, this is why we decided to have the protagonist killed in the bath to emphasis her vulnerability.
The Killer
Weapons and equipment used by the killer stick in the audiences mind. For example, Jason with hockey mask and knife in Friday the 13th. The killer is normally a male who acts alone but there is a few expectations, as in Urban legends there's two groups. Something has normally affected them to create a motive for the killings as all teenagers in slasher movies are naughty and are punished for breaking the rules of society.
The knife, constantly used in horror films, acts as a 'phallic' object when its penetrated by a man in a woman acts a symbolic rape. Emphasising the masculinity of the male killer and the vulnerability of the female.
I also researched Carol Clover for her ideas on the 'final girl'. From her book, 'Men, Woman and chainsaws'
Most theorists label horror films as a male driven/ centred genre, Clover believes that "in most horror films, especially Slasher, the audience male and female are 'forced' to become attached to the young female, the final girl, who survives the serial attacker and normally puts an end to the killings. So while the narrative dominant killer's subjective point of view may be male within the narrative, the male viewer is still rooting for the Final Girl to overcome the killer." Examples of this are within Halloween with Jamie Lee Curtis, Friday the 13th with Betsy Palmer and Nightmare on elm street with Heather Langenkamp.
What is expected from a horror genre opening scene?
For further research we asked a number of teenagers (our target audience) what is expected from a horror opening scene. We found that:
Tension music
Jumpy parts
Narrative enigma with the protagonist and antagonist
Victim
Subtle references to plot
Immoral activities
Exposition
Nudity
Masks/Concealed identity
Night/Darkness
Equilibrium
Weapon
Gore
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