'The Stepfather' Still Frame Analysis

 

This is a still from the remake of The Stepfather. The Stepfather is a film my group are basing our ideas on for or horror opening. In this still, we see Grady Edwards, the main characters and 'stepfather' of the story. We can immediately tell that he has the qualities of a killer as he is holding a knife in the way in which you would stab something or skin an animal. Despite the knife, he is dressed in rather casual clothing. This counters the conventions of what we perceive a killer to be and strikes fear into the audience as someone they know who looks like an ordinary person could be capable of killing.

 

The sweat on his the front of his top shows he is either stressed or been working hard. He may be stressed due to how difficult it is to kill his victims. His hair is also sweaty which gives the real sense that he has been struggling and is desperate to get rid of someone. He is in a sort of 'wild west' stance like he is about to duel or engage in a struggle with someone. We can infer that someone may try and resist his actions. The scenery around him is typically of a household where we infer a family lives. The whole idea of The Stepfather is that someone who could even be part of your family, could be a cold hearted killer which the audience would find frightening since the story of The Stepfather could be real.

 

This is the kind of film I would like for my group's horror opening: a horror film that could be real.

Research into Typical Synopsis



Collage of Horror Iconography



Conventions of Horror

Font Analysis

This font is the first one I spotted that looked like it was for a horror. This was due to the liquid (which I conventionally saw as blood) dripping from each letters like the letters weren't full intact. This idea if something being very brittle and wearing away gives the sense of destruction and so anarchy and evil which all relate to horror. The title is crudely drawn and the use of a blood like substance instantly says horror film and death.

This font reminded me of the punk movement of 1977 but it could be relevant to horror as the lettering looks old and worn away and a lot of horror is based on some forgotten history or something and the way the font almost seems like that once it was happy would make the audience feel uncomfortable since we as people put our trust in things that make us happy but really the horror genre can abuse this and make it dishonest; this idea that you're never safe.

This last font reminds me of scratching or carving into a surface. This angry imagery would make the audience think of someone or something dangerous and maybe even a tool used to carve it in such a way, like a knife. All of these fonts are in block capitals to make them stand out and none of them are really neat, they all have jagged edges almost like whoever wrote them didn't care or had to do it quickly.This gives us the image of someone being frantic and panicky which would make the audience do the same.

http://www.fonts.com/

Title Analysis

 

The titles to the 2013 remake of Evil Dead is written in a very vibrant red. This vibrant red makes the title stand out and conventionally makes the audience think of blood and danger. Red is a very evil colour, like in Star Wars, Sith lords all have red light sabers. The title is in bold capital letters which makes it seem larger and more 'in your face' and intricate patterns are woven into the letters which resemble tree branches. This is relevant since the film is set in a forest so you could say it is a method of foreshadowing. In the actual title sequence, the title is just red and the branches start growing and appearing as if the trees are alive, just like in the movie. The way the branches almost overtake the title makes the audience feel as if the evil is spreading and nothing can stop it, just like a force of nature (hence the trees could be symbolising evil).

 

The Thing, 1982, has a very jagged title which seems to 'freeze' into the opening like ice. This is another foreshadow on how The Thing in the movie is thawed out of ice. The title is written almost like the person who did it didn't care and sort of like it was carved like they did back in prehistoric times. We could take this as a hint that the creature is of an unknown origin, before history. The title is in front of a space scene and has a blue aurora surrounding it like some kind of spaceship. This shows us that it is a sci-fi horror. The use of the title 'The Thing' would make the audience more curious on what 'The Thing' actually is. We as people are obsessed with finding out everything we can and if we don't know something, we want to know which will make the audience watch on. Also, the fact that The Thing doesn't have a name and is even referred to in the film as 'The Thing' creates fear in that even the characters in the film don't know what it is.

 

These are the three original Evil Dead trilogy titles. The first Evil Dead (1981) has a very simple red title (much like the remake) which immediately says danger. The title is animated and waves about like a ghost or a spirit which would make the audience think of supernatural qualities within the film. The title is over the top of a grey mist which is mysterious and quite scary as we want to know what is behind the mist but it may make us frightened. This is how horror films work, they create suspense and mystery and we as audiences want to watch even though we know it will make us jump scared; we enjoy being scared.

 

The Evil Dead 2 (1987) has a quite different title than the first one. It is in block capitals and is very much in the same style of the remake (perhaps the remake was based on this title) and has a big roman numeral of the number 2 behind the title. The use of the roman numeral indicates history so we can infer that the film contains a lot about the history of t evil and where it came from. The title is in white which is the colour of purity which is then surrounded by black which could mean evil. You could go as far to say that this is representing Ash Williams, who in the movie is pure and surrounded by evil.

 

The last installment to the Evil Dead trilogy is Army of Darkness (1992). This film is very different to the others in it's setting but is still a horror. It carries a different name but is still known as Evil Dead 3 as it follows on from number 2. The title of this one is formed from a spiritual anomaly and so keeping to the theme of spirits and demons. The title is faint and written in capitals and disappears faintly. This is a slightly more leery title which will make the audience think of the unexpected. After all, that title is different and we were left last time with a cliffhanger but the fact that the spirits are still existent would make the audience suspicious on how.

 

http://www.artofthetitle.com/

Iconic Horror Directors

George A. Romero

George Andrew Romero was born in New York City on February 4th, 1940. Romero is regarded as one of the most famous zombie film directors of all time and is a very successful director, screenwriter and editor. He attended the Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and after graduation, formed "Image Ten Productions" with a group of friends in the late 60's where they created the first instalment of the to be greatest zombie pentalogy ever, Night of the Living Dead.

It was created on just a budget of 100,000 dollars and made a huge profit. It then became a cult classic in the 70's and the pentalogy continued with Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead. He has been married 3 times and has 2 children and is currently the age of 74. His other works are The Crazies and Season of the Witch and most of his movies are filmed in his favourite city, Pittsburgh.

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

John Carpenter

 

John Howard Carpenter was born in Carthage, New York on January the 6th, 1948. He is an American director, producer, editor, composer and screenwriter and has been active since 1962. His most commonly associated work is his sci-fi films in the 70's and 80's and his most notable work is the 1978 cult classic, Halloween. Carpenter was interested in filming from a young age and began to film short movies on an 8mm film before he even went to high school. He studied at Western Kentucky University and then later on at University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts but he dropped out to begin his future. Halloween, The Thing, Escape from New York and They Live are a few of his most famous films. He has had two wife's and now lives in Los Angeles at the age of 66.

 

 

Halloween (1978)