3. Stage One: Pre Production/Task One: Concept.

For my production, I am going to create a horror/romantic film opening. The ideas which I wish to explore is the possibility of falling in love with a monster - who is misunderstood and often possessing a common stereotype - and I wish to break that. The feelings I wish to evoke are empathy and shock. I would like the audience to expand their way of thinking, to become more excepting of a strange situation. The basic concept will be a man and a woman being seen together, the man will be killed, and then the woman comes face to face with the murderer, who has a special aura about him - which the woman is drawn to. The trailer will be terrifying and alluring and strange, which will be created by a combination of camera angles and shots.

2. Horror Film Study, Task Three: Analyse.

The impact that this convention has had on the future of horror films has been very significant and successful. Many films following these classic slasher films - such as Scream and Saw, have taken the convention of the knife and used it in the modern-day slasher films for inspiration. The knife is a brutal and common household object which most households nower days possess. Therefore, this weapon that is in some ways a neccessity, is a likely weapon for a murderer to use, and this is a scary thought. As an audience, you tend to be left with the thought: "That could happen to me.", so the knife is actually a very terrifying weapon - and being stabbed to death is not only an unbearable thought - but it is also a probable situation - one that we as spectators could easily find ourselves in. These films were generally well-recieved by critics and audiences world-wide. The films were credited by the use of music, shadows, use of camera angles and camera shots, and lighting. Both had "bus" moments, where the anticipation and suspense would build up - leaving the audience to expect something substantial to happen, but then it is a flase alarm. These were extremely well done - especially in Psycho when the police officer was in a car chase following Marion Crane; however nothing happened, and then we are left with uncertainty. Could he reappear? Could he be the killer? The effect that this convention has had on audiences in my opinion have been very powerful. In previous films in this genre, such as Frankenstein and Rosemary's Baby, the scary and creepy creatures were monsters - things that we had never thought to be real. However, Pyscho and Halloween had killers that were human. This was such a freighting concept. Who could we trust? Who should we trust? This concept is one that plays with our minds and in result has a larger affect on us as this scenario is more likely than a spooky monster. The knife was, and still is, a scary and popular murder weapon in recent horror films - and for good reason. It is terrifying, incrediable painful and very likely. This convention was very successful and is still used in modern day slasher films - the knife will always be thought of as a classic horror film convention.

2. Horror Film Study, Task Two: Explain.

The convention of a knife being used as a murder weapon in the films Pyscho and Halloween was effective because these two horror films are known as slashers; a film where typically a young female or teenager is attacked with knifes and razors. The knife was used as a phallic symbol and a deadly weapon in these two films to create a horrorific and alarming mood for the movies. For example, let us imagine that in Pyscho - Marion Crane was shot to the same capacity that she was stabbed. Yes, being shot would still have been shocking; however having a knife being thrusted into you so passionately, with such force, is so much more disturbing and creepy - hence creating a rather black atmosphere to the film. Marion Crane was a sexy woman, in touch with her sensual side. In comparison to her sister Lila Carne, Marion wore tight clothing and used attractive eye make-up to bring attention to her eyes - which her sister, a representation of what women in that time should have been presented as, did not do. So, the long, sharp knife was not only the ideal weapon to cause scares for the audience and to create the "slasher" genre which is now so well renowned, but the knife also has a deeper meaning - a message to the spectators. Norman Bates, the killer who has split personalities: one of which is the persona of his mother, killed Marion Crane because his mother (his alternate personality) was telling him that she was too sexy, and that he should stay away from her (because Norman was sexually attracted to her). The knife is a representation of pentration, in a way being punished, physically killed, with a sexual-like action; because having sex like Marion Crane did was unacceptable. In Halloween, the concept of the knife being a sexual symbol and a vicious murder weapon remains the same. Three young women, each sharing sexual relationships with their boyfriends, are killed - with a knife, by the unknown masked killer. These two films share a common hidden meaning - that typically young women who engage in sexual intercourse are susceptible to being murdered - because it is thought to be wrong - and this message is portrayed by the director Alfred Hitchcock. Pyscho was a huge box office hit, thought to be the mother of slasher films. Halloween was received postively aswell - being classed as the modern-day father of all slasher fims. Both movies were excellently made - even on their low budgets. Audiences, no doubt expected the cliche of a monster, not a human, being the killer. However, in the films Pyscho and Halloween, the killers are both pyschologically disturbed; Michael Myers (Halloween) being described as "pure evil", not having any human features that we would expect - such as emotions and physical pain, which Michael does not endure, and Norman Mates (Pyscho) murdering his mother in envy of the lack of attention, and then taking on a second persona of her - in result sends him to a mental institute (after being charged for three murders).

2. Horror Film Study, Task One: Describe A Convention.

The repetition of a knife being the murder weapon is shown in the two films Psycho (1960) and Halloween (1978). Marion Crane, the protagonist in Psycho, is brutally stabbed with a knife while she is in the shower, which can be interpreted as a phallic symbol of penetration; Marion being targeted due to her sexual relationship outside of wedlock. When Marion is being murdered, the perspective is from the murderer, Norman Bates, who the cameramen flick back to to focus on the mysterious silhoutte holding the knife threateningly in mid-air. Approximately 73 camera angles were used in the filming of the the shower scene, 73 ways to view Marion being killed. The main character in Halloween Laurie Strode is an innocent, educated young woman who is considered lucky to survive as she was targeted by Mike Myers the psychopath. Mike Myers targeted teenage girls, two of which broke the rules of horror films: One had sex and the other drank alcohol. Laurie babysat children, so she was the well-bahaved lady of her friends. It is debateable whether it was a miracle that Laurie survived, or whether her morals and values guilted the masked murderer to let her live. The knife was used for almost every death that happened in Halloween. In the beginning scene, we see the victim through the eyes (a mask-outline is placed on the camera lens) of the mysterious masked killer. We see the knife go through Mike Myer's sister's stomach more than once, and we also view her agony through the brother's eyes, which shows us that this boy is disturbed. Another moment with a knife in this film is when the boyfriend of the sexual young girl Linda is brutally stabbed. The memorable freeze frame was of Bob being pinned against the wardrobe door with the long knife in his chest, and the masked stalker standing infront of Bob, merely staring at his work.