Slasher Research

 SLASHER

Perhaps the most famous subgenre of the large umbrella of horror films, slasher films are characterized by the killing of a large number of people by a psychotic murderer, typically with a sharp deadly object.

Content:

The most essential aspect of any slasher film is the villain/psychotic killer. The killer is characterized as stronger than a typical human and seems unfeasible to overcome, other than running or hiding. More often than not, the killer wears a mask to conceal their identity, and aid in creating the sense of inhumanity, mystery, and suspense. Furthermore, the antagonists in slasher films are almost always equipped with a weapon of choice, which often becomes representative of the character.

The iconic "Ghostface" mask from the Scream franchise

Jason from the Friday the 13th franchise holding his machete

The setting of slasher films is often an eerie and unfamiliar place, such as the woods or the countryside. However, this aspect is subject to change. For example, Halloween (1978) is set in a suburban neighborhood, which, in a way, makes the film all the more uncomfortable. It forces the audience to juxtapose the rather comforting setting with the nefarious, murderous acts taking place on screen. Additionally, it is common for slashers to include the "Final Girl" trope, which is when a leading female character seems to avoid all the mistakes made by the other characters and makes it to a final confrontation with the killer, the climax of the film.
                                                              

Slasher films typically provide a backstory to the killer which may provide context to their motives.  Another common content characteristic is a character making a foolish mistake that puts them in grave danger in the face of a killer (Ex: being cornered, tripping). This heightens the level of suspense of these films and keeps the audience at the edge of their seats. It even adds an extra level of audience interest as the audience wonders what they would do differently and may even feel aggravated when a character makes a costly foolish mistake.

Production:

Slashers often utilize low-key lighting to create shadows and strong contrasts, which limits the information directly available to the audience and aids in creating a sense of suspense and mystery. To fill in the missing information, the audience relies on the soundscape, thus becoming more sensitive to what they hear.

The sound design of slashers relies on creating an enormous contrast between dead silence and sharp, ear-piercing loudness. With this contrast, slashers work to catch the audience off guard and push them outside of their comfort zone. The sound perspective often draws attention to unexpected sounds and makes them unrealistically audible, such as footsteps, unsheathing a knife, or heavy breathing. This technique creates unpredictability, unfamiliarity, and suspense for the audience.

Perhaps the most infamous of all production techniques, jump scares go hand-in-hand with slasher films. A jump scare's job is to capitalize on all the suspense that the film has been building up, and if done correctly, will even make the audience feel unsafe. They are often aligned with loud stings of sound that act as punctuation to make the jump scare feel all the more sudden.

                            One of the most famous jump scares from Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Marketing:

The target audience of slashers are typically teens and young adults (16-30) due to the attraction held to thrill and suspense by this age group. While the audience is stereotypically male, over time the genre has become less targeted to any specific gender.

In the marketing process for slashers, marketing teams have one job: to invoke fear. Due to the few guidelines and regulations, slasher films are known to be very creative in their marketing. For example, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) was marketed as a true story with a documentary aesthetic. This made the film feel even more terrifying as it made the horror feel more realistic and unsettling.

A movie poster for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Another example would be The Purge: Election Year (2016) which utilized emergency response units to stage fake "Purge nights" in various large cities such as Los Angeles and New York. This tactic created urgency and panic for those nearby and turned out to be an effective marketing strategy. Word quickly spread on social media and developed anticipation for the film.

Samples:

Halloween (1978) follows the story of Michael Myers, a psychotic masked miller as he terrorizes a suburban neighborhood on Halloween night and draws an obsession to the main character Laurie, the "Final Girl". This film perfectly embodies what it means to be a slasher, as the audience follows Michael Myers as he goes on a brutal killing spree with his weapon of choice, a knife. Michael Myers is displayed as an ominous character with his terrifying mask which never comes off throughout the film, helping to develop a sense of inhumanity. His towering posture and menacing stalking of victims aid in portraying him as a powerful, undefeatable entity. The nighttime setting of the film paired with Michael Myer's navy jumpsuit slightly obscures him in the audience's eye, adding to the mysterious quality of his character. The use of low-key lighting, an unpredictable sound design, and well-constructed jump scares all help to both build and capitalize on the suspense of the film. 

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) is a film about a group of young adult friends who find themselves targeted by a cannibalistic family in the middle of the unfamiliar Texas countryside. The film embodies a slasher due to the feature of Leatherface, a horrifying masked killer who terrorizes the group with his chainsaw. Leatherface's character does not speak at all throughout the film, which further characterizes him as a mentally inhumane entity. The film also features the main protagonist and "Final Girl" Sally. The majority of the film takes place during the daytime, which creates a juxtaposition between the safe environment of the day, and the morbid brutal events of the film. Critics often state that what contributes to the terrifying nature of the film is how "real" it is. This is achieved through the use of minimalistic editing and almost entirely diegetic sound. The diegetic sound of the film and the use of master shots work to immerse the audience into the film, making it believable and attaining the realist approach.

Some Slashers to Consider: 

The Representation of Better Call Saul

Tuco Salamanca

    Through Tuco Salamanca, Better Call Saul others the community of Mexican people. From the very second episode, Tuco is characterized as a violent, unpredictable, illogical man who displays little to no morals as he holds Jimmy McGill at gunpoint.

 Tuco threatens Jimmy in Season 1, Episode 2

    The selection of this character excludes any sign of goals or future plans within his life, aside from being a vicious drug dealer. Tuco is constructed through the use of colorful, floral clothing creating a link between him and Mexican culture. Tuco's character also follows widespread stereotypes of Mexican people, as established in the media over time. These include being generally louder and more outgoing, and valuing his family, specifically his "Abuelita" and "tío", above all else. Therefore, this specific construction, and close following of stereotypes makes it clear that Tuco is the series' representation of the majority of Mexican culture. Unfortunately, the exclusive selection of the character depicts him as an unpredictable, immoral, evil drug dealer with the inability of releasing anything positive into the environment around him. This may cause the audience to subconsciously other and overgeneralize the Mexican population, creating a nonexistent perceived divide between the two.

Tuco and his tío, Hector Salamanca

Lalo Salamanca

   Through the introduction of Lalo Salamanca, Better Call Saul further others the Mexican population, yet manages to add a unique aspect to its representation. Lalo is constructed with cleanly parted hair, visually appealing and colorful clothing, and is always dressed with a certain level of formality. Furthermore, Lalo frequently seems to be eating or cooking while on screen, which creates a sense of vulnerability, familiarity, and emotional relationship between the character and the audience. 

   Despite the selection characterizing Lalo as a sociopathic psycho at times, at others he is portrayed as an intelligent, charismatic, witty man who evokes a feeling of warmth and even comes across as likeable. Lalo additionally follows many Mexican cultural stereotypes, such as his passion for cooking and his apparent hospitality. Therefore, the combination of Lalo's well put-together construction, dualistic selection, and following of cultural stereotypes, while still othering the Mexican population, adds a unique aspect to the series' formerly one-sided representation of the community.

A few examples of Lalo's charisma

Chuck Mcgill

                                         

Chuck and his "space blanket"

   A major aspect of Chuck Mcgill's character is his mental disorder, severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder(OCD). Throughout the series, Chuck is portrayed as an obstacle for his brother Jimmy, the protagonist of the series, and at certain points it feels as if Chuck assumes the role of an antagonist. Chuck is constructed with perhaps the most important prop in the entire series, his "space blanket." This blanket is used as a shield to combat his self-diagnosed condition, electromagnetic hypersensitivity, or being allergic to electricity, which ultimately ends up being a facade. This misdiagnosis came as a result of Chuck lacking understanding of his own developing mental disorder, which contributed to a decrease in his social ability. The selection portrays him as a genius, as well as an incredible lawyer, while also being a jealousy-fueled, insecure brother who does not wish to see his brother succeed. He also follows certain stereotypes of the elderly, as he is portrayed as an unwelcoming, uninviting, grumpy man, and relies solely on the newspaper to obtain his daily news. Overall, Chuck's depiction as an inconvenience and an obstacle throughout the series could result in the audience subconsciously developing a misunderstanding of those with mental illnesses and a neglection of the elderly. These two groups are historically underrepresented in media as is, and the representation in this series fails to promote progress in either direction.

Chuck hesitantly runs outside in his "space blanket" to collect the newspaper

Sound Project

   In this project, we were paired up and tasked with telling a story of our choosing by only using sound. We were limited to using no more than seven words of dialogue, and at least four of the sounds in our project had to be created using random objects on a “foley stage.” The rest could be taken from online sound effect databases. 

   Prior to being assigned the project, we were taught about the different types and uses of sound in media and explained the differences between them.  We were made aware of how drastically the smallest change in sound can completely alter the tone and mood of a piece. We were also shown videos providing great insight to the difficult, time-consuming processes foley artists undergo.

   As my partner and I brainstormed different stories we could illustrate using sound, we were looking to find one specific sound that an entire scene could either build up to or revolve around. After going back and forth for a while, we settled on creating the soundscape for a car crash.

   The creation of an outline played a huge role in our creation of a coherent, well-layered soundscape. We were able to visualize how one sound would lead into the next, and how they would mix together to create something that sounded realistic and believable. We decided to break the outline up into 4 parts, the character leaving their home, driving, the car crash itself, and the post-crash environment.

   Additionally, the outline was instrumental in helping us recognize what sounds would work best as foley sounds. These turned out to be footsteps on a grass surface (using shoes), footsteps on a hard surface (also using shoes), a car turn signal (using a pen on a table), and a heartbeat (using a towel).

Our outline:

   Feeling familiar with it due to using it in my last project, I chose to edit the soundscape using Adobe Premiere Pro.                              

                                                                     Editing timeline:

     Overall, I think my partner and I did well at creating a realistic soundscape and making intentional choices to develop tone, such as the relaxing jazz music being listened to in the car, to create a huge contrast between the pre and post-crash environment. I believe that while we did layer a variety of sounds, we could have spent more time thinking of additional sounds to layer to make the soundscape all the more believable. 

My Soundscape