Mise-en-scene

Costume

The Mask

While not particularly scary to look at by itself, when in conjunction with the dark clothing, low lighting and other mise-en-scene (knife e.t.c.), the mask contributes to the dark atmosphere of my production and creates fear and intrigue as to the identity of the killer. The innocent, childlike mask when juxtaposed with the actions of the killer creates a morbid effect and solidifies the disturbed mental state of the killer. The use of the mask also plays on the irrational fear some people have of masks (Maskaphobia) and the fear of clowns too (Coulrophobia) which is created by the impossibility to gauge the emotions of the wearer. Other films which have played on this fear include 'IT' ( A film based on a Stephen King novel about a killer clown) and Halloween. It is conventional for killers in slasher movies to wear masks to dehumanize them and also because psychologically most people find the idea of being murdered by an unidentifiable person scarier than being murdered by someone you know (especially when killed without reason).

                                               Clothing


I have used clothing and colour to create distinction between the victims and the killers. With the exception of the mask, the killer is dressed in all black as black connotes evil and power. The lack of colour signifies the absence of emotion that the killer possesses and that perhaps death surrounds him. The black clothing when used with low lighting also deprives the audience of the ability to see him which can create fear. 
  
Both the victims are dressed in white which connotes innocence and purity, so makes it easier for the audience to sympathise with them and accentuates how malefic the killer is. From a practical perspective blood (fake or otherwise) is most visible on white clothing so will enhance the look of the special fx used and show that the character is in extreme danger which will add to the excitement/fear.    

 Props

The Weapon

Even though knives are used primarily for eating with they are still an instrument of fear because of the ammount of damage a single blow can cause to the human body. The recent increase in knife crime has exacerbated this fear and so I feel its inclusion in my production will be effective at creating fear and discomfort for the audience. By choosing to arm my killer with a knife I am following the conventions of the slasher sub-genre as many of the prominent killers in this sub-genre use knives. The combination of the white mask and the knife was chosen as a homage to Scream which has heavily influenced my production. I chose to do this as I feel the opening to scream is the most successful and well executed opening to a slasher and I hoped to emulate it's effective use of the codes and conventions. 

Xbox/TV

                                                      

The use of the xbox in my production was selected to create recognition between the victim and the audience as one of the aspects of my target audience was those whos lifestyles included playing videogames. By showing the character playing video games and how he acts whilst doing so, allows the audience to build a picture of the type of person he is (personality, lifestyle e.t.c), which helps to create a connection between the audience and the character and allow equilibrium to be established. As horror films rely on making the ordinary scary, the concepts used by film makers have occasionally integrated domestic technologies into the way in which fear is created. An example of this would be The Ring in which the antagonist climbs out of the victims tv before killing them. This idea inspired me to include a scene in my production in which the victims sees the killer kill someone on his tv before the attention of the killer is turned on to him. 

Lighting

With the exception of one scene, lighting was not considered and standard domestic lighting was used. In the scene that lighting was important, a light was positioned at a high angle to highlight the victim, showing him in a vulnerable position surrounded by darkness and at the mercy of the killer. When the killer enters the shot, the foreground where he is standing is in darkness which he blends into, depriving the audience of the ability to see him clearly. In the reveal when he turns around (after killing the victim) and we can see he is wearing the mask the other character has just found, the light was used to reveal just enough of the mask as to be recognisable. The other side of the mask remains hidden which creates a sinister visual effect when in reality the mask is not scary looking at all.