Prop Ideas/Analysis

CarA car will be used in order to get the protagonists to the location whereby they are going to get killed. This is very common in slashers, such as a ‘Cabin in the Woods’. In the trailer we see the teens with an orange car, unpacking to get to the cabin itself. It also gives hope that they can escape via the use of their car. This is why we have decided to use a car in our trailer. It shows the protagonists are spontaneous in their journey their - if they had to walk all the way their it would be unlikely they would bother. Also, at the end of the trailer we can tease the audience as we see the final girl trying to get into the car, with the antagonist right behind her, leaving the audience curious as to whether she manages to get away. Furthemore, the teenagers in my trailer are going to be ‘under the influence’ suggesting further that they are reckless and rebellious, not conforming to society's expectations, a convention of slashers, from this we can expect their deaths from being transgressors.

The car we are going to use in the trailer.

A cabin in the woods.

Alcohol and Cigarettes Through the use of both of these props the audience will be able to establish the protagonists

reckless and rebellious. These products are conventional in slashers, as well as the use of drugs. Due to the protagonists in slashers being transgressors, it is another reason for them to be targeted by antagonists. This is present in Friday the 13th trailer whereby in the trailer we can see the group of teenagers drinking and dancing on tables. This is presented in a montage with a range of different shot types so we can see the behaviour the protagonists get up to at a fast paced, with detail to the props they are using. I am going to adapt this to my own trailer, so it is clear that the group of teenagers are acting in a way they should not be, with access to this they shouldn’t be, because they are ‘underage’.

The Weapon- AxeSlashers are renowned for brutal killings, to a vast and large amount of people. The way this is

done is through a choice of weapon. It is evident through slashers that most antagonists have a signature weapon, such as Freddy Krueger and his sharp knives as fingers or Texas Chainsaw Massacre. By having a signature, original weapon it allows symbiosis to be created, allowing audiences to recognise the likes of a chainsaw and refer it back to the ‘Chainsaw Massacre’. This is something that I would like to establish in my own trailer, as well as ancillary pieces with an Axe. It will be promoted across all platforms in order to create a symbiosis with ‘Deadwood Grove’.

Mask

Masks are one of the key conventions within the slasher sub-genre so it is adamant that we follow this convention. With most masks we have seen, such as Mike Myers, they have been very simplistic, insinuating that less is more. This is why we went for a basic black skeleton mask as we wanted to follow the same effective code.

Overall, through the use of these props we should be able to give the audience a hint of the sub-genre (mask), and the representation that teenagers are transgressors and then reckless and silly behaviour leads them to their deaths.