The final girl theory

Researching into the horror genre I have found that there is a theory called the final girl theory. This theory looks into that the horror genre is becoming a feminine genre because the last person to overthrow the killing physco is a women.

 The theory was started by a women called Carol. J Clover in a book "Men, Women and chainsaws ; Gender in the modern horror film." Clover suggests that in these films, the viewer begins by sharing the perspective of the killer, but experiences a shift in identification to the final girl partway through the film. The theory is based on the typical thriller/horror narrative structure where a killer picks off his victims one-by-one and then the final victim kills the killer. This final killer has now been transformed into a women. I believe this has been done because with the final victim being a women then the audience would suspect that the women would be incompetent and fail with the killer, this would create suspense for the audience. The reason the final victim is a women is because they share the same characteristics ; such as the women is sexually un-available or is a virgin. She usually avoids sex and drugs which the other victims use. The final girl also has a unisex name, such as; Teddy or Sam. Occasionally the girl has had some relation with the killer, either a sister from the killer or an ex-lover. The Final girl also shows innovative, she moves the story forward by finding clues and wanting more investigation.

During the final battle between the girl and the killer, Clover suggests that the girl becomes more masculines by taking a weapon such as a knife and then confronts the killer who then she eventually wins the battle, usually she wins because she does become more masculines. 

An example of the final girl theory is in the "Hitcher". This films shows a couple who are trying to run away from a character who is trying to killer them. The male character from the couple dies from the killer which then leaves the fe-male character left. As she is being transported to jail she is confronted by the killer in the road, she then takes a shotgun and kills the killer. Another example is from the film "Alien" a female character called ripley is faced against the mother queen of the alieb race. She shaves her head to become more masculines and then wins the battle against her, this shows that she has become more male by shaving her head to become a man. This is what could possibly make her win the battle. This film was made in 1979. This shows that the final girl theory has been around for a long time and even the directors in 1979 were using the final girl theory.

If I can get a female actress for my film then I can incorporate this into my trailer by just showing glimpses of the female actress and maybe possibly the female actress grabbing a knife from a table. I may even be able to take my own twist from the theory and start having a female killer but with a male final victim for my film. This is only an idea but I would like to take my own twist on the horror genre.

From this theory I have learnt that the horror genre needs a female actress in order to fit the codes and conventions of the genre. If I do not have a female actress then I would need to take my own twist on the film and describe my own twist. I am un-decided about using a female actress for my film but as I will look more into my film then I will make my decision. In my trailer I would need to show a female actress become more masculines through the film to eventually take on the killer.

Audience Research

In order to make sure my product sells well to the public, I must research my audience to see what attracts them to films, I must to do this because I could be missing vital information which the public thinks about the "thriller" genre which I have not read about, I must research my audience and find out what they like in my thriller genre. Professional companies do this all the time so that they can aim their product at the most amount of people so therefore they can get the most money for their troubles.

Here is a photo of my main target audience

I have asked my main target audience why they would go and see a thriller film and this is what he said

"I would go to see a thriller film if the film contained action but also a mystery, I have going to see a thriller film if there is only action, yeah it looks cool but I also like to keep thinking throughout the film, the action and tensing music only adds to the excitement of the thriller. I think I would go and see a thriller if I could relate to a character"

From this person I have learnt that I must include a mystery in my film so that they have something ticking over in their mind throughout the film whilst they are watching, this gives me the option to give a twist to the story line which would allow me to break the conventions of a stereotypical thriller by having a shocking twist rather than the normal ending an audience would expect. 

This is my main target audience because of the age, this person looks to be late teens and early 20's, therefore this character looks like they have money to spend and likes going to the cinema with his friends to watch a film that they can talk about afterwards. 

Analysing a magazine front cover (Ancillary Task)

In order to successfully make a high quality magazine front cover I must analyse existing front covers to find out what they do to make them professional and use these techniques to put into my own front cover. I will study the cover of a magazine called Empire. Empire as a magazine specialises in the film industry with reviews, latest releases and all the film news.

Here is some brief information about the film magazine Empire.

The film magazine Empire first started in July 1989. Empire is the biggest selling film magazine in Britain, outselling rivals "Total film" by 2 to 1. Empire is also published in America, Turkey and Russia.  Empire reviews mainstream films but they also review artistic films, some main features Empire has in their magazine are the top 10's (for example they feature the top 10 best chase scenes or top 10 death scenes).

As you can see Empire is a highly rated film magazine, by basing my magazine front cover on their work means that I can take their features and incorporate their properties into my magazine. This is why I will choose Empire to focus my magazine on.

Empire almost every time chooses the theme of their magazine based on the genre of the film they are showcasing. Such as the film Inception. Inception is a film about going into peoples dreams/minds and finding out there secrets about their lives through there dreams/minds. As you can see from the magazine front cover on the right. They theme the background around the film but the Empire title still stays the same red as always, this could be their trademark symbol.

Here is the magazine front cover for the film "Bourne Legacy"

The Bourne Legacy is a film exactly like taken, so therefore i can compare these films because they are both of the same genre. The taken's film poster showed Liam Neeson taking up a third of the poster with the colour scheme of Earthy grey and reds. Because the bourne legacy is on the cover of Empire I will see what the professionals have done to create the best selling film magazine in the world.


The first thing I have noticed is that the character is in the middle of the page, but is in front of the "Empire" title, this could show that fans already know the name of the magazine so they can afford to cover up the title with the character. I have also noticed that there is a colour scheme of red, black and white on the magazine.

Title - The title for the magazine front cover is Empire. This title is one word, this is easy to say and read because this is one word. The title is coloured in red with a character blocking the title up. The title is at the top of the page with a brief motto about the film that it is showcasing. I believe the reason the title is written in red is because red is a colour that will attract the eye of the viewer. There are only 5 items on the page coloured in red and the title of the magazine is the biggest. This will grab the viewers eye even though the title is partially covered up.  I also believe the reason the title is at the top of the page compared to being at the bottom or the middle this is because this will set up the viewers eye point because naturally they will look at the top of the page for a title rather then the middle.

Images - There are 2 images on the front cover of the magazine, there is a main image of the main character from the film but there is also the background image on the magazine where the character is stood. The background is choosing by the genre of the film, in this case the bourne legacy is about a super elite MI5 agent who turns rogue to find out who they are, this film contains kick ass fight scenes with explosions. The background is a street with a brick wall in the background. This relates to the genre because action/thriller films are set in the back alleys where they go under-detected when they have fight scenes.

Colour Scheme - The colour scheme for the Empires magazine is based around the colours; Red and black, the third colour is based on the genre of the film. 

Quantum of Solace - This front cover features the red and black colour scheme but the third main chosen colour is based on the genre of the film, so quantum of solace is a film with fight scenes and explosions so this would be a action/thriller but we relate the grey on the cover with the grey that is associated with James bond, the colour of his Aston martin, also the colour of metal which could relate to weapons and money. This shows that Empire select their third colour based on the film they are showcasing. 

From looking at professional magazine front covers I have learnt many things about how to make my own magazine front cover the best it can possibly be, these things are;

• By having a simple magazine front cover with only a couple of pictures on will enable me to have a simple front cover but one I can make in high quality because this will be a simple design to move about and make perfect. 
• By having the main character on the front page and in front of the magazine title will make the audience assume i have a well known film magazine where i don't need to show the film title in order for the audience to know what film title my magazine is. 
• If I arrange my magazine front cover around the genre of the film then this will show the audience what type of film I am show casing on my magazine but by having the same colour scheme on my magazine this will ensure my magazine will look professional and of a high quality. 
• I must also include add-ons on my magazine front cover that will entice the audience to buy my magazine, Empire uses a top ten section to entice their audience to buy the magazine. 
• I have also learnt that the title of the film must be on the front cover of the magazine, such as I could copy Empire magazine and have the film title in front of the main character on the cover.  

Textual Analysis for Film Poster (Ancillary Task)

In order to fully understand how to make a high quality film poster, I must first look at professional film posters and analyse them to find out why they are high quality and what makes them professional. Also I must look at the key features that are similar in all thriller film posters to make sure I include these in my poster. The film poster I will study in depth are "The Taken" 

Here is the film poster for the film "The Taken".

The film itself is about a character who's daughter is kidnapped by some characters, they want money for her return. The main character who is played by Liam Neeson hunts for his daughter and her friend who is kidnapped. This film has gun fights, bar knuckle brawling and explosions. This film is the start of the famous kick ass line "I don't know who you are, I don't know what you want, but if you don't let my daughter go, I will find you, I will kill you." From looking at the film poster I will split up the film poster into categories and describe these in depth.

Title = The film title for Taken is near the bottom of the film poster, the film poster is coloured in red, I would believe that this has been done to insure that the reader does not get confused with the other text and therefore the colour red stands out from the rest. The colour red symbolises danger and/or romance, seeing as the film is about a father who hunts for his daughter i would suggest the colour red fits into both because he is getting his daughter for love but has to kill in order to get her. Just the word "Taken" is scary enough when read. This is a very abrupt title because the word "Taken" means that someone has purposely taken something from another person.

Images = There is 1 main image on this film poster which is a picture of the main character Liam Neeson holding a pistol in his right hand. This image takes up the whole entire middle of the film poster, this would show that this character is very important to take up a third of a film poster. Behind the main character there are snippets from the film, they show action in these shots. This would show the audience that there is action in the film but also that some of the characters might be in danger in this film which would further promote the genre of the film being an action thriller.

Colour Scheme = The  colour scheme for this poster is mainly a earthy grey.white and red. The character Liam Neeson is dressed in black. The earthy grey background is a simply background, there are no colour ramps or colour change. I believe they have done this because they want the audience to focus on other items on the poster rather then the background. The red text on the poster is used for the title and the release date, I believe they have done this because this makes the title and the release date stand out from the rest of the text. By having the main character dressed in black this could show that he is dark and mysterious. Black is an authoritative colour as well, this shows that Liam Neeson is in control of the film.

From analysing the film poster I have learnt that the colour scheme of the poster is important, all the colours in the poster must flow and be subtle to each other, this will create a high quality poster rather then a basic poster with block colours. I must also use a main character on the poster who is famous and has high bank ability, therefore when my target audience glance at the poster and see a famous bankable actor on the poster this will grab their attention, then they are more likely to watch the film because of this. In relation to the colour scheme if the title is in a different colour then this will grab more attention from the audience because the title is in a different colour from the rest of the poster.