How can we effectively analyse film form and what do we lear

The opening scene also contains elements which the viewer can appreciate with proairetic hindsight as several clues are laid regarding the killers identity. Firstly there is a suggestion, particularly after re-watching and studying the sequence that there may be two killers in costume, one we see briefly inside the house who forces Casey outside to the second who kills her, ensuring that there is no way she can escape the situation, relevant because the finale reveals a pair of killers. Also during the phone conversation several personality attributes become clear which hint to the killer’s identity once we have met the suspects. Firstly the caller is obsessed with film trivia and in particular horror movies which indicate Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy), the ‘geeky’ video store clerk who later reveals the rules to surviving a horror movie may be guilty. The voice also seems quite excitable and manic at times, particularly when giving Casey a test on horror films which he claims will save her life if she answers correctly, the dialogue is comparable to that of a game-show host as he builds to a crescendo. This suggests Stuart Macher (Matthew Lillard), the manically unconcerned boyfriend of Tatum who mocks the situation the situation the group find themselves in and frequently adopts different voices to crack jokes and make his point could be responsible. Finally the killer also appears sexually frustrated on a subtle level as he flirts with Casey, asking if she has a boyfriend and checking she is alone. While this could be attributed to checking the coast is clear for what he is about to attempt, the audience later discover that the killers would probably know such personal information about their victims. Hence it seems that the caller is probing to see how far she is willing to go in a sexual sense which relates to the character of Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich), the boyfriend of the virginal Sidney who indicates on several occasions an almost desperate desire to sleep with her.

Indeed it is around this point the scene changes dramatically as the killer seems to tire of the conversation and breaks the tension which has been created despite the audience being prepared for what is going to happen by saying; “I want to know who I’m looking at.” The threat is clear, the subtle zoom to Casey and the sounds of dogs barking and threatening music all make clear cultural references to the change in mood. The rest of the scene conforms to what the viewer has been expecting from the opening few minutes as Casey rushes around the house in a desperate attempt to escape the killer who is only seen fleetingly in the house till he finally appears in a black robe, a clearly symbolic reference as it is in opposition with Caseys light clothes. This sequence is proairetic in that it now allows the audience to appreciate why the preceding action took place, to build the tension and introduce the situation using at times obvious but usually subtle narration codes.

nd white mask attacks her and after a brief scuffle kills her with a knife as we see her parents arrive home to the mess in the house. Finally Caseys mother looks outside and screams as she notices her daughter has been strung up on a tree outside and has been ‘gutted like a fish’ a fate which the caller had referred to earlier in the sequence.

It is now that the camera starts to play a little with the tension, a zoom to the window and a long establishing shot of the house will be recognised as significant because of our cultural or technical knowledge of such shots which create a sense of unease but the audience still consider the hermeneutic code, we are wondering what will happen. As Casey prepares popcorn the spectator is instantly reminded of a film viewing, a self referential cultural code which also allows for cuts back to the pan getting hotter and hotter before exploding during the following chase sequence, something the viewer can appreciate from a proairetic

Some topics in this essay:
Casey Becker, Skeet Ulrich, Michael Myers, Indeed Caseys, Barthes French, Secondly Barthes, Drew Barrymore, Chainsaw Massacre, Matthew Lillard, America’s VCR, horror films, horror movies, horror film, cultural code, nightmare elm street, horror movie, casey becker, black robe, hermeneutic code, nineties generation, cultural reference, viewer appreciate proairetic,