Final Girl Theory

The Final Girl Theory refers to the last girl that is alive in a typically slasher/horror film that confronts the killer. This theory has been used in many films such as:
- Halloween
- Friday the 13th
- Scream
- The Strangers
- A Nightmare on Elm Street

The term was founded by Carol J. Clover in 1992 in the book she wrote 'Men, Women and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film' and suggests that the audience take the perspective of the killer at the start of the film and then towards the end they begin to move towards the 'final girl'.
The concept is usually that the characters are killed one by one with the last remaining character being the woman who either vanquishes the killer or manages to escape. According to Clover the 'final girl' shares many characteristics, a few of which is that she is 'sexually unavailable' and does not participate in the use of drugs and alcohol. 
This theory focuses on the gender representations of the characters in a typical slasher/thriller film and argues that when the girl faces the killer she becomes 'masculinized' by taking a weapon to confront the killer. Also because it is generally a male orientated genre of film, this makes it easier for the audience to identify with a female character. Clover states that in order for a film like this to be successful, it is necessary for the surviving character to be female otherwise the mostly male audience will reject it.

We felt that because our main inspirations were Halloween, Scream and The Strangers, it would make sense to portray this theory in our trailer. This, along with Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theory, we decided on our main characters being female. Also we suggested there was a 'Final Girl' at the end of our trailer where she is backing away from the clown into a corner holding a bat as a weapon. 

Intertextuality

An intertextual reference is a recognisable feature from one media text that can be used in another. 

 

Because our film was based around a Halloween Party we needed the 'guests' to be dressed as Halloween characters. One that we felt was very typical of a Halloween character was the Scream grim reaper. We felt that we should use an intertextual reference of the mask so that the audience know what sort of film Coulrophobia is going to be and will help them decide on whether they would want to go and see it at the cinema, because fans of the Scream films will also most likely be interested in going to see Coulrophobia as it contains the same concept of a masked killer. We decided on just using the mask so that you can still see the the body of the person wearing the mask. This was so that it does not take away from the fear that the actual killer, the clown, has on the audience. It also helps the storyline to continue featuring an anonymous killer as it leaves options open for the audience to decide who the killer may be as you cannot see all the male's faces in the trailer. This will keep the audience guessing throughout which is vital in order to make sure they remain interested in the film.

Characters

For our teaser trailer, we need one main killer and various female victims. As well as this we will have numerous extras dressed in Halloween costumes. 

Main protagonist
Our main character will a clown. They will be dressed in a scary clown costume with a frightening mask. We took inspiration from other films featuring clowns as their main killer. 

We have chosen this clown costume as we think that it looks scary and threatening. We think that the mask will create fear in the audience as it has an element of disguise as it covers the killers face. This would be scary to viewers as most people are afraid of the unknown.

Vulnerable character costumes

We have decided to have a promiscuous character in our trailer. This is because in almost all horror movies there is a character which comes across as vulnerable to the killer as they have a lack of clothing on. They will often be the easiest victim. This is the character that will consume a lot of alcohol and makes lots of mistakes, leading them to be one of the first to die.

Other costumes 

Clown Analysis

This piece of research looks at one particular clown costume and how it could be considered scary and/or threatening. It also looks at coulrophobia, the fear of clowns, and what people find scary about clowns, and famous films that include a masked killer, which we hope to include in our teaser trailer.

Clown Research #2

This piece of research shows different clowns from various horror movies. We looked at examples of clowns and how they are portrayed across the media.

Clown Research

Captain Spaulding (House of 1000 Corpses and Devil's Reject)

Described in the script of 'House of 1000 Corpses' as "crusty looking old man in a filthy clown suit and smeared make-up".
Lured tourists into a trap of torture and sacrifice.


Killer Klowns (Killer Klowns From Outer Space)

The clowns are from outer space and their plan is to use the human race as a food source.
One of the clowns uses the corpse of a police officer as a ventriloquist dummy.



 Horny the Clown (Drive Thru)

Serial killing clown
He is a displaced and vengeful spirit who was the victim of manslaughter
He kills his murderers children as a form of vengeance




 Emmett (Scary Or Die)

Turns from a man into a flesh eating were-clown
He was bitten by a clown at his little brothers birthday party and slowly turns into a zombie clown.




John Gacy (Gacy)

The character is based around a real life serial killer, John Wayne Gacy, who sexually assaulted and murdered atleast 33 teenage boys.
He dressed as 'Pogo the Clown' and helped out at charity events, parades and childrens parties.


Gurdy the Clown (100 Tears)

The clown was accused of crimes he did not commit
He kills people by gutting and dismemebering them with an oversized meat cleaver.




Clown Doll (Poltergeist)

The clown doll becomes possessed by an evil spirit and creeps up on a young boy in his bed.
The plastic doll face changes into an evil clown face





Pennywise the Dancing Clown (IT)

The clown tears a childs arm off and appears out of drains
It is an inter-dimensional predatory life-form which has the ability to transform into its victims worst fear.