Research : Dead Mary, Dead Wood and Wrong Turn

During our double lesson on Friday we watched the opening 2 minutes to 3 teen horror films- Dead Mary, Dead Wood and Wrong Turn. Whilst watching the openings we were looking for different Conventions that are usually found in horror films for example is it set in a secluded location, does anyone die during the first 5 minutes, is there a fake scare along with many others.

We saw whilst watching these openings that all 3 were set in a secluded location e.g. the woods.

The opening from the the film 'Dead Mary'. This first shot shows the audience that this first scene is set in quite a remote location. The sign reads "Gas Station Just Ahead. Last Drop for 100 Miles". This shows us that it is a remote location because the sign is on a long stretch of road and there isn't anything around for miles- only the forest that the road goes through and the gas station which, from the state of the sign is probably quite old and un-used or possibly deserted. Also, as the opening progresses we see a young girl in a car, she trys to use her mobile but is unable to as there is no signal. This also shows that the area is secluded because sh cant get a phone signal as there is no telephone poles around.

 



This is the Opening scene from the film 'Wrong Turn'. This shot shows the audience just how secluded this place is- all you can see for miles and miles is forest. As the opening progresses we see two people rock climbing and at one point the male character says to the female character "You know we're 50 miles from anybody, who are you screaming for?" This line really emphasises the fact that these characters are miles away from anyone or anything.

In the opening of the film 'Dead Wood' we see a young man running through the forest, away from an unknown being. As with the two previous films, the fact that it is set in a forest area shows that it is very secluded because there is nobody else around. Uunfortunately I was unable to find any good images/footage of the opening for this film as there is also an American television programme with the same name and all results of my Internet search were related to that programme and not the teen horror film.