Day 35 part 2 : Cabin in the Woods Article

Here are key quotes which I found the most interesting whilst reading his article, about 2012 film Cabin in the Woods. 

- “The opening sequence introduces five college “types”, including the archetypal Whore, Athlete, Fool, Scholar and Virgin.” This quote illustrates the idea that in some ways the characters presented in Cabin in the Wood's are conventional, however if you have seen the film you could argue that the "Fool" is actually the most intelligent character, as he senses something is not right straight away.

- “Dana is the smart and innocent, yet ridiculously attractive “Virgin”. The fact that Ryan Richardson describes Dana as ridiculously attractive, highlights the idea that the intelligent girl is often unattractive so Dana is an unconventional character in terms of the representations of women.

- “The characters leave the city for a weekend at the cabin in the woods, and the traditional “backwards versus city” Levi-Strauss binary oppositions are set up”. This highlights the idea that theorists can often underline the reasoning for choices made in film. In my trailer I hope to use theorists as inspiration.

- “This movie actively draws attention to the scopophilla of film. Monitors, windows, mirrors and eyes are repeated signifiers used by the director throughout the film to draw attention to the spectacle of Horror.” This presents a theme of voyeurism which is consistently represented in Horror, as we as an audience are voyeurs due to things we see that we shouldn’t but characters also become voyeurs.

Conclusion

This article explores themes which reinforce aspects of subversion, but also traditional conversions presented in Horror films. Especially in terms of character representation, which is why in my final trailer I think it could potentially engage with the audience more, in terms of interest and curiosity if there are characters which are underrepresented or if there's a twist in terms of narrative and genre. This relates to the concept of Postmodern film which is subverting the norm and creating something new, which is why I would love to use Cabin in the Wood's as inspiration in terms of representations, but also camera techniques, mise en scene, setting and sound.