Case study of a serial killer

Ed Gein

Edward Theodore Gein was born on August 27, 1906, to Augusta and George Gein in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He was the second of two boys born to the couple. The death of Eddie's mother was a milestone in the life of this serial killer. Soon after her passing, Eddie became increasingly lonely. He spent much of his spare time reading pulp magazines and anatomy books. The rooms he lived in were full of periodicals about Nazis, South Sea head-hunters and shipwrecks. From his readings Eddie learned about the process of shrinking heads, exhuming corpses from graves and the anatomy of the human body. He became obsessed with these stories, and he would tell neighbourhood children about them. Eddie also enjoyed reading the local newspapers. Unsurprisingly, his favourite section was the obituaries.

He has actually been inspiration for many classic horror films such as; Psycho, who inspired the personality of the antagonist Norman Bates; Silence of the Lambs, Buffalo Bill who used to like wearing women’s skin, and finally Leather Face in the cult film Texas Chainsaw massacre.

Ed Kemper

A serial killer in the 70’s was savage and disturbed. His IQ was substantially above average, and his height was 6ft 9 an over powering man with a violent temper. This relates to characters that we often see in horror movies. An overpowering, monster like, superhuman who cannot be defeated. He also befriend a local policeman so he could know and hear about the grizzle details of murders that operated in the same area as him. Like Norman Bates he is the person you would least expect to do such things, also like Michael Myers in John Carpenter’s and Rob Zombie’s Halloween, he killed his first victims at a very young age.    

My Pitch

Mood Board

Psychological horrors; a sub-genre.

Psychological horrors; a sub-genre.

Psychological horrors; a sub-genre.

Psychological horror is a subgenre of horror that relies on characters' fears and emotional instability to build tension. It plays on shadowy characteristics embodied a threat. Psychological horror aims to create discomfort and fear; the average person may have an increase in heart rate, hairs standing on end etc.  ‘They’ do this by exposing common or universal psychological vulnerabilities and fears, such as the shadowy parts of the human psyche which most people repress or deny relate. It plucks on the strings of the unknown, whether this could actually happen to you.

Movies likes these have been created mainly since the 1960’s.Some have even been based on real life cases involving psychological characters such as Ed Gein. Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ is a classic example of the revolutionary growth of the ‘unknown’. A perfect normal man on the outside who seems like the average male, nice, nothing to hide, is in fact a killer with no reason or purpose, simply because he is mentally disturbed. This would have scared viewers at the time as it was a new idea that we, the humans are the new monsters of the horror genre, and that anyone from your next door neighbor to the post man could be a serial killer. This would also scare the audience as it shows that there simply isn’t a reason for the horror that has unfolded before them and that they themselves could be the next victim…

 

 

Other genres that complete the horror world;

Rather than the ‘classic’ Slasher movie with the stereo-typical ditsy blonde with no common sense ‘running up the stairs instead of out the front door’, this genre lets the audience do the guessing instead of the predicting. The audience gets drawn in and along with the script writers, the audiences imagination runs away with them making the smaller things the scariest.    

 

Gothic  horror would be represented by the film ‘The Woman in Black’ although written in 1983 it is set in Victorian Britain, creating an ‘old ghost story’ effect on which the legacy of them has influenced major horror stories today ranging from ‘The Exorcism’ to ‘Paranormal activity’. The thought of the unknown and what the truth actually is plays on the minds of audiences long after they’ve watched the film, from a creaky floorboard to a flickering light.

 

Found footage, found its stage debut in the 90’s with the cult classic the Blair Witch Project. An ingenious idea to create an even more real sense that a horror film could become your life. That your story is accidently picked up and looked at by the world, witnessing your tragic horrifying end. Films such as Cloverfeild, REC and Paranormal Activity have all reached box office glory, with average looking actors and the ability to act to nothing there. Paranormal activity reached success with a budget of £10,000 (this is incredibly small budget for a film) and the sheer terror that this demon was haunting them for no reason, leaving the audience with the feeling that with every creek and every smash of a plate, that there is something or someone behind it… 

Supernatural films involve around the unseen, cults and ghostly figures. Hey are set to terrify viewers by making the antagonist unseen and this makes then an extra threat as they can be anywhere at anytime waiting to unleash its demon upon its victims. Films such as ‘The Devil Inside’ or ‘Sinister’ are great examples. Most supernatural films have a religious element to them, which the victim/ antagonist are possessed by an inner demon or are being harassed by one.

 

 

Above all I have chosen psychological/slasher as I believe I can create a good narrative with an insightful back-story to the characters whilst adding he element of fear, uncertainty, gore and an overall classic horror film.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Target Audience Profile

                                                My Target Audience Profile

 

My target audience is both male and female as horror films tend to appeal to both genders. This could be because horror films usually feature a ‘final girl’ which would attract both male and female audiences. It would attract both as men would want to see the attractive brunette running for her life fraught with fear, and it would attract females as they would want to see the heroine survive the mad man and would have been the sole survivor who has succeeded in outstanding the antagonist against all odds. That being said horror films have had male lead before, from Dead Silence and The Mist.  However research that have conducted on percentage rates of men and women going to see a horror film women have had a higher percentage of 53% suggesting that women enjoy horror films more than men do, this is why I have decided to make me TA mainly women although it will be created to be attractive to men as well.

The age of my TA will range from 18 (as this will be the certificate of the film) to 35. I have chosen this as my age as it was shown again form my research) that couples and groups of friends tend to go see horror movies when they don’t have young children. Therefore the appropriate age for this would be people in their twenties and early thirties.

My TA are either at university studying subjects such as Media, English, Film or even Business Studies as they prefer creative, imaginative, subjects. They will have joined film clubs and horror clubs and are also very computer savvy creating and commenting on peoples blogs. The older section of the TA would be in marketing (therefore they would know what to look for in a good horror trailer) or they are a teacher or professor of some sort.  They may even have jobs in media technology and film editing.

The TA would have a boyfriend/girlfriend, one of which being the one who most enjoys the horror films and drags their partners to see it with them. The men would ‘protect’ their girlfriends from the scary moments or the women would be rolling their eyes at their boyfriend screaming and whimpering behind the popcorn.

Hobbies that my TA would participate in would be going to the cinema, for all types of films and have a YouTube account for creating new trailer and reviews for new movies and interacting with people online on horror chat groups. They are most passionate about films, not just horror but the whole experience of immersing yourself into another world for an hour or two. They read film magazines such a Total Film and Empire, reading upon articles of upcoming films and then discussing what they have just read on their own blog and creating their own review of it.   They watch TV programmes such a Medium or Most Haunted. Other TV programmes they watch are the usual soaps and drams on TV, just to add normality to their lie, also to expand upon the media then just films.

They admire fantasy writers such as J.K Rowling and crime fiction writers like Kathy Reichs and horror writers like Stephen King, and have read all of their books. They own all the horror classic such as Halloween, Friday the 13^th, Nightmare on Elm street and The Exorcist.

Their favourite sub genre of horror would be slasher as they would have grown up watching the ‘Scream’ franchise and this would be their favourite series. Also, they believe that they are smarter than the characters as they have seen all the dos and don’ts of surviving a horror film and they feel good about themselves because of this  feel like if they were a part of the film they could have saved everyone, giving them satisfaction and leaving them happy  as well as scared. By sitting down with friends with a bowl of popcorn, putting on the film, the target audience’s feels it’s a whole new story, anything could happen.    

Target audience research 1) How old are you? (Please circle) 15-24 25-35 36+ 2) How often do you visit the cinema? (Please circle) 2-3 Times a month Once a month Once every few months Once a year Never you only rent/buy films 3) Who would you go to the cinema to watch a horror with? Friends Family work friends’ boyfriend/girlfriend by yourself 4) Which of the following film genres do you like? (Please circle) Rom-com Action Horror Thriller Feel-good Other (please state)……………………………………………………………………………………………………………... 5) What is your favourite sub-genre of horror? (Please circle) Slasher Gothic Psychological Found Footage Supernatural 6) Why have you chosen this sub-genre? .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7) Do you look on YouTube for the latest film adverts, teaser trailers etc...? No Yes (if so please state which films)……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 8) Which part of a trailer do you find most effective in persuading you to watch a film? (Please circle) The music? The fast paced editing? Clips shown from the movie? The sting?* Actors that feature? *Action being the clips shown from the movie. *The sting being the last final shock of horror to scare you. 9) Has a trailer ever stopped you form seeing a movie? If so please state what movie and why: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 10) What is your favourite part of a horror film? Please explain why: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 11) What is your favourite all time horror film? Please explain briefly your choice: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 12) Do you look out for articles and reviews for new releases? No Yes (if so please state where you look , newspapers magazines etc..) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….