representation, themes & stereotyping

Alcoholism
More than 9 million people in England drink more than the recommended daily limits. This means the story line, basis and general themes of our film are particularly relevant and concerning to a widespread audience rather than the typical niche markets for horror movies trying to bring chilling horror to adventurous teens looking for a scare. In England, in 2012 there were 6,490 alcohol-related deaths, a 19% increase compared to 2001..meaning this huge figure creates a truth and backing context to death for our movie . Alcohol is also 10% of the UK burden of disease and death, making alcohol one of the three biggest lifestyle risk factors for disease and death in the UK, after smoking and obesity- for this reason to make the identity of our main leading male character even more prominent- we also aimed to portray him as a smoker- with an easy way of doing this using cigarette packets and discarded components as props in the drivers car. An estimated 7.5 million people are unaware of the damage their drinking could be causing- meaning in a way, our film could be seen as a moral compass or warning to the market it appeals to. Alcohol is 61% more affordable than it was in 1980, which we found interesting to incorporate into mise en scene and our specific usage of props as having cheaper, more dangerous and stronger portrayals of alcohol in our movie would show this affordability and ease of alcoholism; portraying it in the most negative light.  In our research we also found out that around A fifth (20%) of all violent incidents in 2010–11 took place in or around a pub or club. This rises to 30% for stranger violence. More than two thirds (67%) of violent offences occur in the evening or at night and 45% at the weekend- this is why we wanted to film just before the night drew in, and in an area like Leatherhead which culturally is busy with pubs and therefore would withhold stereotypes about where drunken misfortunes would occur. 


Death
death is looked upon as sad and is connoted with grief, sadness and loss when associated with everyday life- however in horror movies death is generally looked upon as expected and more obvious. Death is seen as more of a 'gain' to the other side/hell rather than a loss and sympathetic feelings from the audience are scarcely triggered. Stereo-typically, the 'dumb blonde' and 'nice guy' always seem to die in horror movies, with more intellectual unexpected characters surviving...and our film flaunts this with its opening with the male driver who is not intellectual and is an antagonist in a way- presumably dying. The theme of death is obvious throughout with the dark lighting, use of blood and absence of speech in the intimate death predominated situation. also, our music will help represent death with low chords, tones and overlays. 


Crime/ Murder & Moral lessons to audience
 On average 3,000 people are killed or seriously injured each year in drink drive collisions, this totals in Nearly one in six of all deaths on the road involving drivers who are over the legal alcohol limit. For this reason, we thought a unique horror based on a moral lesson would attract a wider audience and make more of an impact on these viewers who will recognize and recommend the film. We took influence from this from the SAW movies which is the most successful horror franchise and is chilling and unnerving with strong themes of horror and gore- however still teaching a moral lesson about life appreciation and moral decision making to viewers.  Drinking and driving occurs across a wide range of age groups but particularly among young men aged 17-29, hence why we aimed to use a damaged looking, raw and poor but young looking man for our piece.  The Government's most recent drink drive campaigns aims to target this group of 17-29 year olds, so our movie opening would coincide with this and be very time appropriate and current for the time and appeal to a mainstream audience (relative to the 'mainstream' sub genre).  Provisional figures from 2004, show that some 590 people were killed in crashes in which a driver was over the legal limit, 2,350 were seriously injured and 14,050 were slightly injured, these huge figures show the reality of the dangers of drink driving- so the horror movie basis will seem even more realistic and realtable for audience members, because unlike slasher and monster horror movie sub genres this genre is more dramatized and realistic. Also, the fact we are using a young girl as the victim of the collision, not only does the genre of the movie opening revolve predominantly around horror- but also audiences will be encouraged to symapthise and create a direct relation to the young girl and her circumstance possibly too feeling pity. With research, we also found that more than half a million breath tests are carried out each year and on average 100,000 are found to be positive. we thought this particular statistic withheld direct relevance to our film because breathing is closely linked with life and death- a final breath connoting death, a breath into a breathalyzer connoting near death and danger, and general typical breathing connoting life. This interlinking between life and death is relevant to our film which plays and warps ideas of life and normality. Also, the two main characters is a living man and deceased girl- linking directly to these two metaphorical meanings of breathing.