INDIVIDUAL

ANALYSIS OF PROPS

The masked killer usually has a troubled past which is causing

him or her’s murderous ways and they may use the mark to hide

from their past.

By wearing a mask the killer has an ‘upper hand’ he can see his victims through the eye holes but they cannot see him/her.

Masked killers always feature in slasher horror films such as ‘Friday the 13th’ and the ‘Scream franchise’ to create terror and a sense of ‘who is it’ for the audience.

The ‘masked killer’ is a main character who has betrayed his or her friends by killing them and they use the mask to

hide their identity. For example, in Scream 2, ‘Ghostface’ turns out to be Mickey,

Sidney’s class mate.

The tricycle is ‘The Shining ‘ is a very significant prop as whenever Danny comes on screen in it, it signals to the audience that something bad is about to happen.

A tricycle is odd and different because it only has three wheels, this may signal that Jack Torrance (Danny’s psychologically disturbed dad) is an ‘odd’ and ‘different’ individual. The fact it has three wheels may also signify the different sides Jack has to him and how horrific thoughts constantly circle his warped mind.

The fact the tricycle is blue is also notable. Blue is known to be a sad,

depressed and lonely colour. Jack feels all these things due to his psychological

problems.

In this still, the corridor that

Danny is riding down is very long

and narrow, this may symbolise that it is a long

time until Jack is ‘cured’ from his

problems.

By using popcorn a sense of realism is created for the audience, it is common for people to eat popcorn when watching a movie so they are unfortunately able to relate to Casey’s misfortune.

The fact the popcorn is put on

the hob could signal that Casey’s death is inevitable,

she is acting stupidly by leaving

the popcorn unattended and

staying on the phone to her

murderer. Fire is dangerous and it

could symbolise to the audience that Casey is ‘playing

with fire’ as she is behaving stupidly.

The popcorn prop is cleverly used to rise tension throughout the first few opening scenes, as the popcorn rises, so does the audience terror.