Research on stock characters(blog)

Research on stock characters(blog)

• 1.
  Researching stock charactersin Horror I have been asked to undergo extensive research on finding the different types of stock characters we see in horror movies. There are a range of different type of stock characters, and they all have different qualities and characteristics. My task is to identify the type of stock characters and look at if they repeat the common conventions they fall into, or are non-conventional. There are around 6 main types of stock characters which appear inside horror movies. These are: -The Wanderer -The Popular girl -The Final Girl -Jock -The Pervert -Pandora
• 2.
  The Wanderer TheWanderer is usually the curious one of the characters, or somebody who is forward and wants to know more. This person is naïve, and is seemingly looking for trouble and is cavalier of the dangers that surround them. These roles are often played by women, however can be played by men also. In common horror movies, the Wanderer can be identified by the person who needs to see what’s behind the closed door, or the one who left their bag at her home and has to wander back to get it. I have researched on a few ‘Wanderer’ characters in horror movies. I also talked about the qualities and characteristics they offer and if they are alike or different.
• 3.
  The ‘wanderer’ typeof stock characters Addison Corday- SAW II In the film, many of the characters are vulnerable as they are locked in a house with no escape. Addison is really talkative in the film, and plays the typical female role of wanting to find out more. She goes into one of the room and believes that she can reveal the key to a door from inside a glass box. Being so eager and arrogant, she doesn’t realize the box is actually a booby trap, which then slowly cuts her arms and hands, whilst she so forward to getting the key. Tatum- Scream (1990) In the film Scream, we see a classical young lady who is flirty, chatty and again not scared to go off on a wander. Tatum is seen going into the garage at a party in order to get more beers. The door closes on her exit, and Tatum decides to knock and ask if someone is there to open the door. She then explores the garage to find an alternative exit before the killer arrives from the door she initially knocked on. What is surprising in this death is that Tatum actually has conversation at arms length with the killer and is not actually scared until she gets cut. This is a common convention of the wanderer who is not feared about her surroundings and is willing to proceed when possible. Ned Rubenstein- Friday the 13th In the movie, Ned decided to follow a dark gloomy looking figure into a dark cabin. Next thing we know that he gets murdered. Ned is a male, and is not the typical wanderer type of stock character because mainly females play the wanderer role. However, his other qualities and characteristics match the first two characters, being confident, naïve and wanting to find out more without second thought.
• 4.
  The Popular girl The popular girl in horror movies tends to be the person with high status and is looked up on by other characters in the movie. They tend to be a leader within a group, hang out with the cool people and is known to be liked by everyone. They are obviously played by girls, and this is why they seek attention from the males in the films. They tend to look attractive as a common convention of popular girls convey that they look pretty in order to be popular as far as males are concerned. The popular girls never tend to last till the end of the film, and are generally killed at unfortunate times.
• 5.
  The ‘popular girl’type of stock characters Buffy Gilmore- Scary Movie 1 In the film, there is a clear popular girl. Buffy Gilmore acts sweet and harmless towards her father, however when with her friends, she is portrayed differently. She dresses like a tart, is always in the center of attention and wants to be popular. She has a boyfriend called Gregg, and unsurprisingly he is the Jock of the film. Buffy has the characteristics of being friends with everyone, as well as dressing to impress. The death of Buffy shows us a confident characteristic, as she plays around with the killer and talks at arms length (like Tatum in Scream). This tells us that the popular girl tends to be cocky and ignorant to the threats surrounding them. Lastly, the popular girl tends to die, and is portrayed as not very intelligent. Jennifer- Jennifer’s body Jennifer is a mean, popular girl at school best friends with Needy Lesnicky, and has a normal life till it becomes torn by a band worshiping Satan. She again is really attractive, and is trying to be in the centre of attention. She is even a cheerleader in the film, which emphasizes just how popular and attractive she is. Although in this film, the characteristics of the popular girl is amended. Jennifer gets possessed and turns into a killer. This tells me that the popular girl does not always have to be innocent as they can play larger roles in movies. Jules Louden– The Cabin in the Woods In this horror movie, Jules is similar to the other popular girls. She is attractive, wants to be friends with everyone and is dressed in a more sexually desired way. She in fact gets killed whilst preparing to have sex with her boyfriend (Jock of the film). Jules was seen making out to a wolfs head in order to get laughs and an applause from her friends. This shows that her character tics are simply trying to impress her friends and to be in the center of attention. Also, she is designated to being a “whore” as she is flirty and articles online state that she is represented as one.
• 6.
  The Final Girl The final girl is usually the character who is one of the last survivors. They have qualities like being intelligent, and vigilant. In the horror movies, the final girl will either use their intelligence to defeat or escape from the killer, or end up dead towards the end of the film. They tend to have dark brown/black hair and are constantly under threat from the killer, however survive. Final girls in horror movies hang around with the rest of the stock characters, although have different intentions and take situations differently.
• 7.
  The ‘final girl’type of stock characters Amanda-SAW II In the saw series, Amanda is the focus of the film, as she is being constantly focused on by everybody else. She has brunette hair, which is one common characteristic, as well as being smart. In the film, she is trapped with many other stock characters, although being intelligent and thinking differently is the difference of her surviving. Laurie Strode- Halloween (1978) In this film she was revealed to be a smart, attractive and constantly under threat by the protagonist killer Michael Myers. The whole story evolves around her, and the backstory of the film relates to her being wanted dead by the killer. The commonality with this character and Amanda from SAW II is that they both take situations differently, are around people but think outside the box, and commonly are both the final girls. Sidney Prescott- Scream I The final girls generally have a bond with the killer, whether it be a sister like in Halloween, or in this case the boyfriend. Sidney is constantly under threat by her boyfriend within the film, and is the final girl. She also is smart and has qualities of escaping death numerous times. The character is brunette similar to the other two final girls, and they are all young females.
• 8.
  The Jock Inhorror movies, the Jock is the male character who most women adore and want to be with. The popular cool kid, who yes is very arrogant and cocky. The jock within the movies tend to always die. The popular girl and the jock are sometimes seen to be girlfriend and boyfriend. They contain similar characteristics as being attractive, naive, untouchable but most of all, die in the movie.
• 9.
  The ‘jock’ typeof stock characters Kevin Fischer-Final Destination III In the movie, the jock is going out with the popular girl which is a commonality between the two characters. He tends to act brave, and forward most of the time. Kevin is always trying to be friendly with all of the other characters in the film, which is common for a jock. The death of the jock doesn’t tend to be focused on so much, as it happens during unexpected times. Kevin died in a train crash which is unusual, and is not the main focus for the killer; just a victim along the journey. Curt Vaughan- Cabin in the Woods The leader in the pack and the attractive one is Curt in this film. He is not scared to do things others will dread, which is what most jocks do. He has a girlfriend within the film, who watches him die whilst being brave. One noticeable thing about the jock is that they often let their bravery take over, which gets them killed. Curt drives a motorbike over a huge gap, and his bravery lead to his death as he failed to make the jump. Billy Hitchcock- Final Destination Billy is similar to the other two jocks I have researched. He is also young, and brave, and is one of the leaders of the group. Billy dies just before having arguments with the other characters within the film. This tells us that the jock has qualities of being brave, argumentative, young. But also dies at the more earlier stages of the films, which is common for the jock (they die along the same time as the popular girl).
• 10.
  The Pervert Thepervert is mostly played by a man, the pervert is sexually motivated, generally disturbed and will go through any amount of lengths in order to sleep with women who he desires. The pervert is a minor stock character and tends to die within the early stages of the film. This is prior to the fact that they are focused on their frustration rather than the killer or the threat towards them. The pervert can also be the portrayed as a somebody which high self-esteem and not as intelligent.
• 11.
  The ‘pervert’ typeof stock characters Blake- House of Wax In the movie, the pervert is known to be Blake. He has a girlfriend in the film (Paige). Blake and Paige are at some point making love, when they get interrupted. Soon after, Blake dies within the attempt of making love. This can tell us that the producers are trying to portray making love a bad thing, as the pervert dies early whilst trying to capture his sexual frustration. Bobby Prinze- Scary Movie Bobby is a pervert in the film, as we see his frustration of making love occur. He tries to make out with his girlfriend Sydney (the final girl) but fails on numerous attempts but cant persuade her enough to proceed. The pervert in this film dies at the later stages of the film, and a weird plot twist occurs as the pervert Bobby is actually homosexual. Frankie Cheeks- Final Destination III This is one other pervert who is similar to the other two. They are frustrated with the lack of action. Frankie appears to Ashley and Ashlyn and records them, but they force him to leave. In the roller coaster, he tried to impress them, but they refuse him as they head to the roller coaster. This shows his qualities are desperation to make friends, but is creepy. He dies in the movie which is common for the pervert, as they always die.
• 12.
  Pandora The Pandoracharacter is the one which tends to mislead us into thinking they are innocent, when in fact as the film progress we see different. The Pandora character’s true colours and back story get revealed within the film as we get more suspicious. They tend to have innocent characteristics, look to be general stock characters and blend in with the others. They sometimes are the killer themselves, or have a close bond with the actual killer (we see this as the suspense builds towards the Pandora)
• 13.
  The Pandora typeof stock characters Blake- House of Wax She is seemingly an innocent victim along with her cousin, Sidney. However, behind this we see a sociopath psycho who snaps after living her whole life in the shadow of her famous relative. In the finale, Jill is revealed to be the killer along with Charlie. This is a classical example of a Pandora as the innocent teenager is actually a joint killer in the movie. Doofy - Scary Movie Doofy is firstly known to be a police officer who is meant to being identifying the killer. However little that we know it, Doofy is the actual character. One common characteristic of the Pandora is that they are unexpected by what we see of them. For instance we wouldn’t think a police officer could be the killer. They are shown a lot in the film, but really seem innocent at first. Mark Hoffman- Saw IV The Pandora in this film is again not expected by us. They tend to move around without being noticed. Mark was a victim of the previous Saw film, and he now returns as the unexpected killer in which we will not assume to happen as he was a victim. The characteristics of Mark are mixed as we first think he is an innocent man, but in the end turns out to have a good bond with Jigsaw (the protagonist).
• 14.
  Conclusion/Evaluation I havenow looked at the types of stock characters which feature in horror movies. They all provide different characteristics both visually and verbally. I also now have a better understanding about which characters tend to survive for longer and who die quickly. From this task, I will now be in a better position in labelling the stock characters which may appear in my horror movie. I will know how to make them dress, act and appear in order to follow the commonalities of stock characters in the horror genre.