A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

Film referencing

Nightmare on elm street

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American supernatural slasher horror film written and directed by Wes Craven, and the first film of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The film stars Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia, Robert Englund, and Johnny Depp in his feature film debut. Set in the fictional Midwestern town of Springwood, Ohio, the plot revolves around several teenagers who are stalked and killed in their dreams (and thus killed in reality) by Freddy Krueger. The teenagers are unaware of the cause of this strange phenomenon, but their parents hold a dark secret from long ago.

Codes and conventions

The first still image is of the reoccuring theme of chalk over the titles which themes the

obvious codes and conventions of typically creepy music and a very shadowed image to

create darkness. This plays on the audiences’ most common

phobias and primal fears (being afraid of the dark because you can’t see what is there (an unknown presence) and the associations with

typical horror movies

The first introduction of the character’s creation was in a playground location where there were young girls.Stereotypically, they were in a circle holding hands in a child’s game.The sound used was ‘Ring a ring o’roses’ which is a reoccurring theme in creepy music featured in horror films

The title and main location of the film ‘Elm street is in black and white which connotes a dark and evil setting.

Scenes include the obvious codes and conventions of shadows in the lighting, silhouettes and dark vignettes. This is used to focus heavily on the children and reveal certain things

Example of a scene

Female victim, a protagonistLow key lighting Enigma code- What’s happening? Why it is

happening?

How is the mise en scene conveyed?

The repetitive images of mechanics make the scene feel very cold and uncomforting. This is shown through the use of tools at the beginning and the machinery that the girl is wandering through. This could represent the productive mind of Freddy and his continuous attempts of murder.

Mise en scene