Slenderman research

Slenderman is the antagonist in the free video game Slender, with many defining characteristics and abilities. It was first mentioned in Something Awful Forum's 'Create Paranormal Images'. Slenderman appears as a very tall man wearing a black or grey suit, black or red tie and a white shirt and is known to be up to 15 feet tall. It has no eyes, mouth, nose and ears, basically no facial features and even has no hair. You could probably describe it as Lord Voldemort's long-lost, faceless, tentacled, businessman twin brother.

Slenderman doesn't generally appear until the player collects the first page. Once it's appeared, it can teleport at regular intervals between randomly selected locations on the map, within a maximum range of the player, so it's out of their view. After the player collects the sixth page, it teleports in their view.

Slenderman has many abilities. For one, it can have about eight tentacles protrude from its back and shoulders, which it can also turn its arms into. Slenderman may use these tentacles to either provoke fear into the player or as extra arms and legs. Slenderman's other many abilities include time travel, camouflage, fire, sickness, mutilation, selective visibility (which means it can see who it wants to see), impersonation and Slenderwalking (the ability to appear and disappear at will). It had also been known for Slenderman to have some form of mind control. It can brainwash the victim; give them Stockholm Syndrome; or it can have mind control over the victim; turn them into Proxies; or it can have complete control over the victim; turning them into its own puppets.

Slenderman's appearance provokes a wide range of responses; particularly that of fear. It's mostly because of its towering and imposing size over a fully grown adult, which in itself copies the known fear of adults being taller than children. It's faceless and bald head might also be a factor because the thought of a person or a sentient being of any kind without a face can terrify people.

Slender research



Slender is a free survival/psychological horror video game released in June 2012 by Parsec Productions. It is one of those games that is occasionally updated to feature new content. Slender is about trying to escape from a terrifying creature known as the Slenderman. The game begins in a forest at night and the player is only equipped with a torch containing a battery that must be conserved. The player can't interact with any of the objects in the environment, apart from the controls which are used to walk, turning the torch on and off, picking up a page and running. The objective is to find eight notes, which are attached to various landmarks around the environment. There are nine maps, the first one being the darkened forest, five of which have already been released, with a sixth one due for release on the 27th September 2012 and two more to follow in the next couple of months. They are named Sanatorium (which is a kind of hospital), Hospice, Elementary, Mansion, Claustrophobia, 7th Street, Prison and Carnival. Because the game is updated every now and then, the ending of the version varies depending on the version.

Due to the game's overwhelming success, a sequel is due to be released in the near future, known as Slender: The Arrival. Unlike the original game, this isn't free. What with the impending release of the sequel, the original game has actually been renamed Slender: The Eight Pages.

Website homepage research

The other of the two ancillary products I am doing is a film website homepage. I need to analyse the homepage of a website of a film (not a website for films like Empire). I am preferably going to analyse a website for a horror film, to see what they contain and what I can, again, 'steal' from them. I am going to look at two horror film websites: The Cabin in the Woods and The Devil Inside.

The image above shows the main menu of The Cabin in the Woods, which is simply the image of the poster, complete with the film's logo, a positive review, credits, a message to say that it's in the cinemas with the tagline underneath. There are also advertisements relating to the film in the bottom-right, Twitter messages in the top-left complimenting the film. There is also a box in the top-right that allows people to look at show times and for them to buy tickets.

Uniquely, when the user clicks 'menu', they're taken to the actual homepage, showing six links, taking allowing the user access to the film; what it's about; cast and crew; showing who's in it e.g. Chris Hemsworth and works on it e.g. Joss Whedon; video; showing 6 TV spots and 1 cinema trailer; news and reviews; showing news on the film, like what might've happened on set, as well as showing what critics thought of the film and finally, gallery; showing screenshots from the actual motion picture and when it was filmed. When the user is taken to the homepage, everything that was on the menu shifts to the left, e.g. the cabin, the 'menu' button, the film's logo and 'now playing' message. The Twitter messages and advertisements disappear. The only things that stay where they are are the brief credits at the top and the box in the top-right.

Overall, the website is structured like this to provoke fear, especially the scary, misty, tree-filled background. The background looks like this because the film is, stereotypically, a horror film set in a forest and also because the antagonist would most likely be concealed in the mist. Another thing that does this is when the website occasionally glitches, like when a TV is on the verge of failing. It's akin to when electric equipment in a horror film's setting, e.g. lights or a TV, conk out.

The image above is the homepage for the The Devil Inside. At the top of the page is some review's of the film. Below is the film's logo, with a small tagline saying that it was 'inspired by true events'. It shows the large image of a nun who looks like she got cataracts. There are also 6 links to take the user to the trailer, what the film's about, a gallery of screenshots from the film and images from filming, as well as downloading an app, getting the latest updates and something about the Paramount (who distribute the film) Premiere Pass. There is also an advertisement for the DVD of the film. Unlike The Cabin in the Woods, the website doesn't open to a button that says 'menu', instead it takes the user to the homepage. The background is black with a dark-red centre and has various chalk-like etchings. At the bottom is the logo of the distributor (Paramount Pictures) and the producer (Insurge Pictures), as well as a link to the film's Twitter and to follow it on Twitter and the film's USA rating (R).

The design of the website will scare people because of the dark and ominous background. But the close-up shot of the nun with the blurry eyes will especially get at people because of the way her face looks. The way she looks, she could be possessed by the film's antagonist.

Poster idea

I've now thought of an idea for my poster. The people who have heard of Slender will already know that included in the game are notes, describing what they should do if Slenderman ever encountered them. Some notes will have for example, a picture of Slenderman in the centre with the word 'no', to the left and right of him. I suggested that my poster (me and Adam have doing different posters) should be one of the notes from the game, preferably the note that says 'don't look...or it takes you'; albeit with general poster conventions, such as website URL and release date.

Extra lessons

In Wednesday's lesson, Miss Furness decided that, because me and Adam are lagging behind, we should have three independent media lessons so that me and him can catch up. Miss Furness added them in on Wednesdays period 4, Thursdays period 1 and Fridays period 3. These lessons will help because it will allow us to catch up with everyone else in the class and getting things done quicker. They are all being done outside the classroom, in the sixth form area. At present, I am working on the script and Adam is working on the storyboard.

Poster research

As one of the two ancillary tasks I am doing is a film poster, I have been required to analyse various film posters (not necessarily comedies), to see what they contain and what I can 'steal' from them.

Some film posters don’t necessarily need to have their characters in but still the title logo and credits. Instead, they would use an object or setting relevant to the story. For example, on the left is the poster for the horror film, The Cabin in the Woods. It shows none of the film’s main characters, but instead shows the film’s main setting; the cabin (in the woods) arranged like a Rubik's Cube. Everything else you’d expect to find in a film poster; title logo, credits, distributor (Lionsgate) logo, rating (R), release date (April 13th) and tagline (you think you know the story); is all there. What interests me most of all on this poster is the release date. The film was released on April 13th 2012; that day was a Friday. Obviously, to tie in with the fact that Friday the 13th is deemed as a day of sheer unluckiness, Lionsgate wanted the film to be released that day and not wait until July 13th. It has been known for horror films to be released on Friday the 13th.

Other film posters have barely anything to show. This will usually act as a teaser for the new film. If it was a film adaptation of something really popular or if it was a sequel, they would use a distinctive feature from the original and/or predecessor of the sequel. It may use something famous from it. For example, on the right are two posters. The poster on the left is for the 2004 animated sequel Shrek 2. Due to Shrek’s overwhelming success, the poster simply showed no characters or credits, but a giant green 2 with Shrek’s ears, along with the producers (PDI) and distributor (DreamWorks) and release date (June 18th 2004). This was to let everyone know that this was a sequel to the most popular animated film released three years earlier. It was also because Shrek’s ears were a distinctive trademark of the series, meaning that when anyone saw them, they knew what it was associated with.

The poster on the right is for the 2012 superhero film The Avengers (or Avengers Assemble in the UK). Like Shrek 2, this poster simply showed no characters or credits, but a giant ‘A’ in a circle with an arrow included; The Avengers’ logo; as well as the producer (Marvel) and distributor (technically, Walt Disney Pictures, but Paramount Pictures’ logo appears on marketing due to transferring rights because of Disney’s purchase of Marvel) and release date (2012). This is because the film is an adaptation of a really popular superhero comic and The Avengers logo is a very well-known symbol of the series.

 

Another type of posters are character-centric ones. Lots of these are released, each one showing a character from the film. These posters also act as a teaser. They contain hardly anything else; including the film’s logo, company logos, website and a message to say that it’ll be in cinemas soon. Using The Avengers as an example again, are all the character-centric posters for the film. The posters on the left all show Tony Stark (Iron Man), Thor, Bruce Banner (The Incredible Hulk), Black Widow, Captain America, Nick Fury, Hawkeye (from Thor) and Loki (also from Thor). The only things that remain consistent in these posters are the film’s logo, company logos (Paramount and Marvel), website URL and the ‘in cinemas soon’ message.

There are several film posters that are incredibly wide. These are only for billboards and mostly apply for films that are really popular. This particular example is from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the last in the popular fantasy film series. These posters are obviously used to generate hype for the blockbuster film of the year and gears people up with excitement. The poster shows the central characters, Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, engaged in a wand duel in the destroyed courtyard of Hogwarts. As they are the central characters, they are brought into the foreground. The other two major characters, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, Harry’s best friends, are also in the foreground but a little bit further away. Voldemort’s psychotic ‘right-hand lady’, Bellatrix Lestrange is also in the foreground as she also counts as a major character. The most interesting factor is the use of the ‘HP7 Part 2’ logo in the centre (even if the name of the series is said in the website address). Everyone knows who these characters are and clearly means that they don’t need to mention the full name of the film. The other things that remain consistent in a poster are also there; the company logos (Warner Bros. and Heyday Films), website URL, release date (7.15, which means 15th July) and a message to say that it’s also being show in IMAX cinemas.

Film trailer decision

In Friday's lesson, me and Adam (it's just us two because Dom and Conor have left to go to college) finally agreed on an idea. Adam decided not to do a comedy trailer, because he thought that comedy is really hard and will be quite difficult to actually make the trailer humourous. Instead, he came up with the idea of doing a film trailer for a horror film about video game villain Slenderman from the game Slender. We decided that it should be set in a tree filled area, as that is where Slenderman stereotypically resides (he does appear in other places in the game) and that our lead star will be female. Adam also decided that Slenderman will be a CGI figure, instead of using a really tall person to stand behind the lead. It was also decided that one of the shots will be the cameraman walking around the lead slowly twice, so that once around, Slenderman isn't there and then the second time around, he is. This will be edited so that it will go fast.