A Nightmare On Elm Street

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American horror film directed and written by Wes Craven, and the first film of the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Set in the fictional Midwestern town of Springwood, Ohio, the plot revolves around several teenagers being terrorized in their nightmares by the ghost of a serial child murderer named Fred Krueger. A Nightmare on Elm Street has become one of the most popular entries in the horror genre and the film's villain, Fred Krueger, has become one of the most well recognized villains in cinema history. Both critics and Craven have mentioned that the film owes some of its success to John Carpenter's Halloween.

Common Conventions:

• Girl victim
• lack of light
• religious props
• white dress

Mise en Scene:

• isolated location emphasises how alone she is and her vulnerability. This makes the scene more surreal, which makes it more believable that it is a dream.
• There is an unrealistic prop of a goat running through the hallway which also adds to the surreality of the scene. The goat emphasises that it is a dream because it is not a normal thing to see in a workshop.
• The floor in the warehouse is flooded which connotes danger and also puts the girl in a vulnerable position where she can easily be hurt.
• When the girl wakes up from her dream there is a crucifix on the wall in her room which has religious connotations. When she takes it off the wall and holds it to her heart it shows that she is reliant on religion and it makes her feel safe.
• The girls costume is a white night dress and this represents the innocence and vulnerability of the girl. When she wakes up the dress is ripped to show the destruction of innocence and the attack of vulnerable girls.
• The killer in the warehouse is fashioning a glove out of knives. He is using instruments such as hammers, saws, files and screwdrivers to fix these knives to the glove. These tools are all dangerous which adds to the feel of uncertainty and fright during the scene, not only is he using them with skill to show his capability but he is using them to make another more menacing weapon. The glove is also a symbolic prop of the film overall as the weapon the antagonist uses to kill his victims.

Sound:

• In the beginning sequence the non-diegetic sound is chiming and string music. This is a common convention used in horror films because the sound is eerie and builds tension a lot as viewers know that the music often leads up to a dramatic scene.
• The diegetic sound includes the girl's footsteps running through the water, adding to the effect the water has of making her seem vulnerable. Also the goat bleats which not only makes the character jump but disturbs the audience, adding to the surreal feel of the shot.
• Diegetic sound is also heard when the audience can hear the antagonist laughing as he is chasing the girl and the girl panicking and screaming. This builds tension as we cannot see the killer but we can hear him so we know he is around, and we know that the girl is distressed.
• The children singing in the scene emphasises innocence and vulnerability

Camera Movements/Shots/Angles:

• The camera tracks the girl as she moves around the warehouse, and it is an over shoulder shot so that the audience feels uneasy as they cannot see what is behind her. Also it allows the viewer to feel part of the scene and feel like they are in the same position as the character.
• There is also lots of close ups of the weapons and tools the killer uses. The close ups shock us and make us aware that the man in the warehouse is dangerous.
• When the killer catches the girl we have an over shoulder shot from him so we never actually see his face. This makes the viewer feel uneasy because they do not know who the killer is and therefore we are unaware as to when the characters are in danger, until we see the weapons. It also leaves the audience in suspense to find out who the killer is.
• When the girl wakes up from her dream there is an establishing shot of her in be. This allows the viewer to see her room and everything around it. Everything is white, again emphasising innocence, and the bedroom is the same as any average bedroom, which makes it uncanny and relatable.

Editing:

• The shots are very face paced during the dream sequence when she is being chased, creating confusing and building tension, making the chase more dramatic.
• When she wakes up however the shots go back to a slower pace which emphasises how she is back to reality and normality and to put the audience at ease as she is.