Favourite image analysis - House of Wax (2005)

One of my favourite scenes takes place in House of Wax (2005) and follows Paris Hilton's character of Paige in  who is trying to hide from the killer. She conforms to the stereotypical character archetype of the female victim due to her attributes of being being blonde and fairly attractive. Moreover, Paige has just had sex, representing the theme of sex and the taboo within horror films, which further signifies the conventions of the female victim stereotype.  The connotations of this theme are reinforced in the first shot as Paige is depicted in a navy jumper which appears male-orientated, therefore presumably belonging to the man she had sex with.  Her bra is partially revealed underneath the jumper and is red which denotes danger and lust, again emphasising sex and the taboo. The expressionist angle used in the first shot conveys the character's femininity, which combined with the visibility of her bra provides visual pleasure for a male audience. This ideology conforms to Laura Mulvey's 'Male gaze theory', which explains how the apparatus of cinema, particularly with horror films, use women as an object of desire to pleasure a masculine audience. Paige is also holding a phallic symbol which she fails to use to her advantage, thus representing her weakness and reiterating the conventions of her character archetype.

In the second shot, a close up is specifically used to portray Paige's emotions as she attempts to hide, conveying her terrified expression strongly which works to create suspense, tension and equally a sense of sympathy. The incorporation of a close up further adheres to her weakness, with the lighting casting a shadow on the left side of her face to connote the negative CDI represented by her persona.

The blurry backgrounds in both shots ensure the character is the central focus, however it is just enough to reinforce the diegesis of the film. The location Paige hides in appears enclosed, grubby and undesirable which are conventions that horror films try to incorporate as they make the genre distinguishable from others.