CLAUDIA BRIEF DESCRIPTION:
Claudia is a girl in her
twenties. As a child she was left alone to develop with little parental
guidance and through her relationship with T.V. movies developed an unhealthy
relationship with Horror films, believing this to be the way life really is.
All the scenes take place in
various parts of Claudia’s apartment, which is European in style with a great
deal of kitsch décor. She is agoraphobic and is kept in touch with the outside
world by her neighbours who provide her with her every day requirements. She models herself on a variety of girls
often twisting her look to suit whichever film she is watching at the time and
there is often a nod to the main character in the current film within her
appearance.
The script portrays her as
psychotic and there is always the feeling that although her character is
scripted/can be seen as humorous, danger is just around the corner. However all this is normal to Claudia and she
is of a cheerful disposition in this mad world of hers.
CLAUDIA:
Claudia’s
character description fits in well with the theme of Dexter. She believes that
horror films are the way life really is which could suggest that she enjoys the
gruesome and large amounts of killings that go on throughout the film. She
enjoys recreating what she watches in the films with the help of Mrs Laderman.
Her
agoraphobia makes it hard for her to get to people in the outside world to
commit these ideas that she has in her head which are inspired by the horror
films. So her neighbour Mrs Laderman keeps her in touch with the outside world
and helps her to lure victims into her home.
The
fact that growing up Claudia had very little parental guidance and had to learn
to do things by herself makes the audience almost feel sorry for her (like with
Dexter) so therefore sometimes her ideas
can be justified by that reason and it doesn’t make the audience hate
the character.
Her humorous
personality makes her character very likeable and ‘normal’ which attracts the
audience to carry on watching what she is actually capable of. The fact that
she dresses up as different characters depending on what film she is watching
creates this weirdness about her that the audience find funny but creepy.
GLASS PRISON (CLAUDIA):
‘Glass Prison- can refer to a few things. Generally it is
used to describe an addiction to alcohol. However, it can also be used in the
context of emotional problems. By having a mental problem that nobody can see,
one feels essentially trapped in an invisible box. A 'glass prison' of such.’
After
reading this definition of glass prison i thought that this related to
Claudia’s agoraphobia and also addiction to horror films.
Agoraphobia-
Her house is her glass prison. The phobia is causing her to think that anything
in the outside world is a danger to her so she is stuck in a glass prison via
her mind with her thoughts and beliefs and also physically by being stuck
inside her house.
Addiction
to horror films- The addiction to horror films are seen as the glass prison,
referring to glass prison this time as an ‘addiction’ to something because of
Claudia’s mental problems. She believes that all horror films are what happens
in real life which is why she has this phobia of the outdoors and now feels
trapped, therefore she brings her victims to her own home where she feels safe.
This keyword also
made me want to look into how a lot of serial killers / characters in horror
films portrayed as monsters actually suffer from a mental illness and that is
why they are like they are. This can attract the audience and make them feel
sympathy towards the characters.
MRS LADERMAN BRIEF DESCRIPTION:
Claudia’s neighbour in her 40’s. She alternately
changes into a variety alter egos and is Claudia’s friend and confidant. Living
in the apartment opposite, she was Claudia’s only link to the outside world.
Although they are friends there is suspicion that Mrs L’, has designs on
Quentin. In fact she has designs on Claudia.
MRS LADERMAN:
The
character of Mrs Laderman is neighbour to Claudia and helps her keep in contact
with the outside world without having to experience it herself. She is a middle
aged woman who is very outgoing and friendly towards the people who live in her
area, however there is a mysterious side to her as no one but Claudia
understands what she does in her spare time.
Depending
on who Claudia’s next target is, Mrs Laderman changes her alter ego to fit the
personality and interests of the person she is trying to lure into Claudia’s
house. She only ever goes for targets outside her neighbourhood so that
neighbours who she is friendly with don’t suspect anything suspicious.
Unlike Claudia when
she dresses up to match the characters in the horror films, Mrs Laderman
dresses to fit in with how people look on the outside world so that to them she
isn’t seen as ‘weird’. Her normality helps her to lure in victims as they think
she is just being friendly and inviting. She is seen as a motherly figure so
people feel very comfortable around her so when she invites them to come to
‘her house’ (Claudias) they feel confident to step into a strangers home.
SPECIAL
DELIVERY (MRS LADERMAN):
I
chose ‘special delivery’ because i think it’s a good way of explaining how Mrs
Laderman brings Claudia a ‘special delivery’ in the form of people to commit
these murders and tortures on that are inspired by the horror films that she
watches.
Mrs
Laderman goes out into the city to find the ideal victim to bring back and
deliver to Claudia. To Claudia this person feeds her addiction so is seen as
‘special’.
I
imagined the setting to be Mrs Laderman in an empty room infront of Claudia,
presenting the victim to her and showing her what she has brought back for her.
The room would be fairly dark and mysterious so that the victim can’t get that
good a look of Claudia.
From this i thought
of shadows and silhouettes in photography, and i want to look at how i can
create shadows and silhouettes in my images using different lighting set
ups.
