My chosen 2 characters (Claudia & Mrs Laderman)

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.