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Tyler Nakaue
Greg McClure
Writing 39B
1 December 2015
The RIP of Horror
This quarter in Writing 39B our groups were given the task of presenting a trope. We
were allowed to create our own horror movie, or present on a subject in horror. If we chose to
make a movie we also had to make the plot a metaphor for an issue in todays culture. My group
decided to make a horror movie. Our movie, named Retribution, had a simple plot at first. It
looked like a standard slasher film. There are two girls in distress as a masked murderer comes to
kill them. It makes a sudden turn in the last scene of the film. After the last girl is killed it cuts to
three days before the masked man appeared. A boy is beat and bullied by the two girls and is left
on the side of a trash can. By this trash can was the mask of the murderer from the movie. Our
group wanted a simple plot twist that was easy to follow since we were presenting to another
class as well as our own.
Our movie had unique aspects that helped people connect and engage with the movie. We
also didnt use dialogue so most of the horror is communicated through body language and the
music. This movie took place in a college setting. The people were old enough to have their own
house, but there were still scenes of them on a campus. They also use modern devices such as
their phones, laptops and cars. This means that the movie took place in the 21st century.
Our movies use of rhetorical devices helps convey the feeling of horror. We used several
tropes. One trope was the stalker with no romantic reasons. These trope is about how people can
stalk and kill for reasons besides romance. We see that the man stalked the two girls for

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retribution and revenge. This trope affected the audience because the mans intentions are
unknown. Nobody knows why he is stalking and killing them. Another trope is that the killer
only appears at night. This means that major events in horror stories happen at night or the
setting is always night. The killer in our movie only appears which makes him a menacing threat.
We added several effects to the movie to increase the terror audience members felt. We made the
movie darker and added a blue glow. This made the movie seem more professional allowing
audience members to submerge themselves into the movie better. In the murder scene we added
fake blood to the floors, Jinglin, and the walls. It was an enormous amount of fake blood and
took an extraordinary amount of time to clean. We added this to make the murder seem more
real. If the girl was dead but there was no blood it would seem fake and the audience would be
interested.
Our video contained several elements in order to convey the tropes to the audience. To
cover the trope, always at night, we only filmed at night time. This made the setting and time of
the movie always at night. Without the night scenery the movie would not have felt the same. We
also had to add another scene to meet the stalking trope. We never stated that he loved any of the
girls, but a boy stalking two girls does seem like romance gone wrong. We added the final scene
were the boy was actually bullied by the girls, to show his motives for hurting them. This
explicitly shows that the killer has no romantic desires for the girls, but carries vengeance in its
place.
Retribution sets up and fulfills many expectations while also subverting a few. The
audience sees the killer outside the girls room, but they dont notice him. This sets up the
expectation that they will meet. We have them see each other when he suddenly appears in their
room. We were able to subvert audience expectations when they see the killer stalk one of the

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girls. They expect him to kill her, but instead he kidnaps her. They dont see what they expected
which builds up more tension for when he actually does kill him. We also subvert expectations
after he kills the two girls. They believe the movie is done, but not everything is that cut and dry.
The audience then sees him being bullied by the two girls he killed, before he became the killer.
They are left with the tension of not knowing who the real monster is.
This constant build and release of tension helps us deliver the real message of the movie.
We wanted to show that there are people out there, no matter the age, who are being bullied or
beat. We want people to be aware of this and understand that bullying is not right. Our group also
left them with the question is vengeance really justice? Its not all black and white. Our society
wants justice for the oppressed, but at what point does retribution become unjust.
Our movie is about retribution. Retribution is the dispensing or receiving of reward or
punishment especially in the hereafter (Merrian-Webster). Basically retribution is rewarding or
punishing someone for a previous act they committed. In the case for our movie we had the killer
punishing the girls. The girls had beat the killer days before he began attacking them. The
audience realizes that he was no random killer, but a man demanding vengeance. The killer
wanted retribution for the unjust treatment he received from a couple of girls. If the girls were
nicer they would have lived because the killer would have no reason to kill them. We based this
movie on the golden rule: treat others how you want to be treated. Some people take it to the
extreme like the killer of the movie, but why do people react this way?
We made this movie a metaphor for students who are constantly bullied. Those who are
bullied are pushed to the point of retaliation which can end in the death of many. Bullying causes
many psychological disorders. For example people who have been bullied generally regard their
health as poor and have worse cognitive [functions] (LA Times). This shows that victims of

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bullying dont approve of how they appear. The killer in the movie is a very covered figure. The
audience really only sees his hands. The rest of his body is covered, even his face with the mask.
This could be because he doesnt like his physical body and tries to hide it. He also does strange
things like stalk, watch, and kill people. This is because he cannot function like those who are
not bullied. If bullied enough they can externalize it by turning from a victim to a bully
themselves (CNN). Victims sometimes change to bullies themselves because they need a way to
express themselves. In the movie the killer changes from the victim to the bully and even stands
up to the people who bullied him.
I am not one the toot my own horn, but I am going to recount all the ways I helped make
this movie. My most prominent effort in the movie was using the camera to film, because no
camera means no movie. Another big way I helped was by being the murderer. I was the man
under the mask, which I provided. This made the murderer seem less human and more like a
monster. He became impure and detestable. I also helped edit the plot. I am not good at thinking
of my plot so I helped Matthew mold and edit the plot he came up with. Some notable changes I
made to the plot was having one girl die earlier. The original plot was going to have both girls
alive in the apartment, but I believed having one kidnapped then killed gives the other girl a
reason to go to the house and adds to the horror of the movie.
We had slasher horror, pop up horror, and gory horror. I also painted all the fake blood. If
there was any scene with fake blood I put it there. It was difficult to make the blood splatter look
real. For big globs I flicked it from a spoon, for smaller blood stains I flicked it from my fingers.
Needless to say my fingers were stained red for a while.
Our groups interaction was positive. Sometimes I felt it was too positive. We beat around
the bush when it came to criticism. We worked well together and there was no fighting. We

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talked and discussed every plot change we wanted to make. This ensured everyone was happy
with the final product and the movie made sense.

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Bibliography
Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2015.
<http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/retribution>
Bullying By Peers Has Effects Later in Life - CNN.Com. CNN. Cable News Network, n.d.
Web. 4 Dec. 2015. <http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/08/health/bullying-mental-healtheffects/>
Kaplan, Karen. Victims Of Bullying Live with the Consequences for Decades, Study Says. Los
Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 2014. Web. 4 Dec. 2015.
<http://articles.latimes.com/2014/apr/18/science/la-sci-sn-bullying-victims-middle-age20140418>