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Jake Forster
Greg McClure
Writing 39B
4 December 2015
Stresss Final Destination: An Analysis of My Groups RIP Project and Its Inner Workings
Introduction
For my groups RIP project, we used a short horror film about a college girl experiencing
numerous causes of stress to convey the dangers of piled up pressure with the goal of convincing
the audience to better manage their accumulation of stress and tension. As our viewers were
made up of mostly fellow UCI students and not just the usual teachers, we made the story of the
film relatable to that specific audience and choose causes of stress for the film that would make
feelings of sympathy arise from the average college student. Additionally, due to us choosing a
short film as our medium instead of the other two options, a live presentation or a short
documentary, we were able to convey our message in less direct ways and have more subtle
ways of controlling the reactions of the viewers. This also allowed our group more freedom
when using rhetorical devices related to our cultural and historical context since devices such as
they have become so ordinary in society that it has even become abnormal to pick up on their
use. All of these ways of coercing the audience to the desired point of view are shown best in the
ending scenes that consist of a screen going black as the protagonist picks up a box with the
words Kill Yourself written on the top and a loud bang sounding off soon after that
recognizable by almost anyone of our century.
Analysis

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Before I can discuss the stories ending however, I first must describe the beginning of the
film and why we choose to depict it as a seemingly mundane night. As a reminder, the starting
scene begins with the screen showing the protagonist typing on her computer, the camera
focusing on the numerous happy pictures surrounding her, and uplifting music playing all
throughout. With the film being of the horror genre, it was first important to setup the situation as
a normal and relatable one for the audience. For the audience to feel emotions from events in a
horror movie, they first must feel connected to the characters that experience these events. Thus,
by setting up the situation as we did, as an average scene of a student working at night, we are
able to gain this necessary connection from an audience that mostly consists of students. The
happy pictures support this effort while also having the second function of working as a frame of
reference. This way, when scenes of drama happen later on, the created impact is greater on the
viewers due to them having been shown happier times.
Finally, to finish off the discussion of the scene, it is important to talk about the joyful
music that plays during it and how it played a pivotal role in setting up the film. First, as the
music is one that is intended to bring about emotions of happiness, its purpose on the surface is
to make the previously mentioned photos evoke stronger feelings of cheerfulness and put the
audience in an initial state of delight. Due to audience knowing this film is supposed to be of the
horror genre however, it also causes a sense of dread to fill them as they have been taught to
learn through previous experiences that this happiness wont last. This then leads to their
instincts being used to heighten their terror for when the music finally stops, the audible queue
makes them aware that the cheerfulness is over and that whatever awaits the character they have
now become connected to, it cannot be good.

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As the movie continues on, the audiences sense of foreboding is shown to come to
fruition with the scene of the protagonist crying right after being dumped by her boyfriend being
a particularly noteworthy case due to all the hidden components of it. To start off the analysis, as
a film is a visual medium, the audiences main clue to the main characters mental state is not her
diction, but how the character reacts after her breakup, mainly her falling out of her chair to the
ground and then making gestures recognized as belonging to one who is crying along with the
usual sounds tied this action being audible to the viewer. As it is custom to feel sympathy and
weakened versions of the observed emotions when seeing the described scene in our culture, the
movie is able to use this to create the intended emotions in the audience and subconsciously
reinforce the effects that stress can have on someone. Additionally, these emotions are not
created through this scene alone, but through a combination of the current moment and of the
previously depicted scenes, such as the protagonist failing an important test. As these events are
very easy to relate to for an audience made up of students, as they are very aware that the same
events can often happen in their own lives, the scenes are thus able to have a more potent effect
than they would perhaps have on a group less familiar with the occurrences, for instance young
children. All of these individual factors work together to create a powerful impact on the viewers
and make it possible for the future climax of the film to have a superior effect than otherwise
possible.
The climax in question is the same as the one described in the introduction paragraph and
works as the end result of all the previous scenes to persuade the audience that stress isnt
something to take lightly. To begin the examination of the endings qualities, one significant
feature to note is that due to these series of scenes being the only ones in the film to feature
music besides the opening, the movie is able to instantly heighten the audiences focus once

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again. Additionally, as the music is the exact opposite of the melody found at the beginning and
is clearly put with the purpose of evoking terror, the film as a medium is able to prove its
benefits by allowing the viewer to compare the current moment with prior depressing scenes and
then come to fear what could make the situation even worse. The music however is not the only
feature our group focused on for the ending.
The two other most important devices that we used to increase the effectiveness of those
series of scenes were the trope consisting of hearing knocking, but discovering no one is on the
other side of the door and the ending moments of a black screen and a gunshot sound. For the
trope, it functions as another builder of tension and works in tandem with the music to keep the
audience under emotional pressure. The same can be said with the box found on the other side of
the door for when the viewer starts to expect the release, but continues to encounter only more
mysteries, they receive the opposite of their hopes and have the pressure become bigger and
bigger. This all finally pays off when the audience is briefly shown the words Kill Yourself
written on top of the box and hears the following bang sound after the screen fades away. While
it is a sound exclusive to the last few centuries, the shots true meaning is more related to the
culture the film is shot in. As suicide acknowledgement and prevention efforts have become
prevalent in recent years, the viewers are able to easily understand the connection between the
Kill Yourself note and the sound of a gun firing and realize what exactly happened in the films
final moments: the death of the protagonist by her own hand. All of the previously made tension
drain away here and leaves the audience with the powerful message that if one represses their
stress and doesnt seek release, their fate could match the one of the main character of the movie.
Contribution

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With the central parts of the project now explained, it is important to mention how I
contributed to it. In general terms, my job was to be the main scenario writer and create the
pathway the story was going to follow. After gathering all the ideas suggested by my group and
adding my own thoughts to the mix, I picked from the selection the best causes for stress, such as
breaking up with your significant other or failing an important test, and wove them into a
narrative with an ending also chosen by me. I specifically didnt say I was the script writer
however because while we filmed, I purposely didnt have a set script. I simply told our actress
the components of the scene we were doing at the moment and let her adlib the specific lines
after giving her some suggestions with the other members of our group. This allowed us more
freedom when filming the talking scenes and allowed us to do each of the lengthy dialogue
scenes usually in only one take. I also helped assist during the filming by recommending to the
group how we should film each of the scenes I described and what the camera should be showing
for those particular moments. One scene I specifically instructed how to film was the final scene
of the ending sequence where the protagonist opens the box and screen goes to black. I felt that
not showing the boxs contents in the film allowed us to not only get away with not having to
show some kind of replica gun for the film, but more importantly, stopped the tension from
breaking till the very last moment of the movie. Overall, these actions seemed the best way to
assist in the creation of the film and allowed its overall purpose to be conveyed in a far greater
way.
Conclusion/Group Interaction
Finally, with the project over and the quarter itself coming to a close, I can definitely say
that the experience is the highlight of the class. It has been a pleasure working with everyone in
my group and I felt everyone contributed significantly to our end product. While there were a

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few minor problems during the film creation process, such as figuring out our message during
the initial story development phase or making sure nothing in the background moved in between
cuts while filming, they were nothing we couldnt overcome. In the end, I felt our finished movie
was far superior to what I initially thought possible, with particular praise for our groups actress
Lexie, and I am definitely proud of what we made.