We analysed the 1991 James Cameron film and then wrote an essay (in my blue portfolio~) on the way gender is portrayed in the film, this was the first essay we wrote to understand mise en scene and camera angles.
In class we watched the main clips which represented gender, the first few being in the Pescadero state psychiatric hospital, which shows a big contrast between the doctors that were dominantly male and the patients that were mainly female. The scene starts with an establishing shot of the hospital from the outside of the building which looks plain, with very high windows and a high security fence. The sense of security is enforced by a guard on the gate, demonstrating to the audience that this is a secure hospital for people with mental disorders, a place patients would want to try and escape from.Sarah's son is also portrayed as a vulnerable character, because he is just a child. The use of high shot angles and over the shoulder shots in scenes containing The Terminator and John, The Terminator overpowers John making him vulnerable.
The escape scene is one of the only times the gender power is changed, her appearance changes, she puts her hair up and out of her face to give her control.When she goes to fill the needle with poison you can see the roles reverse between Sarah and the doctor, the male doctor is of a lower level compared to Sarah which gives her power.The extreme close up of the needle being filled also shows the reverse in emotions the characters are showing. The doctor positioned behind the needle makes it clear to the audience who is in control.
The Terminators strength is a constant recurring theme in this film; he always wears black and is presented as very masculine with props such as his motorbike and gun he is also always the tallest character.
The final scene as the three of them try and defeat the bad Terminator, jumps back and forth in power between the good and bad Terminators. Arnold Schwarzenegger first appears to attack the bad Terminator with a close up of his gun and his face, which makes him very powerful. Red lighting is used around the bad terminator and he walks through sparks of electricity to represent evil, Sarah and John are both put with pale colours to show how vulnerable they are.
The Terminator 2 uses many media techniques to establish the differences between male and female gender, with parts of the film showing the stereotypical male protecting the female, but this film also depicts the female role as powerful and quite masculine at times.
Hide and Seek analysis
Hide and Seek presentation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQiSCT33PO4
As part of researching horror films Abbie Lacey, Ellie Fletcher and myself picked an opening of a horror film to analyse. We picked Hide and Seek written by Ari Schlossberg and directed by John Polsen.
Hide and Seek movie maker - please click on link
We made a movie maker video to add notes to the scene as it took place. We mentioned the different editing techniques such as short reverse shot to show the conversation between the different characters and passing the 180 degree rule to create a uncomfortable atmosphere that horror films commonly do.
The mise-en-scene was also very significant to the film. The costumes of the mother changed dramatically from the park to the house. She wore white when she was in the open and happy with her daughter which represents purity and innocence, when she was trapped in the house she was in a black dress to represent depression, she also had many references to red which represents death. She had red nail, lips, jewellery and she was drinking red wine with the pills she was taking.
The lighting for the opening was very natural just the sunlight and lights in the house, the house had normal props that most people have in their own homes. This shows the audience how it looks like a normal realistic family, which makes the horror of the mums death even worse, it seems like something that could happen to anyone.
The non-diegetic music also added to the sinister atmosphere. It used variations of the same tune throughout the scene and the tune sounded like a nursery rhyme but in a minor key to give it that hostile atmosphere because it refereed to children, that in horror films are mainly portrayed as vulnerable to anything scary. The diegetic sound of the dripping tap also added to the horror effect, its tempo made it sound like a clock to represent time is running out and it also created lots of tension.
There were many camera angles used throughout the 6 minute clip. The most menacing being the long shot that zoomed into an extreme close up of the little girls eyes. It was repeated at the beginning and end of the opening to show the contrast in her frame of mind. The first time we see the close up of her eyes she is a laughing happy girl, when it is an extreme close up at the end she is expressionless which for the audience makes it even more horrific as you do not know what the girl is thinking. You can also see a reflection of her dead mother in the girls eyes to show you why she has changed so dramatically. Hide and Seek was directed in a way that even the smallest detail, like the dad walking down the corridor was made to thrill the audience.
I also looked at the trailer of Hide and Seek
The trailer opens with calm non - diegetic music that confuses the audience into thinking this is a calm film, the opposite to a horror film. It opens with a panning shot of New York, giving away the setting of the film. We are given clues to the horror genre through the mise en scene of the cars driving through bare woodland. The iconography of bare trees is linked to death, isolation and is used in many horror films.
The trailer also introduces the mother when the scene cuts to a faded image of her, the colours are lighter all to suggest she is dead and that she is a memory to the man. As soon as we are introduced to the names 'Charlie' and the dad starts to question his daughter about her 'imaginary friend' everything turns sinister, the non - diegetic music because hostile and louder with long pauses to make you jump.
The lighting in the scenes becomes darker, with the use of candle light linking to religion and death and it also blurs our vision. They have used mirrors and also shown the scene with the blood on the wall all stereotypical elements of the horror genre, the audience are now aware this is a scary film.
The daughter is filmed more frequently from this point on so that we realise she is the protagonist, she is given a lot more speech as well to represent her power and to give the audience glues to suggest she is the 'evil' character. When she mentions her mother again, they have added the non-diegetic sound of lightning, which is the type of weather we associate with horror films because it is dangerous and threatening. The shots at that point then had very quick cuts so that you don't see the whole picture, isolating the audience from the truth and creating the fear good horror films do.
The non - diegetic music has now added singing, something you would here in a church to add to the sinister theme. The actors names are now introduced, they swipe across the screen very sharply, like in Psycho to represent the movement of a knife or an action that is threatening, the non-diegetic sound here emphasises the rapid movement of the text all linking in with the psychological thriller theme.
Hide and Seek movie maker - please click on link
We made a movie maker video to add notes to the scene as it took place. We mentioned the different editing techniques such as short reverse shot to show the conversation between the different characters and passing the 180 degree rule to create a uncomfortable atmosphere that horror films commonly do.
The mise-en-scene was also very significant to the film. The costumes of the mother changed dramatically from the park to the house. She wore white when she was in the open and happy with her daughter which represents purity and innocence, when she was trapped in the house she was in a black dress to represent depression, she also had many references to red which represents death. She had red nail, lips, jewellery and she was drinking red wine with the pills she was taking.
The lighting for the opening was very natural just the sunlight and lights in the house, the house had normal props that most people have in their own homes. This shows the audience how it looks like a normal realistic family, which makes the horror of the mums death even worse, it seems like something that could happen to anyone.
The non-diegetic music also added to the sinister atmosphere. It used variations of the same tune throughout the scene and the tune sounded like a nursery rhyme but in a minor key to give it that hostile atmosphere because it refereed to children, that in horror films are mainly portrayed as vulnerable to anything scary. The diegetic sound of the dripping tap also added to the horror effect, its tempo made it sound like a clock to represent time is running out and it also created lots of tension.
There were many camera angles used throughout the 6 minute clip. The most menacing being the long shot that zoomed into an extreme close up of the little girls eyes. It was repeated at the beginning and end of the opening to show the contrast in her frame of mind. The first time we see the close up of her eyes she is a laughing happy girl, when it is an extreme close up at the end she is expressionless which for the audience makes it even more horrific as you do not know what the girl is thinking. You can also see a reflection of her dead mother in the girls eyes to show you why she has changed so dramatically. Hide and Seek was directed in a way that even the smallest detail, like the dad walking down the corridor was made to thrill the audience.
I also looked at the trailer of Hide and Seek
The trailer opens with calm non - diegetic music that confuses the audience into thinking this is a calm film, the opposite to a horror film. It opens with a panning shot of New York, giving away the setting of the film. We are given clues to the horror genre through the mise en scene of the cars driving through bare woodland. The iconography of bare trees is linked to death, isolation and is used in many horror films.
The trailer also introduces the mother when the scene cuts to a faded image of her, the colours are lighter all to suggest she is dead and that she is a memory to the man. As soon as we are introduced to the names 'Charlie' and the dad starts to question his daughter about her 'imaginary friend' everything turns sinister, the non - diegetic music because hostile and louder with long pauses to make you jump.
The lighting in the scenes becomes darker, with the use of candle light linking to religion and death and it also blurs our vision. They have used mirrors and also shown the scene with the blood on the wall all stereotypical elements of the horror genre, the audience are now aware this is a scary film.
The daughter is filmed more frequently from this point on so that we realise she is the protagonist, she is given a lot more speech as well to represent her power and to give the audience glues to suggest she is the 'evil' character. When she mentions her mother again, they have added the non-diegetic sound of lightning, which is the type of weather we associate with horror films because it is dangerous and threatening. The shots at that point then had very quick cuts so that you don't see the whole picture, isolating the audience from the truth and creating the fear good horror films do.
The non - diegetic music has now added singing, something you would here in a church to add to the sinister theme. The actors names are now introduced, they swipe across the screen very sharply, like in Psycho to represent the movement of a knife or an action that is threatening, the non-diegetic sound here emphasises the rapid movement of the text all linking in with the psychological thriller theme.
The setting of the characters is now turned sinister when we see the shot of the old house in the dark, creating the mise en scene of a sinister atmosphere. The cuts between shots now get faster and we see the fear the father has of her daughter. The non- diegetic music gets louder to again build on the hostile atmosphere.
The trailer also twists the theme of children, by making the innocent acts a child would such as drawing sinister 'i'm drawing you die'. The cuts are now at there quickest pace and we have the added diegetic sound of Emily whispering numbers, like you would do if you were playing Hide and Seek, twisting another innocent childhood game and making it sinister. The non-diegetic sound keeps up its pace to again create fear and the trailer ends with Emily playing the game 'come out where ever you are' ending on a childhood game is something most audience members could relate to from there childhood and therefore catches there attention and creates the biggest impact, drawing in the viewer and making them want to find out what happens by going to see the film.
Horror opening analysis
The trailer also twists the theme of children, by making the innocent acts a child would such as drawing sinister 'i'm drawing you die'. The cuts are now at there quickest pace and we have the added diegetic sound of Emily whispering numbers, like you would do if you were playing Hide and Seek, twisting another innocent childhood game and making it sinister. The non-diegetic sound keeps up its pace to again create fear and the trailer ends with Emily playing the game 'come out where ever you are' ending on a childhood game is something most audience members could relate to from there childhood and therefore catches there attention and creates the biggest impact, drawing in the viewer and making them want to find out what happens by going to see the film.
Horror opening analysis
As well as our presentation of Hide and Seek we also listened to other groups presentations and added our own ideas to their pieces.
Daryl showed the class the opening of The Grudge written by Stephen Susco and Takashi Shimizu and directed by Takashi Shimizu.
The film started with black and red falling across the screen as the opening credits were shown. The red represents blood and death and the black adds a sense of mystery. The atmosphere is also created by the high pitched and slow tempo non-diegetic music. The first character is shown traveling on her bike with a shot reverse shot to show the scenery has changed whilst she rides her bike and skips to a later time period in her journey. I saw that the lady wore a red scarf which also suggests she is the victim, as red represents blood and death.
The entire scene is shot to make you feel like you are watching the girl, to add to the awkward atmosphere of a horror film. There is an over the shoulder shot as you see her read a message, telling her the other character she will be back later, she is in the house alone. You then realise she is a carer from the two shot of her talking to the ill women. The two ladies are both in blue but the protagonist is in a lighter shade to show the audience she is innocent and also vulnerable, whereas the older lady is in a darker shade to show you she has been effected by the Grudge and is tougher but also damaged psychologically.
There are also lots of high shot of the woman to represent her as vulnerable and in danger. The shot as she walks towards the camera makes her block the light from the window, which gives her an intimating and powerful attributes, but also shows her as trapped as behind her are bars from the stairs which create another barrier she is enclosed in.
She is then in the dark with candle light as her only source of vision, which makes any power she had in the previous shot dissappear. The lack of light creates a sense of claustrophobia and tension, that is supported from the repeated non-diegetic music in a higher pitch. There are cobwebs in the background to represent the spider catching its prey, she is the prey. The flame also shows her shaking to create fear and shadows on her face, our vision is blurred of her which adds to the mystery.
The scene ends with an extreme close up of The Grudge, the hair covers part of her face and enhances the big bold eyes, which represent danger and sets the horror tone for the rest of the film.
The group with Emma, Georgia, Akshay and Catherine did Silent Hill.
It opens with haunting non-diegetic piano music and dark clouds appear and flames from fires coming from underground ash also falls and turns red to represent death and hell as it fall to the underground.
It starts with a medium shot of a lady and a man in the distance who is blurred to show that the lady is the main character her husband is kept in the dark. You can also see she is wearing her wedding ring around her neck to show her practicality and that she is a family person. The women holds a teddy bear to represent a child which adds a vulnerable aspect to her and also tells the audience her daughter is missing.
There is an establishing shot of the waterfall and the girl to show you she is sleep walking and putting herself in great danger. As her mum shouts for her daughter, behind her are names of characters written in graffiti that have gone through the video game, which links with the daughter.
The non-diegetic music is from the actual video game so people who have played it can relate to the film and know something bad is being anticipated. As the mother tries to save her daughter their stereotypical roles have been reversed, the mum is running and not thinking about what is to come, she is putting herself in danger for her daughter.
The girls is presented as very innocent and immature with her childish pajamas. The audience sympathises with her, the girl mumbles under her breath to show she is possessed and it is out of her control, she is living her nightmare. The low shot of the mother shows her as one step behind, foreshadowing the future she can't keep up with her daughter to save her.
When the mother saves the daughter from falling you can see their close relationship, they both have references to blue in their clothing to show their connection whereas the father is in brown to show he is not as linked to the daughter as much as the mother is, it upsets her more then her husband.
As the parents hug their daughter there is a close up of her screaming, to show her fear and upset. The cross of fire behind them represents the devil and death, foreboding what is to come and reinforcing the horror genre.
George, Toby, Ben and Dominic analysed Silence of the lambs, written by Thomas Harris,Ted Tally and dircted by Jonathan Demme .
The piece started with fast high pitched non-diegetic music and the atmosphere was also created by the diegetic sounds of the lady breathing and her footsteps against the leaves on the ground. The audience have not been told much information yet but you already have a sense of the horror genre, you can see the tension rising.
We then get a feel for the women's surroundings from the establishing shot of the forest and the fog in the sky which represents obstacles in her way, as we see a tracking shot of her running, the fog effects her vision and the trees trap her in, there is a sense of escapism throughout this opening section.
Once we realise she is doing an obstacle course, the high shots of her moving up the rope make her seem weak and as she pushes herself over to the other side we can see she is overcoming challenges this is also reinforced from the lighting, which is very dark as she moves up the rope, she is fighting against something bad, and then sunlight pores onto her face where she is doing something positive, moving away from her past.
We get a sense of the genre from the shots, you feel as though you are watching her which gives you hints that this could be a psychological thriller.
In the scenes underground the many bars she passes represent barriers trapping people in and trapping herself, the lighting is red to represent hell, the stairs as she leaves are white to represent heaven and as the gate opens the repetitive beeping represents a countdown which builds the tension and emphasises her nervousness. The 360 degree shot also shows the prison from her point of view and how observant she is, she checks her surroundings before she takes any actions. The non-diegetic sounds at this point moves from slow to fast speeds to show the differences in her behaviour. The shots flick very quickly from the women to her point of view of the other prisoners to again increase pressure in the scene.
Hannibal's cell contrasts with the other cells, it look very organised and tidy to show that he looks after himself which makes him seen sane, when in fact he is the worst patient which makes the normality of his prison even more hostile. His cell is the only one with glass, he is to dangerous to be trapped behind bars this portrays to the audience just how dangerous he is and the over the shoudler shots make the scene very eerie.
It opens with haunting non-diegetic piano music and dark clouds appear and flames from fires coming from underground ash also falls and turns red to represent death and hell as it fall to the underground.
It starts with a medium shot of a lady and a man in the distance who is blurred to show that the lady is the main character her husband is kept in the dark. You can also see she is wearing her wedding ring around her neck to show her practicality and that she is a family person. The women holds a teddy bear to represent a child which adds a vulnerable aspect to her and also tells the audience her daughter is missing.
There is an establishing shot of the waterfall and the girl to show you she is sleep walking and putting herself in great danger. As her mum shouts for her daughter, behind her are names of characters written in graffiti that have gone through the video game, which links with the daughter.
The non-diegetic music is from the actual video game so people who have played it can relate to the film and know something bad is being anticipated. As the mother tries to save her daughter their stereotypical roles have been reversed, the mum is running and not thinking about what is to come, she is putting herself in danger for her daughter.
The girls is presented as very innocent and immature with her childish pajamas. The audience sympathises with her, the girl mumbles under her breath to show she is possessed and it is out of her control, she is living her nightmare. The low shot of the mother shows her as one step behind, foreshadowing the future she can't keep up with her daughter to save her.
When the mother saves the daughter from falling you can see their close relationship, they both have references to blue in their clothing to show their connection whereas the father is in brown to show he is not as linked to the daughter as much as the mother is, it upsets her more then her husband.
As the parents hug their daughter there is a close up of her screaming, to show her fear and upset. The cross of fire behind them represents the devil and death, foreboding what is to come and reinforcing the horror genre.
George, Toby, Ben and Dominic analysed Silence of the lambs, written by Thomas Harris,Ted Tally and dircted by Jonathan Demme .
The piece started with fast high pitched non-diegetic music and the atmosphere was also created by the diegetic sounds of the lady breathing and her footsteps against the leaves on the ground. The audience have not been told much information yet but you already have a sense of the horror genre, you can see the tension rising.
We then get a feel for the women's surroundings from the establishing shot of the forest and the fog in the sky which represents obstacles in her way, as we see a tracking shot of her running, the fog effects her vision and the trees trap her in, there is a sense of escapism throughout this opening section.
Once we realise she is doing an obstacle course, the high shots of her moving up the rope make her seem weak and as she pushes herself over to the other side we can see she is overcoming challenges this is also reinforced from the lighting, which is very dark as she moves up the rope, she is fighting against something bad, and then sunlight pores onto her face where she is doing something positive, moving away from her past.
We get a sense of the genre from the shots, you feel as though you are watching her which gives you hints that this could be a psychological thriller.
In the scenes underground the many bars she passes represent barriers trapping people in and trapping herself, the lighting is red to represent hell, the stairs as she leaves are white to represent heaven and as the gate opens the repetitive beeping represents a countdown which builds the tension and emphasises her nervousness. The 360 degree shot also shows the prison from her point of view and how observant she is, she checks her surroundings before she takes any actions. The non-diegetic sounds at this point moves from slow to fast speeds to show the differences in her behaviour. The shots flick very quickly from the women to her point of view of the other prisoners to again increase pressure in the scene.
Hannibal's cell contrasts with the other cells, it look very organised and tidy to show that he looks after himself which makes him seen sane, when in fact he is the worst patient which makes the normality of his prison even more hostile. His cell is the only one with glass, he is to dangerous to be trapped behind bars this portrays to the audience just how dangerous he is and the over the shoudler shots make the scene very eerie.
Amber, Becky, Harri l and Harri N did an analysis on Jennifer's body, which was created in 2009 it was written by Diablo Cody and directed by Karyn Kusama.
The film starts with an establishing shot of a country house at night, which is the codes and conventions of horror, you know this is the horror/thriller genre. The credits that appear in this frame are very pale to represent ghosts and non-diegetic music appears which sounds like echos and whispering and the diegetic sound of a dog barking is also added to create the eerie atmosphere.
There is then an extreme close up of a girls mouth to foreshadow the future events of the film, the camera then moves to a close up of the window to create the idea of being trapped. The frame then shows a young girls bedroom, everything is very pink with posters on the walls and the title 'Jennifer's body' also appears in pink to link the name with the teenage girl in the room the colours contrast with the colour schemes you would expect to see with a murderer, this makes the atmosphere more sinister. The camera pans up from a low angle shot of the bed to create the image of childhood fears, creatures under the bed. The lighting at this point is blue and very cold. The jump cut then moves to the side of her face to create shadows and place the audience in an awkward position, the camera moves in on her face so the diegetic dialogue we can here, we know is her thoughts.
We then move to a different character and the camera zooms out to a medium shot of the back of the girls head, she is looking out a window with bars across to show she is trapped inside and the hospital clothing tell us she is in a mental institute. The audience feel intrusive as we are listening to her thoughts and the toys in her room and the bunny slippers tell us she is still a child and vulnerable.
The camera shoots medium shots of her as she changes and we can see the scars on her back to reinforce that she is permanently damaged and whatever happened to her she can't forget. The close up of the cross represent she is religious but the high shots make her look vulnerable, even god can't help her. The camera follows her making the audience feel intrusive in her life.
As she talks to the doctor, the editing techniques shot reverse shot is used to make the audience aware the carers are good and want to help, the white uniform adds to the pure characteristics. The camera then moves to a canted shot to create confusion as she attacks the doctor, as she shows her aggression the shots get faster to build up the tense atmosphere, she is no longer in control. Her weakness is shown when she is put in a dark room, with close ups to show she is scared the diegetic sounds of her screaming also adds to her frustration and scares the audience. Shadows from the lack of lighting are created on her face again to make her look dangerous and the non diegetic music from the beginning reappears.
Luke analysed The Ring (2002) which was written by Ehren Kruger and Kôji Suzuki and directed by Gore Verbinski.
The scene we watched started with a shot of the sky with clouds moving quickly through the sky to show the main characters time running out, she doesn't have much more time to find the girl she is looking for. Non-diegetic music is also added here to add to the rushed and minor tone. As they drive they are moving deeper into the forest created more barriers between the trees to represent the isolation they are putting themselves in. The colours are also very dark to add to the eerie atmosphere.
As they reach the house the women looks out the window again reinforcing another barrier she is behind and also showing the red light that is reflected on her face to show the danger she is putting herself in. The mid shots of her also has a phone in the corner of the frame to reinforce the plot, once she watched the tape she had a phone call telling her she was going to die.
When the two characters have a conversation, shot reverse shot is used to see the reactions on their faces. When they start to argue the shots change quickly to help build the tension, the lighting here also shows the women is in danger, she still has red lighting on her face to forebode the future events, whereas the man is in the dark, he is not in as much danger and it also shows he is not the main focus of the film.
As they get stressed and upset, the appearance also changes, the woman's hair becomes messy to show she is starting to lose control of the situation. The soft non - diegetic music is also very misleading here, it makes them seem like they have control, when in fact they don't.
As they look down the hole the light is behind them referring to heaven and it is dark below them referring to hell. The TV is also shown a lot in this part of the scene to symbolise why she is in this situation, it is also the object that makes her fall to reinforce the negativity that has come from her watching the video, this is why she dies, the TV is positioned to look like it has dominance over her, with the low shots of it.
The film starts with an establishing shot of a country house at night, which is the codes and conventions of horror, you know this is the horror/thriller genre. The credits that appear in this frame are very pale to represent ghosts and non-diegetic music appears which sounds like echos and whispering and the diegetic sound of a dog barking is also added to create the eerie atmosphere.
There is then an extreme close up of a girls mouth to foreshadow the future events of the film, the camera then moves to a close up of the window to create the idea of being trapped. The frame then shows a young girls bedroom, everything is very pink with posters on the walls and the title 'Jennifer's body' also appears in pink to link the name with the teenage girl in the room the colours contrast with the colour schemes you would expect to see with a murderer, this makes the atmosphere more sinister. The camera pans up from a low angle shot of the bed to create the image of childhood fears, creatures under the bed. The lighting at this point is blue and very cold. The jump cut then moves to the side of her face to create shadows and place the audience in an awkward position, the camera moves in on her face so the diegetic dialogue we can here, we know is her thoughts.
We then move to a different character and the camera zooms out to a medium shot of the back of the girls head, she is looking out a window with bars across to show she is trapped inside and the hospital clothing tell us she is in a mental institute. The audience feel intrusive as we are listening to her thoughts and the toys in her room and the bunny slippers tell us she is still a child and vulnerable.
The camera shoots medium shots of her as she changes and we can see the scars on her back to reinforce that she is permanently damaged and whatever happened to her she can't forget. The close up of the cross represent she is religious but the high shots make her look vulnerable, even god can't help her. The camera follows her making the audience feel intrusive in her life.
As she talks to the doctor, the editing techniques shot reverse shot is used to make the audience aware the carers are good and want to help, the white uniform adds to the pure characteristics. The camera then moves to a canted shot to create confusion as she attacks the doctor, as she shows her aggression the shots get faster to build up the tense atmosphere, she is no longer in control. Her weakness is shown when she is put in a dark room, with close ups to show she is scared the diegetic sounds of her screaming also adds to her frustration and scares the audience. Shadows from the lack of lighting are created on her face again to make her look dangerous and the non diegetic music from the beginning reappears.
Luke analysed The Ring (2002) which was written by Ehren Kruger and Kôji Suzuki and directed by Gore Verbinski.
The scene we watched started with a shot of the sky with clouds moving quickly through the sky to show the main characters time running out, she doesn't have much more time to find the girl she is looking for. Non-diegetic music is also added here to add to the rushed and minor tone. As they drive they are moving deeper into the forest created more barriers between the trees to represent the isolation they are putting themselves in. The colours are also very dark to add to the eerie atmosphere.
As they reach the house the women looks out the window again reinforcing another barrier she is behind and also showing the red light that is reflected on her face to show the danger she is putting herself in. The mid shots of her also has a phone in the corner of the frame to reinforce the plot, once she watched the tape she had a phone call telling her she was going to die.
When the two characters have a conversation, shot reverse shot is used to see the reactions on their faces. When they start to argue the shots change quickly to help build the tension, the lighting here also shows the women is in danger, she still has red lighting on her face to forebode the future events, whereas the man is in the dark, he is not in as much danger and it also shows he is not the main focus of the film.
As they get stressed and upset, the appearance also changes, the woman's hair becomes messy to show she is starting to lose control of the situation. The soft non - diegetic music is also very misleading here, it makes them seem like they have control, when in fact they don't.
As they look down the hole the light is behind them referring to heaven and it is dark below them referring to hell. The TV is also shown a lot in this part of the scene to symbolise why she is in this situation, it is also the object that makes her fall to reinforce the negativity that has come from her watching the video, this is why she dies, the TV is positioned to look like it has dominance over her, with the low shots of it.
Sir Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock (13th August 1899 - 29th April 1980) was a British producer and director who ventured into many techniques in the psychological thriller genre. He first produced silent films and early talkies (films with sound) in England, he then moved to Hollywood where his career flourished for more than half a century.
He created for himself a distinctive directorial style, camera shots that moved in a way to make the audience feel as if they were viewing the scene from another pair of eyes, he forced the audience to engage in a form of voyeurism. This way of directing made his films create lots of anxious, fearful and emotional links with the audience. His plots commonly included fugitives on the run from the law with many thrilling twists including violence, murder and crime. Many of the characters also had extremely complex psychological problems.
His first thriller was 'A Lodger: A story of the London fog' it was made in 1926 and was a silent black and white film. It was a major success in Britain and was regarded as one of the first pieces where he used his own themes, including the wrong man being accused. In the 1940s he started to range his directing from romantic comedies such as 'Mr and Mrs Smith' (1941) to dramas such as "The Paradine Case' (1947).'Suspicion' was made in 1941 and was the first film Hitchcock directed and produced.
In his peek he created 'Psycho' (1960) and 'The Birds' (1963) which are recognised as arguably his best movies. "Psycho' is most certainly his most well known film, with the famous unpredicted violence scene in the shower and the early murder of the heroine. His techniques in this film were copied by many other horror films.
He is widely regarded as one of cinema's most significant artists and one of the greatest British filmmakers, where in his lifetime he directed more than fifty feature films.
Psycho analysis
As a class we watched Psycho and analysed all aspects of the film (mise en scene, camera angles, editing, sound). My main essay is in my blue protfolio
Scream analysis
 To add to my research I analysed another horror opening. The first Scream movie was created in 1996; it was directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson. The opening starts with the title 'Scream' falling to the middle of the frame, the non -diegetic music sounds like the slice of a knife and screaming, which links to the title. The diegetic sound of the phone ringing and the writing turning red to represent blood foreshadows what is going to come, the murderer talks to his victims on the phone before he kills them, as the writing turns red the sound of a heartbeat plays to represent the end of her life and that time is running out, it represents a countdown.
There is then an establishing shot of the garden and the view of the house from the outside. The swing is the main focus in this frame and the diegetic sound here is of the swing moving, to show that someone has been there, watching the house, the camera shots also make the viewer feel as though they are watching her too, making the scenes uncomfortable which is part of the codes and conventions of horror.
As the murderer phones back again they start to talk about scary movies, 'what's your favourite scary movie?' which links to the film as the murderers copy how to kill someone from scary films. As she then picks her favourite scary film, there is a mid shot of her pulling a knife out of the knife block again showing the audience what is going to come and representing the danger she is putting herself into, ironically as she laughs holding the knife, later that is her only prop she uses to defend herself. Then as the voice says 'i want to know who I'm looking at' there is a close up of the worried girl and the minor non diegetic music reappears to set the mood, there is also the sound of a dog barking to represent danger and the audience are aware that this person on the phone is dangerous. The popcorn also symbolises the anger of the murderer, they are ready to explode.
The non-diegetic music keeps building and gets faster as the murderer gets more frustrated and the girl get more upset. The shots get quicker to increase the tension and there are more close ups of the girls face. Each door she locks is another barrier stopping her escaping from the murderer, the extreme close up of her eyes against the front door enhances this, it looks like bars of a prison cell.
As she carries on with the conversation the camera moves from a long shot and zooms in to a close up to increase the suspense and build the tension. The camera moves to high shots around the girl to make her look vulnerable and low shots when they are from her perceptive to make the murder seem intimidating even though he isn't seen, the door looks a lot bigger from her point of view then it does in real life. The lighting now stays very dark to help create the hostile atmosphere; the lamps create many shadows to add to the mystery of the murderer.
As the murderer tell Casey her boyfriends name the camera again zooms in on her face and the non-diegetic music plays a note on the drum to contrast with the high pitched strings that were playing previously. The music gets slower here to build the tension as she turns the lights on, the glass creates a barrier so she can't escape but it is also represents the murderer, he can see her through the glass and intimidate her, the light creates lots of shadows.
The music gets louder when she sees her boyfriend tied to the chair and there are mid shots of her to show her upset. The boy is positioned to the left of the screen to show how weak he is compared to the murderer. This also allows garden furniture to be part of the frame to show the audience that this was a normal family garden, it makes it scarier as it seems realistic, it could happen to anybody. The boy is in teenage clothing to show he is still only a teenager which makes him look vulnerable.
She then is curled up on the floor to show how scared and weak she is, she sits next to a TV that has lost signal to show that she doesn't even have the sound of the television as comfort, she is completely alone. The music speeds up again to show her state of mind, as she gets a question correct the music stops for a moment and then reappears to create the horror atmosphere. The camera slowly zooms in to a close up again to show her fear. As she gets the answer wrong the music gets very loud and the diegetic sound of the boy screaming shows the pain and fear in this scene.
Throughout this scene the girl is dressed in natural colours to contrast with the black and white scream mask and making the girl seem very innocent which only makes her death worse for the audience and you sympathise more with her parents.
The Nightmare on Elm street analysis
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DVD cover analysis
without the music in films the effect of scary scene would not come across in the same, as an audience member you may not notice the music but without it the film would not create the same impact especially for horror films. Therefore when we create our film the music we use needs to be thought about carefully to create the correct atmosphere for the audience.
Analysis of music in the 'redrum' scene in The Shining:
Research into production companies
I found the top 10 horror films of all time (http://www.timeout.com/london/feature/2482/100-best-horror-films-the-full-list#the-omen-1976) and looked at the production companies and what made them succesful, this is what i found:
1. The Exorcist (1973) Warner Bros
Budget - $12 million Box office $441,071,011
2. The Shining (1980) Warner Bros
Budget -$19 million Box Office $ 44,017,374
3. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) Bryanston Pictures
Budget $300,000 Box office $30,859,000
4. Psycho (1960) Paramount Pictures
Budget $806,947 Box Office $50,000,000
5. Alien (1979) 20th Century Fox
Budget $11 million Box Office $104,931,801
6. The Thing (1982) Universal Pictures
Budget $15 million Box office$19,629,760
7. Rosemary’s Baby (1968) Paramount Pictures
Budget $3.2 million Box office $33,395,426
8. Halloween (1978) Compass international pictures
Budget $325,000 Box office$70,000,000
9. Suspiria (1976) Seda Spettacoli
Box office €1,430,000,000
10. Dawn of the dead (1978) United film distribution company
Budget $500,000 Box office $55,000,000
The majority of popular films are ones set out to be reliastic such as The Shining, where the main character is taken over by another 'being' I believe this is because it is then more relatable to the audience and creates a more fearful film when it seem more belivable and something that could happen to them. If we were to use a company already published for our film i would choose a production company that is succesful with horror films such as Paramount pictures, not only are they a reputable company they are also linked to a number of reputable actors and directers, such as Hitchcock and 'Psycho', on 'Main Task' page you will find the work i have done for our production company for our film.
