Tuesday 11 May 2010
Sunday 25 April 2010
Analsis
The shining.
Titling:
The titling of this film isn’t conventional with other horror films. The titles are shown in a bold turquoise font over the film which is used to attract the audience’s attention. It slides onto the screen and then slides back off. The scene gets set first before after a minute then the titles appear starting with “A Stanley Kubrick Film”, then goes onto the cast, this names are shown first because they are some significant and superior than the other actors for example well known. Which then follows on by the Titles “The shining”, and then followed by other cast members not as well known. Other titles come in play after this for example the producer company, screen play etc. The reason the actors and directors names appear at the start of the film is due to they are well known so the audience would want to know what Hollywood actors are present, For example Jack Nicholson.
The camera movement is used to show the audience the surroundings but also set the atmosphere and give the audience a feeling on what the genre of the film is going to be about. The main shot of the opening is a tracking shot which gets introduced at about 20seconds which is following a car. The use of a tracking shot is to emphasis that someone or something is following but also it could be that it’s taking the audience of a journey as they are moving along as the tracking shot goes along. Eventually the camera slowly starts to zoom in towards the car, which then suddenly changes to then show the audience the remote surroundings by using a crane shot. This is to make the audience know the surroundings but also wonder where the car is traveling to, but also the audience are in a position where they don’t know where the area is and is taken away from reality into this remote strange area. The camera carry’s on tracking the car and then goes into a panning shot which shows the audience an old building in the distance; this lets the audience become familiar with the setting of the film.
Framing of Shots:
Extreme long shots, long shots and a close up are used in this opening. The extreme long shot is used more frequently to shows the audience the surroundings but by using the extreme long shots give the impression on the audience that they are far from help. The use of long shots is so the audience can establish that they are in this remote location and therefore identify there is something wrong about being in this area. The close up is to show the audience the car and give them the opportunity to figure out why there’s no other cars here and what sit doing here.
Camera Angles:
It starts at an eye level shot, which then goes into a high angle with various different camera movements at the same time. The high angle shot is used so the audience gets to familiarize with the surroundings and identify the remote area and the car. The eye level panning shot is tracking the car which puts the audience in the position that someone or something is following the car of a higher power. The camera then suddenly stops following the car and pans the surrounding so the audience can see the area which the car is in and why it’s remote and no other cars. The high shot is used once again to follow the car at a higher powered range so we the audience can see the car clearly and identify it are the only person or people in this area.
Selection of mise-en-scène:
The lighting is bright due to it’s the daytime therefore it starts of as a equilibrium. There’s no characters present in the opening, just one car where the audience can’t see whose inside or what’s following the car. There’s also a very old building which is shown at the end as if it’s the destination of the car, and if not why is it significant to show. The opening is set in a remote mysterious area the audience know this because there’s no other cars apart from the one getting followed and the audience can see only mountains which are surrounding the roads and water and lots or grassy areas. Towards the end of the 2minites the scenery changed to snow, makes the audience feel they have followed the car for a very long distance that the climate has changed, so the people in the car have because vulnerable due to the weather but also far from help because there in the middle of nowhere, but also thought-out this long distance journey the audience have not seen no other cars or people. So give the impressions danger is close.
Editing Directions:
Jump shots are used between each shot so show the audience the surroundings but also the lonely car. When one shot starts the other shot dissolves into another shot at a slow tempo so shows the audience nothing sudden is going to happen it’s all got a nice flow. Because there is a lack of editing it could make the audience to feel like they are on the journey with the care or even whatever is following the car into this remote location so therefore not much editing is needed otherwise it would feel unreal for the audience to follow the car.
Sound Techniques:
Only Non diegetic sound is in this opening which is the background music, which is used all the way thought the opening to build up the tension and create a atmosphere. Threes no diegetic sound because the audience cannot see anything present in the remote area.
Actor’s positioning and movement:
In this particular opening there are no actors present that the audience see, there could be characters in the car but the audience do not get to see these characters which makes them feel on edge on who is driving the car.
Analysis Questions-
Who is the victim and who is the villain?
The high angle give the impression that whatever is following the car is in power so therefore the villain, where as the contrast that whoever or whatever is in the car is the victim because they are not in power and from the audience position feels like the car does not its getting followed.
Where is the story set? What does this tell you about the genre of the film?
The audience get shown the remote area of grass, mountains and water and roads which one car is driving on. The car is traveling on this continuous road, as its in the middle of nowhere the audience could believe it’s a conjunction of a horror film because it’s far from help, so is in a vulnerable position.
How many principal characters?
there are no characters present in the opening of ‘The Shining’.
How is the story told? Chronologically? Or does it switch between present and past? What is the effect?
the story is told in a chronological order, the only camera movement is following the car and showing the surrounding areas. It doesn’t switch scene, or from the past or future the opening scene.
What question are you left with?
The audience may want to know: Why is the car there? Where’s it traveling to?
Valentine
Titling:
At the start of the opening credits the audience see various logos for example the “Warner bros. Pictures” which is then followed by the ‘Village Roadshow Pictures’ logo. Then the film starts whilst overlapping the Warner bros pictures presents appears, after this the title ‘In association with Village Roadshow Pictures and NPV Entertainment’ are shown. ‘A Dylan Sellers Production’ follows after. After this there is a short period where the audience is shown part of the film, however more titles appear across the scene whilst the film is being shown. The titles include, actors names which are shown in sets of two or three, with 5 second periods between each in order to show the audience more clips of the actual film, All of the titles are in a frequent way and nothing is unexpected so everything is flowing. All of these titles are shown over the image instead of a black background, in a plain white bold font, this has common conjunctions with over horror movies because most titles are shown on a black background with white writing main example of this is the “Sixth sense”. Yet again there is another long period in which we are shown a part of the film, this time for about 30 seconds. The final title which appears is the name of the film. ‘Valentine’ appears in red bold which signifies death or some sort or anger, writing which, and then turned into a bright white light, behind a black background. The red writing that turns into white writing could mean the red is anger and the white is the innocence of the victim. Yet again the reason for showing the actors names at the start of the film could be because of the number of known actors. For example, Denise Richards.
Camera Movement:
The opening sequence starts of with a zoom out to show the audience the writing and scribbling on the book. This shows the audience first hand in on the story and makes them feel they are a part of the film. There’s also a picture of a young girl, which then follows onto the camera slowly panning, thought a various amount of images. Panning is used to show the audience an insight of the film by this there’s showing the audience by showing them the book and images of the females. Panning is also used in a scene when where’s a group of young people dancing, this is to show the audience what the scenery is like and give them an insight of what the genre is of the film and whether it follows common conventions with other horror films, for example the costume of the characters. There’s also a use of camera tilts. For example there’s a group of boys looking down at a young girl and boy kissing. The idea of looking down on someone gives an example of villain and victim but also who has power and who doesn’t. The people looking down have more power than the people who are getting looked down on.
Framing of Shots:
The use of close up is to let the audience get personal with the characters or the film. At the start of the opening sequence there is a close up of a book, so therefore it helps the audience get personal and familiar with the book. There’s also a lot of mid shots of people talking thought-out the opening sequence but also close ups of each characters face. This is so the audience can identify the characters but also see their reactions. There’s a main long shot of a boy walking, this is to set the scene and setting. There’s also a close up of a young boy and girl holding hands. All these framing of shots are used so the audience get familiar or identify the scene but also the characters.
Camera Angles:
The use of over-the-shoulder shot is to show the audience each girls reaction to the boy. A low angle is used to show a group of boys looking down at the girl and boy; this shows the audience who’s has power. This is backed up by the high angle to show the young boy and girl looking up towards the group of boys. So here the audience knows the young girl and boy have no power as they are looking up to the villains. The low and high angles shows which characters are soupier and inferior.
Selection of mise-en-scène:
Props are used in the opening scene to become familiar with the surroundings for example the use of balloons and the costumes of the characters make the audience familiar that’s its a American style party. It starts with some sort of dairy being shown with writing and photos of young girls inside, this shows the audience inside view on the story line. Some young girls have red writing near their names or circles around them, this emphases the red is caused danger so could mean the females are in danger, by pin pointing them out. The use of costumes shows the audience it’s a formal event. The audience will only be able to identify one main boy character but 5 main girls; even though many characters are in the background only these characters will stand out to the audience.
Editing Directions:
Jump cuts are used to shock audiences by the infrequence and unexpected skip. This happens the there’s a quick jump from the titles to the party scene, or an extract from the scene. Various cutting rates are used these are all to use the effect that something unexpected is going to happen but also to quicken the cutting rhythm.
Sound Techniques:
It starts of with a non diegetic slow music in the background which follows thought-out the opening. Another type of non diegetic sound is of the heart beat of the female when the male approaches her. The audience also hears various laughing and screaming in the background. The main non diegetic sound is of when the group of males pours something on the main boy and the audience hears the splash. There’s also a lot of dialogue throughout the opening, with the main voices of the boy and girls talking.
Analysis Questions-
· Who is the victim and who is the villain?
Within the opening the audience gets the impression that the group of males are the villains and the young male is the victim. The reaction he receives from other people seems like his some sort of outcast, with the group of boys bullying him. The audience sees someone with a mask in the background watching the main character. The audience believes the young boy to be the victim. But also the in the mask who we see in the background at various points in the opening looks extremely suspicious as they are observing the main characters every move.
Where is the story set? What does this tell you about the genre of the film?
Set in a party/ school disco, Young children dressed in formal wear. These aren’t common conventions of a horror film, as the audience relates horror films to scary and dark films where as this film is well lighted and dressed formal
How many principal characters?
There are 5 main characters in this opening, 4 females and 1 male. The boy approaches the females. There are other characters for example the group of boys and the surrounding boys and girls in the party.
How is the story told? Chronologically? Or does it switch between present and past? What is the effect?
The story is told in a chronological order, as the events follow each other in a clear order. The effect of this is that the audience can follow the story as if they was at the party scene as there’s a lack of editing techniques.
What happened to the boy? Who was in the mask and why?
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE
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Titling:
The titling appears small in a white colour font. They frequently appear every 3 seconds thought the opening. The titles appear on a black background so again this is a common convention as most of the films I have analyzed it starts of as an equilibrium. With a basic white on black effect. The titles are as followed: ‘New Line Cinema Presents’. The next title that follows is ‘In Association with Michael Bay’, followed by ‘A Platinum Dunes/ Next Entertainment Production’. The next one is ‘A Vortex/Henkel/Hooper Production’, this doesn’t follow conventions because in the other horror film is analyzed the title comes at the end of the sequence rather than in the middle. Which is ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Begin, which is in a bold font to stand out from the other titles and is slightly larger. After this the actors are listed which then is followed by the ‘Casting By...’, ‘Co-producers…’, ‘Music By…’, ‘Costume Designer…’, ‘Production Designer…’, ‘Director of Photography…’, ‘Executive Producer…’, ‘Produced By…’, ‘Screenplay…’, and finally ‘Directed By…’.
Camera Movement:
Starts with a panning shot though pictures and also a name on a board. The use of a panning show is so the audience to concentrate on each picture as it tells the audience something about the story of the film. The use of the camera being tilted upwards is to show various picture is to show the audience an old building. Loads of images get zoomed into this is so the audience can focus and note that it’s important and become familiar with it. The camera also zooms into the newspaper headline.
Framing of Shot:
Close ups, long shots and extreme long shots are used in the opening sequence. The close up is used more often for example, the audience see a close up of old photographs, a bloody face is also shown. There’s also a close up of a sharp knife with blood dripping. This follows conventions of a horror film because the blood makes the audience feel like the feels violent so therefore can identify the genre of the film being a horror. The more significant close up is of the bandaged face and dirty looking hand but also someone’s eyes. Whilst this is happening the audience also sees pictures being burnt. The long shot is used in the opening scene which one of them is a long shot view of a wind generator in the middle of a remote field but also an extreme long shot of an old lonely house. This allows the audience to identify that this is a horror film but also become familiar with the remote setting.
Camera Angles:
The use of high angles and low angles are to signify who has power and who doesn’t. In this opening the high angle is used to look down on items such as, the photographs, dead animals and when the young boy is looking into a mirror. The low angle is used when the audience are looking up to something in this case the low angle is used to the audience looking up at the young boy, give the audience the impression that he is holding power over the dead dog, which is shown in a high angle shot. This give the audience the impression that the young boy has something to-do with the dead dog.
Selection of mise-en-scène:
The opening is dark and follows horror film conventions by using fire and smoke but the audience sees a young boy in the opening which doesn’t follow conventions. The audience only see other characters heads, eyes and hands, which is located in a workshop, where the audience see various tools and props that could be used violently for example, bloody knifes and body parts. The setting of the opening is in a remote area, the only building the audience see is a lonely derelict house, other than that its only fields that haven’t been maintains so therefore the audience know no one’s been there to maintain it
Sound Techniques:
Non digetic sound of an animal in the background which get louder and louder as if it’s getting closer. The music gets introduced shortly after to create a tension but also build the atmosphere. On top of the music is an sharp ticking noise and a loud bang, all this sound is all regular so there’s no signs that anything is unexpected. There’s also a lot of degetic sound for example a lot of screaming and hissing in the distance. The music builds up a lot of tension and ends with a sudden silence so gets the audience thinking what has happened.
Analysis Questions-
Who is the victim and who is the villain?
The victim and the villain are hard to identify in the first 2 minutes of this particular film, due to not seeing enough characters. The audience only gets to see the young boy, a bandaged up face and pictures. The audience gets to see hands which are burning the picture. The only idea of who the villain is, is the young boy, this is because he is shown at a high angle which tells the audience he has power over the dead dog so therefore must be something to do with the killing of that dog.
Where is the story set? What does this tell you about the genre of the film?
Set in a remote location, open fields which are maintains so therefore this tells the audience not many people go there but also the audience see a wind generator. An old house is shown which is a common convention for horror films but doesn’t tell the story of why or what’s its purpose of being there is. The remote fields tell the audience it’s far from help so therefore the whoever goes there is venerable.
· How many principal characters?
The only characters we are shown are the face of the victim, and a young boy.
How is the story told? Chronologically? Or does it switch between present and past? What is the effect?
The story switches from different places, it’s all at the same location at what the audience to believe the same time but didn’t places for example, the audience see a victim being masked up, then are shown the remote setting of the film. The audience also sees the young boy looking down on the dead dog. This effect makes the audience suspicious and left with questions. So it’s shown in a un-chronologically way
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What question are you left with?
Who is the victim? Why is the young boy there by himself? Who’s getting masked up?
Monday 22 March 2010
BBfc Classification
The BBFC is a non-governmental organization, funded by the film industry that classifys films within the United Kingdom. The BBFC allocates these films, videos, DVD's and video with a certificate age that allows audiences to determine whether they are suitable for viewing.
The certificate ages allocated to UK films range from suitable for all ages, to strictly for adults and those aged 18 or over based on their content.
U(Universal)
A film that is classified as a 'U' is suitable for audiences aged 4 and over. Films under this certificate are set within a positive moral framework, meaning that there is no distressing images of violence, threat or horror that may upset the child audience.
PG(Parental Guidance)
PG rated films are understood to be suitable for most, however, the film may contain some scenes that are unsuitable for young children and parents are advised to take this into careful consideration. PG films are suitable for most children aged 8 and over, include only mild bad language, discreet nudity and sexual references, no prolonged horror references and no reference to drug use.
Exactly the same criteria is used for a ‘12A’ film and a ‘12’ film. These films are only to be viewed by someone over the age of 12 (unless accompanied by an adult) as it contains a lot of unsuitable material for children under this particular age. An adult may take a child under the age of 12, if they believe the film to be suitable. The ‘12A’ category exists only for cinemas. No one under the age of 12 may rent or buy a ‘12’ rated video work.
Films that are rated 15 are suitable for those aged 15 and over, no younger. No-one younger than 15 can view or rent a 15 film. Films given this rating may deal with ideas and topics that are not suitable for younger audiences, such as the use of strong language, mild sexual activity and nudity, no clear use of drugs and violence or horror is mild, focusing on the infliction of pain is unaccepted.
Films rated 18 are suitable for adults and those over the age of 18 only, no-one under the age of 18 can watch or rent a film with this rating. There are no constraints on language, horror or nudity, although the board can cut or reject any detailed dangerous or violent acts, explicit images of sexual activity and illegal use of drugs without justification.
Classification and target audience for our film
After conducting this research on film classification, our group had to consider what certificate would be best for our film, in order to keep to the acceptable contents of the allocated certificate ages. After much thought we decided to rate our film an ‘15’, due to the fact that we believe the topics in our particular film unsuitable for anyone below this age. In our film, there is some use of strong language, in our film there will also be the use of mild sexual activity, and the use of violence. Also as it is a physiological horror, we believed that a certificate of anything under the age of ‘15’ would be inappropriate. Even though many of these things, including strong language, mild sexual nudity and the use of violence may not necessarily be used much in the first opening 2 minutes of our film, the storyline, which is based on the life of a violent and mentally deranged stalker. This could therefore distress younger viewers, and may encourage negative behaviour and attitudes, therefore is better suited for a more mature age of 15.
Target audience of our film:
Our film will be targeted to young adults (16-30 year olds), as we believe that this group of people will be able to identify themselves with some of the characters shown in the film and the storyline topic (stalking). Research shows that one in five women and one in ten men aged 16-30, become the victim of stalkers, at least for a short while in their lifetime. Other issues that are highlighted in our film, such as teenage love, jealousy amongst friends, and aspirations will also attract this younger audience.
Sunday 21 March 2010
Distribution Company
All Above production companys where the disribution companys of the 6 films i analysed.
For all these companys to disribute Horror films, therefore its relevant for our group to use one of them.
New Line Cinema, often simply known as New Line, was founded in 1967, and is one of the major American film studios. At first it was an independent film studio, however, it became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996, and was merged with the larger studio Warner Bros. in 2008. New Line was responsible for cult classics such as 'Dark City', 'The Mask', 'Pleasantville', 'Nightmare on Elm Street' and many others. Therefore using New Line Cinema as our film distribution company would work well as it is known for making a lot of horror and slasher films. 'The Butterfly Effect', which was distributed by New Line Cinema focuses on similar themes of out film which is teenage love obsession. We therefore believe that we should use New Line Cinema for our film opening.
Thursday 18 March 2010
Equipment Needed
First Shooting - Filming in the Basement
Video Camera(Tape) - Get out By The 19th/3/10
Spot Light
Tripod
Second Shooting - Party Scene- Renew Or Take out On 22/3/10
Video Camera(Tape)
Spot Light
Tripod
Third Shooting-Bathroom Scene - to be confirmed
Video Camera(Tape)
Spot Light
Tripod
Sunday 7 March 2010
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