Solo trailer review - Tucker and Dale vs. evil (2011)

Tucker and Dale vs. evil, 2011, is a red band Canadian comedy horror directed by Eli Craig. 

What happened in the trailer? 
In the 2 and a half minute trailer, a montage of rhythmic short clips illustrates the hilarious unfortunate events that Tucker and Dale get themselves into when doing up their holiday home on vacation. The opening sequence to the trailer is an aerial shot of a group of friends driving to their destination; a typical convention in horror films.


To begin the trailer, the characters are established through point of view shots and close ups, representing each character as a stereotypical person. These stereotypes include; the sexualised, blonde female victim, the male hero, the final girl and the two psycho killers.

When the final girl stereotype is seen undressing to go skinny dipping, the two unfortunate characters seen as the psycho killers are coincidentally in a boat near by, portrayed as deviant men, spying on her. Seeing her fall into the water and knocking herself unconscious, the men save her from drowning but are only seen as kidnapping her from the eyes of her friends.

For the duration of the trailer, the events that occur are jaw dropping for the audience by the classic stereotypical horror conventions being played with and turned into a laughing stock by the overly anxious college kids that make the two softest characters appear like serial killers.

Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well? 
When focusing on the most inspiring features within the trailer that I feel I would like to include in my own would be; the blunt, dry humour, the music, the great use of cinematography, the awkward silences and the text font. 

If I were to create a comedy horror, I feel as if I would follow the dry humour techniques such as the awkward silences to give the audience time to reflect on the action on screen whilst still including humour. At the beginning of the trailer, the music playing is similar to those in conventional horror trailers, creating an uncomfortable atmosphere. As the trailer goes on and Tucker and Dale's misfortunes begin, the music either stops or alters to contrapuntal music. Alternating the music meant that the trailer adjusted to the action on screen and worked well to evoke the appropriate emotions. 

 The font used at the end of the trailer to inform the audience with more information is a bold sans serif font written in red. Using this battered effect font connotes the horror genre whilst additionally using a colour such as red to connote danger, evil and death which are all themes of the film. 

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing? 
When focusing on the negative aspects within the trailer and features that I would choose not to include in my own, these include; the repetition of fade to blacks, the shortage of breaks for text and the fact that a lot of the best bits from the film have already been shown. 

The editing technique of fade to black is a popular transition in this trailer and due to being used a lot, I felt it slowed down the action. Due to this, I feel that in my trailer, I will take this into consideration and be diverse with the editing techniques and include multiple different effects. 

Having no breaks during the trailer for text means that more footage from the film has to be shown. Showing all of the funny scenes  from the film means that when watching the film, lots of the more funny scenes have already been seen and will be less funny when watching. If I were to do this in my trailer, I will make sure that I keep a lot of the best scenes until the film and not give everything away. 

Personal rating? Why did i give that mark?
Personally, I would rate this trailer a 9/10 due to the intelligence that has gone into the cinematography, the editing, the music, the awkward silences and the general narrative of the trailer. 

Solo trailer review - The Collection (2012)

The Collection, 2012, is a green band action thriller/ horror directed by the American screenplay writer and director “Marcus Dunstan”.



What happened in the trailer?
In the 2 minute 15 trailer, an action pact narrative is explored through short clips, telling the story through a linear plot of a hotel that has been used as a place to hold hundreds of people hostage. Similar to the Saw trilogy, a masked figure kidnaps these people and attempts to torture them. Beginning the trailer with a group of people walking down into a dark alleyway to what they think is a night club; a similar frightening looking male opens the steel door with a controlled button. A quick paced montage shows the hundreds of people filling the night club in the strobe lights, exaggerating the pace and rhythm of the music. The assumed protagonist is seen walking into a thin low wire that triggers a machine to shut all doors and lock every person inside. Another quick paced montage illustrates the sharp spikes and blades as addition to the masked figure walking into shot.

To slow down the fast paced action and to give the audience a chance to evaluate what has gone on in the previous shot, a news headline is shown on a crackling TV as addition to showing the audience close friends and relatives of some of the individuals been kidnapped talking about how much they’re missed.

During slow montages of the people being tortured inside the hotel, small bits of text appears stating “only one survivor”, “only one chance”, “to escape pure evil”. At the end of the trailer, second long flickers of light appear on screen showing a male walking into a room. As each flicker appears on screen, the tension builds up until the masked serial killer walks into shot as a jump scare.

Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well?
As a starting point, I feel that the masked serial killer was effective and due to not being able to see the killer, the audience are unfamiliar as to what he looks like, meaning that this is left for their imaginations. 

Only seeing the killer a few times meant that when we did, it was more frightening and tense. I feel that in my trailer, I will be including a masked killer and will additionally only show the killer vaguely to let the audience of my trailer use their imaginations. At the end of the trailer, text appeared stating “The new face of American horror”. I feel that this statement is strong in the sense of representing a face that is said to be remembered by the audience.

The second aspect of the trailer I found clever was the use of the Kuleshov effect. At the beginning of the video, as mentioned, the group of people stand in front of a steel door, waiting for it to open. Behind them, a male pushes a button on a control and the camera cuts back to the door opening. Small aspects of this effect made the cinematography more interesting and more atmospheric due to not seeing every single action. I will be including this effect into my own trailer as addition to restricted narration that I also found added tension.

Towards the end of the trailer, the rhythm of the action was parallel to a heartbeat pumping. Doing this made the suspense build up and for the audience to acknowledge that something was about to happen to destroy the slow paced rhythm. As proved, at the end of the trailer, a small jump scare happens when flickers of light match the heart beat rhythm. I will be including a jump scare at the end of my trailer in a similar way and due to this rhythm, have had ideas about including a sound track similar to this. 

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?
When focusing on aspects of the trailer that I felt were disappointing, I felt these were; the jump scare at the end, the jump scare half way through and the constant fade to blacks.

Both jump scares in the trailer were unsuccessful in the sense of personally making me jump. By making the jump scares quiet and slow paced, I was prepared for the scare and could then prepare myself. If I were to add jump scares into my trailer, I will make sure that the audience will not see it coming.

The fade to black effect is great itself, however I felt that it was over used and made the transitions appear slightly dull and uninteresting. If the effect was used less and others were also used, I feel that it would have been more effective and so feel I will attempt to do this in my trailer. 

Personal rating? Why did i give that mark?
As an overall rating, I would personally give the trailer an 8 out of 10 due to being action pact, visually eye catching, having a fantastic use of cinematography, using great montages and for the great rhythm. I haven’t given the trailer full marks due to the jump scares not being frightening enough and the repetition of the fade to black editing. 

Solo trailer review - The Grudge 2004

The Grudge, 2004, is a green band psychological horror and thriller directed by Takashi Shimizu.

What happened in the trailer?
During this short one and a half trailer, a montage of mundane, ordinary and everyday tasks are being illustrated at the beginning, portraying the equilibrium that the film once had. Between clips, black text appears, overlaying the effect of long black hair swiping across the screen, representing the motif of the antagonist character; the “Grudge”. Collision cutting separates the equilibrium from the disruption, allowing the audience to see the action beginning. Going from slow paced montages to quick also makes the audience feel alarmed and due to the second long shots of the grudge, makes their hearts race faster. A voice over of the protagonist character begins over montages of her walking around a house stating “The whole time I was in that house..I felt something was wrong. What happened there?”  As the text adds more detail to the narrative for the audience, the trailer ends with “It never forgets” in parallel with the action occurring; tormenting the female protagonist whilst living in that home.

Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well?
The aspects within the trailer that I personally liked and felt I could include in my trailer were; the motif of the hair trail, the collision cutting, the quick montages and the voiceovers. Using the motif of the hair enables the audience to recognise the film just by this object. Seeing this object will then signify the film and be stuck in the mind of the audience. By adding this to the background of the text meant that the text becomes more visually eye catching and appealing whilst additionally adding subtle hints of horror.

The second aspect, collision cutting, was a feature that I felt highlighted the psychological sub-genre. By including this feature, the action changes from slow to fast which illustrates the action within the trailer going from normal to chaotic. Doing this makes the audiences hearts race and can make them jump or feel on edge. By doing this, I feel as if it would be a great way to scare the audience by sudden alterations such as music going from quiet to loud.

The quick montages were another way that I felt the trailer took the interest of the audience. Fitting more scenes into the trailer at a fast pace meant that the audience will not get tiresome of the action on screen and they will also get more information about the narrative. I will be putting quick montages into my own trailer during montages to gain the interest of the audience and to feed them with adrenalin.

The last aspect that I thought was inspiring for my own trailer was the voice over. This is a feature that also helps to contribute to the amount of information being given to the audience. Playing over the action being seen helps to describe what is going on as addition to watching more scenes.

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?
Aspects of the trailer that I felt were disappointing and would be discarded when focusing on my trailer were; the music, the length of the trailer and the flash effect that occurs through the quick montages.

When focusing on the music, I feel that it wasn’t dramatic enough to create a fearful atmosphere. Keeping at the same rhythm meant that not all of the action was parallel to the music.

Having the trailer only one and a half minutes in length meant that the audience didn’t get enough scenes, action, jump scares or information based on the narrative to really understand in depth whether this film is for them.

Although the quick montages were a positive aspect of the trailer, I felt that the flashes in between clips gave a nauseating, clichéd effect that made it difficult to follow and take in what was happening in the clips.

Personal rating? Why did i give that mark?
As an overall rating of this trailer, I would give it a 5/10 due to the fact that the trailer was too short, didn’t give me enough information to know if I want to watch it and because of the music that wasn’t rhythmic and dramatic enough. 

Class trailer review - Pusher Trilogy

The Pusher Trilogy, 1996 – 2005 is a green band crime thriller series directed by “Nicolas Winding Refn”.

 

What happened in the trailer?
In the one minute 25 second video, a fast paced montage full of clips shorter than one second illustrates the disorientating, claustrophobic hell that portrays drugs, sex, partying and violence. In between each fast paced montage, the conventional technique of having text inform the audience of information that they would not necessarily understand through just watching the action is embedded. This extra detail gives the audience more information to understand the narrative and makes it much clearer.

During the first few shots, restricted narration enables the audience to be introduced to different characters and scenes within the film whilst getting the idea of the narrative. With the text between shots, not only do the audience get a feel for the film but also get to hear what other people have said about it. “Simply brilliant…uncompromising…refuses to pull a single punch” – Matt McNally, BBC.  

Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well?
Despite giving the trailer a personal rating of 4, I managed to find aspects within it that I felt were interesting and cleverly done. The first aspect was the music. As each montage appears on screen, the music begins. This particular music is perfect for the fast action and sounds just like white noise. By adding this to the trailer, I feel that it relates to the action on screen as the drug enthused men stereotypically like loud music, partying and obvious drug use. The white noise is a typical noise that is said to be heard by an individual who has been heavily using drugs and makes the audience almost feel as uncomfortable as it would be to be in their situation.

The second aspect of the trailer I enjoyed was the collision cutting. Due to the sudden hit of music and the few second pause with the text, the music wasn’t gradual in increasing or decreasing. This added suspense between each shot and was a great way to give the audience time to evaluate the action that was just on screen. I will be using collision cutting within my trailer in a similar way.

The next feature was the fast paced action. Although heavy, I felt that it suited this particular sub- genre of horror well and was somewhat like an adrenalin rush.

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?
The first aspect within the trailer that I felt was disappointing was the narrative as a whole. I felt that it was unsuccessful in the sense of targeting a large audience. Using such basic, uninteresting, unemotional topics, I feel that not only does it interest a very niche audience, but also predominantly men.

The second aspect I disliked was the voice-over. This particular voice-over was uninteresting and didn’t pull me into the action. I felt that I didn’t relate to what was being said and it didn’t give me any kind of emotional response.

Lastly, I felt that the constant flashing on screen was too much. Doing this every minute meant that all of the information was not being transferred properly and meant that the audience would switch off and not understand the point of the film.

What was the average score in class? Why did it receive that mark?
During the class discussion, the film was given an average rating of six. I feel that this is due to the constant repetition of fast paced action, lifeless action and an unsatisfying narrative. 

Class trailer review - Evil Dead (2013)

Evil Dead, 2013, is a red band gory horror directed by “Fede Alvarez”.

 

What happened in the trailer?
In the two minute trailer, the audience are given only a small amount of information regarding the film through slow paced dialogue, cinematography and sound. Leading us through the trailer is the protagonist character informing her assumed partner or friend that there is “something in the woods” and “you have to get me out of here”. From the second shot, the audience establish a book that has been opened reading “leave this book alone” in scribbled red writing. Through both of these shots being put together, using the Kuleshov effect, the shots represent cause and effect, illustrating what this book has done to the five friends staying in the remote cabin hidden amongst the demons living in the nearby woods.

Like usual in horror trailers, the convention of having text in between shots enables the audience to establish more about the action being seen without giving too much information away and using all of the frightening scenes.

A montage of 2 second long clips appears with more action filled scenes of the protagonist running through the woods with detailed mise-en-scene, making her appear possessed and as if she has been in there for days or even weeks. Possessing all of the five young adults in the cabin within the woods, it appears there will only be one survivor.  

Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well?
The first aspect within the trailer that I thought was most effective was the collision cutting. Beginning with equilibrium by using the slow paced dialogue, when the montages begin using faced paced, second long shots, the pace and the music make the audience’s heart rates increase, influenced by the slow build up. The theory by Tzvetan Todorov links in with this narrative by beginning with equilibrium and then the equilibrium being disrupted. I feel that I can include this within my own trailer by including collision cutting that alters slow paced action to fast as addition to quiet music and sound effects to fast.

Linking in with the idea of the slow paced dialogue, I feel that this introduction was dramatic and atmospheric. Watching every movement that she made with her facial expression and metaphorically seeing every word that fell out of her mouth, the audience are in suspense as to what she is going to say next.

The sound within the trailer is rhythmic and powerful. Being in sync with the action on screen, the music increases and in opposition, decreases along with the narrative. The sound effects, for instance; the sound of knives sharpening, the sound of the bag ripping open to reveal the book and the sound of the tree twigs gliding through the woods and wrapping around the protagonists’ legs, are all dramatic and sharp, creating a realistic representation. For my trailer, I will be including rhythmic and atmospheric music. 

The last aspect within the trailer that I felt was most interesting was the body horror. Using such extreme uses of blood, sick and tearing of body parts meant that the target audience of gory horror fans are getting what they want and very effective and realistic approach to it.  Although my trailer will not be focused around gory horrors, I will include small sections of body horror to get as much of an audience as possible.

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?
Despite thinking the body horror was effective; there were specific scenes that I believe were inappropriate and taken too far. After the demonised character cuts her tongue in half, she begins to kiss another female character. By doing this, I felt as if the horror film was introducing the theme of “sex and the taboo” which was something I felt was not needed. By this, I felt as if the film was directed more for the male audience than the female and although it made me feel uncomfortable, I felt it was a negative aspect of the trailer. By this, I know that I will not include aspects of sex and the taboo into my own trailer and will attempt to get as much of an audience as I can.

What was the trailer’s average class in class? Why did it receive that mark?
The average rating from the class for this specific trailer was eight. Having given the trailer a seven myself, I feel that I have an unbiased approach towards the theory of why it was given this rating. Although the trailer included plenty of close-ups, tracking and panning shots, great cinematic elements, great mise-en-scene and editing; I feel that specific scenes were taken too far and the scenes themselves were far from realistic which somewhat takes away the fear from the trailer. 

Six panel practice story board

During class, in pairs we were asked to design a six panel story board using our own initiative and imagination. Whilst coming up with each shot, we had to imagine the visuals and come up with a description, shot type and shot length. 

After completing our story boards, they were marked and we were given feedback for future projects.

Prop list

Stereotypical fan

Name: Anastasia ‘Stasia’

Age: 23

Job: Library Worker/University Student

Likes: Reading, Poetry, Thrill-seeking Activities, Coffee Shops, Politics, Protests

Dislikes: Ignorant People, Celebrities,

Extra: Has a natural fashion sense and takes care of her appearance, but does not actively follow fashion. Actively takes part in protests against civil injustice and in marches for human rights. In a stable long-term relationship and is living with her partner with no children. Is currently studying for her master’s degree in history and works at her university library to support herself.

Demographic: C2; Skilled Worker

Psychographic: Reformer, she wants the world to change/ Mainstreamer 

Health and Safety risks

In our groups for our horror trailers, we came up with possible health and safety risks that need to be taken into consideration before filming. 

Class trailer review - "30 Days Of Night" (2007)

What happened in the trailer?
"30 days of night", 2007, is a green band action horror film directed by “David Slade”, situated in an Alaskan town. Within the two minute trailer, the audience are given little information about the film through fast paced, collision cuts and montages that entice the target audience through the dramatic, atmospheric text that appears in between shots. Beginning with seconds of equilibrium by having a couple sitting in their house, the attack of the bloodthirsty vampires begins immediately, disrupting the equilibrium. With descriptive text appearing in between every shot, the audience understand the narrative and through the immediate jump scare beginning 12 seconds into the trailer, the audience see the attack but are still not aware of what it is until a close up of a vampires face at 0.55. The trailer illustrates the narrative through a slow paced montage that subtly speeds up. As this occurs, the descriptive text colour changes to a red as oppose to the white it was beforehand, with an effect that appears as if blood is dripping from the letters. 

Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled?
Having given the trailer a personal rating of 9/10, there were many positive aspects to mention. At the beginning of the trailer, the immediate jump scare enticed me into the trailer and made me fixated to the screen. By having this scare so early on in the trailer makes anybody who isn’t paying complete attention suddenly become aware of what is going on and somewhat already pleases the horror film fanatic target audiences. This feature of the trailer will be an aspect that I would definitely be inclined to include in my own trailer as addition to other jump scares during the trailer and when the dramatic music finishes at the end, reminding the audience of the psychological sub-genre. 

The second aspect within the trailer that I thought was clever was the music. Having such a rhythmic soundtrack meant that the action within the montages could be played alongside the music, creating more of a dramatic atmosphere. As mentioned, the montage is a feature that is additionally intelligent by vice versa, intertwining this with the music. By adding the montage, the audience got to see a wide range of scenes within the film and due to the fast paced speed, couldn’t get bored during each scene shown.

Collision cutting is a typical convention of horror films, going from fast paced to slow and quiet to loud. By the jump scene at the beginning, awakening the mundane scene, the sudden crashing of the glass and screaming of the female character frightens the audience and makes our hearts race. Collision cutting is a technique that I hope to include within my trailer with the jump scares and dramatic music.

The last interesting aspect within the trailer that I would like to incorporate into my trailer is the text. The narrative of the film is explained through seconds of text appearing on screen between shots. Towards the end, the animated text alters to a different font and appearance and connotes danger, blood and violence through the colour red as addition to the dripping of blood from each word or letter. 

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful, and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?
Despite rating the trailer extremely high, there was one aspect that I would not include within my own trailer. This aspect is the constant use of shots fading to black. By doing this, I felt as if the action was slowed down a lot which resulted in the continuity not flowing as much.   

What was the trailer’s AVG. score in class? Why did it receive that mark?
During the class discussion, the average rating of the trailer was 7/10. I feel that this was the case due to people believing that the trailer didn’t scare them enough or drag them into the narrative. The constant fades to black began to get predictive and made any of the psychological scenes less frightening and convincing. 

Horror trailer mood board

For my groups horror trailer mood board, I have put together a collection of images that represents our initial intentions for our psychological horror using different screen shots from films already produced.

Basing our film on the idea of three girls living in a psychiatric hospital, I have included an image from the supernatural film "Grave encounters" that depicts the idea of a female who has been possessed. Linking this with our trailer, my group and I plan on creating the illusion that two psychiatric patients begin to see the ghost of a patient who previously lived in the hospital, resulting in them becoming insane and erratic.   

Due to the antagonist in our trailer previously being in the psychiatric hospital, we made  the character have evident characteristics and use a motif that will be remembered. For this, we came up with the idea of the patient designing a sack mask and wearing it in multiple shots to emphasise the characters psychotic persona. To illustrate the importance of this aspect within our trailer, I included shots from "The Orphanage", "Texas Chainsaw massacre" and "Friday the 13th". 

Seeing the antagonist before she dies means that in our trailer, we will be portraying her as psychologically unhealthy. During these clips, we plan to show her sketching out drawings of her fantasies of killing and the design of the mask. In our mood board, I found an image from "The Orphanage" from drawings that the young child drew whilst possessed. 

Having came up with the fact that the antagonist character commits suicide by hanging herself, I have found a clip from "Sinister" that represents a family that were hung on camera. 

All of the other clips that I found for the mood board illustrates the events that occur during the trailer when the other psychiatric patients begin to see the ghost of the other. These events will be made to be frightening for the spectator and will include jump scares and collision cutting from quiet music to loud music and slow action to fast. 

Choice of trailer type

Our group has decided to create a highlights trailer so that we would be able to show the plot line of our horror trailer. The plot is a key feature which is shown in psychological horror and is therefore important as we have chosen a hybridised genre of psychological and gore.

In our trailer we will use these horror conventions:

·      Creepy Location – We will be filming in college using specific rooms such as staff toilets and disabled toilets that have tiled walls for the psychiatric ward. Later on when editing, we will be making the location a lot darker than usual as addition to staying behind after college to use the empty corridors to flicker lights and create the isolated, lonely feeling that the psychiatric ward should have.  

·      Body Horror – Due to our hybridized genre there will be body horror including blood coming out of body parts and blood stains on walls.

·      Collision Cutting – We intend to have more than one jump scare as addition to making the clips go from quiet to loud and slow to fast. 

·      Point of View Shots – When a person is being haunted we will use point of view shots to show what the victim is seeing to emphasise how intimidating the action going on is and make the audience feel as if they're in the action. 

·      Lots of Close Ups – Close up's will be used to create a sense of claustrophobia and panic for the audience and characters within the trailer as addition to showing the characters emotions more clearly. 

·      Psycho – The psychiatric patients will all show how they're psycho's through their behaviours however the patient who haunts the other patients will be portrayed as more intimidating than the others. 

·      Flipping character representation – Due to all of the psychiatric patients being female, the psycho character will be female and the carer within the hospital will be male. By doing this, our trailer will show diversity to others. 

·      Fear of Death/Violence – The two psychiatric patients being haunted will feel threatened by the ghosts appearance and feel anxious, claustrophobic and feel fear towards the ghost harming them at all times. 

Loneliness Theme – The characters being haunted will feel isolated from the outside world due to being stuck in the ward and due to being paranoid, will stay in their rooms more than they would usually.

Class research: Favourite horror sub-genre pie chart

During a class discussion, we discovered which sub-genres each person preferred, dividing the answers into females and males. The most popular sub-genre ended up being psychological, having 9 females vote for this. For males, the most popular was gory horrors. Having discovered this, I feel that our group will take this into consideration and aim our film towards a wider target audience, focusing on psychological horrors but be hybrodised to include a small amount of gore. 

Practice poster design - Delirium

Having been put into groups for the production of our horror trailers, myself and the other two in my group designed a first draft of our horror film poster. Coming up with a basic narrative, we received both positive and negative feedback from the class during a discussion to then improve upon our idea. 

Favourite image analysis - The Orphanage (2007)

In The Orphanage, 2007, this shot was taken from my favourite scene. Having chosen this as my final image analysis, I feel that “J.A. Bayona” will really give me a chance to investigate the style of psychological horrors by using one of my favourite horror films.

Standing central to the frame, a young boy, representing the protagonist’s son, Simon (Roger Princep) mysteriously stares down the corridor, captured with a long shot, wearing the typical uniform worn by the orphans previously living in the home. From the knowledge of the audience, we already hear the story about the poor young boy who was severely handicapped and was brutally abused and killed. Having previously seen an old film with the young boy in it, we automatically associate this image with the dead boy. With a sack on his head and a face sewn into it, the young boy appears like a fast moving monster or psychotic killer but also includes an emotional attachment that the audience feel for him.

When focusing on cinematography, point of view shots show how Laura (Belen Rueda) has a fear of being trapped, being in the bathroom whilst Simon blocks the exit.  In terms of mise-en-scene, low key lighting enables the creepy location of the orphanage to evoke a sinister and gloomy atmosphere. Both the costume and the mask work well together to illustrate the connection between Simon and the handicapped child who died in the orphanage. By a handicapped child being portrayed as frightening, I feel that a Cultural Dominant Ideology of outsiders being strange is shown through the diegetic heavy breathing coming from the child connoting this fear of the different.

I feel that Andrew Bazin’s theory of “Genius of the System” is demonstrated throughout this scene by the narrative, formulas and visual style generating as much power as the auteur.  All of the horror conventions successful used lead to an arresting and memorable scene.

Psycho (1960) third image analysis

In this scene, the context of the film is illustrated dramatically through the idea of “Ed Gein”. Whilst the news of Ed Gein and his psychotic actions was circulating America, Psycho (1960) came out as a film and demonstrated the disturbing actions he did. This made the film personal to the audience and made the narrative even more frightening. Bearing this in mind, I feel that “Janet Staiger’s” theories of “audience studies” relates to this particular shot by virtue of having to fully understand the target audience at the time of the film being released.

In this scene, as the spectators establish that Norman is dressed up as his mother, his schizophrenic personality has been made aware and the idea of him being a transvestite made the audience in 1960 feel uncomfortable. The collision cut from both quiet to loud and slow action to fast pace connotes the personality of Norman and how his character is the serial killer.

The lighting used is extremely dramatic due to a light bulb swinging above the corpse’s head. As the light swings, the motivated lighting alters from low key lighting to high key lighting, covering half of the face and making it more atmospheric. As the shadows cast over the corpse’s face, the effect gives the impression that her eyes are moving from side to side, watching the action, alive.

Psycho (1960) second image analysis

In this scene within Psycho (1960), a quick montage of Marion being killed begins after the collision cut of music goes from quiet to loud and awakes the scene. Hitchcock’s montages were heavily influenced by Soviet Montage films in the 1920’s which utilised great editing technique.  This great cinematography and editing style portrays Hitchcock’s mastery of montage through the fast paced, close-up and extreme close up shots of both Marion and Norman and the knife. The knife used in this scene is a phallic symbol connoting Norman’s power over females and his sexual frustration being freed through his psychotic actions. The low angle also connotes Norman’s power and how he is superior to Marion’s character. By the point of view shots that are shown, the audience feel as if they are the killer and automatically feel more disturbed.

The mise-en-scene in this particular shot disguises who the murderer is through the contrasting, shadowed, motivated lighting that is filling the frame. The shower’s water adds an obscured effect to the shot as well as causing a claustrophobic scene where Marion is trapped in the shower with the fear of death. The parallel music in this scene helps to influence the fearful emotions being evoked.

When focusing on the context, being brutally murdered on screen with slight body horror and nudity were two factors from this scene that were shocking for audiences in the early 1960’s, just before the Hays Code began to lose its authority. 

Psycho (1960) first image analysis

This particular snap shot was taken from a scene in Psycho (1960). Peeking through a hole in his wall, the character “Norman Bates” (Anthony Perkins) is representing the “Male Gaze theory” by Laura Mulvey. Looking through this particular hole enabled Norman to watch the character “Marion Crane” (Janet Leigh) undressing. By this, the cinematography shows a point of view shot and the audience get to see through the eye of a pervert and desperate voyeur which automatically makes the spectators feel uncomfortable and as if they shouldn’t be watching. In spite of this, Norman carries on glaring through the small hole he created and the audience are able to distinguish that he gains a pleasure from watching somebody who can’t see him, connoting his psychotic nature. This scene illustrates the sex and taboo theme that is a typical convention of the horror genre.

The diegetic, low key lighting used in this scene is made to create a sinister, morbid effect with the use of chiaroscuro lighting and harsh shadows cast over his face, just leaving the small bit of light that enters through the hole. The close-up shot makes the spectator feel as if they’re within the action and enables more detail to be shown. Within the scene eerie parallel, non-diegetic music is playing along with the action, making the atmosphere more tense and serious. 

Dawn of the Dead (2004) third image analysis

In this last shot, Monica (Kim Poirier) is brutally – but accidentally - murdered by Glen (R.D Reid) by accident. As a quick montage illustrates the fast paced get away, the vehicle in which they’re standing in swerves whilst Glen handles a chainsaw.

Monica is the female victim, being stereotypically blonde, pretty, elegant and sexually active. The generic theme of sex and the taboo is incorporated into this scene due to Monica and Steve (Ty Burrell) having sexual intercourse shortly before her dying. This is a typical convention of horror films.

Although censorship has relaxed a lot more and horror films in general have adapted to modern audiences who almost expect body horror, the action is a lot quicker and is less drawn out (unlike the zombie attack in Dawn of the Dead (1978), making it easier for audiences to watch. Being an action horror, this genre focuses more on the quick montages, quick moving monsters, collision shots, themes of fear of death and much more on cinematography. Thomas Schatz’s genre theory explains how the best way to analyse films are through genre. Genres enable clear expectations to understand a film and help filmmakers to know what is required to appeal to their target audience. The fast montage in this scene makes the film conventional of its sub-genre and this was illustrated by the high financial success of the film in 2004. 

Dawn of the Dead (2004) second image analysis

Although Dawn of the Dead (2004) is not necessarily directed by an auteur, Zack Snyder has his own style in terms of creating a film. Zack Snyder’s films are known to have fast paced action with a dark feel. When focusing on the auteur theory by Andrew Sarris (“Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962”), this scene illustrates this immensely. The fast paced action of the quick montage and the close up shots of the large, unattractive quick moving monster enable detail to be analysed and the zombie to be portrayed as something revolting. As the final girl, Ana, attacks the zombie and kills her by a large pole, the use of a phallic symbol connotes themes of power and dominance. Ana is a blonde female who is classed as the final girl and hero. Although caring, Ana comes across as physically and mentally strong and due to being a nurse, she deals with body horror with stoicism. Body horror is a feature of mise-en-scene that is used profoundly during Dawn of the Dead (2004). Due to censorship being much more open, audience’s almost expect there to be disturbing, explicit body horror and  when focusing on Janet Staiger’s “Audience Studies”, auteurs relate to their target audience and produce films with all of the correct elements to make their audience happy.

When concentrating on creating a horror film that will affect its audience, Zack Snyder intertwines modern day fears into his film that relate to the audience. People tend to be scared of mass diseases such as swine flu and bird flu. By cause of this, the idea of zombies and a mass disease that spread from the Middle East, audiences relate this to the context of the Iraq War in 2003 and 9/11 in 2001.

Dawn of the Dead (2004) first image analysis

In Dawn of the Dead (2004), this shot was taken from a scene where two of the protagonists are discussing religion in the shopping mall toilets. The two male characters in this shot are positive black males which connotes the defeat of racism in the world.  Andre (Mekhi Phifer), previously to the action, was a street gangster who had a criminal background. In the hope of turning his life around, Andre’s character became a helpful, caring male who cared for his family and unborn child. Being with a Russian female, the couple were in an interracial relationship. By this, the horror genre is challenging racism and discrimination by illustrating the contextual differences in comparison to Dawn of the Dead (1979). Kenneth’s character (Ving Rhames) is a police cop who is physically intimidating. While being a masculine, imposing, large black male, Kenneth’s character also opposes the black male stereotype and portrays him as a caring person through his actions of wanting to find his brother and other family members before it’s too late.

When focusing on Andre Bazin’s “Genius of the System” theory that Hollywood films were the product of much more than just the auteur, I feel that this scene illustrates the concept in depth. Concentrating on the formulas, genre and narrative, the plotline of the two masculine, intimidating males discussing religion and caring for the other characters in the film enables racist issues to be demolished. By the end of the film, Andre dies defending his family who turn into zombies themselves and Kenneth acts as one of the final survivors, typically the strong hero until they land on the island and assumedly, all die despite the open ending.

Dawn of the Dead (1978) third image analysis

In this last shot from Dawn of the Dead, George A. Romero’s illustrates the idea of flipping character stereotypes. As Fran takes control and flies the helicopter to safety, she saves Peter from the zombies. Being blonde with blue eyes and sexually active, a character such as Fran would usually be classed as the female victim but instead she is the final girl. Through this scene, I feel that George A. Romero is portraying feminism and showing how women can be strong, emotionally and physically as well as attractive.

When focusing on Vladimir Propp’s theory of a film always being broken down into seven different categories of characters, Fran acts as the helper for Peter, who is the hero and last male survivor. When linking this to Tzvetan Todorov’s theory of a classical Hollywood narrative having a beginning, middle and an end and being broken down into; an equilibrium, a disturbance of the equilibrium, attempting to repair the equilibrium to then the a sense of equilibrium again. The ending to Dawn of the Dead relates to this by the sudden relief that both characters have, having got away from the zombie invaded mall and being safe (at least until their fuel runs out) in the helicopter, marking a rare positive ending to a horror film.  

Dawn of the Dead (1978) second image analysis

The idea of capitalism is confronted in this shot by the idea of money and being happy due to it. In the 1970’s, shopping malls began opening up in America and people became more obsessed by money and possessions.  In this scene, Peter and Roger hold up the money that they have stolen from the mall and show the security camera. George. A Romero attacks this ideology of America’s Cultural Dominant Ideology that he doesn't believe in.

Being in the shopping mall alone with no rules or leaders, the group of survivors have money, food, drink, beds, clothes and toilets to name but a few, and therefore become greedy and think of it as heaven. This scene shows Peter and Stephen believe that due to having all of these belongings and free objects, they will be ahead of everybody else in the world if people were to survive and discard the fact that people are dying and these inanimate objects no longer matter in society.

Whilst holding the money up to the camera, the two characters shake hands showing the strong relationship between the two different race men, portraying the defeat of racism. Being in the mall together, the men illustrate how they are both equal now that it’s them against the zombies. 

Dawn of the Dead (1978) first image analysis

In Dawn of the Dead (1978), this scene was included to represent the conventional horror theme of sex and the taboo. Having just slept together, the shot connotes Peter’s failure as a male through the bored, lifeless expression that both characters are illustrating. The cinematography helps to convey this, a slow zoom out from the scene and a slow, non-diegetic soundtrack plays creating tension and portrays the awkward, frustrated, depressed feelings that are being evoked. In the 1970’s, depression was an issue that many suffered from due to the Vietnam War and racism in society.

When focusing on the auteur theory by Andrew Sarris, George A. Romero reflects contextual issues through his films and portrays racism, political satire and character stereotypes profoundly. The idea of flipping character stereotypes is portrayed in this shot, having Fran sit up, resting her elbow on her leg and openly revealing her body whilst Stephen lies down and sulks.

When attacking the idea of consumerism, George A. Romero illustrates this through this scene. Having everything they could have wished for and more, the characters become tired of the same routine and being able to get everything they want for free.

The Blair Witch Project: Film Review

For my third film analysis, I will be depicting the film “The Blair Witch Project” and discovering the narrative structures used and those challenged.

The Blair Witch Project, 1999, is an American mystery, horror film set in 1994. Targeted towards both males and females at the age of 17-30, The Blair Witch Project went viral with their “trans media project”, organising websites, video games and comic books to sell their “true story” to the internet users of the day.

Set in a deserted, as usual, claustrophobic woods, “Maryland back woods”, a group of college students undergo filming a documentary on the Blair Witch incidents, using a Hi-8 video recorder and a black and white film camera. The footage is said to have been rediscovered after the college students go missing and have never been seen again. Watching the footage, we as spectators get an insight into the adventures, traumas and unforgettable sightings the teenagers witness during the couple of nights in the woods.

The first narrative structure, discovered by Tzvetan Todorov is one that illustrates the stages of a film and narrows the plot down to one simple structure. Beginning with a state of equilibrium, the structure then turns to a disruption of the equilibrium, to recognising the disruption for then an attempt to repair the disruption to happen so that a reinstatement of the equilibrium is where the film ends. In t

he film “The Blair Witch Project”, this structure is used throughout the whole documentary. The film begins with a state of equilibrium, shown through the college students first arriving at the woods and going about the usual routines such as finding a place to set up camp and investigating different parts of the woods. As their film goes on and they have shown enough footage, different mysterious and unnatural events begin to happen including people going missing and their clothing being found scattered in different, peculiar places. This shows the disruption to the equilibrium and introduces the fear factor into the film. As different characters find different mysteries, the recognition of the equilibrium is shown. Coming to grips with what is happening to them, the team decide to investigate further when some of the students go missing. By this, I feel as if the stage of attempting to repair the disruption is shown. The last plot structure of finding the equilibrium once again is one that I believe isn’t shown in this particular film. Ending with one of the students standing in a corner, having been taken over by the Blair witch, who was known for making the victims stand in a corner before cutting out their eyes.  The camera is then dropped and the film ends, as a hint towards that was where the camera was found. Despite the recognition that the students are being killed, the equilibrium is never shown in the film and the film is still focusing on the evil and how the evil has won.

 The second narrative structure, binary opposition, was one discovered by Claude Levi Strauss. Strauss came up with a theory that all films follow a specific structure that relates to two opposites, for instance, good vs. evil. In The Blair Witch Project, good vs. evil is a structure that is strongly followed due to the college students influencing the audience to believe that they are normal, everyday students who are interested in a particular project, making them good people. The “blair witch” on the other hand, is the evil, shown by the incidents created, although never seen. This is a typical convention for horror films as the evil is often killing/ tormenting the innocent.  

The third and last narrative structure that I will be focusing on is one discovered by Vladimir Propp. Propp’s theory was that all films include characters that can all be categorised under any of the following; a villain, the dispatcher, the helper, the princess, the donor, the hero and the false hero. These character types also had stereotypical images and predictions alongside them and Propp came up with 31 functions that were likely to happen to the particular people. As found within my table, Propp’s theory is one that is not followed, but challenged. The Blair witch, themselves is the villain, shown by the evil, murderous, overpowering incidents that occur. Although we never get to see the witch, we acknowledge that they are the villain. The only other character type used within this film are the fishermen who help towards the documentary by stating what they have previously seen and giving important information towards their documentary. Having seen the film, I wouldn’t class the students as any of the above as they do not succeed in their plans and cannot be classed as heroes.

As a conclusion to this analysis, I have found that Tzvetan Todorov and Claude Levi Strauss’ theories are followed and Vladimir Propp’s theory is challenged. If I were to give my own opinion, I would state that a genre theory would match this film as there are typical conventions of a horror film shown through the deserted, woodland setting, the young, innocent students being the victims and the villain never been seen, to add suspense and to allow the audience to involve their imaginations.