Saturday, December 31, 2011

Leprechaun Film Analysis

Leprechaun
Director: Mark Jones
Year: 1993

IDENTS
  • TRIMARK PICTURES
  •  DIVISION OF VIDMARK INC.
A long shot is shown of a stereo typically dressed leprechaun walking down middle aged looking cellar steps of a house.
Leprechaun is dwarf like and wearing costume which possibly denotes comedy.
Diagetic sound of a 'sparkle' is denoting that he magically shut the door, connoting supernaturalism.
Medium shot of the leprechauns legs and a 'pot of gold' is shown, connoting a typical leprechaun and also connoting comedy.
Low angle of limo driving along a secluded road is shown, showing exposition of time era.
Non diagetic music is playing, which is soft beats and fast pace anchoring that the film is not serious.
Medium shot of middle aged man wearing smart clothing leaving the limo, the smart clothing and limo denote that he is rich or somebody of importance. The man is drinking alcohol which shows anchorage that he is drunk. A medium shot of the empty bottle on the floor is shown at 1:53 possibly foreshadowing the bottle being used as a weapon later on in the film.
Long shot of man walking up the stairs to a middle aged if not elderly lady dressed in rags, denoting that she is poor, connoting that she may be working class.
She says, ' A limo? What on earth has gotten into you Mr O'Grady?' which is exposition of his name, and that he would not usually drive around in a limo, possibly denoting that he is not rich.
The womans accent shows exposition that she is Irish, also the name O'Grady denotes the the man could be irish too.
The woman is authorative, signifying that she could be his wife or possibly mother.
'Tomorrow we will be looking at mansions', denoting that they are rich, also denoting that they have gotten rich quickly, which leaves polysemic options of that they could have won the lottery, or the mans business could have done successfully, he could have gambled and won etc. It could also be linked to the pot of gold shown at the beginning of the opening.
Mr Ogrady says 'did they deliver the package' using exposition showing that this package may be of importance, the woman says 'whats going on?' denoting that she has nothing to do with this mans plans.
The driver of the limo steps out of the limo, he has an American accent which denotes that he is American, possibly connoting that the film is set in America.
When the package is uncovered, the woman says 'you were supposed to bury your mother, not send her ashes over from Ireland' signifying that they have moved to America.
Medium shot of Mr Ogrady smashing the vase on the table and retreiving 'Gold Leah, Gold' denoting that they are infact rich, and also expositon of the ladys name. 'A wee person, a leprechaun' media language slang of 'wee' denotes that they are both irish. This also anchors that the pot of gold shown at the beginning of the film is very much so linked to Daniel Ogrady and Leah.
A storm begins, which begins tension, possibly foreshadowing death or struggle.
A pot of tea is being made, a medium shot of the woman in the kitchen is shown of her waiting for the tea, a dutch angle of the woman bending down by a suitcase is shown, a medium close up of the suitcase is shown as the leprechaun gets out.
A medium shot of Leah praying for god denotes that she is religious, also that she is afraid and wants god to protect her from this leprechaun, foreshadowing conflict.
A low angle shot of the leprechaun pushing Leah down the stairs is shown, she falls down the stairs towards the camera, there is diagetic sound of bones breaking, anchoring that she is most probably dead.
A low angle long take of the camera following the stairs to the top to find the leprechaun, denoting his authority and foreshadowing that he will win this conflict.
A long shot of Daniel Ogrady entering the house is shown, to be greeted by the leprechaun, the leprechaun says 'where did you hide it, Dan?' denoting a past relationship, he then replies 'where did you find me?'
A long, over the shoulder shot of the man with a pistol and four leafed clover is shown, used for comedic purposes, related to when people scare off vampires with a cross and wooden sharp stake.
The leprechaun says 'catch me if you can', used for comedic purposes, also something that a child would say which denotes his immaturity and the fact that he isnt serious possibly signifies that he isnt afraid, foreshadowing that he will win against Daniel Ogrady.
Long shot of man putting the leprechaun in a wooden box is shown, the leprechaun says 'ill keep coming back' denoting that he will not lose.
Medium shot of Dan Ogrady hammering down the box is shown.
Daniel Ogrady begins to drag his wife, he looks in pain which could be polysemic from what the leprechaun has done to him, or possibly that he has a heart condition etc.
Medium shot of Ogrady moving his hand towards his heart, signifying and foreshadowing a heart attack.
Diagetic sound coming from the leprechaun is heard 'Danny, whats wrong?' denoting sarcasm and a comedic sense, also possibly showing that the leprechaun has caused this heart attack.
Ogrady shouts 'Burn in hell you little green bastard' and begins to light a match, there is petrol all over the floor which could foreshadow a fire.
A close  up is shown of the match being lit, and Ogrady falls to the floor, the match goes out.
A close up of the hand twitching is shown, and a flash of light from the lightning is used to connote that he is dead and did not manage to set alight the cellar and kill the leprechaun.
A long shot of the box moving around, denoting that the leprechaun is attempting to get out of the box, possibly foreshadowing his success. Non diagetic sound begins to get louder.
The shot then moves to a transition, denoting a fast forward in time.
THE OPENING LASTS 10 MINUTES AND 7 SECONDS.

Donnie Darko Second Film Analysis

Director: Richard Kelly
Year: 2001

IDENTS
  • Pandora
  • New Market presents
  • A Flowerfilms production
The opening begins with an establishing shot, the weather is dark which could be pathetic fallacy of setting the 'mood' in the opening.
Low noted dark music is played continuously possibly denoting that the film will be a horror and signifying that it will not be comedy/romance etc.
A long take shot of the camera following a road, coming closer to an object in the middle of the road is shown, this denotes tension and makes the audience think 'what is in the middle of the road?'
As the shot gets closer to the object, it becomes obvious that the figure is a teenage boy, unconcious, possibly denoting that he is dead. There is a bike next to the boy, which could signify that he has been on a journey.
A long high angle shot of the view from the camera shows hillside which could anchors that he is in a secluded, rural area.
A medium close up shot of the boy is shown waking up, he starts laughing which could be connoting that he is mentally ill, but also signifies that he is not confused as to his where abouts like this event happens regularly.
The boy is wearing pyjamas which signifies that he lives in civilisation.
A transition is used to jump into the future of long shots of the protagonist on his bike.
A long shot of a sign is shown saying 'Middlesex Halloween Carnival OCTOBER 26TH = 30TH HALLOWS EVE'' which implies anchorage as to where the film is set, what month it is, and what event is occuring (Halloween).
Long shots of the protagonist are shown again, the mis en scene is now very suburban, with pathways, houses, trees and cars (which denote the time era).
'Pop' music begins to play, possibly music from 2001 which denotes the time era.
The shot moves to a 2 person shot of a middle aged male and female, there could be polysemy that the protagonist is related to this couple who are in a garden, which could also denote that he lives in the same house as them .
A long shot of the protagonist is shown walking into the kitchen from outside, he is out of breath, signifying that he has cycled home. The protagonist moves to the fridge and opens the fridge door, on the door of the fridge is a whiteboard with handwritten text on it saying 'wheres donnie?' denoting that the protagonist's name is donnie, and also showing anchorage that he has been missing, yet adds comedy which could signify that the protagonist, or 'donnie' goes missing regularly and it is not an irregular event.
A group shot of the family around a table is shown, the same 2 middle aged couple, donnie, and 2 teenage girls.  The pop music fades away.
The family interacts in normal conversation, the children then begin to throw harmless insults at eachother e.g. 'will you still be working at the yard barn?', it then gets out of hand and builds tension when the oldest teenage girl says 'ok, do you want to tell mum and dad why you stopped taking your medication?' which builds tension and  provides exposition, signifying that donnie is ill, yet the audience do not know why.
A long shot of the boy is shown, he is in bed reading a book, denoting the time of day, and also possibly signifying that he is a smart child.
Donnies mother walks into his room, she asks 'where do you go at night?' which shows anchorage that he dissapears regularly, and only at night.
Donnie gets adgitated at his mother, he says 'well then why dont you start taking the god damn pills, Bitch?' which denotes that he does not like taking his pills and that he does not have a healthy relationship with his mother.
A close up shot of a bathroom  cupboard being open is shown, an orange tub is shown, which anchors that the tub is for perscribed pills from the doctors. On the tub, the text says 'Donald Darko' and '3/24/86' which is exposition, showing his full name and his age (Where he would have been 15 years old)
TRANSITION to signify that the opening of the film has ended.
THE OPENING OF DONNIE DARKO LASTS 7 MINUTES AND 23 SECONDS.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Cherry Falls Film Analysis

Cherry Falls
Director: Geoffrey Wright
Year: 2000
Budget: 14m


IDENT
  • Rogue Pictures
The film begins with non diagetic choir like classical music, denoting christianity and religion, possibly connoting innocence and purity.
An extreme loing shot of the church spiral ius the opening shot, denoting religion and could be signifying that the whole town is religious.
There is a long shot of a sign post saying "cherry falls" which is anchorage and exposition denoting the setting of the film.
An extreme long shot of a serene and peaceful setting connotes calmness, or possibly foreshadows the "calm before the storm"
There is a long shot of a car, which is exposition of time era.
Close up shot of a boy kissing a girl, both with brown hair, the boy begins to put his hands across the girls legs, denoting sexual tension.
The girl shouts "Keep that up rod and it will be your last act!" denoting that she doesnt want to have sex. Also possibly foreshadowing that he will die.
A long shot of the girl getting out of the car, signifying the area that the car is in and also that they are both visable to anybody in the park like area.
A long shot of a car hidden in bushes is showing, denoting that somebody is watching the teenagers.
A medium close up 2 shot of the couple kissing is shown, in the background, 2 flashing lights from a car becomes visable and moves nearer to the car, parking behind the car.
A close up of the first car's numberplate is shown, it says "virginia" which is exposition of where the film is set, it could possibly connote that one of the teenagers is a "virgin" as it is hinting.
The boy gets out of the car, convinced that the car behind him is one of his friends "messing around", he says "Ben, get your ass over here", the audience is led to believe that this is one of his friends, too.
The boy walks closer to the car an non diagetic music begins to build tension, as the boy bends over next to the car, the killer opens his car door rapidly which knocks the boy to the ground.
A long haired dark figure with manly features gets out of the car.
A close up of the girl screaming is shown, denoting that she is scared.
Medium POV shot of the dark figure stabbing ross is shown, denoting that the girl can see Ross being stabbed.
Non diagetic fast beat music is added to denote tension and horror.
Diagetic "stabbing" knife sounds are used to denote that Ross character is being stabbed.
Close up shots of Casey locking the doors to denote safety.
Ross comes up to the door and begins to shout his girlfriends name "Casey"
Close up shots of Casey unlocking the door to let Ross in.
Medium shot of the killer coming back and stabbing Ross to death as Casey tries to help him inside the car. The killer drags Casey out of the car, there is a close up shot of Casey being held against a tree, the killer has a long black leather jacket on and long dark hair, yet has manly features.
The killer begins to wipe the bloody knife across the girls face, possibly foreshadowing her death.
A medium low shot is shown of the bottom half of the killer and Caseys body is shown, the killer is wearing a long black skirt and tights with boots, and has weapons in the side of his/her waist. It is still unnapparent wether the killer is female or male, denoting confusion of sexual identity, possibly connoting that they were bullied or neglected at some point in their life.
There is a close up of the killers fingers moving across the girls mouth, the killer is wearing nail varnish, denoting confusion further, also possibly foreshadowing rape.
Close up of killer leaning into the girl, his hair covers the screen which turns black, there is anchorage that the killer will be moving to kiss and embrace the girl.
THE OPENING LASTS 4:18 MINUTES.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Ginger Snaps 2 Film Analysis

Ginger Snaps: Unleashed
Director: Brett Sullivan
Year: 2004
Budget: $3m

IDENTS
  • Lionsgate films presents
  • A 49 films/combustion production
Non diagetic sound starts as soon as the idents appear on the screen - slow pace hollow noises are used to create tension.
Diagetic young girls voice is used over the first shot.
The first shot is a close up of shot of a hand, which goes to pick up a pink razor (anchorage that the protagonist is female), it becomes apparent that this person is in the bath. The razor could foreshadow violence with sharp blades like a razor blade or knife.
An extreme close up is shown of the girl shaving her pale leg, there is non diagetic sound of a loud electric razor blade when the girl shaves, to build tension.
There is a medium shot of the girls back in the bath, it first becomes apparent that she has brown hair which could denote that she is a final girl. The girl begins to shave her back, signifying that something is wrong.
A close up of blood dripping into the clear bath water is showing, denoting that somebody is bleeding, but is polysemic as the audience does not know if the girl has cut herself with the razor, or another tool.
There is non diagetic sound of high pitched screaming with a close up of the girl shaving her cut and bloody leg, denoting self inflicted pain, which could connote self harm and depression.
An extreme close up is shown of 2 circular marks next to eachother, there is anchorage of the marks being bite marks if the audience has seen Ginger Snaps 1, and the bruising around the marks.
The non diagetic voice of the girl says "i thought you were going to die" giving the audience anchorage of what has happened, it could also be polysemic in connoting that the girl has schizophrenia, or she remembers a girl talking to her and saying these words.
An extreme close up is shown of a scalple cutting the skin of the girl, denoting self harm and torture.
The non diagetic girls voice says "Its like an infection, it works from the inside out, its like a virus", this could be narrative enigma if the audience has not seen Ginger Snaps 1, or if the audience has seen it, they understand what the girl is talking about.
A dutch angle long shot is shown of the protagonist sat naked in her bathroom bandaging up her arm, denoting that she has cut herself quite severely.
A close up of a needle being inserted into the girl is shown, anchoring drug or medicine use.
The non diagetic girls voice says "Ginger please", providing exposition of the protagonist's name.
There is a close up of the girl biting down on the needle, denoting that she is feeling pain, a non diagetic voice of a wolf howling is used to provide anchorage of the rest of the storyline.
A close up of a photo of 2 "final girl" looking teenagers is shown, anchorage is used to possibly show that they are sisters, and denotes that the girl talking is Gingers sister, from in the photo.
THE OPENING OF THE FILM IS 2:22 SECONDS LONG.

Sorority Row Film Analysis

Sorority Row
Director: Steward Hendler
Year: 2009
Budget: $16m

IDENTS

  • SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT 
  • AKARZ ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTION
The first shot is an establishing shot of a middle class house at night time
There is diagetic sound of a glass smashing and a girl screaming, with a shadow in the window, this is denoting horror and is used as a false scare. 
A teenage girl with brown hair runs out of the house with her lingerie on, she then looks back and says "Danny, give me my shirt!" this denotes that she has had her shirt taken off her, or possibly connoting that she has been involved in sexual intercourse. A 'jock' like boy then runs after the girl and shouts "come and get it" denoting  false scare. 
A long shot is used to move into the house, with various shots of teenagers dressed in lingerie and pjyamas, denoting a pyjama party. 
There is non diagetic sound of mainstream pop music denoting the time era and connoting that these teenagers are part of the mainstream scene and are alot like 'jocks' and 'cheerleaders' character representation. This is also shown with a medium shot of a group of girls doing a 'dance routine' possibly denoting that they are teenagers. 
As the camera continues to move around the house, there are many close up shots of teenagers with plastic cups, generally denoting alcohol, which is connoting that they are drunk and incapable. 
A high angle medium shot of a teenage couple on a bed embracing each other in public is shown possibly foreshadowing sex. 
The camera begins to follow a brown haired muscly teenage character who says "hey chugs, give me a beer!' denoting that the teens are drinking. 
This "chugs" character is then shown, she is female, denoting that she has a nickname, a medium shot is shown of the girl throwing her drink over this boy, denoting previous conflict and tension between the two.
A medium shot of a 'jock' character attempting to flirt with a typical 'geek' female character is shown (she has ginger hair and glasses, this could possibly foreshadow a final girl character) he asks "so how long have you been a beta?" which denotes anchorage of her status and the fact that she will be in an American university, as american students usually refer to each other from greek mythology. 
A long shot is shown of a girl on a staircase attempting to attract the geeks attention, "Ellie up here!" giving exposition of the girls real name. 
The camera follows the geek up the staircase and along the hall, teenage couple walk past the camera and are about to enter a room when the boy says "I just got tested so its cool" denoting that he has no STI's and connoting that the couple are about to have sex.
The shot moves to a group medium long shot in a bedroom of 5 girls, a tall, busty blonde haired girl (Denoting scream queen) says "this party kicks off our senior year" providing exposition of their last year of university and their age.
The girls all compliment eachother beginning with "i love you because" denoting that they are good friends, possibly connoting that they have been good friends for a long time. Exposition is used in all of the sentances to show all of their names, "Claire", "Ellie", "Cass" and "Jess".
One of the girls asks "Wheres Megan?" using exposition to denote that there is a sixth member of their BETA group.
A close up shot of a laptop is shown which is exposition of modern day, on the laptop, through a webcam, there is a long shot of a girl with brown hair dressed in white lingerie on a bed, possibly denoting that she is pure, innocent, and a final girl. It is then apparent that a boy is with her as he starts kissing her and feeling her body. A medium shot of the character "Chugs" is shown, she says "Classy, my brothers good in bed" which is showing exposition that the boy and "Chugs" are related.
The girls start a conversation about the drug "Rufees" which denotes drug use.
There is a close up shot through the laptops webcam of the brown haired girl foaming at the mouth and all of the girls run along the corridor to the room to help this girl who is named "Megan", the sixth member of their BETA group.
Non diagetic fast pace music becomes apparent to denote rising tension.
The squeen queen described before hand, now known as "Jess" begins to perfom "mouth to mouth" whilst the boy leaves the room panicking and trying to find help, when he leaves, there is a close up shot of Megan beginning to kiss Jess back, denoting that she is alive, connoting that the foaming of the mouth was a prank.
One of the girls says "What is going on?" denoting that, like the audience, they don't know the story line.
Megan tells the girls that this boy "Garrett" is her ex, who cheated on her, and she is getting him back with a prank. She says "That boy needs to be taught a lesson" which could be foreshadowing violence.
Long shots are shown of an expensive looking 4X4 car driving along secluded roads rapidly.
The scream queen Jess refers to the car being hers which signifies thats he is rich.
All of the BETA girls are in the car discussing hospital plans, whilst Garrett panicks in the back of the car.
A long shot of the car driving past a sign is shown, "Beck Mining Company" which is exposition of place, also denoting that the girls are not going to the hospital.
One of the girls asks the now apparent dominant character Jess where they are going, Jess replies "We're going to take care of this" denoting the prank going extreme and also possibly foreshadowing real death.
An extreme long shot is shown of the car moving into the mining pit, denoting that the area is fully secluded and nobody can see them.
A long shot of a hole ontop of a hill is shown, possibly foreshadowing an event happening there.
The car stops and all of the girls get out, the boy, Garrett gets out and rushes to vomit, connoting that he still fully believes the prank.
There is a long shot of the girl being placed on a blanket, engaging in conversation with the other girls whilst Garrett is not there, a mobile phone is placed next to her, signifying that they are going to record this prank, which foreshadows further payback to Garrett.
Jess (the dominant scream queen) gathers everybody round together, including Garrett, and says "Everybody spread out and find sharp rocks to dismember the body with" denoting that all of the girls know the plan, also possibly foreshadowing the prank going wrong and somebody actually dismembering Megans body parts.
A close up shot of one of the girls is shown whilst in the background, Garrett picks up a tyre iron and stabs Megan in the chest, the close up goes fuzzy to focus on Garrett and Megan.
Megan opens her eyes, denoting that she is still alive, also showing Garrett that she is alive.
All of the girls gather round Megans dead body (contrasting with her innocent look and brown hair possibly denoting binary opposition as final girl), screaming, whilst Garrett screams "I thought she was dead!" repeatedly.
Some of the girls still try to save Megan by attempting to resuscitate her, Jessica tells the girls to stop, and begins to make a plan of how they can hide her and not tell anybody about it.
Some of the girls oppose to this idea, yet she blackmails them with "Secret sister solidarity" as part of the beta girl rules.
A medium close up of Megan being dragged to the top of the hill is shown
Non diagetic music begins to get louder to build tension.
A medium shot of the "geek" character is shown, she says "Do we want to cross this line?" signifying that they could all get out of the trouble that they are going to get into later on in the film.
3 of the girls throw the dead body into the hole ontop of the hill from earlier on in the opening, there is diagetic sound of a thud, denoting that Megan has hit the bottom of the hole.
Jess says "Dont worry, atleast she will be warm" including sarcasm which denotes an evil side of her.
A low angle shot of the girls throwing the tyre iron into the hole is shown, as the weapon gets closer to the camera, it visably shows the shape of a cross, signifying religion or secrecy, all related to the greek mythology and "sorority sisters".
An extreme long shot of Cass, a brown haired girl is shown at the ending, standing by the hole, this could possibly foreshadow that she is the final girl.
THE OPENING IS 19 MINUTES AND 40 SECONDS (Which is an extremely long opening)


Wednesday, December 14, 2011

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Film Analysis

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Director: Tobe Hooper
Year: 1974
Budget: $83,532

IDENT
  • A Vortex/Henkel/Cooper Production
The film begins with exposition. "The film you are about to see is an account of the tragedy which befell a group of five youths, in paticular, Sally Hardisty and her invalid brother, Franklin. It is all the more tragic in that they were young. But, had they lived a very, very long lives, they could have not expected nor would they wish to see as much of the mad and maccabre as they were to see that day" this paragraph continues, it leaves the audience with the clue that the film will be about what happened to Sally Hardisty and her brother, and also makes the audience curious.
"August 18 1973" exposition is used to anchor the time era.
There is diagetic sound of somebody 'digging' e.g. with a spade before any visual shots are shown.
The screen is black, then a flash appears for around 1 or 2 seconds, a close up of a rotting finger is shown, whilst it is shown, there is diagetic sound of an old fashioned horn or something alike. This could be connotation of photos of the body being taken with an old fashioned camera.
Non diagetic music is played to build tension in the opening.
Transition shots showing close ups of different parts of a rotting body are shown which denote that this person is dead, connoting that they have been left to decompose, or/and that they were murdered.
Close ups of rotting hands and other parts of the body could possibly make the audience feel uncomfortable and unsteady the heartbeat, as narrative enigma is being used and they do not have any power in knowing what is happening, it keeps the audience interested and entertained.
There is a close up of a mouth, the mouth is almost fully rotting away yet the teeth are still clearly shown, denoting how long the body has been left there, and connoting that the body is definatly of a human.
The screen turns black again, there is diagetic sound of thumping and out of breath noises which could connote tension and struggle.
The first clearly visable shot is shown which is a close up shot of a human head out in broad daylight, looking decomposed and possibly burnt, with an off colour tone goo like substance all over the face of the human body. The shot moves outwards into a long shot, showing two bodies placed in a cemetery, which is where the dead lie. The two bodies could possibly be referring to 'Sally Hardesty and her brother Franklin' from the exposition at the beginning of the opening.
Diagetic sounds of a radio are used to use exposition of why the dead body is there and how the police are involved.
THE OPENING LASTS 3 MINUTES AND 19 SECONDS.


Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Cry Wolf Film Analysis

Cry Wolf
Director: Jeff Wadlow
Year: 2005
Budget: £1m

IDENTS

  • Rogue Pictures
The opening begins with diagetic sounds of a high pitched screaming denoting that the voice is of a female. 
The first shot is a dark side on medium shot of a girl running through an isolated woods at night time (this is denoted by the darkness). 
There is an extreme long shot of the girl running past and then a torch light on the right hand side following the girl, denoting that she is being chased. 
The next shot is a long shot head on view of the girl (in which we first see her facial features, she has blonde hair, denoting that she is a scream queen and connoting that she will die). The girl runs diagonally past the camera and the subject with the torchlight is following her. (The audience can still hear diagetic sounds of her out of breath and screaming) 
The girl falls into a heap full of leaves, the audiences hears diagetic sound of a twig breaking which could possibly denote that she has a broken bone, connoting that she is unable to move. 
A P.O.V shot is shown of the person with the torchlight searching for the girl, moving the torchlight across the leaves, connoting that she is his prey.
There is a close up shot of a phone, anchoring the time era, the subject scrolls down his contact list and stops at 'Becky', the then rings the phone. 
The scream queens phone starts ringing, using exposition to tell the audience the scream queens name, and also denoting that the predator and scream queen have a relationship, they know each other. 
There is non diagetic sound of a siren like sound, building tension, as the music gets faster, there is a dutch angle (denoting that something is wrong) of a medium close up of the scream queen crying. 
A diagetic sound of a gunshot is heard denoting that the girl has been killed. 
a Transition is used straight afterwards to denote the ending of the opening. 
THE OPENING LASTS 2.02 MINUTES 
(Which is similar to the time allowed for the AS student opening of a slasher film)

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Dressed To Kill Film Analysis

Dressed To Kill
Director: Brian De Palma. Date: 1980

IDENTS
  • Warner Brothers
  • Samuel Z Arkoff presents
  • A George Litto Production
  • A Brian De Palma Film
There is diagetic classical music playing before the first shot appears, denoting that the shot will be calm and serene.
The first shot shows a bedroom, it then moves outside of the bedroom to show a view of the hallway towards the bathroom, the bathroom is medium/large size, connoting that the actors will be medium class.
In the bathroom shows a medium shot of a topless middle aged man shaving with an old fashioned razor, denoting the time era, and also possibly foreshadowing that the razor may be used as a weapon later on in the film. The second person in the shot is a long shot view of a naked blonde haired, busty, heavily made up woman in the shower (all the signs of a scream queen) she is also not a teenager which denotes that the film is not for teenagers. Both of the characters are either naked or showing flesh which could possibly connote that they have just had sexual intercourse.
The next shot is a close up of the woman's breasts denoting that she is sexually active. The camera angle moves up and down the womans body which could signify that she is is fantasizing about the male that she is looking at through the shower.
The shot shows a close up of the lady wearing an engagement ring on her hand denoting that she is engaged to be married to either the man that she is looking at, or it could maybe connote that she is having an affair.
There is a close up of the scream queens face, which then a large hand covers her mouth, and a naked mans body comes up behind her, he lifts the woman and touches her all over her body which could foreshadow rape. The man begins to rape the woman from behind, as she struggles to free herself and moves his hand away to scream for the man shaving infront of the mirror, yet he does not reply.
The steam from the shower fills up the camera lense which is good inspiration for use of transition.
(THE OPENING LASTS 4 MINUTES AND 11 SECONDS)

Donnie Darko Film Analysis

Donnie Darko
2001, directed by Richard Kelly.

IDENTS
  • Pandora
  • New Market Presents
  • A flower films production
The opening of the film begins with an establishing shot (which happens regularly in slasher if not any genre of film) of a secluded round on a mountain, overseeing many trees and mountains. The weather in the shot is quite misty and dark with denotes that it is early morning or early evening, it could possibly be connoting pathetic fallacy in that something unusual or horrific has occured.
The establishing shot appears for a long time then the cinematography moves onto a road which it then follows, moving towards a figure placed in the middle of the road, denoting that this figure is dead or unconcious.
The shot moves into a medium shot of a teenage male figure waking up, he has messy brown hair (could be binary opposition and the boy may be a FINAL BOY) and is wearing pjyamas, denoting that he was woken up just like he would if he were at home. The shot shows a bike which denotes how he arrived at where he is.
There is a medium close up shot of the boy standing up and beginning to laugh, denoting that he is happy about something or possibly connoting that he is mentally unstable.
The shot moves to a transition - then the shot moves back to the boy on his bike, moving into civilisation as he rides past women running.
Medium shot of an orange sign saying 'MIddlesex Halloween Carnival OCT 26TH - 30TH HALLOWS EVE' which is showing exposition of the time of year, and anchorage of where the film is set.
In the background of the signpost there is a path with grass and trees which denotes the suburbian area.
There is diagetic music of a pop band which connotes the time era (late 1990s early 2000's)
The boy cycles past the sign and past cars, denoting that he has cycled from the mountain.
The shot moves to a 2 person shot of a middle aged man and woman, denoting that they are in a relationship, this introduces the characters as the first characters parents.
The shot moves to a long shot then moving to medium shot of the boy moving into the same house as the parents and then walking towards the fridge out of breath (denoting that he has travelled a long way). The music quitens and turns into diagetic, then stops) He opens the fridge door, on the door there is writing saying 'Wheres Donnie?' which is narrative enigma of the boys name, and also denoting that he is missing, yet in a comedic way, denoting that him missing is not a serious matter or that it happens regularly.
The shot moves to a long shot of the whole family (consisting of 2 parents, a young 20's year old daughter, Donnie and his younger sister) all eating pizza at the table, which is denoting a normal family life.
There is banterous conversations which shows a positive relationship, but it soon turns negative when the eldest daughter says to Donnie 'Ok, do you want to tell mum and dad why you stopped taking medication?' which is narrative enigma showing that Donnie is on medication yet the audience does not yet know what for, (but also referring from earlier on, it could be from mental illness, like when Donnie started laughing on the secluded road) also that the does not like taking the medication which is why he stopped, also foreshadowing that the stopping of taking his medication could be the reason for the tragedy later on in the film.
The shot moves to a long shot of Donnie in bed reading, denoting that he is intellectual and possibly a 'nerd' at school, showing anchorage of his age group.
Donnies mother walks into the room and asks 'where do you go at night?' which is narrative enigma to denote that Donnie waking up on the mountain is not an irregular occurance, and that his family are unaware of is whereabouts.
The conversation turns very tense, Donnie says 'Why dont you start taking the god damn pills?' denoting that he does not enjoy having to take the pills. 'Bitch' denotes even further tension between Donnie and his mother.
There is a close up shot of Donnie opening up his bathroom cabinet, showing an orange perscribed tub of pills, the tubs text says 'Donald Darko', his full name, and '3/24/86' which is exposition of Donnies age (would have been 15 years old).
There is a transition which then leads into the rest of the film.
THE OPENING LASTS 7:23 SECONDS)

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Childsplay 2 Opening Annotation

Childs Play 2
director: John Lafia
Year: 1990
Budget:$13M

IDENTS

  • Universal Pictures
  • Universal and MCA company
  • David Kirschner production
  • John Lafia Film
Non diagetic, fast beat music is played during and after the idents to create tension at the beginning of the film.

Extreme close up of an eye which revolves around.
Shot changes to an extreme long shot of a limo driving across a secluded road, denoting that the person in the limo is an authorative or rich figure, also denoting the time era of when the film was set. 
Extreme long shot of a city - possibly signifying that the limo is going to that city. 
Close up shot of a burnt dolls face being taken to pieces (e.g. eye is being popped out) with a sharp metal knife (foreshadowing that a knife may be used later on in the film)
CHILDS PLAY 2 (serif text, yet the 2 is in front of the lettering and is a red colour denoting blood)
Long shot of limo moving towards the city connoting the setting of the film and where the film is based.
Knife, chisel and a circular saw are used to clean a doll, possibly the doll with the same eye as the opening shot, this could be foreshadowing the weapons used in the killings later on in the film. 
Close ups and high angle shots are used showing the same doll being re painted and dressed, denoting that the doll will look 'new' and could also be signifying the 'rebirth of chuckie'.  
Extreme long shot of limo driving into a doll toy factory. (Dolls the same as chuckie)
Middle aged tall man gets out of the back of the limo, denoting his importance. 
A man who is wearing glasses, and is smaller than the man from the limo rushes to meet this man, he says 'Good morning Mr Sullivan'' denoting that the man from the limo is an authorative character. 
A long shot of the 2 men walking along the corridors of the factory is shown. 
Their conversation consists of 'Every supermarket tabloid in the country is making stories about...' . This use of narrative enigma allows the audience to know what the situation of the story is and what has happened since Childs Play 1. 
Medium and low 2 person shots are shown of the same chuckie whom has been remade and from Childs Play 1 on an operating table with 2 lab technicians in the doll construction room. 
The music intensifies as one of the technicians tries to resolve some machinary which has got stuck, he gets it to work again, yet seconds after, it electricutes him and Chuckie (The audience knows this because there are screams and electric bolts and noises all over the man and chuckie)
The man is forced through the glass window through the power of the electric shock and falls before Mr Sullivan, there is a close up of his face which is bright red and disfigured, rather like a doll. These events connote the re birth of chuckie and the death of the man responsible for bringing him back from the dead, so to speak. 
CROSS CUTS ARE SHOWN THROUGHOUT THE OPENING TO SHOW TWO DIFFERENT MIS EN SCENE'S WHICH ARE EMERGED TOGETHER.





>

FRESHLY SQUEEZED IDENT

IDEAS



  • Orange text comes onto a black screen, ''freshly squeezed'' moves across the screen then swirls into a circle, the circle gets smaller then turns into an orange which is then squeezed and the juice comes out of the orange.
  • ''freshly squeezed'' in marker pen on an orange shown for 2 seconds, then the orange is squeezed and crushed.
  • An orange is placed in the center of a table, a knife appears on the screen with the words 'FRESHLY SQUEEZED' on it are shown, then the knife chops the orange in half.

New Coursework Pitch: Tiny Terror (Inspiration From Valentines Day Nightmare)

Mis En Scene
  • Middle class/ medium to large house
  • Girly bedroom
  • White painted/tiled bathroom (possibly en suite) 
  • White bath (to contrast with red blood)
Character
  • Teenage 17 year old boy, socially awkward. Dark brown hair, brown eyes, tall, suspicious smile.
  • Teenage 17 year old girl, socially awkward. Short blonde bob, attractive.
Costume
  • Boy: 1990's 'look' = ripped jeans (horizontal slits across the knee) for 'grunge' look. Nirvana cut off tshirt denoting that he is interested in Nirvana and connoting that Nirvana were popular in 1991.
  • Girl: 1991 'Grunge' look, strappy Nirvana top and long brown skirt.
Music
  • Nirvana (to show era)
  • ''Aint No Sunshine'' by Bill Withers from 1971 
PLOT
Extreme long shot of suburban detached house. Long shot of boy (brown hair) walking up the drive to the house.
Over the shoulder shot of boy knocking on door to which girl (blonde hair, connoting that she is a scream queen)  answering. The boy says ''Happy valentines day babe!'' in which the boy reveals a doll.
The shot moves to a close up of the doll. 
'Oh thank you babe its... lovely...Do you want to come inside? My parents are out!''.
Low angle shot of boy chasing girl up the stairs. 
Camera placed in bedroom, shot of girl walking into the bedroom, followed by boy. 
Girl throws the doll on the floor on top of a bra. 
Close up shot of doll on bra. 
High angle shot of the girl lying down on the bed. 
Clothes are thrown around the room to connote that the boy and girl are sexually active. The shot fuzzes out. 
Shot fuzzes back in to find boy alone in the bed, topless. 
Boy gets out of the bed, shouts his girlfriends name, possibly 'Marion' or 'Janet' 
Long shot of boy getting out of bed and walking towards the door to lead to the landing, 'I'm going to get a drink, do you want one?'
There is no reply so the boy shakes his head and walks out of the room. 
Low angle shot of the boy walking down the stairs. 
Medium shot of boy making drink, a loud thump is heard upstairs so he raises his head
The boy shouts 'Are you ok?!' but no reply.
Low angle shot of boy running upstairs
Medium shot of boy moving along the landing 
Long shot of boy walking into the bedroom, and seeing blood stains on the bathroom door.
Close up shot of the bra where the doll was thrown to, and the doll is not there.  
Boy opens door and sees girlfriend (almost dead) with blood splattered all around her, choking. 
POV low angle shot of boy running to his girlfriend, who then points at the POV shot in terror. 
Boy ignores the girl and tries to understand what she's saying, 'What? What?' he repeats. 
POV moving towards the boy, then looking down at a knife, the knife then slits across the ankles of the boy. 
Medium shot of boy falling onto the floor and moving to his side.
POV shot (from boy) on side of doll figure moving towards the boy with the knife in his hand and a grin on his face.

I WILL LOOK AT THE FILMS 
KILL BILL - to see how the ankles were slit and what angle/shot type was used.
PYSCHO - looking at the bathroom murder of Marion, what angles and shot types were used, how Marion lay in the bath etc. 
CHILDSPLAY - How the doll moved around, the look of the doll. 

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Valentines Day Nightmare (coursework pitch)

Mis En Scene
  • Middle class/ medium to large house
  • Sofa infront of television
  • White painted/tiled bathroom
  • White bath (to contrast with red blood
Character
  • Teenage 17 year old boy, socially awkward. Dark brown hair, brown eyes, tall, suspicious smile.
  • Teenage 17 year old girl, socially awkward. Short blonde bob, attractive.
Costume
  • Boy: 1990's 'look' = ripped jeans (horizontal slits across the knee) for 'grunge' look. Nirvana cut off tshirt denoting that he is interested in Nirvana and connoting that Nirvana were popular in 1991.
  • Girl: 1991 'Grunge' look, strappy Nirvana top and long brown skirt.


Music
  • Nirvana (to show era)
  • ''Aint No Sunshine'' by Bill Withers from 1971











PLOT

Boy (brown hair) and girl (blonde hair, possibly connoting that she is a scream queen) on sofa together watching television (One of Nirvana's concerts) diagetic sound. Colour TV (because colour TV was introduced in 1974 and the film opening is set in 1991)
Medium high angle shot of boy and girl sat together on the sofa.
Boy: ''Happy Valentines Day babe'' in an english accent, denoting that its valentines day and also denoting that the boy is english, possibly connoting that the film is set in the UK.
Medium close up shot of boy falling asleep.
Close up of boy waking up, expanding into a long shot to reveal that the girl is no longer next to the boy and there is a bloodied kitchen knife replacing her by his side, blood down the boys face and blood down the boys clothing.
Long shot of boy moving off the sofa and into the next room trying to find the girl, shouting 'Marion' or 'Janet' (intertextual reference from John Carpenters Psycho).
Medium close up shot of boys feet walking up the stairs.
Point of view shot of boy walking along the corridor and stopping at a bloodied hand printed door frame and door.
Over the shoulder shot of boy opening the door to find white tiled bloodied walls and girl lied across the bath with bloodied clothes and multiple stab wounds.
Medium high angle shot of the dead girl in the bath.
Medium close up shot of the boy screaming: 'Janet!' or 'Marion!', as this happens, effect is used to make the shot fuzzy.
BLACK AND WHITE shots used to connote that the boy is in a flashback.
Point of view shot of the boy walking into the bathroom as girl is washing her hands.
Girl laughs and says 'Norman?' then looks down at the knife.
Close up of the knife in boys hand.
Medium close up P.O.V shot of girl struggling to defend herself against the knife, camera moving around and girl pushing camera out of way.
Hand goes over the camera to create a black screen, diagetic screams and banging is heard.
COLOUR SCREEN shots used again to connote that the boy is out of the flashback.
Long shot of the back of the boy stood in the same position as he was before the flashback.
Long shot of the boy getting into the bath with his dead girlfriend.
Medium close up of the boy pointing the knife towards his chest, the boy is crying.
Screen goes black and diagetic screams are heard from the same person.
Non diagetic radio sound with fuzz audio is heard, formal and fast language is used to connote that the radio is a news report, a brittish accented woman says "17 year old's Marion Crane and Norman Bates (Or Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins) deceased bodies were discovered in a bath in their hometown of Leeds on February 14th 1991, police suspect a greusome murder followed by suicide"
White text appears on the black screen with director, followed by actors and editor.
At the same time, Bill Withers 'Aint No Sunshine' is played.


Friday, November 18, 2011

Hammer Horror

  • Dominated throughout the 1960s
  • American and British
  • Teens werent the main characters (20s + 30s)
  • Middle/Upper class characters (contrast with working class from slasher and horror genre)
  • Influenced by sex (eg Countess Dracula)
  • Alot of stereotypical horror characters eg Frankenstein or Dracula
  • Phallic aspects = using teeth as knives
  • The bite of a vampire = sexual metaphor
  • Theatrical
  • Gothic theme (characters and setting)
  • Low budget - repetition of use of sets and stages
  • Often set in the past (contrasting with slasher)
  • Old methods of death which people used to actually do (Eg burn a witch to a cross, behead somebody, or commiting suicide off a bridge)
LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT DEMOLISHED HAMMER HORROR BY ADDING MORE HORROR AND MORE SEXUAL REFERENCES, WHICH THE AUDIENCE WERE MORE INTERESTED IN.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Representations in SCREAM

I chose the 1996 slasher movie scream to explore the different representations in a slasher movie.
The first character that is shown on the screen is an attractive late teen years girl, whom seems oblivious to the dangers around her. The representations of the girl being shown first may connote that the film is 'sexual' and sells to the male gender. Another interpretation of the blonde girl being shown first is that she is the 'scream queen', a typical blonde attractive sexually active dumb girl, who in the killers mind, deserves to die, this representation also shows that the killer may be a misogynistic, someone who has a hate for the female gender and therefor kills them.

The general audience of this film are teenagers, this is represented by the age of the scream queen and her boyfriend, teenagers can relate to the social norms of the film, for example, the scream queen has a boyfriend and the scream queen makes popcorn and likes 'scary movies'.
Another way the intended audience may be shown is how the adults do not make dominant decisions and arent a big part of the opening scene of SCREAM, they fail to save their daughter which portrays that they are useless and not authorative, which may be real teenage audiences opinions on adults.

In SCREAM, the target primary audience are males, as this horror film would particularly interest males because of the gore, violence and the scream queen.
The scream queen is usually a blonde haired, busty pretty girl who on nearly all occasions (unless the film is going against general slasher conventions) is killed.
Scary Movie represents a good rip off scream queen as they over identify with the stereotype of a scream queen and exaggerate her character.



The killer 'ghostface' in the film is not presented as being heterosexual or homosexual, yet he stabs his victims, the killer could be phallic, therefore he is metaphorically raping his victims, but his first victim was the scream queens boyfriend which could show interpretations of homosexuality. Ghostface then kills the scream queen, which could be oedipal, he could be homosexual and frustrated by it so then takes his frustration out on the girl.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

My Mise En Scene Practice: School Rules



As a group, Tom and I created a short film which focused primarily on mise-en-scene. We did this by using a secluded part of the school to shoot our film which had the plot of an abandoned school in which teenagers used to hang around, and two unlucky teenagers ended up being stalked and killed. Yet narrative enigma is used as the audience does not get to see the killer.

School Rules Movie Analysis

Our task was to create a film based on the mis en scene, 10 words/text was the limit.

We created the movie on Imovie and rearranged all of the clips to create the film. We then needed to make a soundtrack to our film.

The first thing we did was open Garage Band. To make sure that the soundtrack went exactly in time with the text, we needed to somehow get the movie into the Garage Band and create the soundtrack to go with the movie.

We did this by selecting ''track'', and then selecting ''show video track''.
























This enabled us to drag our video from Imovie into garage band. We dragged the movie into the space where is said ''drag movie here, along the top, as you can see on the screenshot, the film clips are running along the top of the screen.  To mute the original audio from the movie, we selected the speaker button which is on the left hand side of the screenshot, highlighted blue. 



To then start creating our own music for the soundtrack, we selected ''new track'' in the ''track'' settings. That brought up a new icon on the left hand side, below the original audio. We selected the 'eye' at the bottom left of the screen, which showed us different music types. On the right, in the middle of the page, there was an option of the music software list. We chose what music we thought went best with the atmosphere of the film, and what emotion we wanted to provoke on the audience. We started recording the music by pressing the red circle button which means record. We used the keyboard to create a tune whilst recording, we were also watching the movie whilst  recording this so we knew exactly what it would look and sound like.




We created new tracks so that the music would play together on different instruments, so the soundtrack was beginning to work. 

Monday, October 31, 2011

SCREAM franchise.

''SCREAM'' is a series of American horror/slasher films created by Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven.
The films have grossed over 600 million dollars worldwide box office receipts and consist of 4 motion pictures.
The first film ''Scream'' was released on December 20th 1996 and is currently the highest grossing slasher film in the US.
Scream 2 was released on December 12th 1997
Scream 3 was released on February 4th 2000
Scream 4 was released on April 15th 2011

The films follow the character of Sidney Prescott who becomes a targer of a succession of murderers who adopt the disguise of ghostface, to stalk and torment their victims.

Scream (1) was directed by Wes Craven, who was the creator of Nightmare On Elm Street.
Scream (1) was produced by Cathy Conrad and Cary Woods
Scream (1) was written by Kevin Williamson

The budget total for all 4 films was 119 dollars.

SCREAM 1

1 ident is used at the beginning of the film: Dimenstion Films
A text 'SCREAM' then appears on the screen in San Serif text, a ringtone from a house telephone appears and the sound of a girl is heard, yet the audience still cannot see any action, the text 'SCREAM' then turns red which connotes blood, therefor horror and gore.

OPENING SHOT

There is a mid angle medium shot of a home telephone on a table, the phone is ringing, a hand reaches out to get the phone and a medium close up of a blonde girl answering the phone is shown, the steriotypical blonde, attractive female denotes a scream queen, connoting that she will be murdered in the film.
The scream queen answers the phone with a 'Hello?' in an American Accent, denoting that the film is set in America, it also connotes that the scream queen is a polite, well mannered girl.
The person on the other side of the phone then replies 'Who is this?' in a manly voice which denotes that he is male, also he says 'Who is this?' which is used to confuse the scream queen, as well as the audience. The scream queen mistakes the phone call as a wrong number and ends the conversation with 'Take it easy' which signifies that she is laid back, oblivious, and not disturbed by the call, it also foreshadows that something opposite of 'taking it easy' may happen.

The phone rings again, there is a high angle shot of the scream queen picking up the phone, the man on the other end of the line asks for her forgiveness, she replies ''you're forgiven, now bye', signifying that she is still oblivious to the danger of these phone calls.
There is a close up shot of the scream queen putting down the phone, and the shot moves to an establishing shot of a large tree, you can hear crickets in the background and it is dark, denoting that it is night time. There is then an establishing shot of the detached house, obviously set in the middle of knowhere, denoting that the house is isolated, possibly foreshadowing the fact that nobody will save the girl, and/or connoting that there is somebody outside of the house. The swing by the house is swinging which denotes that it is windy, or that it has just been touched.
The shot moves to a gas cooker which makes a loud sound as the fire on the panel is turned on, which could unsettle the audience, the scream queen puts popcorn on the hob, connoting teenage culture or foreshadowing that she is about to watch a film.
There is a medium shot of the scream queen showing that she is alone in the kitchen, the phone rings yet again, she makes small talk with the same man on the end of the phone, he then says ''you tell me your name, and ill tell you mine'' which could be interpreted as rather flirtacious, sending mixed signals to the audience.
The man then asks what film the scream queen will be watching, she replies ''oh just some scary movie'' which has relevance to the film 'SCREAM' itself, the man then replies, 'do you like scary movies?' in a patronising tone, treating the scream queen as if she were dumb and showing interest, this could be foreshadowing something that happens later on in the film.
There is a medium shot of the scream queen hanging over the counter, with kitchen knives next to her, she gets a knife and starts playing with it, whilst on the phone to the man, talking about the horror film 'HALLOWEEN' which has references to a different horror film, possibly foreshadowing the violence from HALLOWEEN being used on her, other references of different films, for example ''NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET'', the audience is then drawn to different violent ways that this girl could die, using references from the other films.
The scream queen mentions 'Freddy Kreuger' and the fact he has 'knives for fingers' the man on the phone replies 'I like Freddy' showing his sinister side and possibly connoting that he is evil himself.
The conversation then moves onto the man on the end of the phone asking 'You got a boyfriend?' which is highly flirtacious and changing the conversation from horror to romance, the scream queen replies ''Why? you wanna take me out on a date?'' connoting that she is oblivious to the strange act of this man, or possibly signifying that she is used to this kind of admirance and attention.
The man on the phone repeats his questions, he asks the scream queen what her name is, she replies ''why do you want to know my name?'' he then replies to her ''because i want to know who im looking at'',  this unsettles the scream queen and the audience and for the first time denotes that the scream queen is definatley not alone in the house and possibly denoting that the man on the end of the phone is the villian and the scream queen is the victim.the camera follows the scream queen over the house and stops infront of two glass patio doors, possibly foreshadowing that the man will appear at the doors. The scream queen replies ''What did you just say?'' then the sound of a dog barking is used, making the audience pay more attention to the screen, and adding suspense to the scene. The man on the end of the phone shouts 'Dont hang up on me!'', to which the scream queen does hang up, the audience may feel that this was the wrong choice and one of the possible causes of her torture.
The shot moves back to the popcorn on the hob which is about to pop, this could be symbolism for the atmosphere building up and then the action beginning, or in the case of the popcorn, popping.
There is a medium shot of the scream queen as the phone rings (medium shot seems to be primarily used when the girl answers the phone, keeping a theme through the film) the girl trembles her words, she says 'shit' which connotes that she is scared for her life.
The cameras follow the scream queen back through the house, she answers the phone, attempting to sound strong and competative she screams 'listen asshole...!' to which the man on the end of the phone replies ''no you listen you little bitch!' ... 'I'll cut you like a fish!' which connotes that the man is more powerful in this situation, and denotes his first threat of violence, possibly foreshadowing that the scream queen will be stabbed to death. The man then says ''It's more like a game really'' connoting his twisted nature and how he is going to play on the scream queens emotions and torture her.
The man says ''were in the middle of no where'' which proves that he is with her, the girl attempts to leave the house yet all the doors are locked, she replies ''what do you want?'' he insanely announces ''to see what your insides look like!'' denoting that he wants to kill her. He is also connoting that he is mentally unstable at the fact he wants to 'rip apart' a young girl.
The doorbell rings which adds suspense, the scream queen questions ''whos there?'' connoting that she is naiive and dumb, the phone rings and the man on the end of the phone says 'you should never say whos there, dont you watch scary movies? I'ts a death wish!', referencing back to the innocent conversation that the girl and the man had had previously about the scary films that she watches. The scream queen replies using her boyfriend in her dialogue, possibly trying to regain self security, connoting that she relies on her boyfriend to save her, she then continues: 'he's big, he plays football, and he'll kick the shit out of you!' connoting that the scream queen is very much in her youthful teen ways and still cannot help but flatter her boyfriend, to break down the self security wall that the scream queen had just created, the man replies 'his name wouldnt be Steve, would it?' toying with the scream queen and the audiences emotions, possibly admitting the fact that he had already got to her boyfriend and that he was dead, or dying.
The man says 'turn on the patio lights, again'' connoting that there will be a difference to the last time the turned the lights on, to her horror she finds her beaten and bloody boyfriend (Wearing a football jacket, signifying that he is a jock) tied up to a chair, and unable to speak. The man says ''wanna play a game?'' ... ''turn off the light'' the jock screams 'no' repeatedly, connoting that he knows something bad is going to happen to him, the audience also agree with his judgement for the scream queen not to turn off the light. The man then starts asking the scream queen 'trivia' questions, related to the topics that they were talking about earlier, ''Name the killer in halloween?'' she replies. The man then asks her more questions, in one reply, she says 'Jason' she is emotional as she believes that she has the question correct and has saved her boyfriend, which tricks the audience into false hope, yet the man tricks the scream queen into giving the wrong answer and the jock is stabbed to death, foreshadowing the same death as the scream queen.
The patio windows smash. There is a long shot of the scream queen running into the kitchen and grabbing one of the knives that she was playing with earlier. The tense music gets louder, adding more suspense and teasing the audience, the scream queen goes outside, there is a medium close up of the girl hiding. (The tense music gets louder).
An extreme longshot of a car making its way down the driveway is shown, yet again tricking the scream queen and the audience into feeling false hope for the scream queen. A mask of 'ghostface' from a different horror film appears at the window, which is the first time the scream queen and the man unite, the window is broken and a struggle is made. The scream queen breaks free and runs through her garden, past her dead boyfriend, ghostface chases the scream queen, they have comfrontation and ghostface stabs the scream queen in the chest, repeating himself and stabbing her more often, the scream queen kicks the man and breaks free, running towards her parents, yet unable to call for their aid as ghostface has demolished her voicebox. The man (Ghostface) catches up with the girl, and there is an over the shoulder/body shot of ghostface repeatedly stabbing the girl.
The parents then find the girl hanging from a tree after being suspicious of her where abouts.

The opening lasts 11 minutes and 15 seconds.



SCREAM 4


First ident is shown: Dimension films.

The home telephone begins to ring, which is the same as the first movie.
A young teenage girl, ironically brown haired, contrasting with the first movie, picks up the phone. The same voiced man as ghostface in the first SCREAM movie repeats his question ''who is this?'' this could connote that he is a serial killer and now has his signature way of killing people/teenagers.
The teenage girl replies ''Wrong number'' which is different to the first movie as she is rude, this could connote the difference in teenagers between modern day and the 1990s.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Cabin Fever Film Analysis

Cabin Fever is a 2002 horror comedy film about a group of university graduates who rent a cabin in a woods and begin to fall victim to a flesh eating virus.
Directed by Eli Roth, the films inspiration came from a real life experience when during a trip to Iceland, Roth developed a skin infection.


Firstly, the title itself, "Cabin Fever" has a polysemic meaning, the obvious being that the students did infact catch a disease, slang named 'Cabin fever' and secondly how cabin fever is an idiomatic term for a claustraphobic reaction which happens when a person or group is isolated or shut in a small place, with nothing to do for a long time, which is what happens with the students are they are used to urban surroundings, yet find themselves in a woods for however long.


The film begins with idents.

  • Red bus home entertainment
  • Black Sky entertainment presents
  • In association with Deer Path Films
  • A downhome entertainment / Tonic Films production
The whole background is a ''dirty yellow'' colour and also has blotches of red which could connote blood stains, and the yellow could connote infection.
''Starring'' Is then introduced, connoting that the cast is already famous. 'Starring' is also in serif font and at the top left hand side of the screen, possibly connoting that it is not important.
Names of the actors starring are at the bottom right hand corner of the screen, this denotes that the audience will automatically look there. The text of the actors names are in Sans Serif font which could add suspense.


STARRING:
  • JORDAN LADD
  • JAMES DEBELLO
  • CERINA VINCENT
  • JOEY KERN
  • ARIE VERVEEN
the actors names text is also in capitals, in contrast to the 'starring' text which is in lower case, which connotes that the actors names are more important.

Casting by AYO DAVIS and JOE ADAMS
Costume Design by PLOMA CANDELARIA
Production Sesign by FRANCO GIACOMO CARBONE

The sound of a swarm of flys is introduced, connoting drama is going to occur soon and making the audience feel 'on edge'.

Special makeup effects by KURTZMAN, NICOTERO AND BERGEREFX GROUP, INC.

Tense music begins to build up to connote that the opening scene of the film is getting closer.

''Red Dream'', ''Deputy Winston Theme'' and ''Love Theme'' BY ANGELO BADALYMENTI

Music by NATHAN BARR
Edited by RYAN FOISEY
Cinematography by SCOTT KEVAN
co producers BRUCE COWEN AND MICHEAL LAUER
Co executive producer JEFFREY D HOFFMAN.

Tense music and the sound of the swarm of flys gets louder and more persistant.

Written by ELI ROTH AND RANDY PEARLSTEIN
Produced and Directed by ELI ROTH.

CABIN FEVER centers the screen in a black Sans Serif font, in capitals.

OPENING SCENE

Extreme longshot of a lake is introduced, displaying a sunrise, which connotes a calm, peaceful naturistic enviroment, which could forebode tragedy further on in the film

A high angle establishing shot of a rural area is used which signifies where the film will be set and what sort of habitat it is set in, it also gives the audience a guess on where in the world the film is set, they could be thinking Australia or America, they know it is not the UK as there are cliffs and forests, the weather is also sunny.

A low angle extreme long shot of a forest floor is shown, the camera lense moves indirectly down to show a moving long shot of darkly dressed figure carrying a dead rabbit in one hand and a trap in the other hand (the tense music gets louder) this connotes that this character is already a killer, and could possibly be the villian in the film. The dead rabbit could forebode a death later on in the film.

A dutch angle is introduced as the man stumbles past the camera lense, the shot then moves to show a long shot of the man walking towards the camera, which connotes that he is on a journey.

The camera lense moves to a dutch angle of a dead alsation dog, the dog could be mistaken for a wolf which fits in with the woods habitat.

The dark clothed man says ''Hey Boy'', which denotes that he is not surprised to see the dog there, connoting that he may have murdered the dog.

There is a close up of the mans feet next to the dead dogs head which could trick the audience into thinking that the dog may wake up and bite the man.

The man bends down to look at the dogs injury, he lifts up the dogs leg and blood spurts onto his face, this is showing the beginning of the infection being spread.

NEW SHOT

of a medium close up of a brown haired female shouting out of her window in the car.
she shouts ''College fucking sucks!'' which immedietly tells the audience that she is a student, possibly a rebel, or a steriotypical teenager who hates school. Her swearing also may connote that she is a rebel and has an attitude.

An establishing low angle shot of two traffic lights is shown, connoting the area and how it is different to the woodland, the audience recognise that the habitat and setting has changed to a different place, the traffic lights anchor that the setting is now in a city.
There is loud music coming from the car which is adding to the interpretation of the girl being a steriotypical attitude full teenager.

An extreme long shot of the car leaving the city is used, foreboding that the teenagers are leaving the city to go to the same place as the dark figure and the dead dog in the woods is.

A 2 person shot of a couple in the front is shown to show romance in the group, and 2 boys and one blonde haired girl is shown in the back.

There is a dutch angle shot of the car moving into a quiet if not isolated road with one house on it - near woodland.
The music that the teenagers were playing stops which signifies different scenery and a different attitude in this habitat.

A long shot of a boy with long blonde hair swinging on a rocking chair outside the shop is shown. The boy with long hair confuses the audience into knowing if he is a boy or girl, which could be symbolism for other events in the film that the audience may find confusing or unusal.

A male teenager patronises the young boy as he moves towards him, he is then bitten by the boy, which denotes that this boy is socially unnaccepted and possibly not used to unfamiliar company. This could also forbode violence later on in the film.

A long shot of a large built man in working class uniform is introduced, he is carrying a baseball bat which could connote that he is violent and not used to people outside of his habitat, he shouts 'no Dennis, no' which signifies that this man could be the boys father, it also confirms to the audience that this child is a boy, by his name, ''DENNIS''.

The man shouts at the teenagers, ''everybody knows not to sit next to dennis!' the audience may find this unusual, it could also signify that this boy is always dangerous and violent, and possibly mentally ill. The man then says ''That mongril will give you tetnis!'' confirming that the boy is ill, the teenager that the boy bit then says ''Maybe you should make a sign'' both speeches together could sound as if the teenager and the man were talking about a dog. The audience may be thinking that the young boy could be a villian in the film too.

A medium close up of a large ''jock'' like teenager is shown, he says ''cute kid'', clearly stating that he is the humourous 'joker' of the film and could be the center of comedy.

A point of view shot of the teenage boy who got bitten by Dennis is shown, he is trying to find some water to clean his fresh wound.
The tense music and the swarm of flys sound is again introduced into the film.

A medium shot of the teenager who got bitten by the boy is shown, he is washing his hands in the river, this forebodes that the river and/or water will be used later on in the film, it could also connote that the boy has got the disease that dennis has by dennis biting him, and he has contaminated the water with it.

A sharpe dog bark is used to 'scare' the audience and keep their minds sharpe, this could also forebode a dog attack.

The shot moves back to the single shop, country music is played, and an elderly man with a large cap, big glasses and dungarees is introduced and country music is played, this connotes that the man is southern and the American teenagers have travelled south. The elderly man shouts ''Y'all here for vacation?'' his southern accent connotes that he is a local. A teenager says ''We're renting a cabin for the week', which lets the audience know the plot of the film. The old man replies ''if you go into the woods, be very careful'', which adds suspense and keeps the audience interested in what he has to say.
The man then says ''Y'all have a good vacation now'' foreboding that something bad may happen on their vacation, also leaving the audience in suspense as to why the teenagers must be careful in the woods.

As the teenagers are leaving the shop, with the large jock like teenager at the back, the man (possibly Dennis' father) follows him out, he puts his hand on the jock like teenagers shoulder, connoting that this man is violent. He says ''give me one good reason why you'd want to steal a snickers bar'', which releaves the audience of any hope of conflict and also adds to the comedy of the film; the jock teenager replies ''the nougat?' which connotes that he is a rather dumb character and again connoting that he will supply the comedy of the film.

END

Monday, October 17, 2011

My Stills Film



The class was given a task to go out onto the school grounds and take a range of photos which consisted of different shot types, e.g. close ups, medium close ups, long shots, medium long shots and extreme long shots. We then put these photos onto IMOVIE and created a STILLS FILM which told a story using only these shot photos.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Slumdog Millionaire Film Opening Analysis

I annotated Slumdog Millionaire which is a 2008 British epic romantic drama adventure film directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and co-directed in India by Loveleen Tandan.

Firstly, there were idents.
  • Pathe
  • Celador Films
  • Film 4
''A pathe celador films film 4 presentation' signifies that these businesses worked together to present Slumdog Millionaire.








The opening shot is a close up medium shot of an asian young man sweating, opposing a middle aged asian man smoking the shot is in a dim yellow light. The young man is trying to retain eye contact which connotes that there is an awkward and tense atmosphere in the room.




Sans serif text appears high left of the screen. ''Mumbai 2006'' this denotes the time period and the location, connoting that the film is set in Asia, and was set in 2006. Audio is introduced, a man of foreign accent says ''Jamal Malik is one question away from winning 2 million rupees, how did he do it?'' this connotes that the audio is engaging the audience and beginning to describe the plot of the film. It also informs the audience of the main characters name, 'Jamal'. The text then proceeds to ask a question in the style of the game show ''Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?'' The options to answer this question are placed underneath eachother in a sans serif font which connotes modern day.
A) Cheated
B)Luck
C)Genious
D) It Is Written

The question is letting the audience make up their own mind and forebode their own opinion of how they think the film is going to go based on these four answers. 

The background of the text turns into money being scattered around, which connotes that money could be the subject which runs through the film, and could also be at center of whatever tragedy occurs in the film.

A medium close up of two characters, (supposedly Jamal and the presenter) appears on the screen, they are turned away from the camera, looking into a dark room with strong lights moving around, signifying that the two characters are about to enter the game show.
There is then an extreme long shot showing the view of the room, an audience is placed around the room which anchors that Jamal and the presenter of the show are in the game show room of ''Who Wants To Be A Millionaire''


A new shot is then introduced, back to the dimly yellow lit grotty looking room, the audience then see that the opening is based on flashbacks of Jamals memory.
Jamal gets slapped by the opposing character from the dimly lit room, not the same character as the presenter. The shot then moves to a close up shot made to look like it is under water, where Jamal's head gets ducked in, this signifies that Jamal is being tortured.



The shot then switches back to the games room, the audience is being informed that the games room is present day, and the torturing shots are from the recent past. A medium shot of the presenter is shown, he starts to make fun of Jamal by bad mouthing Jamals job, this connotes superiority, Jamal is below the presenter in a social and superior sense. There is then a medium close up shot of Jamal, signifying that Jamal is infact equal to the presenter, as he creates a come back to the presenters witty comments.



There is then a flash and the shot moves to a medium high angle shot of a girl smiling, the flash denotes that this is a memory of Jamal's, the only memory shown in the opening of the film, connoting her importance to him especially, in the film. The shot is also the same colour as the dimly lit yellow colour which is the same as the torture scenes, which possibly connotes that the two are related.

The shot then moves back to the torture scene, a new character enters the room, he is taller than the torturer, and then starts to tell the torturer what to do, connoting that he is superior to the torturer, and possibly controlling the torture.










The audience are shown from the very beginning who is the victim and who are the villians in the film, by actions and dialogue of the characters.

The boss of the room where Jamal is being tortured then stands face to face to Jamal whilst he is tied up and begins a speech, ''My wife is giving me hell'' is a short extract from the speech but even so this shows that the boss is taking all of his personal anger out on Jamal, and is really set to hurt him.
The boss then says ''Tell me how you cheated'', it then immedietly comes apparent that the two scenes are related. The audience now sees that Jamal has been tortured in the recent past because the game show are unaware of how Jamal knew all the answers which has enabled him to play for 2 million rupees, they assume he cheated, and are trying to torture how he cheated out of him. Jamal does not answer the man, so the ultimatum is that the torturer electricutes Jamal.










Jamal is unconcious, the boss of the torturer starts to shout at the torturer as he was not supposed to make him unconcious, the fear in the torturers eyes connotes that the boss is full of superiority.

The close up of the two men with Jamal unconcious in the back denotes that Jamal is the center (or the topic) of their argument, physically and mentally.

Jamal then awakens and says  ''I knew the answers'' the audienced are swayed to believe him as he is being superly victimised.

The shot then moves to a young boy playing with his friends, denoting a flash back to Jamals childhood, connoting that the audience will go through the film being shown how Jamal knows all of these answers.

The full opening lasts 5 minutes and 53 seconds.