Tuesday, 15 April 2014
Monday, 14 April 2014
Wednesday, 9 April 2014
The Conjouring Marketing Analysis
These two trailers have similar story lines but they also differ in some ways. We get a lot more of the story in the main trailer. In this trailer we understand that there is paranormal researchers included within the film. In the first trailer we do not see them and it only seems to be a family. This shows the audience that it must be serious if paranormal researchers have to be called out. The main trailer also includes more scary scenes. The teaser trailer doesn't frighten you too much although you do have an adrenaline rush as you are waiting to be scared. The main trailer also features the evil creature in it..
Using posters and trailers the distributors increased the awareness of the film meaning more people were more likely to go and watch the film. The main distributors of this film were Warner Brothers. Overall, the film was shown on about 3,000 screens and released in 3 countries in the opening weekend. It then went to a few other countries and eventually 'worldwide'.
Film Distribution and Marketing
What is meant by the term film distribution?
A film distributor is a company which deals with the dirstibution and marketing part of releasing a film by coming up with a campaign so many people know about the film. They will make the films available to watch for the public by putting them in cinemas but also deal with marketing aspects such as the release date of the film.
What does a film distributor do?
A film distributor is a company which deals with the dirstibution and marketing part of releasing a film by coming up with a campaign so many people know about the film. They will make the films available to watch for the public by putting them in cinemas but also deal with marketing aspects such as the release date of the film.
What does a film distributor do?
Tuesday, 8 April 2014
How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Script for Question 4
PhotoshopAdobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program you retouch, reshape, and completely change, distort, or combine pictures.
I used Photoshop to create my main products for my magazine and poster as well as present other parts of my coursework. In the planning stages it allowed me analyse real magazines and posters to get ideas for my own work.
As I already have used Photoshop in the past for my AS media coursework and by downloading the free month trial from the Adobe website. This meant I had a basic understanding on things such as layering and blending options. This year I broadened my understanding of the programme and learnt some effects the really helped my work such as lighting effects. I give this programme a 9/10 as there are loads of tutorials online to help you.
After Effects
Adobe After Effects is a digital motion graphics, visual effects and compositing app.
I used After Effects to add titles with effects into the horror trailer.
As I had never used this programme before I found it difficult to use and had to use the same titles and save over them to get the effect we wanted. I give this programme a 6/10 as I would have thought it would have been easier to use seeing as I have used Adobe products before.
Premier Pro
Adobe Premiere Pro is a timeline-based video editing software application
I used Premier Pro to create my main horror trailer.
This was the first time I had used the software and at first found it slightly daunting. After a few lessons with it I started to pick up some basic skills which were the foundation for making the trailer. Eventually I was able to add transitions and other effects which helped make the final product more professional. I give this software a 7/10 as it was hard to use and first and I feel that there was still a lot more I could have done to the trailer if I knew how to use the software better.
Blogger
Blogger is a blog-publishing service that allows multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries.
I used Blogger to present all of my coursework.
I had used blogger to present my coursework last year in media so I had some previous use of the service. I found that it was a really creative way to present work as it didn’t limit the ways to publish work. It linked well with other services as you can embed the link so it can be viewed. I give Blogger a 9/10 because it is a simple easy to use service with very few limitations. The only reason is didn’t get a 10/10 is because you have to have an account to use it.
FlipSnack
FlipSnack is a web tool for that created a flipping book creation.
I used FliopSnack to present coursework in a more creative way than just Microsoft word.
FlipSnack is a very creative way to present work which is easy to use as you simply chose the file you want it to use and it does everything for you. It also has some features which I did not use but felt it was nice to have the option. I give FlipSnack 8/10 because it’s a simple web tool that helped to make my coursework more creative.
APPLE MAC
Apple Macs are a line of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple.
I used Apple Mac when for when using Premier Pro and sometimes Photoshop.
The mac offered a large screen making it easy to see the programme tools you were looking for but also is a quick easy to use computer. I give the Mac 8/10 as it once froze on me when I had a lot of programmes running at once.
Prezi
Prezi is a cloud-based presentation software and storytelling tool for presenting ideas on a virtual canvas.
I used Prezi to present coursework in a creative way that makes it easier to read.
I had used Prezi before when doing AS media and have used it ever since. It makes presenting work creative and I always prefer to use it than using PowerPoint as I feel it is more professional. I find it easy to use and have loads of options you can choose from. I give it a 9/10 as it is a really creative tool but you have to have an account but it is free.
SD Card
An SD Card is a memory card for use in portable devices.
I used SD cards to get images, videos and sounds from a camera to the computer.
I found the SD card easy to use as when you put it into a computer all of your items are ready to be accessed. I give the SD Card a 9/10 as I had to use more than once card to have enough memory
Power Point
Power Point is software designed to create electronic presentations consisting of a series of separate pages or slides.
I used Power Point to present my work in a different way.
I have used power point before and as it is a Microsoft product the tools are very similar amongst the different software’s they offer such as Word. I give power point a 6/10 as I find that it has become a dated over used way of presenting work and there are now much more creative ways to present work.
Slide Share
SlideShare is a Web 2.0 based slide hosting service where users can upload files privately or publicly in a number of ways.
I used Slide Share to share my Power Point presentations onto Blogger.
Slide Share is easy to use and does exactly what it sets out to do. I give this product a 6/10 as it does not really offer any other services but does allow you to publish files privately or publically which I liked.
Snip It
Snipping Tool is an application which allows you to capture screen shots and save them as images.
I used the snipping tool many times when finding posters and magazines I wanted to analyse and getting screen shots of my trailer.
The snipping tool is really easy to use and easy to find on windows and has the option to have it in the toolbar so it can be accessed quicker. I give this application a 9/10 as it helped a lot with saving parts of images I wanted to analyse.
Survey Monkey
SurveyMonkey is a web survey development cloud.
I used Survey Monkey to create an online survey about my magazine, poster and trailer and publish them.
I found survey monkey a simple application to use and helped to gain information for my audience research. I give survey monkey a 8/10 as it is a simple but you need an account to use it and it has a slightly boring template.
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is a word processor.
I used Microsoft Word for the majority of my evaluations and analysis.
As I have used Word many times before and find it very easy to use. The only issue I have with word is that it can be boring to use and boring to present which is why I give it a 9/10
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website.
I used YouTube to analyse horror trailers and also upload my draft and final trailer.
This is the first time I used YouTube to present work but found it easy to do as I use it on a day to day basis. The only issue I had with it was on the college computers sometimes the videos wouldn’t work as a plug in needed to be downloaded. I give Youtube a 9/10.
Zoom Mic
A type of microphone system that allows you to record sounds at a high quality.
I used Zoom Mic to record sounds for my trailer and also to record myself talking for evaluation questions.
I found the Zoom Mic easy to use and it has an SD Card slot meaning it was easy to access my files on the computer. I had no real issues with the Zoom Mic apart from a slightly bad battery so I give it a 9/10.
Normal Computers
I used normal computers at college to do work.
I found that sometimes they would freeze if I had too many applications open and it would also run Photoshop slowly. I give the computers I used a 7/10 as the majority of times they worked fine when using applications such as Word.
Panasonic Handy Cams
Panasonic Handy Cams are hand held cameras which allow you to take videos or pictures.
I used the Handy Cams to record my trailer and take pictures for my poster and magazine. I found it easy to use and it had an SD Card slot meaning it was easy to transfer the files from the camera to the computer. The only fault I had with the handy cams was the quality was not as high as I expected so I give it an 8/10.
Tripod
I used the Tripod to hold the camera steady when recording for my trailer. It was easy to use and was effective because it made the shots look more professional so I give it a 8/10.
WEB 2.0
Web 2.0 is the second stage of development of the Internet, characterized especially by the change from static web pages to dynamic or user-generated content and the growth of social networking. The advantage of having Web 2.0 technologies meant that having a low budget was not really an issue. As we could use the college cameras there wasn’t any cost in making the products. This meant we were able to produce work really easily and without any cost attached. With interactive sites such as YouTube, Blogger and many more I was able to distribute and promote my work in a professional way that again had no cost. I have now become a Web 2.0 creator as I have created, distributed and promoted my work in a professional way.
To Conclude
Web 2.0 is the second stage of development of the Internet, characterized especially by the change from static web pages to dynamic or user-generated content and the growth of social networking. The advantage of having Web 2.0 technologies meant that having a low budget was not really an issue. As we could use the college cameras there wasn’t any cost in making the products. This meant we were able to produce work really easily and without any cost attached. With interactive sites such as YouTube, Blogger and many more I was able to distribute and promote my work in a professional way that again had no cost. I have now become a Web 2.0 creator as I have created, distributed and promoted my work in a professional way.
To Conclude
having consumer technology, equipment and software available really helped to create a professional looking trailer, magazine cover and poster. Although only having a low budget available we were able to use our knowledge of camera work, editing, sound effects and more to create products which fit the norms for effective advertisement in that they attract audiences and use conventions of real media products.
Trailer Analysis
There are many key convetions in this trailer and it is similr to our trailer idea:
* both are supernatural horrors which inlcude contacting the dead
* there are many disorientated camera shots which creates a sense of fear and uncomfort amongst the audience which is how we want our audience to feel when watching our trailer.
* at the start when we see the two girls running up the hill an effect is used in order to make it seem like a memory/dream by reducing the colour of the scene. This could be used to see part of Dereks life.
* in the trailer they use text in between the scenes to inform the audience that what they are watching is based on actual events making it more realisitic. Tis is a good idea as it makes the audience feel less comfortable watching as they feel it could happen to them.
* the trailer uses a girl as the protagonist which is what we are planning to do aswell as it is a common horror convention.
* there are quick changes between shots increasing the pace of the trailer, creating a sense of panic.
* the use of close ups makes the viewer more involved with the shot making everything more dramatic.
* the use of having the title of the film towards the end helps make it more remeberable which is a feature we are likely to use in our trailer.
* this trailer has a lot of crescendo music which builds up to the horror. This is something we will loom to use in our horror trailer. * the last scene in this trailer tells us the title of the film which will mean the audience are more likely to remember the film. We are likely to apply this technique as we think it is very effective and a god way to end the trailer. * there are a lot of shots where a disorientation is caused which creates a sense of fear for the audience. Again this is something we will look to do in our own horror trailer. * there are a lot of quick changes between shots increasing the pace of the trailer, creating a sense of panic.
* in this trailer of 'Mama' there is sharp crescendo music in the build up to horror which creates suspense making the audience tense. * the whisper at the end by the little girl adds a horror effect to the trailer as she says it in a creepy way. * the use of close ups makes the viewer more involved with the shot making everything more dramatic. * in the trailer they use text in between the scenes to inform the audience who the creator and director are so they can predict what the film is going to be like.
* this trailer has a lot of crescendo music which builds up to the horror. This is something we will loom to use in our horror trailer. * the last scene in this trailer tells us the title of the film which will mean the audience are more likely to remember the film. We are likely to apply this technique as we think it is very effective and a god way to end the trailer. * there are a lot of shots where a disorientation is caused which creates a sense of fear for the audience. Again this is something we will look to do in our own horror trailer. * there are a lot of quick changes between shots increasing the pace of the trailer, creating a sense of panic.
* in this trailer of 'Mama' there is sharp crescendo music in the build up to horror which creates suspense making the audience tense. * the whisper at the end by the little girl adds a horror effect to the trailer as she says it in a creepy way. * the use of close ups makes the viewer more involved with the shot making everything more dramatic. * in the trailer they use text in between the scenes to inform the audience who the creator and director are so they can predict what the film is going to be like.
How research impacted our ideas
When doing research into ideas we already planned to have our main target audience as teenagers. We decided this because as teenagers ourselves we are aware that many teenagers go to the cinema and also watch horrors. When we got our results back from the survey we found that teenagers were in fact the most likely to go to the cinema to watch a horror so this made our prediction to use teenagers as our main target audience more certain. From our survey we also found that females were more likely to watch horrors than males so we tailored the film to suit the expectations of females. We did this by making the lead actor female who also fulfilled the role as the final girl theory. We also applied stereotypical character types that are used in horrors (the athlete, the idiot, the whore, the clever one and the virgin who plays the final girl). We did this so the audience could tell that it was a horror from the start of the film. We felt that a supernatural horror best suited our audience as teenagers were the target audience for recent success of 'Paranormal Activity'. We also made sure we would use the key horror conventions
Monday, 7 April 2014
Monday, 24 March 2014
Saturday, 1 March 2014
Saturday, 4 January 2014
Tuesday, 3 December 2013
Audience Research: Questionnaires
The results of our questionnaire show a survey of 20 people all answering 6 questions each. We can conclude lots of similarities and differences within.
Who do you go to the cinema with?
Parents: 3
Partner: 6
Children: 4
Friends: 6
Alone: 1
To conclude, these results tell us that the majority of people will go to the cinema with their friends and partner. People are unlikely to go alone or with their parents/carer. We feel our film would appeal to teenage couples and friends so these results are promising. This information also has the potential to a secondary target audience in parents as we were not expecting this category to be as high.
How old are you?
12-18: 12
19-25: 4
26-30: 4
31+: 0
To conclude, these results were aimed at your target audience and the majority of people who answered our questionnaire were of that age range. This meant that our results were valid and we could rely on them with confidence.
12-18: 12
19-25: 4
26-30: 4
31+: 0
To conclude, these results were aimed at your target audience and the majority of people who answered our questionnaire were of that age range. This meant that our results were valid and we could rely on them with confidence.
How many times a month do you go to the cinema to watch horrors?
0: 4
1: 10
0: 4
1: 10
2: 2
3: 2
4: 1
5+: 1
To conclude, these results found that the majority of people who took our survey went to watch horrors at least once a month and overall more people watched horrors than who did not which meant our trailer had a large audience. This meant we knew we were going in the right direction with our trailer.
3: 2
4: 1
5+: 1
To conclude, these results found that the majority of people who took our survey went to watch horrors at least once a month and overall more people watched horrors than who did not which meant our trailer had a large audience. This meant we knew we were going in the right direction with our trailer.
What is your gender?
Male: 8
Female: 12
Male: 8
Female: 12
To conclude, these results showed we nearly has a 50:50 split of our gender which was useful. We had to work with the knowledge more females answered the questionnaire when linking questions together and creating our trailer.
How many times a month do you watch horrors at home?
1: 42: 8
3: 3
4: 2
5: 1
6+: 2
To conclude, these results showed that people regularly watch horrors at home which showed us there was a large target audience we has access to. Look back the question asking people who they go to the cinema with could have been improved by asking them who they watch films with in general. This is because we now do not know whether people prefer to watch horrors at home alone or not meaning we can not find a secondary target audience from this information.
What is your occupation?
Student with a part time job: 12
Teacher: 1
Retail: 3
Waiter/Waitress: 3
Other: 1
To conclude, these results helped us have an estimation on what income our audience had to spend on leisure like going to the cinema. As a student myself with a part time job I usually have money to spend on leisure so found this was a good target group to have as they are likely to have more time that someone in full time work.
What attracts you to go to the cinema?
Cast: 10
Trailer: 5
Genre, Director, Talent: 1
Other: 4
To conclude, these results showed us the main reason people go to watch a film at the cinema is the cast. This worked against us as we did not have any actors or actresses in our trailer who people would recognise. Although this is the case the second highest category was the trailer so we knew that an effective trailer would maximize potential watchers of the film.
To conclude the survey as a whole I felt that the questions asked were useful and helped us get a greater understanding of who are target audience should be and also some ideas of a potential secondary audience. Also I felt that is was useful that the main age range that answered the survey were from our targeted age range which meant we could have confidence in our results. Looking back I would have liked to ask another question in the survey being 'What genre of horror do you prefer?'. This would have been able to give us a better in sight into whether we were heading down the right horror genre path of supernatural horror. Although we did not ask this question, with recent successes such as the Paranormal Activity films we know that supernatural horrors have a very large demanding audience.
Monday, 25 November 2013
Ancillary Text Research: Magazine Cover Analyses
Empire Magazine
Total Film Magazine
Empire Magazine
Friday, 15 November 2013
Groups Research and Planning: Group Idea
SYNOPSIS
Uncle Derek was a secretive man, keeping himself to himself and his friends and family knowing very little about his life apart from him mysteriously disappearing for a few years. When Derek was discovered dead in his house, there was no known cause of his death which concerned family members. At the low profile funeral, only a handful of family members and friends attended to pay respect to him. After the funeral, a wake was held at Derek’s house to celebrate his life. The family discovered an Ouija board hidden in a box in the living room prompting them to try and contact Derek to discover the cause of his death. They manage to contact Derek for a brief moment who tells them to stop using the Ouija board before he is cut off. After trying to contact him again they hear a scream and unexplainable events start to occur. One by one they are tortured by the spirits eventually leading to the family member’s deaths. The first to fall victim was Derek’s nephew Kurt (The Jock) closely followed by Kurt’s sister, Ella (The dumb blonde). The third person to die was Stephen (The Geek), the neighbour of Derek. Lewis (The Idiot) and Jordyn (The Virgin) try to escape but only Jordyn manages to get out alive as Lewis gets pulled back in to his death.
CHARACTERS
Derek (The Villain/Victim) – Died mysteriously as the detectives could not find a cause of death. He was a lonely, secretive man, keeping himself to himself. He lived alone in a big house and rarely left.
Kurt (The Jock) – Is a 20 year old sportsman who plays football. He is the nephew of Derek and helped organise the funeral and wake which is at Derek’s house.
CHARACTERS
Derek (The Villain/Victim) – Died mysteriously as the detectives could not find a cause of death. He was a lonely, secretive man, keeping himself to himself. He lived alone in a big house and rarely left.
Kurt (The Jock) – Is a 20 year old sportsman who plays football. He is the nephew of Derek and helped organise the funeral and wake which is at Derek’s house.
Steven (The Geek) –
Is a 19 year old computer analyst who is Derek’s neighbour. Steven attends the
wake looking for information to try figure out how Derek died as he believes
the Detectives are useless.
Ella (The Blonde) –
Sister of Kurt and niece of Derek is a “dumb blonde” who is hoping to receive
some money out of Derek’s will.
Lewis (The Idiot) – Lewis is the adopted brother of Steven who is the complete opposite of him. He does drugs and is unemployed and came for the free food.
Jordyn (The Final Girl) – The niece of Derek, cousin of Ella and Kurt is a sweet, virginal, innocent girl who is smart and aware of her surroundings. She is the only survivor as Lewis is pulled back into the house as they try to escape together.
The Spirits (The Villain/s) – The spirits are all of the people that have previously lived in the house who have been called through the use of the Ouija board. Their aim is to make anyone living in the house join them.
Derek’s house – Victorian house. Quiet street.
Lewis (The Idiot) – Lewis is the adopted brother of Steven who is the complete opposite of him. He does drugs and is unemployed and came for the free food.
Jordyn (The Final Girl) – The niece of Derek, cousin of Ella and Kurt is a sweet, virginal, innocent girl who is smart and aware of her surroundings. She is the only survivor as Lewis is pulled back into the house as they try to escape together.
The Spirits (The Villain/s) – The spirits are all of the people that have previously lived in the house who have been called through the use of the Ouija board. Their aim is to make anyone living in the house join them.
SETTINGS
The Church – Catholic plain church. Derek’s house – Victorian house. Quiet street.
SIMILAR FILMS & INSPIRATION
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
Narrative Theories In Relation To Halloween (Carpenter, 1978) and The Crazies (Eisner, 2010)
Zvetan Todorov was a Bulgarian structuralist linguist publishing influential work on narrative from the 1960s onwards) Todorov suggested that stories begin with an equilibrium or status quo where any potentially opposing forces
are in balance. This is disrupted by some event, setting in chain a series of events. Problems are solved so that order can be restored to the world of the fiction.
Todorov suggested that conventional narratives are structured in five stages:
1) A state of equilibrium at the outset.
2) A disruption of the equilibrium by some action.
3) A recognition that there has been a disruption.
4) An attempt to repair the disruption.
5) A reinstatement of the equilibrium.
This type of narrative structure is very familiar to us and can be applied to many ‘mainstream’ film narratives although it does not apply to the film "Halloween". In Halloween stage on does not happen. The film starts off with a disruption which is the boy killing his sister so the film starts at stage two. Stage three also applies to the film as the recognition of the disruption is the father and mother finding their son with the knife in his hand. Stage four is applicable as the attempt to repair the disruption as when the villan, Mike Myers, escapes from the asylum his Doctor tries to find him and stop him. He also alerts the police who also attempt to stop the villan. Stage five never happens in the film as the the film ends with the acknowledgement that the villan still alive. This was done as it was easy to have a sequal to the film.
Vladimir Propp developed a character theory for studying media texts and productions, which indicates that there were 7 broad character types in the 100 tales he analysed, which could be applied to other media:
1) The villain (struggles against the hero)
2) The donor (prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object)
3) The (magical) helper (helps the hero in the quest)
4) The princess (person the hero marries, often sought for during the narrative)
5) The false hero (perceived as good character in beginning but emerges as evil)
6) The dispatcher (character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off)
7) The hero or victim/seeker hero, reacts to the donor, weds the princess ctim/seeker hero, reacts to the donor, weds the princess.
Only some of the characters apply to the film. Obviously there is a villain which is Mike Myers as he is the killer. There is no donor in the film who prepares or gives the hero some magical object. You could argue that there was a helper in the film which was the police officer but he didnt do anything major that we could see in the film which suggests he was helping but out of the scene we would believe he was searching for the villan as advised by the Doctor Lumis. There is no real "princess" in the film but we could say that Laurie is the closest character to fufil that role as she is the villans main target. There is also no false hero character in the film and there is also no character who could be called the dispatcher. There are many victims in the film who are mainly distracted teenagers, friends of Laurie, the villans main target.
Levi-Strauss looked at narrative structure in terms of binary oppositions. Binary oppositions are sets of opposite values which reveal the structure of media texts. An example would be GOOD and EVIL - we understand the concept of GOOD as being the opposite of EVIL. Levi -Strauss was not so interested in looking at the order in which events were arranged inthe plot. He looked instead for deeper arrangements of themes. There are many opposing themes in Halloween, which are:
- good VS evil - Laurie and Mike
- young and innocent VS older and wiser - children, Laurie and Doctor Loomis
- virginal VS promiscuous - Laurie and her friends
- aware VS unaware - Laure, her friends and The Sheriff
- light VS dark - daytime and nightime
- life VS death - Laurie, children, Doctor Loomis survive and Lauries friends die
Bordwell and Thompson defined narratives as 'a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship [...] occurring in time and space'. They believe that a narrative typically begins with one situation, a series of changes occur according to a pattern of cause and effect; finally a new situation arises that brings the end of he narrative. Narrative shapes material in terms of time and space-it defines where things take place, when they take place, how quickly they take place. Technical techniques are used to manipulate our awareness of time and place; flashbacks, replays of action, slow motion, speeding up, jumping between places and times. When we watch a film we naturally try to make a connection and try and see a cause and effect. This is by far the most important factor in narrative because even if there is no obvious connection, we still try to make one, we do this because this is what we do to make sense of the world. The events are very clear in Halloween.
are in balance. This is disrupted by some event, setting in chain a series of events. Problems are solved so that order can be restored to the world of the fiction.
Todorov suggested that conventional narratives are structured in five stages:
1) A state of equilibrium at the outset.
2) A disruption of the equilibrium by some action.
3) A recognition that there has been a disruption.
4) An attempt to repair the disruption.
5) A reinstatement of the equilibrium.
This type of narrative structure is very familiar to us and can be applied to many ‘mainstream’ film narratives although it does not apply to the film "Halloween". In Halloween stage on does not happen. The film starts off with a disruption which is the boy killing his sister so the film starts at stage two. Stage three also applies to the film as the recognition of the disruption is the father and mother finding their son with the knife in his hand. Stage four is applicable as the attempt to repair the disruption as when the villan, Mike Myers, escapes from the asylum his Doctor tries to find him and stop him. He also alerts the police who also attempt to stop the villan. Stage five never happens in the film as the the film ends with the acknowledgement that the villan still alive. This was done as it was easy to have a sequal to the film.
Vladimir Propp developed a character theory for studying media texts and productions, which indicates that there were 7 broad character types in the 100 tales he analysed, which could be applied to other media:
1) The villain (struggles against the hero)
2) The donor (prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object)
3) The (magical) helper (helps the hero in the quest)
4) The princess (person the hero marries, often sought for during the narrative)
5) The false hero (perceived as good character in beginning but emerges as evil)
6) The dispatcher (character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off)
7) The hero or victim/seeker hero, reacts to the donor, weds the princess ctim/seeker hero, reacts to the donor, weds the princess.
Only some of the characters apply to the film. Obviously there is a villain which is Mike Myers as he is the killer. There is no donor in the film who prepares or gives the hero some magical object. You could argue that there was a helper in the film which was the police officer but he didnt do anything major that we could see in the film which suggests he was helping but out of the scene we would believe he was searching for the villan as advised by the Doctor Lumis. There is no real "princess" in the film but we could say that Laurie is the closest character to fufil that role as she is the villans main target. There is also no false hero character in the film and there is also no character who could be called the dispatcher. There are many victims in the film who are mainly distracted teenagers, friends of Laurie, the villans main target.
Levi-Strauss looked at narrative structure in terms of binary oppositions. Binary oppositions are sets of opposite values which reveal the structure of media texts. An example would be GOOD and EVIL - we understand the concept of GOOD as being the opposite of EVIL. Levi -Strauss was not so interested in looking at the order in which events were arranged inthe plot. He looked instead for deeper arrangements of themes. There are many opposing themes in Halloween, which are:
- good VS evil - Laurie and Mike
- young and innocent VS older and wiser - children, Laurie and Doctor Loomis
- virginal VS promiscuous - Laurie and her friends
- aware VS unaware - Laure, her friends and The Sheriff
- light VS dark - daytime and nightime
- life VS death - Laurie, children, Doctor Loomis survive and Lauries friends die
Bordwell and Thompson defined narratives as 'a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship [...] occurring in time and space'. They believe that a narrative typically begins with one situation, a series of changes occur according to a pattern of cause and effect; finally a new situation arises that brings the end of he narrative. Narrative shapes material in terms of time and space-it defines where things take place, when they take place, how quickly they take place. Technical techniques are used to manipulate our awareness of time and place; flashbacks, replays of action, slow motion, speeding up, jumping between places and times. When we watch a film we naturally try to make a connection and try and see a cause and effect. This is by far the most important factor in narrative because even if there is no obvious connection, we still try to make one, we do this because this is what we do to make sense of the world. The events are very clear in Halloween.
Tuesday, 1 October 2013
The History Of Horror
As technology has been improved, so has the quality of Horror movies. From vampire movies to full out bloodbaths, each has come along way from obviously fake blood, which made the films comical, to blood that looks so realistic it could pass for human’s blood.
The first horror film was in 1896 and created by Georges Melies a French film maker, the most interesting fact was that it was only about two minutes long. The title of the film was Le Manoir Du Diable which translates to "The Devil's Castle".
1900's
During the 1900’s many films were made, some of which are still currently public favourites.
The films created during the 1900’s would later see them being recreated as time went on and technology advanced. These films set the basis of what horror films should contain, they were overly simple though, bats were a sign of vampires and could easily be warded of with garlic. In the films there was only good or bad never a person who walked the grey path.
1910
In 1910 silent movies were all the range most notably was the first adaptation of ‘Frankenstein’ and ran for sixteen minutes. It was produced by Thomas Edison the inventor of the light bulb.
1920
Waxworks was created in 1924 and directed by Paul Leni. The film was about a writer who was hired to create back story's for the waxworks in order to boost business. This ran for 63 minutes.
The Monster was created in 1925 and about a scientist working in an asylum and kidnapping people for experiments. This is a scary film for the time as the majority of people knew a person in an asylum, today this would have less of an impact on it’s audiences as it’s full of clichés.
Hands of Orlac is another famous silent movie created in 1924. It was so popular is was re-made twice, once in 1935 and again in 1960. The plot sees a pianist lose his hands in an accident and replaced by the hands of a recently executed murderer. The pianist believes that his hands belonged to a murderer he has gained their predisposition to killing. Strange signs and bizarre threatening letters reinforce these fears.
1930
Now in the 1930’s we finally have sound to accompany the movies. The first horror to have sound was the ever famous ‘Dracula’ which came out in 1931. this was based on a stage play rather than a novel, Dracula has now become a main feature for horror movies as has his brethren (vampires). Rather than being just plain horror this movie leaned to a more gothic nature.
Sound added a completely new perspective to horror films and succeed in making them all the more terrifying. From laboured breathing to footsteps in a corridor to the screams of victims to tense music each a new and more delightfully scary aspect.
In just a few years after two to be precise we had colour or rather two-strip Technicolor the first horror to use this was Doctor X the use of colour again redefined horror films as people knew them.
1940
Cat People was created in 1942 and based on the short story The Bagheeta that was published in twelve years before in 1930. This focuses on psychological horror rather than physical. A woman is terrified of consummating her marriage as it is her belief that she will turn into a feline.
I walked with a zombie was a combination of horror, drama, thriller and romance, created in 1943. A nurse moves to the Island of Saint Sebastian to take care of a mans wife, she falls in love with, said man and vows to do anything to cure his wife. She tries voodoo only for it to backfire when people claim the wife is a zombie because she doesn't bleed. This leads to the mans brother trying to kill her to set her free, there were rumours that he and the wife were going to rum away together.
1950
The 1950’s set of horror’s focus on creatures. As well as the more sci-fi aspect.
1960
The horror’s of the 1960s seem to be more sexually aware than past generations.
1970
The 1970’s horror films focuses on broken families.
1980
The 1980’s are famous for their outrageous fashion and equally outrageous music but they still produced some brilliant horror’s. The 1980’s are more focused on special effects.
1990
The 1990’s were a time of serial killer horror movies, they needed a new topic, something that adds a story to the film rather than it just grossing out the audience.
2000's
As we come closer to the present date the list of horrors grow and become more obscure. Now any and all genres can be linked to horror from romance to sci-fi to adventure.
Some famous films of the 2000s are:
2010
The list of horror movies to date could go on and on each more terrifying than the last. As technology has advanced so has the vision of horror, there is no limit to what can be created. Some notable horror of 2010s are:
Future?
What is now held in store for horror films?
In some children's films you have 4D which allows you to smell certain parts of the movie maybe that?
Or perhaps they will take more of a gamer route and allow people to control the characters of the film and personalise it to their tastes.
The first horror film was in 1896 and created by Georges Melies a French film maker, the most interesting fact was that it was only about two minutes long. The title of the film was Le Manoir Du Diable which translates to "The Devil's Castle".
1900's
During the 1900’s many films were made, some of which are still currently public favourites.
The films created during the 1900’s would later see them being recreated as time went on and technology advanced. These films set the basis of what horror films should contain, they were overly simple though, bats were a sign of vampires and could easily be warded of with garlic. In the films there was only good or bad never a person who walked the grey path.
1910
In 1910 silent movies were all the range most notably was the first adaptation of ‘Frankenstein’ and ran for sixteen minutes. It was produced by Thomas Edison the inventor of the light bulb.
- The Werewolf was a silent film created in 1913 and was made popular due to the fact that it was the first werewolf film, and was directed by Henry MacRae.
- Another highly rates film of the 1910’s is the first recorded edition of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde from the year 1916, this ran for 12 minutes.
- All of the films created up to now have one things in common they were all based on literary crafted texts (novels) unlike today where sometimes the book is made after the film.
1920
Waxworks was created in 1924 and directed by Paul Leni. The film was about a writer who was hired to create back story's for the waxworks in order to boost business. This ran for 63 minutes.
The Monster was created in 1925 and about a scientist working in an asylum and kidnapping people for experiments. This is a scary film for the time as the majority of people knew a person in an asylum, today this would have less of an impact on it’s audiences as it’s full of clichés.
Hands of Orlac is another famous silent movie created in 1924. It was so popular is was re-made twice, once in 1935 and again in 1960. The plot sees a pianist lose his hands in an accident and replaced by the hands of a recently executed murderer. The pianist believes that his hands belonged to a murderer he has gained their predisposition to killing. Strange signs and bizarre threatening letters reinforce these fears.
1930
Now in the 1930’s we finally have sound to accompany the movies. The first horror to have sound was the ever famous ‘Dracula’ which came out in 1931. this was based on a stage play rather than a novel, Dracula has now become a main feature for horror movies as has his brethren (vampires). Rather than being just plain horror this movie leaned to a more gothic nature.
Sound added a completely new perspective to horror films and succeed in making them all the more terrifying. From laboured breathing to footsteps in a corridor to the screams of victims to tense music each a new and more delightfully scary aspect.
In just a few years after two to be precise we had colour or rather two-strip Technicolor the first horror to use this was Doctor X the use of colour again redefined horror films as people knew them.
1940
Cat People was created in 1942 and based on the short story The Bagheeta that was published in twelve years before in 1930. This focuses on psychological horror rather than physical. A woman is terrified of consummating her marriage as it is her belief that she will turn into a feline.
I walked with a zombie was a combination of horror, drama, thriller and romance, created in 1943. A nurse moves to the Island of Saint Sebastian to take care of a mans wife, she falls in love with, said man and vows to do anything to cure his wife. She tries voodoo only for it to backfire when people claim the wife is a zombie because she doesn't bleed. This leads to the mans brother trying to kill her to set her free, there were rumours that he and the wife were going to rum away together.
1950
The 1950’s set of horror’s focus on creatures. As well as the more sci-fi aspect.
- Creature of the Black Lagoon – 1954 – an aquatic beast that live in the black lagoon and kills a camp of scientists, the creature is attracted to a female scientist and kidnaps her to his cave. The movie ends with him being shot.
- The War of the Worlds – 1953 – the earth is invaded by Martians with the goal to destroy all humanity. They can’t be defeated by anything in the soldiers arsenal, but are defeated by the germs in the air that humans have over time adapted to.
1960
The horror’s of the 1960s seem to be more sexually aware than past generations.
- Psycho – 1960 – a woman is murdered by a man will a split personality, him and ‘mother’.
- Rosemary's Baby - 1968 – A woman is impregnated Satan, after her husband joins a cult to further his acting career. Those who try to tell her the truth end up dying or being injured.
1970
The 1970’s horror films focuses on broken families.
- The Exorcist – 1973 – a girl is possessed by ‘The Devil’ her mother just thinks she is growing up , later on she has her daughter exorcised.
- Halloween – 1978 - a six year old boy murders his older sister, is then sent to sanatorium. He proceeds to run away from home and then murder’s more people only to escape in the end.
1980
The 1980’s are famous for their outrageous fashion and equally outrageous music but they still produced some brilliant horror’s. The 1980’s are more focused on special effects.
- Gremlins -1948 - a much loved classic about cute creatures that multiply and turn nasty is they get wet or fed after midnight. While it may have been intended to be a horror many people view it as a children's film or a family movie. It was very popular and this lead to a sequel.
- The Shining – 1980 – a psychological horror where a man influenced by supernatural forces attempts to murder his wife and son.
1990
The 1990’s were a time of serial killer horror movies, they needed a new topic, something that adds a story to the film rather than it just grossing out the audience.
- Se7en – 1995 – an American horror that focuses on a serial killer, each murder corresponds with one of the seven deadly sins.
- Silence of the Lambs - 1991- An FBI Agent works with an incarcerated cannibalistic serial killer to help catch a serial killer who skins his female victims corpses.
2000's
As we come closer to the present date the list of horrors grow and become more obscure. Now any and all genres can be linked to horror from romance to sci-fi to adventure.
Some famous films of the 2000s are:
- Zombieland-2009
- Drag me to Hell-2009
- Shaun of the Dead-2004
- 28 Days Later...-2002
- Ginger snaps - 2002
2010
The list of horror movies to date could go on and on each more terrifying than the last. As technology has advanced so has the vision of horror, there is no limit to what can be created. Some notable horror of 2010s are:
- Red Riding Hood returning to it’s horrific roots as intended by the Grimm Brothers.-2011
- A Nightmare on Elm Street created in 2010, a slasher film.
- The Last Exorcism, a good old traditional posession-2010
Future?
What is now held in store for horror films?
In some children's films you have 4D which allows you to smell certain parts of the movie maybe that?
Or perhaps they will take more of a gamer route and allow people to control the characters of the film and personalise it to their tastes.
Monday, 23 September 2013
The Key Conventions Of The Horror Genre.
Don,t
Ignore
Settings
Technical code
Iconography
Narrative structure
Character types
Themes
Settings
- Small communities or isolated places – more rural/suburban than inner city. This offers more opportunities for a sense of isolation, or for a whole committing to harbour a secret.
- Often places with a “past” which will return. Abandoned house, old lunatic asylum etc.
- Homes, usually with different levels and cellars and attics – places for secrets and past to inhibit.
- Basements connote out primitive instincts and attics our repressed terrors.
- Night time/out of hour – often places of “innocent” daytime fun but out of hours eg playgrounds.
- Religions/ medical institutions – possession, demons, psychosis.
- Dreams in the unconscious mind.
- “The East” – strange, other cultures with weird traditions.
Technical Code
- Camerawork is expressive rather than naturalistic. Weird high and low angles. Canted camerawork is common as it is disorientating.
- Extreme Close Ups on victims to enable the audience identification with terror and to exclude the threat from frame (more scary if you don’t know where it is) Sudden close up of monsters or villains connote invasion of our personal space.
- Point Of View shooting is very important – subjective, hand-help or stedicam camerawork often places audiences in monster’s eyes – raises issies about audience identification. Clover (Men, Woman and Chainsaws) argues this usually switches to the victim/protagonist/final girl as the film progresses. Again raises issues about audience identification.
- Camerawork often makes use of depth frame – protagonist in foreground unaware of monster emerging from background.
- Editing may create unsettling jumps from Long Shot to Close Up, rather than smooth use of Medium Shot. Editing pace may be used to create suspense. Sudden increases in editing pace may be used to create suspense.
- Sudden increases in editing pace when there is not apparent threat creates feeling of jumpiness – something must be about to happen…
- Sound may be very important. Ambient sound for atmosphere, footsteps, heartbeats high in the sound mix.
Iconography
- Visual signifiers of genre are readily apparent. The colours black and red (obvious connotations of darkness, evil, blood and danger etc).
- Lighting expressive and non-naturalistic. Motivated, low-key, high contrast, chiaroscuro, to emphasise shadows. Lighting direction often from unexpected angles – eg below, to create unfamiliar shadows (and connote hell, bonfires, primitive instincts etc, as natural light – sunlight, moonlight, room lights – are always above us).
- A selection of the commoner objects in the mise-en-scene would unclude weapons, (particularly bladed), blood masks, icons of the supernatural (ghosts, moving objects) and religion (crucifixes, pagan symbols).
- Iconography of childhood/innocence – dolls, playgrounds, clowns – children’s songs.
Narrative Structure
- Classic realistic/classic Hollywood narrative structure (normally – enigma>path to resolution>closure, or hero>agent of change>quest>resolution>closure) largely applicable to genre, although there may be “false closures” and the real closure is often left ambiguous for two reasons – 1. To suggest mythic quality of the monsters and 2. To enable a sequel. This conception of narrative structure is based on Todorov’s theories.
- The clear, unambiguous hero of the classic Hollywood narrative is somewhat problematic in many horrors – as the main protagonist, the “final girl” of the slasher and many other horror films is a victim/hero rather than a simple hero, and thus provides a point of masochistic identification for the spectator which is more complicated than in many other genres.
- The narrative of some sub-genres, such as the slasher is very formulaic. Childhood psychotic event creates killer who return to past location on an anniversary to kill again – usually a group od stupid “immoral” teenagers etc with one (virginal, slightly masculine) female character who survives – the “final girl” concept.
- Barthes’ and Levi Strauss’, structured narrative analysis – not so concerned with linear development but more with underlying mythic structures – works particularly well with horror. Binary oppositions abound, for example innocence/evil very sinister atmosphere through a reliance on our awareness of the existence of the “opposite term” to innocence. Hence the use of dolls, fairgrounds, nursery rhymes, children etc.
Character Types
- Main protagonist often “victim/hero” – the final girl, androgynous.
- Monsters with a hidden secret or made psychotic by an earlier event.
- Stupid/“immoral” teens
- Children
- Ineffectual police and “normal” law enforcers (horror is not containable through normal channels).
- The “have a go” hero who gets killed.
- Scientists who do stupid things or over-reach their powers.
- People who refuse to believe.
- The serial killer.
Themes
- Binary oppositions – naturalistic VS unnatural; good VS evil, known VS unknown.
- Return of the represses – Fruedian theory – horror is often close to sex in some way.
- The hidden evil inside.
- What lies on the other side of death?
- The “documentary”.
- The mass incarnate infestation.
- The unknown, unfolding terror.
- Creature from beyond.
Ignore
Settings
Technical code
Iconography
Narrative structure
Character types
Themes
Settings
- Small communities or isolated places – more rural/suburban than inner city. This offers more opportunities for a sense of isolation, or for a whole committing to harbour a secret.
- Often places with a “past” which will return. Abandoned house, old lunatic asylum etc.
- Homes, usually with different levels and cellars and attics – places for secrets and past to inhibit.
- Basements connote out primitive instincts and attics our repressed terrors.
- Night time/out of hour – often places of “innocent” daytime fun but out of hours eg playgrounds.
- Religions/ medical institutions – possession, demons, psychosis.
- Dreams in the unconscious mind.
- “The East” – strange, other cultures with weird traditions.
Technical Code
- Camerawork is expressive rather than naturalistic. Weird high and low angles. Canted camerawork is common as it is disorientating.
- Extreme Close Ups on victims to enable the audience identification with terror and to exclude the threat from frame (more scary if you don’t know where it is) Sudden close up of monsters or villains connote invasion of our personal space.
- Point Of View shooting is very important – subjective, hand-help or stedicam camerawork often places audiences in monster’s eyes – raises issies about audience identification. Clover (Men, Woman and Chainsaws) argues this usually switches to the victim/protagonist/final girl as the film progresses. Again raises issues about audience identification.
- Camerawork often makes use of depth frame – protagonist in foreground unaware of monster emerging from background.
- Editing may create unsettling jumps from Long Shot to Close Up, rather than smooth use of Medium Shot. Editing pace may be used to create suspense. Sudden increases in editing pace may be used to create suspense.
- Sudden increases in editing pace when there is not apparent threat creates feeling of jumpiness – something must be about to happen…
- Sound may be very important. Ambient sound for atmosphere, footsteps, heartbeats high in the sound mix.
Iconography
- Visual signifiers of genre are readily apparent. The colours black and red (obvious connotations of darkness, evil, blood and danger etc).
- Lighting expressive and non-naturalistic. Motivated, low-key, high contrast, chiaroscuro, to emphasise shadows. Lighting direction often from unexpected angles – eg below, to create unfamiliar shadows (and connote hell, bonfires, primitive instincts etc, as natural light – sunlight, moonlight, room lights – are always above us).
- A selection of the commoner objects in the mise-en-scene would unclude weapons, (particularly bladed), blood masks, icons of the supernatural (ghosts, moving objects) and religion (crucifixes, pagan symbols).
- Iconography of childhood/innocence – dolls, playgrounds, clowns – children’s songs.
Narrative Structure
- Classic realistic/classic Hollywood narrative structure (normally – enigma>path to resolution>closure, or hero>agent of change>quest>resolution>closure) largely applicable to genre, although there may be “false closures” and the real closure is often left ambiguous for two reasons – 1. To suggest mythic quality of the monsters and 2. To enable a sequel. This conception of narrative structure is based on Todorov’s theories.
- The clear, unambiguous hero of the classic Hollywood narrative is somewhat problematic in many horrors – as the main protagonist, the “final girl” of the slasher and many other horror films is a victim/hero rather than a simple hero, and thus provides a point of masochistic identification for the spectator which is more complicated than in many other genres.
- The narrative of some sub-genres, such as the slasher is very formulaic. Childhood psychotic event creates killer who return to past location on an anniversary to kill again – usually a group od stupid “immoral” teenagers etc with one (virginal, slightly masculine) female character who survives – the “final girl” concept.
- Barthes’ and Levi Strauss’, structured narrative analysis – not so concerned with linear development but more with underlying mythic structures – works particularly well with horror. Binary oppositions abound, for example innocence/evil very sinister atmosphere through a reliance on our awareness of the existence of the “opposite term” to innocence. Hence the use of dolls, fairgrounds, nursery rhymes, children etc.
Character Types
- Main protagonist often “victim/hero” – the final girl, androgynous.
- Monsters with a hidden secret or made psychotic by an earlier event.
- Stupid/“immoral” teens
- Children
- Ineffectual police and “normal” law enforcers (horror is not containable through normal channels).
- The “have a go” hero who gets killed.
- Scientists who do stupid things or over-reach their powers.
- People who refuse to believe.
- The serial killer.
Themes
- Binary oppositions – naturalistic VS unnatural; good VS evil, known VS unknown.
- Return of the represses – Fruedian theory – horror is often close to sex in some way.
- The hidden evil inside.
- What lies on the other side of death?
- The “documentary”.
- The mass incarnate infestation.
- The unknown, unfolding terror.
- Creature from beyond.
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