Evaluation of Preliminary Task

Last week we completed our preliminary task which we thought went really well. The main aim of the task was to get to grips with editing, and in particular continuity editing. Our brief for the task was to create a short piece of about 30-60 seconds long of a short conversation. We had to include the 180 degree rule, match on match action and a shot reverse shot. We decided to film our preliminary task in the style of a horror film, as this is our chosen genre, and we felt it would help us when it came to the actual filming of our coursework piece.

To begin with, we decided on a location for our task. We decided to use a set of stairs and a long corridor, and we managed to find these within the school and they really helped give our sequence a spooky feel. We then created a storyboard for our short sequence. This included all the shots we were going to use, locations, dialogue and any editing techniques we may use. This helped us a lot as we were able to see exactly what we had planned to do when we were on location.

Our first shot was of Tally, walking up the stairs without shoes on, and we shot this as a medium shot so that the audience were able to see the surroundings of the staircase as well. We then cut to a side shot of Tally's feet on the staircase walking up, and this was as shot as a close up. We chose this shot as we felt it built up the tension, especially as you can't really hear her footsteps. We then cut again to the beginning shot, but further up the staircase. We had to use continuity editing in this scene, so as to make sure the movement form the side shot to the medium shot were smooth and flowing. We then had a shot of Tally in the doorway with the light from the window behind her illuminating her, giving a sinister silhouette. We shot this as a long shot so that the audience were not able to distinguish any of Tally's features, to give her a more horror like characterisation, and also as a leading line, to lead the audience's eye towards Tally. We then had a medium shot of Tally's back, walking towards me, the victim, crouching on the floor. We used a medium shot as well as the rule of thirds so that the audience were able to see the victim as well as the protagonist. The shot then moved onto a close up of me talking, and then a jump cut to an ECU of my face whilst talking. The ECU was used so that the audience would be able to clearly see the emotion on the victims face as they were talking. We then cut to a low angled medium shot of Tally talking, and we used this so that shadow was cast on her face so that the audience were still not able to distinguish her face, and it also gave her a more powerful impression. We then cut to a shot of me on the floor struggling to get away whilst Tally walked towards me slowly. We used a medium shot for this to again allow the audience to take in the surroundings.

We put a black and white filter on all of the scenes and shots in this sequence and also adjusted the contrast so that the dark and light were exaggerated. We used this as we thought it would be really effective in the mise-en-scene of our task. We also used a dissolve effect between some of the shots, as the jump cuts looked too jerky and out of place. We also found two sounds which we used, including a horror soundtrack Tally found on the Internet, and the sound of wind howling. We used the horror track throughout the sequence, as it built up the tension to the conversation and we used the howling wind sound effect in the shots in the hall as it also adds to the mise-en-scene of the scene.

The hardest bit of the preliminary task was the continuity editing, to make various shots seem one long continuous shot. One bit which was particularly hard to achieve was when I was talking, and we then jumped to an ECU. We had to shoot the dialogue twice, one as a medium shot and the other as an ECU. When we were editing the shots, we had to split the film exactly between where i was talking, and this proved difficult, but we finally managed to achieve the match on match action we wanted.

Group Discussion

After a Group discussion, my group and i brainstormed some ideas which helped us plan our final opening sequence, in the discussion we considered the following elements; stock characters, stock location, mise-en-scene, the plot and camera shots, angles and movement. Although we are still waiting to deside our title as we were unsure of what to name it, we thought it would be best to wait until we gathered our results from the audience research or filming so that the title would be catching and be relevant to the opening sequence.
our ideas were the following;

• Stock characters-our man villan would be a male character, and our victim would be a female, both of these would reinforce ideology. Then there would be 1 or 2 extras to help the audience understand the narrative.
• Stock location-there will be a few locations shown in the opening sequence. We desided on the following locations, Forest shot around early evening to give it a natural blue wash and also a park will be used as we are going to have some home footage in our opening sequence.
• Narrative-our two main characters the villan and victim at first were married and lived happily together until our main male character finds out his wife has had an affair and doesnt love him anymore so ends it, the villan then starts to become obsessed with his ex-wife and stalks her and then trys to kill her because if he cant have her then he doesnt want anyone else to have her either.
• Mise-en-scene-we discussed all the elements which occur in this catergory and came up with some good ideas. for example the villan will be wearing dark clothing as this connotes evil and bad things, whereas the victim will be in light clothing this is so the audience can resemble her as being pure. The lighting will be quite errie to create the atmosphere for the viewer.

We found our discussion extremely helpful for planning our narrative, we can now plan other elements around this, and work towards our final opening sequence.

'Alone In The Dark', Uwe Boll, 2005

‘Alone In The Dark’ was directed by Uwe Boll and made in 2005. It falls into three genres: horror, thriller and action. I will be focusing on the first two: horror/thriller. Typical conventions of a horror/thriller are murder, fast pace action, supernatural or paranormal activities and suspense. Stock locations are normally dark isolated places which tend to be abandoned. There tends to be shots in forests, abandoned houses or remote locations. The characters tend to include evil people, victims, heroes, psychotic people, mentally deranged people and some form of controller. The films tend to have parts in black and white or in a blue wash. The music and sound effects tend to be spooky or fast pace and in chase scenes you tend to have the sounds of footsteps and panting. The audiences generic expectations are fulfilled in this opening sequence as nearly all of these conventions appear. The text conforms to the characteristics of the genre as it conforms to the typical stock locations, characters, plots and themes. This helps the audience understand the plot and gets them gripped.

In the opening sequence, Boll uses various techniques to create suspense and an enigma. He uses the rule of thirds frequently which draws your eyes to different things. This can also give the audience clues to the plot. He uses a range of shot sizes to create different effects and perspectives. An example of this is when he uses a LS and an ELS of a boy running out of the darkness in a forest. These are both key conventions of a horror/thriller and help to create a scary and dangerous environment. He also does shots from behind things such as a tree or a bush to create a sense of mystery. At one point there is a shot from behind a bush at night with a search party in the background. This makes the audience think that what they are searching for is hiding behind the bush or they are being watched by something/someone.

The shots are in between the title credits and last for around a couple of seconds each time. This helps to create suspense and makes it fast pace. Also, there are only two subjects that are being shot, a young boy in pyjamas running through a forest and a search party looking for him. The shots are cut from shot to title very quickly without any fading to make it flow smoothly. This builds up suspense and connotes danger and fast pace action. Boll quickly jump cuts from shot to shot and uses various shot sizes to create different meanings. The sequence of jump cuts shows a boy running through a forest in his pyjamas; some titles appear; people searching in a forest, who we assume are searching for the boy; titles; the boy running through some hedges and bushes with sounds of panting and rustling; a close-up of the people searching; the boy running; titles; the searchers and then the boy running into darkness. At this point you hear a strange sound which you assume belongs to an evil creature and then the film title comes up. The titles are in black and white (black background and white text) and the text is in capital letters. The text fades in and out horizontally which connotes the blinking motion of eyes. Also, the boy is in pyjamas which connotes that he has escaped or is running away from home. It also makes him seem vulnerable.

At the start of the film, there is a passage of text which appears in the capital letters, white text on a black background. It is read by a man with a deep voice. He has an English accent and says it very clearly. The passage helps to create an enigma and tells the audience a bit about the plot. He talks about a gate between a world of light and a world of darkness opening and something evil slipping though. There is apparently terrifying creatures that thrive in the darkness waiting for the gate to open again. This is a typical horror/thriller plot as it conforms to the generic conventions as it talks about supernatural activities and paranormal creatures. It also talks about savage experiments that were conducted by an archaeologist in an attempt to merge man with creature. These features comply to the typical conventions of a horror//thriller as it appears that the archaeologist must have some kind of evil nature. It says how his victims survived as “sleepers” – lost souls waiting for their calling. The use of the world ‘victim’ is very important as it connotes that these people did not choose to be experimented on and that they might have been captured.

The narrative is structured in a linear order with an introduction to the film in the past and jump juts which appear to skip out parts of the search. The audience is told about the history behind the plot but is left wondering what happens next by the end of the opening sequence. This makes the audience want to watch the rest of the film. The major theme that appears from the narrative is the idea of twisted minds and experiments taking place to find out what lives in the darkness. Tension is created and maintained in the opening sequence when you get the jump cuts from text to film and vice versa.

The social groups that are represented in this sequence are young boys and the community. The young boy is represented as running away which is normally seen as being a very bad thing to do whereas the community is represented as being caring and very aware of what goes on. The values and beliefs are that the community cares for each other and are organised in searching for people.

The target audience for this film is anyone from the age of around 15 upwards however some younger people may also watch it. The audience reads the text as a horror/thriller film with typical plots and themes. As a female teenager I read the text to be a typical horror/thriller with many conventions but probably find it scarier than a male of the same age.

Feedback #2

Well done - this continues to be a very promising planning blog at a level 4 standard. Your preliminary task was excellent and clearly informed by your group film research.

I would now like to see the evaluation of that preliminary task, as well as your group discussions on your ideas clearly documented as posts on the blog. Make sure you are as detailed as possible on the blog to maintain a level 4.

Preliminary Task!

Saw II, Darren Lynn Bousman, 2005

The film ‘Saw II’ is clearly demonstrated to the audience of being a horror genre. The horror conventions used by ‘Bousman’ are the following; killing, twisted games, graphic violence and evil happenings. It is obvious the film is a horror from watching the opening sequence, as we see someone die at the very beginning, the film introduces us to the type of violence and murder expected throughout the rest of the film. The conventions we can expect in a horror film are some sort of twisted story, which has meaning behind it; the story is being revealed while people are being killed. The generic expectations of the audience are being entirely fulfilled by the opening sequence, as all the conventions you would expect from a horror genre are met, and shown to the audience clearly. Typically you would expect murder in a horror film; it is clear there has been a murder in the opening of ‘Saw II’; however it is slightly more complex as the killer did not actually kill the victim. The text completely conforms to the characteristics of the genre; this is through language used (dialogue), the plot of the narrative and the way the opening sequence has been shot through such things as Mise-en-scene, diegetic and non-diegetic sound. As a result of all these effects, it makes the audience fully aware of the goings on in the opening sequence.

It is vital in ‘Saw II’ that they use all the elements of mise-en-scene, this includes things such as; location, props, colour, lighting, costume and non-verbal language. Mise-en-scene conveys a lot of meaning to the audience; it helps explain the situation of narrative.

Firstly if we look at colour, from watching the first few seconds of the film, it is obvious to see that the colour is meant to be dull, dingy and dark as from this type of colour in the footage we can connote from this that the atmosphere is supposed to be scary and creepy, so we cant really tell the whereabouts of the location. The location of the opening sequence is shot in a dark, shady and sinister room, the room is not very big, although big enough to show the semiotics and other information which might be helpful to the viewer. The location is always important, as it helps to tell the narrative and create the feeling that ‘Bousman’ is looking for, although this is helped by using props aswell, another feature of mise-en-scene. Some props used in the opening sequence which become apparent to the audience are the following; death mask, chair, timer, scalpel and TV. The death mask is the most noticeable prop used in the opening sequence, as it is around Michael’s neck (victim); we presume he is the lead star in the opening sequence. It is clear that the mask is a negative prop this is because it is the tool used to kill him, the mask denotes an object to go over the head, however because it is called the ‘death mask’ the mask connotes death, evil, hate and as though something is being captured. The TV is an extremely important prop as it is what the Jigsaw uses to communicate with his victim. It also allows the audience to understand the narrative a lot more, as he starts to explain that Michael does not deserve his wife and kids, this shows to us that Jigsaw has a motive behind his twisted acts. Props are used to tell the story, they link to the characters and the narrative, piece the narrative together. The costume describes what the character is like, so the viewer can relate to the character better. In ‘Saw II’ Michaels costume consists of just his boxes, this is slightly confusing for the audience as we can not really imagine what type of person he is, although we know there is a reason for him being dressed like this, which will be revealed a bit later in the opening sequence. Then there is Jigsaw’s costume of which sets out to freak the audience and scare them, it has similarities of a clown, which is ironic as clowns play games and then Jigsaw says that he is just playing some games with Michael. The non-verbal language used is especially important in the opening sequence as there is more of this then dialogue itself. the visual expressions shown on Michaels face are pure fear, terror, frightened, and we can tell he has no idea what is going on, just wants everything to go back to normal. When he is look around the room to see where he is and if there is anyway to get out, we can see from his language that he just hopes and wishes there is a way out, fears for his life. Mise-en-scene tells us so much about the opening sequence and what we can expect for the rest of the film.

We must also look at what camera shots, movements and angles have been used as these can also convey a large amount of meaning to the audience, and show us who is powerful and who is weak/vulnerable. ‘Bousman’ uses lots of whip panning to convey Michaels eye movements of where he is looking; this shot shows him looking around so he can gather his bearings and become familiar with the setting. At the same time as conveying his eye movement, it shows the audience the location and what type of equipment is in the room. Then we are also given close-ups of the characters face and equipment, this permits the audience to see the visual expressions on characters faces and see the instruments Jigsaw is using, helps us understand what is going on e.g. shown clear images of the nails and mask. Another shot used is a birds eye view of Michael looking up to the ceiling shouting for help and scared for his life, as though he knows he doesn’t stand much of a chance. Michael looking up could connote to the viewer that he is looking up at God begging for his life. Another sign we see where Michael is begging but close to giving up is when he falls on his knees, could also connote him praying. This shot is done is slow motion to cause more of a dramatic effect for the audience, so we feel the pain he is going through. Furthermore we are shown a shot of his face in slow motion mid-shot, allows us to take in his expressions and view elements of mise-en-scene.

Sound is a powerful tool when anchoring images; it creates tension, pressure and makes the audience nervous. It is vital when creating a film, especially a horror film as it makes a scary image twice as strong. There is lots of music used in this film, using both diegetic and non-diegetic. Firstly looking at diegetic sound they use heavy breathing to demonstrate Michael being scared and panicking, also at the very beginning when turning the light on and off in the background you can hear the buzzing of the light, this just creates a bit more atmosphere. However there is much more non-diegetic sound used such as music. There is music played throughout most of the opening sequence adding more power to the film as it comes across to the audience. The first music played in the film sounds like a creaking gate, this is very eerie and emphasis’s a horror genre. When the timer is ticking and counting down to the time Michael has to get the key, the ticking is emphasised, it gets quicker and louder, this is used to make the audience feel nervous and on the edge to see what happens, makes us scared. Although when the time has run out and he doesn’t get the key, the music completely stops as the mask clamps together, this gives the film a scary silence, allows the audience to process what has just happened.

We learn a lot about characters through dialogue and non-verbal language. The dialogue helps the audience to understand the narrative, as there are clues given in the dialogue. For example Jigsaw talks to Michael through the TV telling him where the key is hidden and why Jigsaw has done this to him, audience involved in the narrative more. Furthermore we understand what the characters are like and how they feel through the dialogue, Jigsaw says to Michael “playing games” shows and tells us that Jigsaw thinks what he is doing is fun and that he is enjoying himself. Michael uses a lot of bad language this tells us that he is terrified of what is going to happen to him. Non-verbal language tells us how they are feeling and helps us to understand what might be going through their heads. The other visual techniques that I believe ‘Bousman’ uses are how he edits his work, he makes his work very jumpy, and cutting from shot to shot this creates tension, panic and anxiety.

The narrative of the film is linear as we are just shown what is happening to him there and then, there are no flashbacks shown. The narrative is quite simple for the audience to understand as it is clear to see a man is torturing another man. The audience are positioned in an observational view towards the narrative as we are just being shown what is going on and can make our own assumptions. Straight away we can see that Michael, the victim, has been isolated, this is established to us through camera techniques and lighting. We can see that he is alone and has no-one there to help him, all by himself in this dark room. The major themes in the narrative is to show us what Jigsaw is capable of and that he is not doing this to random people he has reason behind the people he has picked. Tension is created and maintained through camera techniques, sound and mise-en-scene. They are what keep the audience drawn into the film.

The social groups represented in this sequence are extremely basic as there is not much to say about any social groups, the opening sequence features 2 characters, one of which is shown as being a made up clown thing, the other character is middle aged. He is represented as being a normal family man type of person, who goes out to work and comes home to his family, also represented to us as not being the type of person you would think has done anything bad. In ‘Saw II’ looking at ideological discourse that the peoples set or values and beliefs are being reinforced because it is a horror film and all the characters are male, don’t normally expect many women in a horror film. Traditional gender traits are being shown; main evil character is a male and middle aged. This represents to us our usual horror film styles, in most horror films we see the main evil character is a male; therefore our beliefs are being reinforced not challenged.

I believe that the target audience for this film is for people ages between the ages 18-35, this is because of how graphic the film is and also how complex the narrative is, therefore you would need an older age group to understand and enjoy the film. The probable reading of this film would be preferred reading, this means that the audience understands that Michael is in trouble and is being tortured by another person who believes he has done something bad and deserves to be punished. However the negotiated reading and aberrant reading could also be taken. Negotiated meaning that they understand the narrative and what is happening, although they think it is disgusting and sick. Aberrant meaning that they think a real man is being tortured and that the entire documentary is real not made up. As a British teenager I believe that ‘Saw II’ is an extremely scary film, which is quite twisted, I do not like it as I feel the narrative is far too cruel, my opinion is defiantly influenced by my age and gender as I am only 16 and I am a female, meaning I would probably get more scared as opposed to males, and then because I am younger it would make me jump a lot more easily.

‘May’, Lucky McGee, 2003

The film ‘May’, directed by Lucky Mcgee, belongs in the horror genre, but more specifically in psychological horror. You can tell this from the many conventions featured in the opening sequence. The very first shot we see, after the credits, is of a girl screaming and looking in a mirror holding her hand over her eye, as it is bleeding a significant amount, connoting that someone has just ripped her eye out against her will. Although this scene is more related to a slasher horror movie, it is still a convention of a horror movie. Throughout the opening sequence, it features a young girl growing up. However on her first day of school she is wearing an eye-patch due to a lazy eye which she must wear for her childhood, and is shown to be isolated from everyone else because of this. This use of childish innocence is often associated with horror films, because they are the opposite to the more satanic aspects of life, such as an anti-christ, and give a contrast, perhaps creating an enigma. The generic expectations are fulfilled due to the constant connotations associated with horror movies, they are made very clear and can be easily understood. The text conforms to the expected characteristics of the genre, although there are only a few aspects used.

The mise-en-scene in a film, is vital to show the audience what is happening in the scene, and therefore related to the rest of the text. When the young girl is seen on her first day of school, the mise-en-scene featured is a stark contrast to the verbal and non-verbal language being used. She is seen a school playground, which has a vast amount of grass, on a sunny day. She is wearing a warm yellow dress and there has been some editing used post-production to highlight the colours, and show everything in a warmer or brighter tone. The girl has long light brown hair and is attractive, similar to her mother who is talking to her. The usual mise-en-scene in a typical horror film would be dark stock locations, old buildings and perhaps supernatural activities, which this obviously is not. A later scene is of the girl on her birthday, perhaps her eighth birthday. She is seen blowing out the candles on her cake, when her mother brings in present, all of this is again relevant to the childish innocence featured in horror films. However the present is the first doll that her mother ever made. It is carved out of wood in quite a jerky way, which gives it a rather demented face, and the colours used for her clothing are red and black, her skin deathly pale. The box she is presented in has a glass front, but is shaped like a coffin with dark mahogany wood. Although this just denotes a doll, it connotes a much sinister feeling, that it is perhaps a doll corpse or perhaps a voodoo doll or something. One of the opening shots is of the young girl looking in the mirror whilst her mother fusses over her, styling her hair so that the eye patch doesn’t show. This scene opens with a BCU of the young girl’s upper face, while she asks her mother why she has to wear the eye patch. This camera shot has been used so that we can see she has a lazy eye and as this part of the head is where the brain is, this shot could be used as a signifier to the beginning of her psychological problems. When the scene of the girl’s first day at school opens, there is a medium shot used, and this is used as an establishing shot. The establishing shot is used so that we can see the location and the main characters featured in the frame. The girl is standing in the playground alone, when a boy comes up to her and asks if she’s a pirate because of her eye patch. A jump shot is used throughout the brief conversation, to show the other’s reactions. The boy then runs away to his friends and the girl is once again left on her own, and there is high angle shot used whilst zooming out, to make her appear even more isolated as she appears smaller and smaller with the absence of anyone else. When the scene of the girl’s birthday opens, a medium long shot has been used as again an establishing shot. But in contrast to the homely location, a close up shot has been used on the doll to replace the feelings of homeliness to ones of fear. Throughout the opening sequence there is a piece of music used constantly, and although is not loud or with a high tempo, it is still quite eerie. The opening shot of this sequence, of a young woman holding her bleeding eye socket, features her screaming loudly in pain. This connotes clearly someone has attacked her and feelings of again fear and horror. This immediately associates itself with horror films, as violent attacks are conventions of a horror film. There is a sound bridge used between the scene of the young girl at school and the scene of her and her family on her birthday. The sound bridge used is the song ‘Happy Birthday’, and has had an edited echoed affect put on it until we are at the scene of the birthday celebrations. The echo again gives it a rather sinister feel, and the childish song again reverts back to the childish innocence aspects of horror films. Throughout the opening of the film, the mother is portrayed as being more concerned with the aesthetics of life than anything else. She is constantly fussing with her daughter’s hair to cover the eye patch and she says at one point, "If you want to make friends, they can’t see your eye patch.". Although the young girl does not seem affected by her mother’s actions as she is too young to fully understand, the audience immediately think that the mother have a part in future scenes, and that she may be responsible for her daughters future problems. This is reinforced by the young girl scraping her hair back at school and then making it cover her eye patch again when the boy makes the pirate comment, thinking she may make friends like that. In the opening credits, there are CGI images of falling body parts of dolls, which immediately connotes to the reader that dolls are involved, and again is reinforced when the mother gives a doll as a present to the little girl. The mother says ‘If you cant get a real friend, make one.’

The narrative of the film is of a linear style as it shows three scenes of the girl growing up, however the first shot of the girl screaming in pain appears unrelated to any of the other scenes. Therefore the audience could assume that this could be a flash forward of what is yet to come. The audience is positioned in an observational view, but yet still able to make assumptions of what is yet to come. Immediately we can see that the girl is isolated, due to the conversation in the playground and the camera techniques used, which could be the identification of her psychological problems. The major themes in the narrative of the opening sequence is to just generally give the audience some background information, such as the girl will lead an isolated life due to her eye patch and this could be the start of her problems as at the end of the opening sequence she says ‘What do you think of my pirate patch?’ to the doll her mother gave her for her birthday. This has elements of schizophrenia. The tension is not really created in the opening, as it is just a simple linear narrative but the story within it is quite interesting.

The social groups represented in this text are limited, as it only features a family with one child. They are represented as quite a normal family, however the mother appears too obsessed with appearances and the young girl obviously has to wear the eye-patch, and these details separate them from perhaps a normal stereo-typical American family life. The ideology featured in text is that we should all have friends and if we do not have friends then we are not normal. The mother reinforces this when she says, ‘If you can’t get a real friend, make one.’ And the little girl then follows this advice by talking to the doll. It implies someone should try as hard as they can to get a friend, even if it is in-animate object.

The target audience for this movie, in my opinion is, 16-21 year olds of both sexes. However as the film is rated an 18, it is probably aimed at an older audience. The probable reading of this text is that it’s about an American family, but the young girl has sight problems and so cannot gain friends. AN aberrant could be that that it is a document, as there is nothing that is totally unrealistic or could not happen. I read the text as the probable reading, as it is quite a simple structure and narrative to follow, and I don’t think any readings will be greatly affected by gender, personality or background.

'Mirrors', Alexandre Aja, 2008

‘Mirrors’ by Alexandre Aja comes under two genres; horror and thriller. The horror conventions used in ‘Mirrors’ are the death of a person, evil forces and graphic violence. The thriller conventions used are supernatural phenomenons, weird happenings, fast pace shots and suspense. The audience’s generic expectations of the text are fulfilled in the opening sequence as it conforms to the traditional conventions of a horror/thriller film very effectively. The text conforms to the characteristics of the genre in a way that doesn’t make the plot obvious but still gives the audience an idea of what the film is about along with the fairly obvious title ‘Mirrors’.

The first shot you see is a low shot of a man running and panting but before you see the man you just hear the running footsteps and panting with a black screen that fades into the man. The location appears to be an underground train station as you can see tiled walls and staircases. You also hear the sound of a train in motion which backs up this thought. There is a blue wash used to make it seem more eerie and spooky like a traditional horror/thriller would be. The lights are on but the station is empty which makes the audience think that it is night time which is another convention of a horror/thriller. As the man is running he looks behind him a couple of times which gives the impression he is being followed or running away from something. Also, the fact that he is panting connotes that he has being running for a while. There is then a shot from behind the man and he looks around again. By having a shot from below and behind gives you an idea of the location but still doesn’t show you what is behind him. This is a very clever technique which is used to build up the suspense. The next shot is from the side, following him as he runs past. This then leads to a long shot of him running towards the camera and as he gets nearer the camera zooms out so that there is a gate also in the shot. All of these different shot techniques add to the suspense and the idea that he is being watched. The man then shakes the gate which connotes that he is trapped and wanting to escape. The next shot is of a train leaving a station. At first you see the full height of the train but it then zooms in on the train and as the train moves away you see the mans legs as he runs along the station. This continues to back up the idea that he is being followed or running away from something. The station is also empty and as it is underground it makes it seem more dangerous. As he is running away you can see him run towards a staircase with an ‘Exit’ sign on the wall which connotes that he is trying to escape. All of these shots are done from the opposite station which adds to the impression that he is being watched or followed. The shot then cuts to him at the top of the stairs. The camera is looking up at a mirrored ceiling in which you can see the reflection of the man below. This relates to the title of the film and connotes that the mirrors are more powerful than the man or someone is using the mirrors to watch him. He pauses at the top of the stairs but as soon as he looks up and sees the mirrors he starts running again which adds to the idea that he is running away from the mirrors. There is then a shot from behind him. The camera follows him until he reaches a red door. The lighting in this shot focuses on the red door and the surroundings have almost no lighting at all. The red colour of the door also connotes danger. The door is locked and he has to break open the lock. This connotes that he shouldn’t be entering the room. Everything that the man does is in a rush which is a typical convention of a horror/thriller. Once in the room he leans on the door catching his breath. A steadi cam is then used to show where he is looking. It quickly pans to an open doorway where there is a flashing light shining through. The camera is then in the opposite corner of the room and follows the man as he walks into the other room. The way that the lights are flashing in the room only lets the audience see half of the mans actions which also adds to the suspense. He moves a metal object out of the way which reveals a small open window. The man then says “Oh. Fuck!” This is the first use of dialogue in the film. The fact that the first words are swearing connotes that he knows he is in serious trouble. The room appears to be a changing room as it has lockers on either side and sinks on the end wall with mirrors above. Some of the locker doors start to open on their own simultaneously. There is then a shot of each locker door stopping at a certain point. On the inside of the locker doors there are mirrors and as the doors stop you see a reflection of the mans face in each mirror. This connotes a supernatural behaviour and that the mirrors are ‘after’ him. The way he is positioned in the room means that he can be seen in each mirror of the locker doors and in the mirror on the back wall. He then starts walking towards the mirrored wall very slowly. There is a close up of his face as he starts apologising to the mirrors. The mirror then starts to crack and the man becomes very distressed. He says “I don’t wanna die” which connotes that the mirror is going to kill him in some way. This is a typical convention of a horror/thriller. The camera is positioned so that you can see both the man and the reflection of him in the mirror. The man then starts to clean the mirror whilst repeatedly saying “sorry” as if he is trying to comfort the mirror and stop it from killing him. A piece of the mirror then breaks of and there is a shot of it as it falls to the ground which connotes its importance. As soon as this happens the man stops rubbing the mirror and steps back. He then says “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.” As he is saying this he is stuttering and saying it as if he is being told off. This connotes that the mirror is in control of him. There is then some supernatural conventions when the man bends down to pick up the piece of mirror but his reflection stays standing. The reflection watches the man as he bends down and as he stands back up. The reflection then starts to distort and morph. The reflection has a smug look on its face whilst the man looks petrified. The reflection then stabs itself in the neck and consequently the man is stabbed in the neck but not with his own hand. This is where the convention of graphic violence and supernatural phenomenons comes in. The reflection is cutting across its neck with the piece of mirror but is not being killed whereas the incision can be seen moving across the man and blood spurting out. You can see that on the reflection’s neck the blood has made a cross shape – the incision across and blood dripping down and spurting up. But the strange thing is you can’t see this cross on the man’s neck. Eventually the man collapses on the floor and the title credits come up.

The narrative is arranged in a linear form which helps the audience to understand what’s going on. However, as the film is a horror/thriller, one of the main conventions is mystery and therefore not much is given away about the plot. The only thing that the audience can assume from the opening is that people are being controlled and killed by mirrors if they do not do what they are told to do. This mystery helps to create an enigma which makes people want to see the rest of the film.

It is quite difficult to analyse how social groups are represented in this sequence as there is only one character. However, this character appears to be between 30-40 and is represented as being very vulnerable and weak. The values and beliefs shown in this opening sequence show that there is an ideological discourse on men as being weak and vulnerable whereas men are normally shown as being strong.

I would say that the target audience is most likely young adults and above mainly of the male sex. It would not be suitable for anyone under that age due to the swearing and graphic violence. The plot does also seem to be quite twisted which is more suitable for people who can cope with it. The way that the audience would read the text would be that the mirrors can control and kill anyone that it chooses and that if you are chosen and do not abide by the rules then you will die. I think that as I am a young adult I understand the plot but as I am a woman I probably find it scarier than men.

My Moodboard

For my moodboard I went on the internet and found some images that relate to the horror, thriller and film noir genres. I also added some colours and words which I think describe some features of these genres. When we start to plan our opening sequence we can look back at this and get some ideas about colours and themes.

Feedback #1

Well done, this is an excellent start to group planning. Tally, you need to email me once your work is posted up - I need to see both pieces.

Your research is clearly informing your response to the brief. Make sure you document any discussions that you have on ideas for your opening sequence on the blog.

Moodboard

This mood board is designed to show my group and I the elements we should incorporate in our opening sequence. It demonstrates the camera work, characters and mise-en-scene that we need to take into consideration. On this mood board there are images from film posters, images in the film, props used, style of writing/font used and colours. My group and i will refer back to our mood boards when producing our opening sequence.

'Hide and Seek', John Polson, 2005

The film ‘Hide and Seek’ has a very clear genre; from the opening scene we can see that it is a horror film. We know this because of techniques that Polson has used these being, visual, non-verbal, verbal, diegetic and non-diegetic sound. The opening sequence to ‘hide and seek’ isn’t the quickest opening, however it allows the viewer to become formularised with the characters and try to understand the story. Polson challenges the audiences generic expectations, this is because in the opening sequence it is not that clear to understand the storyline, it may test the audience to see whether they can spot little clues, it will also bring a lot of questions to mind, for the audience to recognize what is happening they must watch carefully. For example in the opening scene it is clear that there is something wrong with the mother, however we don’t expect her to die that early on in the film, it is not obvious for the viewer to suspect anyone who might have killed her. Although we know that ‘hide and seek’ is a horror film, from the first few clips it would not come across to the audience as being a horror film, the first few images we see are of the child (Emily) and mother playing happily, we would not presume that someone was going to die, Polson may have intended to do this as it plays with the audience and what they might have suspected was going to happen. Nevertheless after watching the whole of the opening sequence we know that the films genre is horror.

‘Hide and Seek’ involves a lot of mise-en-scene elements which help the audience to understand what is going on within the film and see that it is a horror. Certain key features help to give it away, for example it is important to look at the; costume, location, non-verbal language, positioning of characters, lighting and props. Mise-en-scene is vital in the opening sequence it conveys lots of different meanings to the audience which allow the viewer to keep up, and be aware of what the situation is.

Firstly looking at what the mother wears when she is in her house, we notice she is dressed in a black outfit, very dull, makes her look depressed and as though something is wrong, the black outfit connotes death, funerals, sadness, the colour black is often associated with black magic, demons and evil. Polson must use colours in the right way to create the right emotions for the audience (colour is a very powerful tool for establishing the correct emotion). It was clear to see from the opening sequence of ‘Hide and Seek’ that one prop stood out, this was Emily’s doll. In every shot that we see Emily, the doll is also in it; Polson may have done this intentionally so that the viewer notices the doll. Furthermore the doll is given the name Alex, this is important for the audience to notice that the doll has been given a name as it means we need to remember the doll, it may have importance later on in the film. We become familiarised with the doll, don’t just see it has a doll. In one of the shots we see the mother taking pills, this shows us that there is either something wrong with her physically or mentally, but then from this we know that we must watch what the mother does, as Polson shows her to be main character in the opening sequence. From studying the non-verbal language in the film, it is apparent that the mother is worried, distressed or unset about something; these may be a series of semiotics to give the audience clues. Also the expressions shown on the dads face show that he is worried about his wife and doesn’t understand what is wrong with her. A key factor of non-verbal language used in the opening sequence which seemed to stand out, was the shot (low angle) of the mother looking down at her daughter, in a sad way as though she knew something was going to happen and she wasn’t going to see her daughter again, he eyes appeared very watery, like she was about to burst into tears. This seemed important to pick up on as it gave the audience an idea that something was going to happen to the mother, didn’t need any dialogue as it was summed up in her expressions.

Lighting allows the viewer to understand the emotion or feelings going on in a particular location, for example in ‘Hide and Seek’ John Polson creates a type of atmosphere with the lighting when the mother has been found dead in the bath, he arranges candles around the bath giving a warm glow/feeling, the candles can be used to resemble horror and also connote religion and dark Voo Doo purpose. Although the lighting in most the other shots of the opening sequence are clear, and don’t necessarily give the audience the feeling that the film is a horror. This film is set in New York, in a family house during the winter. Polson may have wanted it to be filmed in the winter as it adds a certain amount of mystery and makes everything slightly icier and cold.

When filming a horror film it is important to consider the camera shots, movement and angles as they convey different meanings to the audience, they help to tell the story. Refereeing back to the opening sequence in ‘hide and seek’ I noticed immediately that the first shot we see of Emily is an Extreme close-up from a birds eye view, but at the same time we are given voices in the background of a child laughing and playing, from this beginning we assume that everything is ok and they are a happy family. Another shot we are given which helps the audience, is a long shot of Emily’s mum taking pills, however there is more going on in this shot than the mother taking pills as in the fore ground there is a picture of the family, slightly out of focus, this could connote to us that the happy family there once was is now having problems and it is not as good as it used to be. Also when the mother dies, the dad opens the bath door, to find his wife dead however when this happens there is over cranking (slow motion), this allows the audience to take in everything that is happening and gets the greatest dramatic effect possible, then shown a close-up of the wife’s face showing her expressions and emotions. This conveys a large amount of meaning to the audience as we understand clearly different emotions and how powerful the characters are. Lastly panning is used when the dad picks his wife up out of the water, then we see Emily in the background as this happens the camera pans in towards Emily and finally we end up with a big close-up of Emily’s face, showing her emotions and that she is in a state of shock.

Sound is extremely important to anchor images, especially in a horror film, helps to build and enigma/tension. We are given a soundtrack from the very beginning of the opening to ‘hide and seek’ this music is spooky, mysterious, eerie; it is used to make the audience feel uncomfortable and scared. There are different types of sounds used in films these include; diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. The tap dripping, has been exaggerated to make the viewer feel nervous, and we know that there is something wrong, the tap dripping connotes blood and horror. Diegetic sound used by Polson is the creaking floor boards, heavy breathing and the door opening, every little sound adds more tension to the film. Background music used in ‘hide and seek’ is extremely important as it builds the atmosphere, creates an enigma, and puts the audience on the edge. Sound anchors images an enormous amount.

We learn a great deal about the characters through the dialogue and non-verbal language. Firstly we learn a lot about the mother when she says to her daughter (Emily) the following “I love you more than anything else in the world”, says it looking at her daughter, as though she may not see her again, from the way she says this we know that she is not being herself, there is something wrong which she knows about. Also when David Callaway calls for his wife, we know he thinks there isn’t something quite right as he has a nervous and hesitant tone to his voice. Moreover the non-verbal language, for instance gestures and expressions give the audience numerous clues/signs to what is happening in the narrative. When Emily see’s her mum lying in the bath, we can see by her facial expression that she is in shock and has been disturbed by what she has seen.

In the opening sequence the narrative is organised and structured around the mother, and daughter in the main, we are shown there is something wrong with the mother, but also that we need to recognise the relationship the mother and daughter had. In relation to how the audience are positioned with the narrative, we are given clues and signs to help us understand the relationship between the characters, which are the main characters we need to focus on, although Polson keeps the audience in the dark, as don’t really have any idea of why the mother died and who killed her. We are given the information needed so we understand the bases of the narrative. From the opening sequence we can notice that the father is slightly alienated from the mother and daughter, he seems quite distant from Emily, and we presume that himself and his wife might be having problems as they don’t seem very loving towards each other. For example at the beginning when the family are at the park, the David is watching his wife and daughter playing doesn’t seem to join in. the camera work is important here to show that the father isn’t near his family. The major themes used in the narrative that are obvious from the opening sequence are the use of camera work to portray the family, that although they are having problems and something strange is going on, they are putting front on. The music used is a main theme used in the narrative because in its own way tells the story, builds the enigma. Tension is created and maintained mainly using diegetic sound, the music used in ‘hide and seek’ creates the atmosphere needed for the film, keeps the audience involved, puts them on the edge. It is also maintained by the way the film has been shot, the camera work is extremely important as this is what the audience is looking at, the camera shots and movements engage the audience to the film.

The social groups represented in 'hide and seek' are a family who live in America, apart from this in the opening sequence there are no other social groups demonstrated. Although our reading of this film is challenged through ideological discourse. We are not sure whether the evil thing which killed the mother is male or female therefore our ideology is being challenged by the film, if we were to say whether we thought it was a male or female who killed her, then most people would say male, trying to reinforce our set beliefs.

I believe the target audience is those ages between 15-24, this is because it would appeal to these age groups mainly, not too scary for some people but then the younger ages might like it because they find it scary, and so it depends on the ages. John Polson aims at this age group because he wants to challenge there minds about what is going on. The probable reading of this film is the preferred reading; a family having problems, with a twist something strange is happening with the mother and they don’t know why. Although there might be other readings taken from this film such as, Negotiated reading (they understand that the family are having problems but don’t understand why the mother died, not sure if she killed herself, therefore they get confused with the narrative) or the Aberrant reading (they believe the story is real and the wife actually died in real life). As a British teenager, I feel that this opening sequence is clever as firstly we are introduced to the characters, which Is important for us to understand the bases of the story, however I believe we are meant to be puzzled about the cause of the wife’s death. I think that my view is slightly influenced by my age, I may not understand it as well as someone of a older age, it doesn’t seem clear to me of how the wife died, but I do not feel that my reading of this film will be different from a males point of view, I would say it may only vary very slightly because of my gender.

'Flightplan' analysis

‘Flightplan’, Brian Grazer, 2005

The film Flightplan by Brian Grazer is a hybridised genre, as it contains convention of both a horror and a thriller. The specific sub-genre of horror used in this film is psychological. The conventions used in Flightplan to connote a horror film, are the death of a person, and use of mise-en-scene. In horror films, death and murder are frequent, especially in slasher movies. However, as this is a psychological horror, there are a less amount of deaths, and so is more to do with things such as mental illnesses like schizophrenia. Conventions of a thriller film used are some sort of mystery or weird happenings going on. This is connoted by the death of Kyle (the lead character’s) husband and the fact that the FBI and the government are involved in shipping the body from Germany back to their home country of America. The expectations of these genres are fully fulfilled to the audience, as the conventions of these genres are clearly put across to the audience, with perhaps cliched film language such as crows to signify death. This specific text conforms to the genre through use of film language and the structure of narrative, and especially the denotations used, which will then lead to connotations. Therefore, the audience is fully aware of the genre, and their expectations of a classic thriller/horror film are fulfilled.

In the opening scene, we are shown shots of a train station, with Kyle sitting on her own apparently waiting for a train, on a bench. However, the station is completely deserted which is unusual, this may denote that she is either waiting for a train exceedingly early in the morning or extremely late at night, when people are less likely to catch trains. Or it could be to connote that as she is on her own, she is feeling lonely and is perhaps waiting for something to change her life. The mise-en-scene used throughout the opening of this film is crucial so as to catch the audience’s attention, and is used as signifiers as to what may have happened or will happen. There is a shot of Kyle standing in a mortuary on her own, with an open casket several feet in front of her. Immediately, the audience is provoked to think that someone she knows, perhaps a close family member has died. The fact she is standing on her own, in quite a central place in the room also connotes that she does not have many family, or perhaps feels shut off from the rest of the world and has no one to talk to. Also, just the use of a stock location of a horror film such as a mortuary is already a very strong signifier, of death and of perhaps murder. There has also been a blue wash put on in the mortuary, pose production. This is to make the atmosphere of the mortuary colder and with little or no emotions. There is also a scene featuring Kyle and her husband sitting a courtyard at night, with snow. The use of a snowy location signifies that it is winter, and that perhaps the atmosphere between the characters is cold or harsh. In the opening sequence, there is a wide angled long shot used of Kyle sitting on the bench with train at a halt in the platform. This is an establishing shot, although there are3 different locations in this opening. This style of shot has been used so that we take in the situation the character or characters are in, and their location, so we can begin to work out what is going on. The camera then tracks into the back of her head, as all of this is shot from behind her. There is then a cut to a tracking shot towards the front of her. This then continues until we are at a BCU of her face. This style of shot so that it perhaps connotes that she is slowly starting to realise something and she fully realises when the tracking comes to a stop on her face. A jump cut is then used to a different scene, where Kyle and her husband are climbing the stairs to what we presume to be their home, when Kyle asks to sit outside. Again a long shot has been used in this sequence so as to establish their home and their locations, and it is again used once they are outside in the courtyard. Once they are both sitting down there is another BCU of both of their faces. This has been used whilst their talking, showing high emotion is involved and each characters reaction to what is being said. There is repeated use of an electronic mechanic sound, similar to some sort of engine starting. It could be the train engine featured in some shots that has been edited to sound more metallic and vicious. This diagetic sound is used at the very beginning of the sequence when there are flashing images of the train, and it continually builds up to a heightened point where it stops and we are shown the long shot of Kyle at the station. This sound has been used to build up tension, and is used repeatedly in this sequence even when there are no scenes of the train, so we therefore link this sound with heightened tension. The non-diagetic music used throughout the sequence is played on a piano, and has a vast contrast to the fast ferocious sound of the engine. The music is quite soft and slow, and could be linked possibly to death or mourning, which is associated with the mortuary. There are only three characters introduced in the opening sequence, Kyle the main character, her husband who is then found dead, and the mortician. There is not a dialogue used, so Kyle’s only speech is when in the mortuary and when in the house asking to go outside. As she is only seen speaking when she has to or wants something, this shows she is quite reserved and shy, and possibly a lot has happened to her, which we are made to think about as it could possibly be related to her husband’s death. She also stands or sits in quite a stiff position, arms down by her side and her legs aren’t crossed when sitting down and she seems to stare a lot with a sort of dazed or blank expression. This connotes that she is perhaps shocked, is these are typical actions of a person in shock. Again, this is perhaps related to her husband’s death and what occurred. The main visual technique used is post-production, such as flashing breaks between shots of the high-speed train and just generally colours washes to locations. These effects help give more emotion and feeling to the scene, connoting various emotions and high tension.

The narrative in this opening is quite complex and unclear. There are frequent flashbacks or flashforwards to three different scenes. The first being Kyle waiting at the deserted station when her husband comes form the stairs and collects her, the second being Kyle in the mortuary with the open casket and the body of her husband inside and the third being the couple sitting outside in a snowy courtyard at night. There is then a final shot of the dead body in the casket. There appears to be no particular order and we can only assume they are flashbacks, similar to film noir crime elements. As this is so complex we can only assume that something must have happened to cause the death on purpose, and we must try and work it out. However it does identify the main character and her husband well, as she is featured in every shot and there are references to ‘your husband’ from the mortician. The majoy theme that we can gather from this narrative is that there is some sort of mystery behind her husband’s death as the FBI are involved, and possibly horror elements. The tension is created and carried on by never actually saying what is going on, we are constantly left without real answers, and this also then creates an enigma for the audience to watch the rest of the film to find out.

The social groups represented in this opening so far are quite restricted as there only 3 people featured, however from it the audience can see that it features a 30-40 year old married couple, who are possibly parents although children are not mentioned. The semiotics used are also infrequent. When the couple are sitting on the bench in the snow, Kyle looks up to see a flock of birds. This just denotes a flock of crows flying from the tree, but it connotes a much sinister happening. It connotes death, as crows are often associated with death and mourning, perhaps preparing us for what has happened to her husband. There is some obvious ideology discourse throught the film's opening. It shows that the husband has died and the wife is surviving and organising and will be the protagonist in this film. Usually females are represented as the weaker sex, with the males being stronger and surviving. However, the ideology in this film challenges gender sterotypes, by having the woman being the obvious stronger character.

I believe that the target audience for this film is for young adults, about 16 – 24 years of age. This is because of the complex narrative, perhaps signifies the rest of the film may be as complicated and so would be more easily understood by this age range, and they will be able to figure out possible solutions. The intended reading of this text is that a couple have been broken apart by the death of the husband, and as the FBI are involved from what the mortician said, the death is quite mysterious and serious. However, aberrant or negotiated readings could be that this is a documentary or comedy, or that they do not agree with the shots of the dead body used or similar views. I think the intended reading is quite clear, as that is how I read it and I think that the film may be aimed at a slightly older audience than myself. So I do not think that the reading of this text is affected by the age of the audience either. I believe that the text could be quite believable in extremely rare cases, as murders are quite common in today’s society unfortunately, and the FBI have been involved crimes such as murders before. I think older couples could be able to relate to this film more than the targeted audience as they will obviously be able to understand the pain Kyle is going through having lost her husband.