Evaluation of Technical Analysis

To give us a better idea of how many shots we need to take and how to edit them together we had to a technical analysis of a film. We had to list every shot that was taken in roughly 2 minutes of the opening sequence. We had to list the shot size/angle/movement, mise-en-scene and the use of transitions. I analysed 'Halloween II' by Rick Rosenthal. Here are a few of the technical shots:
- PED DOWN from tree, TRACK into house CUTS TO
- MS of mother and kids crouching down CUTS TO
- MCU of mother leaning against wall with a masked man sitting up in background CUTS TO
- ELS of kids running out of house screaming CUTS TO
- LS of a man walking along the street CUTS TO
- LS of kids running along pathway screaming CUTS TO
- MS of man walking towards the house CUTS TO
- ESTABLISHING SHOT showing house CUTS TO
- CU of woman standing up, man stands up in background CUTS TO
From these shots I can understand more about what makes a good horror. All of the shots cut from one to the other which is an effective way of creating suspense compared to fading or wiping. The shots only last for a few seconds which also adds to the suspense. I also noticed that there are a wide range of shot sizes used. This means the audience can see the reactions of the characters and still get a full view of where they are and what is happening in the background. This isn't necessarily the typical way in which horror films are done as they quite often try not to give much away. However, by showing more of the background, the audience can get a better idea of what's going on and, if there are any clues, the audience can try to work things out for themselves.