Sunday, 22 November 2009
Codes and Conventions of a horror film.
Their are a number of codes and conventions that appear in a horror film.
Setting - generally a horror film can be set in any location. However there is a theme that runs through the setting, usually they are dark, isolated places where people would not necessarily choose to go/be, as this gives off the scary, "horror" feel of a film. In trailers i have watched examples of settings are: woods, big, old mansions and "normal" civilian houses set at night.
Props - props that are used in a horror film are: weapons, that are used to commit the crimes i.e. knifes, guns, crucifixes. Fake blood is used to show the injuries sustained by the victims and the extent of the crime. Heavy make-up i.e. face paints can be used to hide the identity of the villain an example of this is the Joker in Batman. Masks can also be used to do this.
Colours - The typical colours used in a horror film are red and black. Red is often associated with blood, death and love and black is associated with mystery, darkness, death, all of these are main themes of a horror film. These are used through, clothes of characters (usually the villain is in black or red), the setting usually contains these colours and the props.
Sound -
diegetic = this is always used, examples of this are general speech or stereotypically in a horror film screaming.
non diegetic = this is added post production, it is normally sounds that cant be made naturally during filming and need to be technologically enhanced. i.e. a strong heartbeat
sound effects = sounds that cant be made naturally as they are invented. E.g. a wolf howling
sound bridge = music or a sound that links two scenes together
voice over = generally a narrator speaking over and through the trailer, are very popular in all kinds of trailers, especially used in American made films. A voice over explains the narrative further and adds to the whole ambiance of the trailer.
Camera -
establishing shot = at the beginning of a scene, it sets the scene and if used at the beginning of the trailer shows the equilibrium.
close up = this shows detail of a person, this is very important in a horror film/trailer as it shows the victims face and emotions normally when they are being killed, so this allows an audience to feel close to them. Also used when a villain is found as the close up reveals there identity.
mid-shot = this shows general action and is the main shot used most of the time throughout a trailer
long-shot = this shows setting and surroundings which allows an audience to feel more involved.
POV = would mainly show the victims point of view, as the audience would mostly put themselves in their position, not that of the villain.
Themes and Narrative structure
- death
- murder
- mind games
- torture
- supernatural goings on (ghosts/curses/zombies)
Representations of Characters
Villain - cunning, clever, strange, troubled, twisted, in control, ecentric, crazy and holds on human compassion or remorse. In a trailer of 'Batman' that I analysed the villain was the majority of these characteristics and was easily recognisable because of this.
Victim - helpless, stereotypically an attractive female, attracts danger, weak and scared
Setting - generally a horror film can be set in any location. However there is a theme that runs through the setting, usually they are dark, isolated places where people would not necessarily choose to go/be, as this gives off the scary, "horror" feel of a film. In trailers i have watched examples of settings are: woods, big, old mansions and "normal" civilian houses set at night.
Props - props that are used in a horror film are: weapons, that are used to commit the crimes i.e. knifes, guns, crucifixes. Fake blood is used to show the injuries sustained by the victims and the extent of the crime. Heavy make-up i.e. face paints can be used to hide the identity of the villain an example of this is the Joker in Batman. Masks can also be used to do this.
Colours - The typical colours used in a horror film are red and black. Red is often associated with blood, death and love and black is associated with mystery, darkness, death, all of these are main themes of a horror film. These are used through, clothes of characters (usually the villain is in black or red), the setting usually contains these colours and the props.
Sound -
diegetic = this is always used, examples of this are general speech or stereotypically in a horror film screaming.
non diegetic = this is added post production, it is normally sounds that cant be made naturally during filming and need to be technologically enhanced. i.e. a strong heartbeat
sound effects = sounds that cant be made naturally as they are invented. E.g. a wolf howling
sound bridge = music or a sound that links two scenes together
voice over = generally a narrator speaking over and through the trailer, are very popular in all kinds of trailers, especially used in American made films. A voice over explains the narrative further and adds to the whole ambiance of the trailer.
Camera -
establishing shot = at the beginning of a scene, it sets the scene and if used at the beginning of the trailer shows the equilibrium.
close up = this shows detail of a person, this is very important in a horror film/trailer as it shows the victims face and emotions normally when they are being killed, so this allows an audience to feel close to them. Also used when a villain is found as the close up reveals there identity.
mid-shot = this shows general action and is the main shot used most of the time throughout a trailer
long-shot = this shows setting and surroundings which allows an audience to feel more involved.
POV = would mainly show the victims point of view, as the audience would mostly put themselves in their position, not that of the villain.
Themes and Narrative structure
- death
- murder
- mind games
- torture
- supernatural goings on (ghosts/curses/zombies)
Representations of Characters
Villain - cunning, clever, strange, troubled, twisted, in control, ecentric, crazy and holds on human compassion or remorse. In a trailer of 'Batman' that I analysed the villain was the majority of these characteristics and was easily recognisable because of this.
Victim - helpless, stereotypically an attractive female, attracts danger, weak and scared
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Deadly Sins
Deadly sins
Sound of school bell.
Camera pans across classroom showing 5 students at their desks looking extremely bored. Showing their individual character through various actions eg: basketball player in his uniform playing with a ball. Geek reading. Goth listening to loud music, class clown lying back trying to distract others. A camera pan, until BIANCA is in the frame. She wriggles looking frustrated and angry until she leaves her seat.
Long shot of her walking out the door. She looks at herself in the door window to see her reflection. Camera bounces back to her and shot turns to a point of view shot, of her walking down the corridors to the toilets.
She opens the toilet door (close up of her hand) and walks towards the sink. She runs her fingers through her hair, while doing so she looks in the mirror and sees a figure of a person in black behind her in the mirror. She turns her head around seeing no one there. She panics and slams all the cubicle doors open to reassure herself that no one is around.
She returns back to the sink were she washes her face. She looks up into the mirror and begins to cough; gradually blood starts to come out of her mouth.
BIANCA
(Panicking making weird hand gestures)
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH
She stagers towards the doors to exit the bathroom,
BIANCA
(Whilst staggering)
Help!
Shot of her staggering holding on to walls leaving blood marks. As the previous figure appears behind her watching her.
Sound of school bell.
Camera pans across classroom showing 5 students at their desks looking extremely bored. Showing their individual character through various actions eg: basketball player in his uniform playing with a ball. Geek reading. Goth listening to loud music, class clown lying back trying to distract others. A camera pan, until BIANCA is in the frame. She wriggles looking frustrated and angry until she leaves her seat.
Long shot of her walking out the door. She looks at herself in the door window to see her reflection. Camera bounces back to her and shot turns to a point of view shot, of her walking down the corridors to the toilets.
She opens the toilet door (close up of her hand) and walks towards the sink. She runs her fingers through her hair, while doing so she looks in the mirror and sees a figure of a person in black behind her in the mirror. She turns her head around seeing no one there. She panics and slams all the cubicle doors open to reassure herself that no one is around.
She returns back to the sink were she washes her face. She looks up into the mirror and begins to cough; gradually blood starts to come out of her mouth.
BIANCA
(Panicking making weird hand gestures)
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH
She stagers towards the doors to exit the bathroom,
BIANCA
(Whilst staggering)
Help!
Shot of her staggering holding on to walls leaving blood marks. As the previous figure appears behind her watching her.
Sunday, 8 November 2009
Step up (Drama/crime)
In class we was set homework to research our chosen themes for our title and opening sequences this will help us to make a successful and effective film;
As Step up ties in with our chosen theme which is Drama i thought Step up would be a good example;
Plot
Tyler Gage (channing tatum) is from the wrong side of the tracks, caught up in a world of drugs,violence and crime. After leaving a party Tyler and his two friends end up outside the maryland school of the arts they break in and findthemselves in the theatre where they destroy the set. the boys are busted by a rent a cop and he grabs Mac, tyler tackles the cop telling mac and skinny to run and is taken to court the next day he is made to serve community service at the scene of the crime........
Director:Anne Fletcher
Hear from the director herself;
17 Again
At 17 Mike O'Donell was on top of the world; he was the star of his high school basketball team, and was a shoo in for a college scholarship. And is dating his soul mate, Scarlett. But on what's suppose to be his big game wherein college scouts are checking him out, Scarlett reveals that she's pregnant. Mike decides to leave the game and asks Scarlett to marry him which she does. During their marriage, Mike could only whine about the life he lost because he married her. So she throws him out. And when he loses his job, he returns to the only place he's happy at - his old high school. And while looking at his high school photo, a janitor asks him if he wishes he could be 17 again and he says yes. One night while driving he sees the janitor on a bridge and apparently jumps in and he goes after him. When he returns to his friend, Ned's house, where he has been staying, he sees that he is 17 again. He decides to take this opportunity to get the life he lost.
Director: Burr Steers
Hear from the director himself;
Love and basketball
In 1981 in L.A., Monica moves in next door to Quincy. They're 11, and both want to play in the NBA, just like Quincy's dad. Their love-hate relationship lasts into high school, with Monica's edge and Quincy's top-dog attitude separating them, except when Quincy's parents argue and he climbs through Monica's window to sleep on the floor. As high school ends, they come together as a couple, but within a year, with both of them playing ball at USC, Quincy's relationship with his father takes an ugly turn, and it leads to a break up with Monica. Some years later, their pro careers at a crossroads, they meet again. It's time for a final game of one-on-one with high stakes.
Director: Gina prince-bythewood
Heres a trailer;
ATL
As four friends prepare for life after high school, different challenges bring about turning points in each of their lives. The dramas unfold and resolve at their local rollerskating rink, Cascade.
Director:Chris Robinson
Heres a trailer;
As Step up ties in with our chosen theme which is Drama i thought Step up would be a good example;
Plot
Tyler Gage (channing tatum) is from the wrong side of the tracks, caught up in a world of drugs,violence and crime. After leaving a party Tyler and his two friends end up outside the maryland school of the arts they break in and findthemselves in the theatre where they destroy the set. the boys are busted by a rent a cop and he grabs Mac, tyler tackles the cop telling mac and skinny to run and is taken to court the next day he is made to serve community service at the scene of the crime........
Director:Anne Fletcher
Hear from the director herself;
17 Again
At 17 Mike O'Donell was on top of the world; he was the star of his high school basketball team, and was a shoo in for a college scholarship. And is dating his soul mate, Scarlett. But on what's suppose to be his big game wherein college scouts are checking him out, Scarlett reveals that she's pregnant. Mike decides to leave the game and asks Scarlett to marry him which she does. During their marriage, Mike could only whine about the life he lost because he married her. So she throws him out. And when he loses his job, he returns to the only place he's happy at - his old high school. And while looking at his high school photo, a janitor asks him if he wishes he could be 17 again and he says yes. One night while driving he sees the janitor on a bridge and apparently jumps in and he goes after him. When he returns to his friend, Ned's house, where he has been staying, he sees that he is 17 again. He decides to take this opportunity to get the life he lost.
Director: Burr Steers
Hear from the director himself;
Love and basketball
In 1981 in L.A., Monica moves in next door to Quincy. They're 11, and both want to play in the NBA, just like Quincy's dad. Their love-hate relationship lasts into high school, with Monica's edge and Quincy's top-dog attitude separating them, except when Quincy's parents argue and he climbs through Monica's window to sleep on the floor. As high school ends, they come together as a couple, but within a year, with both of them playing ball at USC, Quincy's relationship with his father takes an ugly turn, and it leads to a break up with Monica. Some years later, their pro careers at a crossroads, they meet again. It's time for a final game of one-on-one with high stakes.
Director: Gina prince-bythewood
Heres a trailer;
ATL
As four friends prepare for life after high school, different challenges bring about turning points in each of their lives. The dramas unfold and resolve at their local rollerskating rink, Cascade.
Director:Chris Robinson
Heres a trailer;
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Coach Carter (2005)
Genre: Drama, Basketball
Plot
Coach Cater was inspired by a true story, an inspirational account of controversial high school, portray of human courage and conviction is about overcoming the obstacles of your environment and showing young men a future that stretches beyond gangs, prison, drugs and yeseven basketball. Paramount pictures presented a MTV movie in 2005 produced by Thomas Carter and written by Mark Schwhan and also John gratins. Inspired by the life ken carter describing himself as a “little guy from Macomb, Mississippi, Ken Carter grew up with seven brothers and sisters. When his family moved to Richmond, California, carter played basketball from 1973-1977 for the same high school which put Richmond on the news and also put Carter in the headlines.
Making it real
When the film makers involved in “Coach Carter” got together to make a film inspired by Ken Carter’s life, one thing was eminently clear- the man wasn’t just an advocate for education, he also really knew basketball. To that end, it was very important that every basketball scene looked authentic, and to make that happen, Mark Ellis of reel sport was brought on the serve as basketball coordinators for the film.
Music
“In putting together this project, we screened the film for a broad range of artist we felt would connect with the theme and heart of the movie” says Andrew Siater “ the result is a soundtrack that truly reflects and supports, and has become emotionally inseparable from the film. It is a tribute to how the artists were by the movie’s power and honesty.
Awards
3 wins& 14 nominations
Plot
Coach Cater was inspired by a true story, an inspirational account of controversial high school, portray of human courage and conviction is about overcoming the obstacles of your environment and showing young men a future that stretches beyond gangs, prison, drugs and yeseven basketball. Paramount pictures presented a MTV movie in 2005 produced by Thomas Carter and written by Mark Schwhan and also John gratins. Inspired by the life ken carter describing himself as a “little guy from Macomb, Mississippi, Ken Carter grew up with seven brothers and sisters. When his family moved to Richmond, California, carter played basketball from 1973-1977 for the same high school which put Richmond on the news and also put Carter in the headlines.
Making it real
When the film makers involved in “Coach Carter” got together to make a film inspired by Ken Carter’s life, one thing was eminently clear- the man wasn’t just an advocate for education, he also really knew basketball. To that end, it was very important that every basketball scene looked authentic, and to make that happen, Mark Ellis of reel sport was brought on the serve as basketball coordinators for the film.
Music
“In putting together this project, we screened the film for a broad range of artist we felt would connect with the theme and heart of the movie” says Andrew Siater “ the result is a soundtrack that truly reflects and supports, and has become emotionally inseparable from the film. It is a tribute to how the artists were by the movie’s power and honesty.
Awards
3 wins& 14 nominations
Selena. (1997)
Selena. (1997)
Written and directed by Gregory Nava; the story of a girl who had the spirit to believe in a dream and the courage to make it come true. For One Brilliant, Shining Moment...The American Dream Came True. Discover the true story of one of America's brightest stars...that faded too soon. Nava had further directing success in 1997 with the film selena, starring Jennifer Lopez, who was nominated for the golden globe award for Best Actress. Selena was produced with the participation of the Quintanilla family, and her father Abraham is the executive producer of the film. One scene features Chris Perez playing the guitar for the family using closeup footage of his hands and the shot was filmed specifically for the movie
Written and directed by Gregory Nava; the story of a girl who had the spirit to believe in a dream and the courage to make it come true. For One Brilliant, Shining Moment...The American Dream Came True. Discover the true story of one of America's brightest stars...that faded too soon. Nava had further directing success in 1997 with the film selena, starring Jennifer Lopez, who was nominated for the golden globe award for Best Actress. Selena was produced with the participation of the Quintanilla family, and her father Abraham is the executive producer of the film. One scene features Chris Perez playing the guitar for the family using closeup footage of his hands and the shot was filmed specifically for the movie
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