The Ring Anotations

Nightmare On Elm Street Annotations

Titanic Film Opening Annotations

Here is a moviemaker video of the opening to James Camerons Titanic with annotations.

Development Of Preliminary Task

Here is a short clip of myself and my group talking and developing some shot ideas through practising with the camera. By doing this we think it would help us develop ideas about our final preliminary task and would improve it massively by this practise.

Shot/Reverse Shot

Shot/Reverse shot - this is where one actor is looking at another then the camera cuts to the other actor looking at the original actor. This is usually used to show a conversation.

180 Degree Rule

180 Degree Rule is where the camera should only be placed somewhere inside 180 degrees on a certain side of the 'invisable line' of the shot which may have two people in a conversation. If the camera crosses the line the audience can then become confused as it looks like the actors are switching places.

Match On Action

Match on Action shot is where action that begins in one shot then is continued or is completed in the next camera shot.

Alfred Hithcock

Follow this link to my presentation on Alfred Hithcock.

http://prezi.com/ql9cddskrwif/alfred-hitchcock/

Film Analysis Table

Film	Genre	Conventions (sound, action etc)	Style of opening	Information in credits	Narrative story line of film
Pretty Woman	Romance / Comedy	Non-diegetic sound – piano typical of a romantic film. Action begins.	Panning shot establishes the scene and tells the audience we are in Hollywood	Movie company only.	Hollywood love film mainly a female audience. Romance will be involved.
The Dark Knight	Action / Crime/ Drama	Non-diegetic music building the suspense to the action. Action begins straight away hooking audience.	Title sequence. Fight/Chase/Shoot scene Begins with action as typical for an action film.	Movie company only however the logo has been edited to suit the conventions of the action film as its a dark movie.	A criminal beginning his crime on the city by robbing the bank ad the ‘Bat sign’ shows it’s a Batman movie
Final Destination 3	Horror/ Thriller	The non-diegetic music implies that this movie will be a horror film. They show the fearful side of a fun	Title sequence into the main line of action.	Most of the main credentials are shown such as actions and the director.	The music sets the tone for the movie as it very sinister and also the images of the fair are not the typical fair images they are quite horrific.
Pulp Fiction	Crime/ Thriller	The is a lot of explicit language used in the beginning suggesting its not a film for children but for adults.	Introduction to characters into the title credits	Credits after action. Credits are actors.	The language suggests this film is going to have lots of action and will be fast paced.
The Shining	Horror/ Mystery	Non diegetic sound is typical of a horror genre.	Establishing shot sets the scene of where the movie is based.	Credits of actions whilst the opening sets the scene.	The music suggests this film is going to be mysterious.
Step Brothers	Comedy	Non-diegetic music is not serious and feels good suggesting the comedic feel to the film. Opens with comedy hooking the audience.	Opens with a quotation from George W Bush then into the credits of the movie company and actors. Then onto introduction to characters into action.	Credits of film company. Font is not very sophisticated showing the immature feel to the movie,	The action beginning straight away shows to the audience that this film is going to be light hearted and a feel good film.
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2	Fantasy	The character in the opening is clearly not human then using magic reiterates the fantasy genre.	Opens with action reminding the audience of the ending to part one then onto the movie company credential	Film Company credit then back into the action then returning to the film name then back to action.	The mood created in the opening scene is very dark  and sinister telling the audience that something bad will happen in this film.
Tangled	Animation	The opening begins with a narrative of a character beginning to tell the story like a fairy tale this meets the codes and conventions of a child’s animation movie.	Opens with action and tells the audience about where the story all started. No credits only action.	No credits.	The narrative tells us that the film is going to be easy to follow and have a clear structure. There will be a beginning, middle and ending.
Saving Private Ryan	War	Actions within the first few minutes tells us its a war film as it starts with a battle	Opens with flashback then straight into the action.	Movie company credits	Begins in present day going into of a flashback telling the story of the war.

Horror Shot 5

This is a low angle shoe with the main focus of the house being the window. When the audience looks into the window they can see a girl standing with her arm up looking out angrily. The mood created is fear as she is looking directly towards the camera using direct address making the audience feel she is coming towards them. The square window symbolises her being trapped but also contrasts as normally an audience feels sorry for someone trapped but the audience would want her to stay trapped. Her hand is stretched upwards to make her look angry like she wants to escape and cause harm. Her hair covers half her face to show that she is hiding something. The white house was used to show the contrast between the white and the dark sky.

Horror Shot 4

This is a long shot of a female actress. She is leaning towards the camera to create the effect that she is walking towards the camera/audience creating a horror mood. The iconography of the red top symbolises danger and death. I chose not let her wear trousers as if she did i felt it would not create that the same horror effect as she would not look immortal or horrific. The same as with shoes by giving her shoes it makes her look more human as its basic humanity to wear clothes and shoes. The hair covering her face creates a hidden effect on the audience as they cannot see what is behind the hair. The setting is a night showing the she may possibly be posed and come out at night, the dark background creates a scary mood on the audience as the darkness is symbolic for bad things.

Horror Shot 3

This is a low angle shot. The shot was taken from a low angle to create the full haunting effect off the house. I chose to use a white house as it creates more of a haunted look rather than softer colours such as pink or yellow. The windows are all closed apart from one very small one creating an escape route. There is a contrast between the white house and black sky makes it show up more creating a brighter effect. The tree was caught in the shot as in the codes and conventions there is an old creaking tree in the frame of haunted houses, although i could have caught the whole tree to create the effect more.

Horror Shot 2

This is a close up shot of a female actress. The direct address immediately makes the audience feel uncomfortable. The paleness of her skin shows that she is immortal and also makes her other features such as her lips, eyes stand out to the audience. Her eyes are stretched wide and the focus is directly in her eyes as her pupil looks very large, staring down the audience. Her hair is covering half of her face making the audience question what is underneath and what she is hiding.  The hair is not even or made up looking very scruffy implying shes not of the norm. The way she is clinching her teeth together suggests she is angry and going to hurt or cause pain. The black around her eyes was used for effect to make her eyes stand out in the close up shot and also puts a evil twist on the shot as the iconography of black is dark, mysterious and unknown.

Horror Photo 1

This is a long/mid shot of a young girl holding a knife out in order to frighten a audience.
This shot was designed to make a audience feel extremely uncomfortable, as you can see the full length of the actress and you realise that she is merely a small child. This would worry the audience as the would be shocked to see that she is holding such a sharp weapon. Then they eye wonders over to her facial expression and sees that she is holding an aggressive facial expression and looks intent on harming somebody with that knife. The white dress is symbolic for purity as she is only young yet she looks harmful so there is a contrast. The setting was placed outside in the daylight so that the actor could be fully seen in the light, it was shot was taken in front of the bushes as they form a straight line almost acting as a barrier so nobody can escape. The actress is looking towards were her knife is pointing this makes the audience wonder what she is looking at and feel fearful for the person or object that she is looking at. Shes not wearing any shoes as this takes away some basic humanity and makes her look if she doesn't care what shes wearing or feels anything and only wants to cause pain or harm.

Suspence Example And Definition Voice Clip

Horror Codes And Conventions

 

• Setting is very important in horror films as they create the atmosphere in the movie.
• Horror films are usually set in isolated places of where there is a small group of people or community. By doing this makes the audience feel that the characters are trapped and nobody can help them and nobody can find the protagonist or the creature that is causing the horror.
• The typical horror scene would be set at night because this creates a scary feel and makes an audience feel uncomfortable as they do not know what is in the darkness.
• Typical settings are old abandoned buildings, woodlands, cabins, graveyard and other locations that are dark.
• Horror films normally contain young characters or teenagers as these are seen to be the most vulnerable.
• The genre normally contains the stereotypical young attractive (usually blonde) female and she is normally the first to die, go missing or first to have something happen to her.
• It is extremely rare for horror movies to be certified under the age of 15 and they contain scenes of horror, violence, sexual reference and blood.
• Some typical horror camera shots are extreme close up, low and high angle, point of view and hand held camera action (Paranormal Activity style films)
• The iconography of the colours are mainly black and red. Black is a colour which signals darkness unfamiliarity. Red is symbolic for danger.
• The lighting is un-naturalistic and the lighting is used to scare the audience by creating an effect.

 

 

 

PowerPoint Of Film Genres

http://www.slideshare.net/zakrodgers/film-genres-14431102

Here is a link to a PowerPoint presentation of some different types of film genres as an introduction to the Horror and Thriller course.