The Quest for Cardboard

So, we decided to go out of class (with tutor consent) to go and get our materials for the film set! This included going to Asda for out fake blood ingredients as well as getting boxes from places such as Wickes (Woo, free stuff!)

Prop List

Prop List

-Chains (enough to wrap around someones body for them to seem trapped)

-plain chair

-empty cardboard boxes - various sizes

- Knife

-Phones

-rags scattered around

-Broken sunglasses

Bedroom

Bed, tv, desk, lamp, tower(desktop pc), laptop, mobile phone, picture canvasses, miscellaneous items.

costume:

VOLNUS

Trousers

Shoes (black)

Hat (Classy(not top hat))

White shirt

Waistcoat

tie

plain white mask(blood later splattered on)

BERNARD

Ripped plain shirt w/ blood spattered

Ripped plain joggers w/ blood splattered

INJURIES

Cut under right eye (top of cheekbone)

Small cuts on arms 

bits of blood running down near the cuts

Saw IV 15 Minute Analysis

First 15 Minute Analysis Of…

Saw IV

I decided to choose Saw IV in particular over the previous or later films as this one follows one man as he is lead through a series of tests, similar in a way to the storyline if our film. The horror/hostage aspects of the film can easily be related to our film and we can look deeper into what made the series both popular and gory, so that we can learn to make our film better.

The opening sequence use music that has a rather old and rusted quality, as you are able to hear the sound of squeaky gates opening, which area common staple in many horror films. It is in a rather low and dark tone, the music alone making the hairs on the back of your neck stick up. The use of this music is to get the viewer prepared and assure they are scared before the movie even starts to play. The music changes to fit with the diagetic sounds in the film after the sound bridge between the animated opening titles to the autopsy, for example, at 1:36 in the video the man turns on the lights, at which point the music suddenly booms with an even deeper tone, creating tension. All of the tiniest little sounds are amplified to be much louder, such as the running water and the cutting of the flesh with the knife to make the audience feel 'on edge'.

The footage has a slight blue filter, conveying the feeling of being cold and alone, as well as matching the eerie and metallic area around them.The close up's that are used on the props such as the dissection tools and the skull/brain are to make the audience focus more in-depth on the items, and try to find a deeper meaning and/or show that they are important to what is going to happen in the near future. They use several different shots in this sequence to give the viewer a feel for their surroundings and show every inch of the area. By doing such with shots like mid-shots that show both the medical examiner/coroner and the dead victim, they show the main focus of the scene.

Scream opening analysis

Scream opening analysis

For my film opening analysis, I chose the first Scream film. Out of the original Scream trilogy, I feel that the first one had the biggest impact and was something that the other two films imitated, along with other horror films. Some parts from this film link into our own, such as the tormenting of the supposed protagonist by torturing their friend. We could look towards this film as a base for how it should happen to improve our film.

In the opening of Scream, it shows a women alone in a house picking up a hone. After picking up the phone, she is answered by a man who supposedly called the wrong number. After talking to the man and leaving the room, there is a pov shot from outside the house to raise tension and show that she's being watched. When the camera comes back inside, it shows popcorn being toasted on the stove, which is foreshadowing for happens next in the scene. During this time the man rings her back and the two talk about trivial things; such as what she's cooking. These questions begin to get more personal until he says that he's watching her. This causes her to get frightened which results in her locking up the house and hanging up the phone, with the man threateningly saying "Don't hang up on me".

The next part starts with a close-up on the popcorn, showing that it's rising and is almost done. The woman then gets another phone call from the man, which she quickly hangs up to his dismay. She then walks into the kitchen, showing that the popcorn is smoking by now, and then gets another phone call. When she answers she shouts at the man, whereas he threatens her for if she hangs up again. As this is happening, the music changes to a chilling sound to fit the mood. After being threatened, the woman run out of the room; causing the music to change into something more high octane and the camera to follow her. She runs through the house locking all the doors whilst being followed by the shaky camera and ends up by the front door staring out to see what could be there.







Halloween (1978) First 15 Minutes Analysis

Halloween (1978) First 15 Minutes Analysis

Opening Title Sequence

The film opens with some post-production editing via a title sequence. During this title sequence, the films iconic and eerie soundtrack plays. It sounds high pitched and almost frantic in order to convey a sense of spookiness and panic. The only sources of illumination within this sequence are from a dim fill light, and a sinister looking pumpkin lantern. The pumpkin is an iconic symbol of the festival of Halloween, and is something that society often associates with horror. Hence, the atmosphere and tone of the film has been laid down only a few seconds in. The colours of the titles also seem to correspond with that of the lantern's light, perhaps to augment the sense of eeriness, or to use the colours of fire to convey a sense of danger. The camera then dollies in towards the pumpkin, with the music increasing in pitch and layering as it does, in order to portray a feeling of rising tension. This continues until there is an extreme close-up of half of the pumpkin's face. This is perhaps a symbolic representation of a schizophrenic psychopath, which is what the film is all about. This may be an idea that would be appropriate to incorporate into our film. When the camera has dollied in sufficiently, the fill light is turned off, leaving only the sinister glow from the pumpkin, making it seem even more sinister. We then see some writing that gives us a location and a time frame, which would give the audience a stronger understanding of what is to come. The music then seems to quieten, and some non-diegetic sound effects of children chanting can be heard, along with other sounds associated with Halloween. This is done to set the scene, and to juxtapose the brightness and celebratory side of the occasion with its iniquitous underbelly.

 

Scene 1

Setting For The First Scene

The Iconic Pumpkin's Second Appearance

The Eerie Clown Mask

The sounds end abruptly, and the first scene is introduced. The setting seems to be a lone house in the middle of the woods; the only sources of illumination being the lights within the house. This low-key lighting again contributes to the overall sinister atmosphere of the scene. This part of the scene is almost completely silent, aside from a few non-diegetic woodland wildlife sound effects in the background, which is done to convey a sense of tension. The camera shots in this scene are quite shaky as they go in from a long-shot of the house to a close-up, which would imply that what they are seeing is from the point of view of a person. However, whose point of view they are seeing remains a mystery at this point. As the person closes in on the house, they see two people kissing by the front door. The stalker then walks around the house in order to follow them as they run into the living room. This movement marks the second appearance of the pumpkin lantern, which acts as a symbol of ill-happening throughout the film. It may be a good idea for our film to perhaps have some symbolic use of an object to represent the killer. We then see a shot through a window, in which we see a young couple kissing on the settee. The girl seems to have a rather short skirt on, which would suggest a sense of promiscuity to the audience. The boy then pulls out what seems to be a clown mask as a joke, perhaps giving the viewer an eerie foreshadowing and a proleptic irony of what is to come. The two then turn the television off and dart upstairs, leaving the hall light on. The stalker then moves back to the front of the house, where we once again see the sinister looking pumpkin. The camera then a tilts backwards so that we can see the upstairs window with a light on. The light suddenly turns off, and there is an incidental sound effect of clashing synthesisers. After this, a non-diegetic sound of clashing, high-pitched strings can be heard as the stalker makes their was towards the back door of the house. These sounds give the impression of tension and ultimately suspense upon the audience. It also symbolises the killer's trigger event, since it is implied that he preys on the promiscuous, so when the lights turn off, he has found a reason to attack; hence the sudden sinister music.

The light turns off and the eerie music begins

The killer reaches for the knife drawer - (Note the harlequin-like clothing).

A 'Chilling' Blue Tint

As the killer makes their way towards the door, their movements seem to increase in speed, perhaps to portray his increasing determination to strike. Upon entering through the back door, the music suddenly builds more layers to connote the rise in tension. The killer then turns the light on, revealing more of the house's interior, as well as signifying to the audience that the stalker, whoever they are, seems to know their way around. This theory is fortified by the fact that they quickly reach for a drawer and pull out a large knife. When doing so, we see that the perpetrator is wearing what appears to be some kind of harlequin costume, which plays on the traditional and common phobia of clowns, in order to give the audience a familiar feeling of primal fear. The killer then paces into the dining area. Here, the area seems very blue, which gives a very cold an unwelcoming feel to it; again adding to the sense or eeriness and tension. This chilling effect may be something that we could incorporate into our film. The, the killer continues into the room in which the couple were before, where they see the boy pull his shirt back down and head out of the door. At this point, the killer seems to be stood within the darkness, with light just ahead of him. This may be symbolic of the killer representing bleakness and evil. They then continue up the stairs (revealing that the boy was not the killer's target). As they do so, the music increases in volume, perhaps to connote their increasing proximity upon their victim.

'Romeo' departs.

The killer picks up the clown mask

Through the eyes of a psychopath

The killer then reaches the top of the stairs, in which we have a high-angle shot, followed by another sudden increase in music volume as the killer notices the clown mask from earlier on. This mask would be a fitting combination with the harlequin outfit, and would thereby exploit the common fear of clowns to build fear among the audience. They put it on, and the camera is then covered by black except for two eye-holes to represent the killer's point of view. The high-angle shot continues as the killer walks through another coldly illuminated room, seeing several clothing items scattered along the floor. As they turn the corner into the next room, the killer sees the girl, and the same incidental clash of synthesisers from before plays, most likely to highlight the importance of the event. It in a way also gives a 'Target Acquired' sense in this case. The non-diegetic sound layers then build as the killer enters the room; undetected. It continues to build as they close in on their victim: the girl, who appears to be completely naked. This may be to symbolise purity, and how it has been brutally taken away. The musical layering still continues to build until the girl notices the killers presence, turns around and shouts "Michael!". This gives us not only a name, but also proof that she knew her killer. We are given a high-angle shot as Michael looks down upon his victim, followed by some incidental low string clashes as he repeatedly stabs her. She then collapses to the floor and succumbs to her injuries, at which point we have another high-angle shot as Michael looks at her bloody corpse, as the music begins to quieten down as his adrenaline subsides. He then unhurriedly makes his way back down the stairs and out of the front door, at which point he is confronted by an oncoming car. A man then calls out his name and removes his mask, with a match-on-action finally breaking the point of view shot, and revealing the killer to be a young boy. Some dramatic incidental music then plays as the camera dollies outwards, revealing the whole of the setting more truthfully under stronger light. During this shot, the pumpkin can also be seen again, and the iconic knife seems to shine and stand out, most likely to highlight its frightening significance. 

Michael is unmasked

Excluding the final part, this entire scene is filmed within a single shot. This was done in order to give the audience some insight into the mind of a killer and how they go about their murderous antics. It also sheds some light onto the nature of the antagonist of the film, and what sort of things are to be expected from the killer. Though Michael's motives aren't made entirely clear, it is implied that he is some form of misogynistic promiscuity-despising psychopath, which plays on a common fear of vulnerability within female audience members. When you think of a killer, you don't often imagine them being a child, which is why it is a huge surprise to find that the murderer is a child (for now). This would thereby send a shock-wave of disbelief throughout the audience, and would leave an atmosphere of unpredictability throughout the remainder of the film, thus setting its ultimate tone. The knife is a weapon that it commonly associated with brutal murders. Is has therefore become one of the most iconic props of horror movies in that it immediately signifies danger. As mentioned earlier, the knife appears to shine in the final shot in order to underline its significance and to make it seem more intimidating and striking. This may be something that could be integrated into our film since the knife could be used as symbolic representation of the films antagonist; in that it is as frightening, dangerous, and merciless as they are.

 Scene 2

The next scene is set 15 years later. Note that the date matches the year of the film's release and is the day before Halloween.

Dr Loomis (left) and Marion (Right)

Car in the obscurity

The next scene also opens with some post-production title sequences, only this time it gives us only a location and a time frame. From this, we see that this scene is set 15 years after the murder in scene 1, and is the day before Halloween. This would imply to the audience that the anniversary of the murders might hold some significance to the killer and that ill-happenings are likely to occur. Furthermore, Michael would be in his 20's by now, so the audience would be left to wonder what his fate was, and what he looks like now. During this opening sequence, there are non-diegetic sound effects of rain and thunder, which are sounds commonly associated with horror in that they act as a pathetic fallacy that conveys the tense and uneasy atmosphere of the scene. The scene then opens with a shot of almost complete blackness, with the only source of illumination coming from the headlights of an oncoming car. This darkness and obscurity again re-enforces the film's unpredictability and plays on the audiences feeling of vulnerability and obliviousness. The car then turns the corner and we see a point of view shot from within the car of the road, which is also only illuminated by the headlights. This once again plays on unpredictability, but also gives the viewer a more immersive experience, in that it feels as though they are in the car with the characters. The camera then cuts to a mid-shot of a man (Dr Loomis) and a woman (Marion). The shot alternates from over the shoulders of each of the two characters in order to establish their locations, and that Marion is driving. Within these shots, Loomis appears to be dressed rather smartly and formally, which would imply to the audience that he is a professionalist. Marion on the other hand appears to have a cigarette in her hand, which would imply that she is not only less professional that her colleague, but also suggests that she may have a more crooked and shady personality. It also helps to highlight Loomis' moral respectability. No music can be heard throughout their conversation, however, non-diegetic sound effects of rain and thunder continue in order to maintain the tense atmosphere throughout. The low-key lighting also helps to keep the scene mysterious. During their conversation, Loomis mentions that the patient he is looking for "hasn't spoken a word in 15 years". The audience would therefore immediately associate this time period with Michael; who had murdered his sister 15 years previously. This simple connection would imply that he had suffered from some kind of psychological trauma after the murder, and thus the viewer would begin to develop a character profile of Michael and some of his inevitable psychopathic tendencies. Furthermore, Loomis seems to refer to Michael as "it" rather than "him". This would suggest that Michael is some kind of demonic non-human entity that cannot be classified an identification. It also keeps the audience in suspense since his objectification would keep them wondering what kind of emotionless monster Michael has become over the course of 15 years since Loomis deliberately does not assign him a gender.

Figures in the darkness

A sinister figure attacks Marion

The film's eerie soundtrack then begins to play as the camera cuts to the point of view shot from within the car, where we see some figures in white walking around an overhead field. The colour of white juxtaposes with the darkness and causes them to be very reflective under the car's headlights. The sudden appearance of the theme tune might be a hint at the presence of Michael, and helps to create dramatic tension in the process. It may be a good idea to give our horror villain a theme tune so that the audience are immediately aware of his presence, which could work as a form of dramatic irony. The car then stops and Loomis gets out in order to open the gate, at which point we hear the diegetic sound of the door opening and shutting. Doing so leaves Marion vulnerable to attack, thus playing on the audience's common suspicions. These suspicions are proved correct when someone appears to leap on top of the car from behind. He appears to be under red lighting (due to the car's taillights) which would signify a sense of danger and wickedness. An incidental sound effect of clashing noises can be heard as he clambers onto the car in order to give the audience a sudden fright, and to highlight the event's significance. The figure then clambers to the front of the car and attemps to grab Marion through the window, causing a slight change in the music. During the struggle, several high-angle shots of Marion's feet can be seen as she unintentionally presses the accelerator and the car gets caught in a ditch. A few shaky shots are used to signify the panic and losing control of the car. After Marion has supposedly chased the figure off, there is then a low-angle shot of her lying across the front seats in order to display her panic. The shot then cuts to a mid-shot when the figure's hand smashes against the window to give a more proximate fear factor.

Marion escapes

The next shot is also low-angle, and shows Marion clambering out of the car and the figure hopping in and stealing it. This shot has a red tint in order to signify danger since it is commonly associated with blood. It also has a cantered angle to signify how something is amiss. The figure then drives away into the night, to which Loomis replies "the evil has gone", leading to suspense amongst the audience, due to the belief that this may have been Michael.

Scene 3

The next scene opens with a large juxtaposition of atmosphere, with this scene being set the morning after. It has a much more ambient and calming feel to it.

Tommy (left) and Laurie (Right)

This scene opens with a contrast to the dark bleakness of the previous scene. Some quick title sequences reveals that this is the morning immediately after the previous scene. The shot is at a low-angle in order to present more of the setting. Some brown leaves can be seen landing on the ground, signifying that it is Autumn; specifically Halloween. The music, though still slightly eerie, does in a way reflect this tranquillity since it has reduced in volume and seems to be more consonant. Some non-diegetic sound effects of singing birds can also be heard, since this is also commonly associated with serenity. The next shot is a panning long-shot of the neighbourhood in order to fully establish the setting to the viewer. The camera then dollies in on a particular house, from which emerges the main protagonist of the film: Laurie Strode. She appears to be dressed rather smartly and is holding several books, which would imply to the viewer that she is a rather respectable and intelligent person; suitable characteristics for a protagonist. She walks off the shot to the left, where a match-on-action gives another long-shot of her walking down the street. This shot is then followed by another shot of her walking, this time a extreme long-shot, which pans in order to follow her. This shot would also be used to further establish the setting and to clearly display the tranquillity to the audience. Laurie is quickly intercepted by Tommy, a local and very inquisitive neighbourhood boy. He asks her several "Why?" questions, as a small boy would. After another panning extreme long-shot, they arrive at the Myer's house: the scene of the murder 15 years previously.

The ruins of the Myer's house.

The camera continues to pan, except this time it is at a low-angle to make the house seem more intimidating and haunted. At this point the music stops and the only non-diegetic sound that can be heard is the tweeting of birds. This sudden silence upon the introduction of the house would give a sense of suspense and tension among the audience. Laurie then walks up the garden path and leaves a set of keys under the doormat (since the house is due to be sold), at which point, the camera switches to a high-angle shot from behind the door's window frame to give the impression that she is being watched, and also that her watcher has more power than her. From inside, we see nothing but darkness, until the silhouette a person steps out, revealing that Laurie was indeed being watch (presumably by Michael). An incidental clash of low strings and synthesisers can be heard when he emerges from the darkness in order to give the viewer a quick jolt of fear, and also to signify the presence of evil. This is almost certainly something that will be presence in our film as jump-scares and the like are a vital part of horror films fulfilling their promise. Tommy then departs and Laurie continues down the street with her back facing the camera, which unlike her does not move. Someone (most likely Michael) then steps out in front of the camera, so that Laurie is over his shoulder. This is done to immediately portray that Michael has his sights on her and that she has become his new target. Michael appears to be much larger than Laurie in this shot (although the shot exaggerates it), which signifies his strength and the sizeable threat that he will pose for her well-being. He also appears to breathe heavily, which may connote he is having some kind of adrenaline rush with being presented with a new potential victim; a possible hint at some form of psychopathic sadism. Finally, he wears black - the colour of darkness and villainy, which also massively juxtaposes with his surroundings. This signifies that evil has penetrated the tranquillity of the neighbourhood, and that Michael is likely to cause havoc among the local population. This would ultimately lead to tension, suspense, and a sense of dramatic irony - all common traits of horror films.

Happy Halloween, Laurie...