Medal: Well done for completing some tasks to a decent standard . In order
to improve your coursework grade you need to provide further evidence from
all your class work and make sure it is on the blog, as key components are unfortunately missing.
Mission: Coud you please copy/embed the bfi tables so that we know which data you are referring to
Textual analysis of Seven and an horror opening are an absolute must.
Work on Genre development and
Christian Metz requires images,
Some aspects of the previous feedback need resolving namely images, being embedded.
Representations of
gender in Thriller and Horror films
Images to illustrate key points in
your discussion on film noir
Finish your BFI
data analysis by uploading the relevant tables with
your summaries
Please provide feedback, in the form of a new
post, how and when you hope to achieve the tasks.
The data in the table tells us that the
horror genre has 37 releases and has made 57.5 million. The Thriller genre
however has had 64 releases yet has made 29.1 million. This tells us that the
Horror genre is more popular even though it has fewer releases compared to the
Thriller genre. The Horror genre made the most profit from releasing fewer
films. I have chosen to make a Horror film as this shows that it is a popular
category of film.
The second table tells us that the Sci-Fi genre has been released
in 422 sites and has had 9 releases making 87.4 million. The Horror genre has
been released in 145 sites, with 37 releases and has made 57.5 million. The
Thriller genre has been released in 89 sites, with 64 releases and making 29.1
million. The Horror genre is available in more sites and has made
more money than the Thriller genre which has been released in fewer sites.
This table tells us how the number of releases that each
genre has had. It also tells us how much money they had made. On the right hand
side there are titles that are given as examples to each one of the genres. As
we can see from this table that the Horror genre had 7 releases and had made
14.8 million. This is the genre that I have chosen to base my film upon as the
tables have shown that it is a popular genre that people like to watch.
Main Character (Jacob): Matt Wills Doctor (and Extras): Oliver Large
Smartly Dressed Man: Charlie Ridout
Plot: A boy named Jacob ( Matt Wills) life has just taken an unexpected turn as he is rushed in to A&E and slowly drifts in to a coma; when Jacob wakes up he finds himself in a mysterious place and as he walks on in this new place he quickly finds out that he is not in the life he previously was in. As memories from his past start to fade in front of his eyes, he starts getting distorted and breaks down in a panic and as he looks up a blurred figure of a man is standing there saying "I was excepting you..."
Summary: A boy called Jacob goes into a coma. He then wakes up in a forest but not in the previous life he was in. As he stands up, he starts hearing voices of people from the past, both dead and alive before hitting the ground with his hands on his ears, muffling the sound with his eyes shut. A while later, he opens his eyes to be greeted by a smartly dressed man. The main character asks "where am I?" and hears a reply of "you'd think a boy would know his own mind" in a whispering voice...
Synopsis
Genre: Fantasy/Horror
Location: Hopwas Woods, Hospital (Garage OR Landau Sixth Form)
The opening scene of The Woman In Black has the stereotypical features of an opening scene of a horror film. There is tense music which adds to the suspense and engages the audience with the film. It gives the idea and feeling that something is about to happen in the film. This could be something dramatic which again engages the audience.
The whole of the opening scene is tense as you do not know what is happening or what is going to happen next. You have also had no insight into what the storyline is at this point so you can be left confused.
The lighting is not very light in this opening scene. Only natural lighting has been used, the one window that we can see is the main source of light. There are quite a few shadows and dark areas in the room where this is set which adds to the suspense as you do not know where this mystic figure may be hiding. The lack of light could reflect on the mood of the genre and what may happen further on in the film.
The costumes that are used in this opening scene are taken from an earlier era, around the victorian times. These type of costumes are effective for the genre as they add to the suspense with them being stereotypical costumes. There is not much colour in the costumes which could reflect on the mood of the genre.
There are many different camera angles that are used in this opening scene. The very first is a close up of two tea cups. It then zooms out a bit so that you can see the three children. In this opening scene there is not an establishing shot, which is usually used to show where the scene is being set, so you do not know where or what is happening or going to happen. Towards the end there is another close up of a doll which adds to the suspense as dolls are stereotypically scary in horror films.
From looking at this opening scene I have been able to learn and understand what a stereotypical opening scene of a horror is like and what it contains. I have been able to see the type of camera angles that are used and also the lighting. The opening scene has shown me the type of costumes that are used and what type of characters are in it. All of this has helped me with my own horror opening scene as I can take into consideration what I have learnt and what I can include into mine.
The Opening Scene
of a Film Noir – The Maltese Falcon
The film ‘The Maltese Falcon’ is a Film Noir from 1941. It
is by John Huston and stars Humphrey Bogart. This film follows the typical Film
Noir storyline of having a Detective and then a femme fatale who needs help. It
has the stereotypical characters and their costumes. The type of language that
they use is also stereotypical of a traditional Film Noir. Also, the whole film
is in black and white so this also follows the stereotypical Film Noir
requirements. The audience that this film is aimed at is possibly the older
generation. This is because they are the ones that have grown up with this
genre of film and they would have been around when the Film Noir genre was
first being created. The enigma in this film is that no one knows who has
killed this man so this hooks people to make them want to carry on watching the
film and to possibly tell others to watch the film too. The men are
stereotypically older than the women in the Film Noir genre.
At the beginning of the scene there is a piece of text
rolling down the screen which introduces the film and gives a basic outline of
what has happened in the past. This could also give an insight of what is going
to happen in the film. After this part there is an establishing shot which
shows where the film is set. It shows the Golden Gate Bridge with a headline of
‘San Francisco’, this tells us where the film is going to be set. An
establishing shot is typical of the Film Noir Genre. There is also a shot of a newspaper,
which gives the audience a rough overview of where the film is set and what
could happen by the headline and title of the newspaper.
The next scene is set in a private detectives office. There
is a man, who is the main character, sitting in his office at his desk. We
learn that he is the private detective. He is wearing the stereotypical costume
that a private detective usually wears in a Film Noir. He is wearing a suit
with a trilby hat and is smoking a cigarette. The woman then comes in looking
distressed. She is a stereotypical woman that usually stars in the Film Noir
genre. By the man being in the office and the woman coming in needing help it
can show that men are the ones that have more authority then women at this
time. The detectives secretary is called Angel, so this could infer that there
are two types of women; the women that are sincere and are not corrupt and then
the women who are corrupt and try to lure the detectives into their traps, this
is known as the femme fatale. The woman tells the detective that she needs help
and the man says that he will help her. This can be seen as the ‘spider and the
fly’ situation as the woman is luring the detective into helping her when she
doesn’t really need it. By doing this, the detective is becoming a suspect. The
detective also has a partner that later comes into the room who is wearing
similar sort of clothes to him, also following the stereotypical costume of a
Film Noir. They can be seen as carrying out a ‘good cop, bad cop’ routine.
There are many different types of camera angles that are
used in this scene. One of them being the establishing shot at the beginning;
this sets the scene and lets the audience know where the film is being set.
Another camera angle that is used is an over the shoulder shot, this shot shows
both of the characters but one of them has there back to the camera. The over
the shoulder shot gives a clear narrative but only shows the facial expressions
and emotion from the character who is facing the camera. The film uses the
180-degree rule and follows it well in the opening scene. A close up shot is
also used in this scene. This type of angle can tell us a lot about the character,
as we are able to see in detail their facial expressions, which can tell us how
they are feeling and sometimes what they are thinking.
In this opening scene there are a variety of sounds that are
used. Some of these sounds have been added in whereas some of them are either
dialogue or sounds that occur from the characters. Diegetic and non-diegetic
sound have both been used in this scene. Diegetic sound is a when the source of
the sound is visible on the screen such as someone speaking. Non-diegetic sound
is when the source of the sound is not visible such as the sound effects. The background
noise can reflect on the type of place that they are in such as car sounds and
people talking can infer that they are in a busy city. Towards the start of the
opening scene, the woman and the detective are having a conversation, which is
diegetic sound. This is helping the audience to understand the storyline of the
film. At one point the detective refers to the woman as “sweetheart”, this can
be seen as talking down to the woman as if she is not as important. It could
also illustrate that the detective may have deeper feelings for the woman. Further
on in the film there is a gunshot, which is non-diegetic sound. This is
creating suspense and hooking the audience to the film. Between different
scenes there is transitional music. The transitional music can also hook the
audience as it keeps them engaged and gives them the idea that something is
going to happen. There is tense music that is played when something dramatic is
going to happen in the film. This engages with the audience, as they know that
when this music is being played something is going to happen. The music builds
up suspense and can form a bond between the audience and the film as they feel
part of it.
The whole film is in black and white so it is different
types of lighting that is being used and can be difficult to see it. There are
some forms of artificial lighting that have been used, such as lamps and
ceiling lights being turned on. It is however a lot of natural light that is
being used.
Quite often representations have been pre-established in Genre films such as Horrors and Thrillers. Certain representations have now become stereotypes or Archetype. An example of a stereotypical character that has been used many times is Dracula. Dracula has always has the same stereotypical look in a variety of films or books that he has been featured in. The character has been stereotypically the same since Bela Lugosi's version in 1931 in regards to his Age, Gender, Social class and costume.
The Representation of Gender/Ethnicity Cultural Bias: Hollywood has always been 'white' centric, for example, Actors/Directors have always been Male and Caucasian with Black, ethic, minority actors only playing minor roles. Certain actors like Will Smith/Morgan Freeman have broken the mould. In the Thriller genre, it has always been common to have a White/Male protagonist in the key roles. It wasn't until the 1990's that it began to change. For example, in the film Se7en (1995) Morgan Freeman played a smart, intellectual, senior, methodical detective. This had always been represented as a 'White' actors role, but his role as Detective Somerset in the film 'Se7en' was ground breaking, which continued in many Films/TV dramas, such as 'Wire' and 'Luther'.
Gender Bias: In the Thriller genre, Females have predominantly played the victim role, or the femme fatale (the seductive vamp, that cannot be trusted). Since the 'Silence of the Lambs' (1990) and the role of Jodie Foster playing FBI Rookie 'Clarice Starling' the representation of women in Thriller/Horror has been fair more challenging.
Heterosexual Bias: Having a homosexual/lesbian protagonist is almost entirely rare even in liberal Hollywood. The idea of a leading male detective, in a film, being openly gay is unheard of. Indeed one of the criticisms of the famous author of the Hannibal Lector books; Thomas Harris is that nearly all his antagonists such as serial killers have homosexual tendencies, and sexual deviances, and that this is a negative stereotype he has helped form.
Christian Metz Model of Genre Development Christian Metz’s was French film theorist who is renowned for his genre characteristics theory. Metz’s claims there are reoccurring expectations there are 4 development stages that can be applied to a genre; Classical, Experimental, Parody and Deconstruction. Classical An original piece of work which is developing the initial codes and conventions of the genre. Experimental This is where the genre is established and experiments which different sceneries and scenarios.
Parody In the 90's the development stage reached a phrase where thriller scenes and movies incorporated comedic effects watering down expectations of the film.
Deconstruction The thriller genre has now evolved into a stage where hybrids are evident. The thriller has now fused with several other genre creating sub-catergories the most established being sci-fi/thriller or horror/thriller hybrids.
Genres began in 1920 when Edison had created the camera. Within 20 years film became very popular. around this time there was about 5 studios mostly situated in Los Angles. The film industry created a lot of money over a short period of time. The film creators can be known to make the same films again and again as they will make more money for example, they take a particular genre of film or a film they have created before and make more of them or create a series out of it so that they make more money as they have been popular before.
2. How did the 'Golden Age of Hollywood' re-enforce genres?
The 'Golden Age of Hollywood' re enforced genres because the film makers were able to see what films were popular and then create more of them based around the storyline that they had previously used. People expressed what type of films they liked so the film creators would continue to make them for the public.
3. Which genres became popular in Hollywood?
Horror
Romance
Slapstick comedy
Thriller
Film Noir
Musicals
4. Why do audiences like genre films?
Audiences genre films because it gives them the choice of what they want to watch and they know whether heh will like it or not. Also, they can relate to what they have watched before so they know what oa going to happen. Some audiences like a sense of security when watching a film. Most genre films will have a similar storyline so by knowing roughly what is going to happen they can gave an idea of whether they want to see it or not.
The Codes and Conventions of Film Noir
There are different moods that are shown in a Film Noir. Each mood represents how the character is feeling and what they are thinking.
Melancholy - this is a feeling of pensive sadness, typically with no obvious cause.
Alienation - the state or experience of being isolated from the world around you.
Bleakness - this can be seen as being depressing or lacking a sense of warmth or willingness for the people you are with.
Disillusionment - this is a sense of disappointment after discovering that something is not as good as you believed it to be.
Moral corruption - this is not knowing what is good and what is bad and only focusing on your own way.
Pessimism - this is where someone believes that the bad things in life outweigh the good things.
Guilt - this is when someone feels bad for something they have done that isn't right.
Paranoia - this is when someone is always conscious of what they are doing and what they look like and care what other people are thinking about them.
The Characters in Film Noir
In the genre Film Noir there are usually a male and a female character. The male character is usually a hero/anti hero such as a detective or a police officer. The detective usually wheres a stereotypical detective costume, involving a long coat, a trilby had and usually smoking or holding a pipe or cigarette. They can also be gangsters, war veterans, killers/socio-paths or shady, underworld figures.
The woman is usually known as a femme fatal. They are also stereotypically mysterious, duplictous, double crossing, gorgeous, manipulative and desperate. On the other hand, they can also be dutiful, reliable, trustworthy and loving.
At the beginning of this scene it shows a
man who is a detective, Detective Sommerset. He is in his house where he lives
alone. This is not confirmed to begin with however but it is illustrated when
we see what is in his house and what isn’t. An example of this is that there
are no photos of family or relatives which give the idea that he lives alone.
When he sleeps he has a metronome which is quite old fashioned which could
reflect on his personality and life style. He has several items laid out in a
specific order on his side in his house for when he gets up in the morning.
This shows that he likes to be organised and infers that he could have been in
the army at some stage in his life, and that what he learnt in the army and the
way he had to live has been installed into his everyday life.
Detective Sommerset as a partner that he works with
called Mills. These two characters are very different. Sommerset is an older
man dressed in smarter clothes. He approaches things in different ways to
Mills. Mills is a younger man that wears more casual clothes and can be seen as
looking too casual and scruffy.
Blue Velvet was written by David Lynch and was released in
1986. David Lynch was born in Missoula, Montana, USA on the 20th of
January. The place that he was born in was the same type of small American town
that are used in his films.
At the beginning of the opening scene there is a lot of red,
which could symbolise danger. There were red roses and also a red fire engine. These
could both symbolise that something bad is going to happen. Another flower that
is shown is a Lilly. A Lilly symbolises death so this could reflect on what is
going to happen in the opening scene. Behind the two sets of flowers there is a
white picket fence. This is a stereotypical item that is linked with America
around this time. America is also symbolised when it shows the red roses, the
white fence and the blue sky as it is the colours of the American flag.
Towards the start of the opening scene there are some
children that are being crossed over a road by a Lollipop lady, which offers a
sense of security as they are being crossed without any dangers. This can start
to relax the audience as they may feel safe and that nothing bad is going to
happen. There is however, a red sign that says stop and can reflect on the idea
of red symbolising danger. There is an establishing shot that shows a
stereotypical American house. This helps the audience to understand where the
film is being set and what type of setting it is. After that there is a shot
showing a garden, which is in perfect condition and reflects on the idea of
everything being perfect and happy. With everything being so perfect it makes
you think that something is going to happen. There is also a shot that is
filming a television and on the television there is a black and white horror
film on which could reflect what is going to happen in this scene.
The music in the background is relevant to the film as it is
called Blue Velvet. Also, it is a stereotypical type of song from this time in
America. As the scene progresses and something tense happens the music begins
to blur out and has a suspenseful tune that over takes it. There isn’t any
dialogue in this scene, which adds to the suspense of it, as you do not know
the characters or what they are thinking.
Complete the following tasks ASAP
2. NO PRELIM TASK VIDEO EMBEDDED FROM YOUTUBE
4. NO BLUE VELVET TEXTUAL ANALYSIS (COULD USE BOND: SPECTRE INSTEAD)
5. NO BLUE VELVET SCREEN GRABS IN PLACE
6. NO SE7EN TEXTUAL ANALYSIS IN EVIDENCE
7. NO SCREEN GRABS FROM SE7EN TO ILLUSTRATE POINTS
8. NO work on GENRE from Mr Rutherford
1. What is the 180-degree
rule? A match-on-action? And eye line match? And a shot-reverse-shot?
The 180-degree rule is a rule that is very important and
needs to be followed. The idea of it is that in a scene you only film from the
one side, so that the characters and props are in the same place. For example,
if you were filming a family sitting at a table you would only film the one
side of the table but you can swivel from that angle but never from the other
side as it would break the rule.
A match on action shot is where one shot is cut to another
shot but they both link into the action. A common example of this is a man
going to open a door and reaching for the handle in one shot and then in the
other shot he is turning the handle close up from another perspective.
An eye line match is where the eyes have to be level. For
example, if two people were having a conversation they would be making eye
contact and their eyes would be in the same position.
A shot-reverse-shot is where one character is shown to be
looking at another character and the other character is looking back who only
has the back of their head shown usually. It is useful for creating tension as
you cant see one of the characters expressions so it adds an element of
suspense.
2. Describe how you
incorporated (the shots above) into your final film?
We used the 180 degree rule in a scene where one character
was facing another and it was only filmed from the one side. We also used a
match on action shot when a character was holding a folder and then dropped it.
The first shot shown his body and him dropping the folder and then the second
shot shown the folder from close up falling onto the floor. The eye line shot
was also used in a scene where two characters made direct eye contact in a
conversation. This was effective as we could see the two characters emotions
and how they reacted to each other. A shot-reverse-shot was used in a scene
where one character was standing still looking forward and then the other character
standing behind looking in the same direction.
3. How did the
filmmaking process go, in terms of filming shots from the storyboard and
filming around college?
The filming went well as we had a clear idea to start with
before we began filming but as we were filming we had thought of ways to
improve the scenes and storyline so we did as such as we went along. We used
all of the shots that were on the storyboard and incorporated them into the
film. We had found a suitable area in the college to film and we stayed in that
area for the majority of it but just changed the angles.
4. What did you learn
about video editing on Adobe Premiere?
I learnt how to edit the clips and how to add in and use
transitions. I also learnt how to add in music, sound effects and titles. The
sound effects I chose were suitable for the scene and they added to the overall
film because it set the mood, for example, making it tense and adding suspense.
There were different effects that I had found and I was able to see which
fitted my scenes the best without making it seem over the top. There were
different fonts and colour that I could use for the title and the credits. This
was useful as I could pick a font that suited the theme of the film. So for
example, I could pick a mysterious font. Also, using Adobe Premiere was useful
because we were able to cut down the clips so that if there was a part that we
did not want or if it was too long we could trim it. Using transitions enhanced
our film as we could make it more interesting. Learning this was fairly
straightforward and as I used more of Adobe Premiere my skills had improved.
