My chosen genre is Horror which has many different repertoires depending on the sub genres. Horror films are used to scare, thrill and entertain the audience. They do this through a number of themes. One theme which permeates all horror films is fear. The purpose is to instill fear into the audience and keep them on the edge of their seat throughout the film by the use of sound, characters and setting.
The genre Horror is split into many sub genres that have their own repertoire of generic elements. One example of a sub genre for Horror is Slasher films. These normally involve a psychopathic killer, a sequence of killing several victims, lots of violence and blood. An example of this is 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'. Another sub genre is Action Horror, this involves combining the intrusion of evil with gun fights and frantic chases. An example of this would be 'Dawn of the Dead'. Comedy Horror is yet another sub genre. This is when a film combines elements of comedy with horror fiction which can be seen in 'Scary Movie'.
A horror film is usually set in an abandoned house, a lonely forest or a ghost town in order to represent isolation as this heightens the threat and the sense of fear that the audience will feel. However, some horror films challenge this stereotypical idea of being in an isolated place and in fact are set in a normal everyday life. We see this in the film 'The Shining' as it is set in a brightly lit hotel rather than a dark abandoned house.
We can recognise a Horror film simply through costume and props used. Usually the props used are ones that indicate evil, death or pain such as: guns, knives, axes, chainsaw and different types of masks. These are used to make it more realistic for example in a gun shot scene seeing a gun will heighten the effect on the audience. Furthermore, specific costumes can be used in a horror film, for example in a vampire film the costumes would usually be black and red as they are both colours which have connotations of blood and death, they would also have capes and fangs. Whereas in Psychological Horrors costumes can be normal everyday clothing. This again shows that the signifiers differ for Horror depending on its sub genre.
Thursday, 17 September 2015
Ideas for micro essay
For my micro element essay I am going to analyse a clip from Poltergeist, focusing on the mise en scene and sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGQr5hCpzr8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGQr5hCpzr8
Tuesday, 15 September 2015
Breakdown
The genre of the film 'Breakdown' is action. Firstly, the non diegetic sound which is used within the film is fast making everything seem as though it is going at a fast pace and there are also high pitched parts of the music which create suspense as the action takes place. Furthermore, the editing is fast as scenes go quickly from one to another spending no time focusing on one certain thing so there is always something happening.
This film tells the story by following McKee's five part narrative theory. Firstly, there is an inciting incident which sets things going, which in this film is the break down of the couples car. Then progressive complications begin to take place. The wife (Amy) goes with a passing trucker in order to seek help and arranges a meeting place with her husband (Jeff) at the cafe just down the road. Minutes after Amy has left in the truck, the car starts again so Jeff goes to meet her. Upon arrival he realises the truck is not to be seen and soon finds out his wife is not in the cafe and that she is now missing. The next part of the narrative is the crisis, where things get worse and come to a head. Jeff finds out that Amy is not only missing, but that she in fact has been kidnapped therefore he does everything he can to rescue her. Following from this is the climax of the film, the moment when the two opposing forces come head to head. Jeff takes on the four men who have kidnapped his wife which surprisingly results in him killing them all and surviving himself. Finally comes the resolution of the narrative. Jeff and Amy are reunited and safe as all of the kidnappers are now dead. The main issues have been resolved and things can begin to return to normal although things will never return to how they was before.
Enigmas are riddles or mysteries which help to move the narrative along as they keep the audience interested and guessing what is going to happen next and they are used throughout the film Breakdown. We see enigmas right from the beginning of the film when Jeff and Amy have a long conversation about specifically 90,000 donuts. We wonder why so much emphasis is placed on the donuts then later in the film we find that the term '90,000 donuts' is the one thing which ends up saving the couple. More examples of enigmas are when the audience is left wondering where Amy has disappeared to, also towards the end of the film when Amy is locked in the cellar as it leaves the audience wondering how she is going to get out and question if she ever will get out.
Personally, I feel that parts of this film are predictable such as the couple being reunited in the end. However I didn't expect Jeff to have killed all four of the kidnappers, at times I thought that Jeff would have been killed by the kidnappers.
This film tells the story by following McKee's five part narrative theory. Firstly, there is an inciting incident which sets things going, which in this film is the break down of the couples car. Then progressive complications begin to take place. The wife (Amy) goes with a passing trucker in order to seek help and arranges a meeting place with her husband (Jeff) at the cafe just down the road. Minutes after Amy has left in the truck, the car starts again so Jeff goes to meet her. Upon arrival he realises the truck is not to be seen and soon finds out his wife is not in the cafe and that she is now missing. The next part of the narrative is the crisis, where things get worse and come to a head. Jeff finds out that Amy is not only missing, but that she in fact has been kidnapped therefore he does everything he can to rescue her. Following from this is the climax of the film, the moment when the two opposing forces come head to head. Jeff takes on the four men who have kidnapped his wife which surprisingly results in him killing them all and surviving himself. Finally comes the resolution of the narrative. Jeff and Amy are reunited and safe as all of the kidnappers are now dead. The main issues have been resolved and things can begin to return to normal although things will never return to how they was before.
Enigmas are riddles or mysteries which help to move the narrative along as they keep the audience interested and guessing what is going to happen next and they are used throughout the film Breakdown. We see enigmas right from the beginning of the film when Jeff and Amy have a long conversation about specifically 90,000 donuts. We wonder why so much emphasis is placed on the donuts then later in the film we find that the term '90,000 donuts' is the one thing which ends up saving the couple. More examples of enigmas are when the audience is left wondering where Amy has disappeared to, also towards the end of the film when Amy is locked in the cellar as it leaves the audience wondering how she is going to get out and question if she ever will get out.
Personally, I feel that parts of this film are predictable such as the couple being reunited in the end. However I didn't expect Jeff to have killed all four of the kidnappers, at times I thought that Jeff would have been killed by the kidnappers.
Tuesday, 8 September 2015
Film and Me
I enjoy watching films that appeal to the female target
audience such as dramas, ‘chick flicks’, and romance comedies. Aswell as this, I also enjoy
watching films that involve a mystery or which create suspense.
1. Focus - I like this film as it keeps the audiences attention all the way through, all of the film has to be watched in order to understand the overall plot. There are also hidden messages throughout the film which create suspense.
2. Taken - In this film there is always something going on it is filled with action and suspense is built up throughout the film.
3. My Sisters Keeper - This film is guaranteed to make the audience emotional and somehow relate it to their life. In some ways it is quite uplifting.
4. The Notebook - This film is easily followed and keeps you intrigued all the way through using some good quotes throughout the film.
5. 50 First Dates - I like this film as it is a romantic comedy with Adam Sandler as one of the main characters.
5. 50 First Dates - I like this film as it is a romantic comedy with Adam Sandler as one of the main characters.
5. White Chicks - I like the comedy aspect of this film as men try to play the role of women, it keeps the audience entertained all the way through.
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