Group - Concept Development

In the lesson we have developed our concept for our horror film opening, by thinking about ideological discourse and the character we have developed.

The character we developed is a 6 year old girl called Betsy, who is a white, British and middle classed. Her character traits are innocent and lonely, yet demonic and possessed. Her physicality is small and weak.

She is dominant for horror films in the fact that she is evil, and residual in society.

RG Mama Sequence Analysis

The movie 'Mama' belongs to the genre of supernatural thriller and in this sequence the audiences expectations of this genre are fulfilled. This is apparent instantly through the use of the antagonist being a child that has been feral, but also, could be seen as possessed.

The sense of foreboding is introduced through the antagonist being unknown, with the lighting being used to flash on the screen to build up the tension of what could be hidden in the dark.
Character exposition is present as the female is being shown to be a character who is musical, this is shown through her playing her bass guitar in a kitchen which is her normal home environment.

In this sequence the mise-en-scene conveys meaning of the protagonist female being vulnerable as she is frightened by the use of dark lighting, which flashes on and off creating an eerie atmosphere for the character. The use of lighting also conveys meaning of the unknown, as the antagonist is in the darkness.
The camera shots are intelligently composed so we are positioned with the protagonist  as she is the focus of the shots. Mid shots are used throughout to minimalize the scenery the character is in. Meaning the sense of the upcoming unknown is created.
The sound used anchors the images with the bass guitar being played as the only loud sound, creating a sense of silence with no dialogue, and as the child is seen and jumps across the table, the protagonist screams, which also positions the audience with her as it makes you want to scream as an audience.
We learn about the child being scary through the use of non-verbal language as she doesn't say anything, yet creates fear through her body language. This is as she creeps up on the protagonist, showing her creepiness and possible possessing of something supernatural, as a child creeping and leaping across a table are not normal traits of a human.
From this sequence we could take the idea of using the dark lighting and composition of shots, to create a sense of the unknown.

The narrative is organised appropriately as it tells the story as the tension builds up, progressing at a correct time. The major themes shown in this sequence are that of there always being something unknown and that we aren't always alone when we believe we are.

In this scene the woman is the protagonist and the focal centre in the scene. This represents an emergent ideology that goes against stereotype of men being the protagonist in horror movies. Age is also ideologically constructed as the child is presented as demonic and scary.

Location Reccie - Wilderness Woods

1. Where and when did we go?
-We went to Wilderness woods on Thursday 5th December.

2.What was the purpose?
- The purpose of this trip was to begin to consider a location for risk, suitability, availability and light. It enables us to begin to consider what we have learnt to carry out our own location reccies.

3. What did we do?
- We began by discussing are concept briefly as we went on a location reccie. We came across a clearing with a campfire and pre-built huts. This helped us grow our concept and gave us the idea of having someone who is lost within a woods and is keeping a video diary of his time in the abandoned forest.
- After we had worked out a concept in detail and an appropriate location to shoot, we went back to the café in order to fill out a risk assessment and call sheet. We filled out in what shots we would be using in as much detail as possible within the short time space we had before heading out to film.
- Throughout the rest of the morning we shot all of Ross's scenes using many different camera angles in order to be able to later edit the ones we want to use.
- The afternoon took a similar procedure apart from we shot Dan's scenes along with myself in a few of them. Throughout the afternoon we went further to use a variety of shots and with the day coming to a close we built up the track and dolly in order to shoot some tracking shots that we may be able to use within our work. 

4. What worked?
- We tried a variety of shots within many different locations to see what would look best when we began to edit. We found that the location that predominantly worked for us was the campsite with the built burrows. It allowed us to create a storyline around the setting as there was a burrow along with a campfire.

5. What didn't work?
- We did face a problem with the weather. We found that the wind was very strong and therefore we had to re-do many shots over and over due to the dialogue not being heard over the wind.

 

Group 7 Wilderness Woods Location Reccie Photos

 

Feedback 2 - Mrs Fernandez

Textual Analysis process - feedback

Dan
Well done - all deadlines met, well presented, thorough research with excellent technical detail and with more detail on ideology, this is shaping up to be L4 analysis.

Will / Ross - you are missing second analysis?  See me ASAP

WB "The Ring" (2002)

Genre:
This film is part of  the horror genre fitting under the psychological sub-genre. This movie at the beginning of the movie does seem to meet the audience expectations. This is evident through the use of having teenage girls as the victims.

Form and style of opening:
This is quite a conventional opening to a horror film. We are introduced to the two teenage girls who we expect to be killed. This is quite common within horror films, having teenage girls as the victims. A sense of foreboding is created through sound, mise-en-scene, camerawork, and editing. Character exposition is created through the narrative. The titles are not present within the opening sequence yet a common theme of circles is, symbolising the ring. The title of this film doesn't reveal very much to the audience as it doesn't connote something straight away, like a film such as 'Paranormal Activity' or 'Saw' does.

Film language - telling the story:
Mise-en-scene is very important throughout this opening sequence in creating a very tense, horror feel. The common use of a big creepy house connotes that this is a horror film and creates the atmosphere straight away.
The establishing shot of the house puts us on the edge of our seats straight away as we are aware of other horror films where their is some spooky supernatural being ready to attack at any point. This is reinforced with the tracking shot that begins from the TV and goes into the possessed teenage girl.
Sound is very important within the extract. Throughout the shot mentioned above, a loud scream is heard anchoring the image very effectively. Moreover the use of selective sound is prominent within this clip creating suspense and tension within the narrative. This is evident when the phone rings and when the TV crackles.
The dialogue reveals to us that these two girls fit the dominant ideology for a teenager of their gender and generation. They seem to be relatively stereotypical regarding interests and appearances.
There are many aspects from this clip that we would consider to use within are own work. I found that the use of selective sound was very effective and would definitely look to use that within my own work.

Narrative:
Throughout this sequence, the narrative positions us with the protagonists/victims. We are introduced to the antagonist along with the protagonists leaving a sense of uncertainty and mystery. Moreover, the narrative makes us think that we are their with the victims meaning that we are on the edge of our seats and afraid. By positioning us with the protagonist, a sense of tension is created and sustained very effectively. We are just as unaware of what is going to happen as the victims on the screen meaning we become afraid just like them.

Representation and ideology:
The only characters we see throughout this sequence are two teenage girls. This is a dominant ideological discourse for horror films, having the victims as teenage girls. Moreover having this prominent theme used within this extract makes us on the edge of our seats as we think right from the start that they are going to be harmed in some way.

Media audiences:
The main target audience for this genre is likely to be 15-28 as they are the ages where the horror genre is mainly viewed around the whole population. The preferred reading from this text would likely be that their is something evil within the house and TV that is possessing these two innocent girls. An oppositional reading may sympathise with the force and state that the two girls deserve to be possessed and harmed.



Culturally marked
Dominant ideology
Residual ideology
Stereotype
Age
Hegomacy

DW "Scream" (Craven, 1996)

Genre
- The sub-genre of this film is Slasher. This is made clear by the stock characters and stock scenes, like a young, female protagonist, an older male antagonist, with a hidden identity and connotations of violence.

Form and Style
- A sense of foreboding is created though sound, mise-en-scene and camera work.
- Character exposition is created through narrative.
- There are no titles of actors, directors or producers in the opening sequence, only the main title of the film which displays at the start.
- At first, the title stretches in from the top and bottom to the centre of the screen, and is in a white, edgy font. This connotes a ghostly feel to the film, and something paranormal. The title then flashes to red, which is a stereotypical way of connoting violence and death in the film. Title of the film itself "Scream" has lots of cultural baggage to do with pain and violence, but also scare factor, making it a great name for a slasher horror film.

Film Language
- Mise-en-scene
- Location is used extensively to convey meaning in the extract, as we see the protagonist situated alone in a house that is isolated from any other houses. This is very stereotypical of horror films as the victim is alone and vulnerable to attack without being noticed missing for a while.
- The use of dark, low key lighting outside the house is also used to convey meaning, which connotes doom and sense of mystery.
- Camera
- In the opening sequence, the camera hardly ever cuts to another shot, but instead pans and tracks with the protagonist as she's walking around the house. This is done to drag out the shots and make it feel really long and realistic, as it feels as if we are walking with the girl most the time, creating realism.
- Sound
- Diegetic sound is used to anchor the images, like the protagonist talking on the phone. This is done to create realism and show insight and character exposition.
- Non-diegetic sound is used throughout a lot of the clip to create tension. This is done by the use of high pitched sustained strings to create the creepy atmosphere. Drums are also used to connote a war scene, which further builds suspense that a killer might be lurking round the corner.

Narrative 
- The order of narrative: protagonist is introduced, protagonist introduced to antagonist over phone, protagonist and antagonist developed, antagonist threatens protagonist.
- Major themes presented: good vs evil, human vs unknown.
- We are made to identify with the female protagonist, because she is given reaction shots and prevalence over the antagonist.
- We are made to be alienated against the male antagonist because he does not appear once in the sequence, we only hear his voice.  

Representation & Ideologies
- The protagonist in the sequence is a young woman, and she is represented as vulnerable as she is being tormented over the phone by an illusive antagonist who says he can see her. This is a dominant ideological discourse for horror films, for both age and gender, as young women are often portrayed as weak and volatile.
- The antagonist in the sequence is a male, who's full identity is hidden from the audience. Because of this, he is represented as a mysterious and creepy character, and also quite dangerous as it is stereotypical to hide the killer from the audience in slasher films, and he is shown to be able to go undetected from the protagonist. This is dominant ideological discourse of the antagonist in slasher films.

Media Audiences
- The target audience of "Scream" is ordinary teenagers and young people, so was designed to appeal to a mass audience.
- A preferred reading of the text is that the antagonist is a clever and mysterious, who is going to seek a motivated attack on the protagonist.
- A negotiated reading of the text is that the antagonist has bad intentions, yet may be useless in his attempts, and is overcome by the protagonist later in the film.

One idea we could take from "Scream", is not revealing the antagonist at all, and leaving him open to the audiences perception. We could also experiment with really a really slow cutting rate is we decide to go for this style, as it is very effective at building tension.