The clip starts off with a slightly high angle shot of a group of men and women all watching the news, with silence from them all and their facial expressions which is worry and shock as people have their mouths slightly open or sadness in their eyes, you can tell something disastrous has happened. In the mis-en scene you can see that they are all in a coffee shop with the sandwiches behind them and coffee types written on the walls. You also see the TV which is effective as the audience are let in on what they can see. The majority of men are wearing suits looking like they are business men going to work connoting that this may be a popular, modern city. From this we can suggest that something major is about to happen. The diegetic sound is a lady talking from the news as the characters and audience take it in what has happened together. You also hear the buses and cars drive past in the background, the big red bus connotes that this setting is in London. We then see a man walking through the crowd to get to the till, the audience are drawn to him as he is the main focus of the camera.
The next shot is a close up of the TV where we are shown that the youngest person has died 2009-2027. This adds enigmas as it would make you 18 which isn't the youngest age. This also gives a twist on the movie. The man then collects his coffee and the camera follows him walking out, from this we can connote that he is a main character. As the camera takes us outside we see the surroundings of big screens, buildings and busy roads full of noisy cars and buses in a medium shot. The camera movements are slow and pans instead of different types of up paced shots. We can suggest that this has taken us into the future as it looks more like New York. Writing then appears telling us it is in London in 2027. The camera starts to follow the man again and the weather looks gloomy due to the pollution and smoke of the vehicles. The man stops and we see him pour alcohol into his coffee, connoting he is an alcoholic. The camera, straight on rotates around him so we see him from the other side. We see people in the background greeting each other and everything is normal. All of a sudden a bomb explosion comes out from the coffee shop and people dive to the floor. Alarms of cars and screams are added. As the man jumps back in a hurry we see people blown away by the explosion. Smoke appears and the camera zooms in on the explosion. In a medium shot we see a dark shadow of a woman walking out from the shop in the smoke holding her own arm. This is effective as it leaves the audience in horror and it suddenly switches to the title.
In the opening scene it starts with a close up of an attractive guy, straight away following the codes and conventions. The non-diegetic sound is cheerful but not up paced. This helps create a calm, gentle mood which is normal for romance genres. We hear the diegetic sound of a sweet voice talking which seems to catch the attractive guy’s eye. As he looks over we get an over the shoulder shot, this is effective as we are attracted to look at what he is looking at so we can see what happens next. We see a background of the sea and the characters are wearing beachwear implying that they are at the beach which again follows the codes and conventions as the setting is in an urban environment. With the sea at rest we can connote that everything is calm for now and it carries on creating that gentle mood. The camera shot flickers from the male to the female that he is looking out we get a feeling as the audience that something is going to go on. From this the audience can connote that the 2 main characters have already been introduced so this follows the clichés of the boy meeting a girl at the most random times. The audience can tell this due to the eye contact we are shown from the boy to the girl. Because of the close ups we can see that his facial expression before was quite dull as he looked upset, but as soon as he saw this pretty girl his face lit up.
The next shot is a close up panning shot of the girl’s bag which he was extremely attracted to falling in the sea. The girl wines ‘oh no’ suggesting that this means a lot to her. As another character goes and gets it the boy jumps in the sea making a splash. This is effective as it makes the boy shows bravery as he makes the other character look like a wimp. We then get a close up of the female as she gasps in shock. After this we are shown a long shot of the boy swimming under water as he goes on the mission to get her bag. Here the title appears in the bottom left hand corner in a font that connotes romance. We then have a close up of the boy reaching for the bag. This is effective as it is the first time the boy and girl have met and this bag was the beginning of it all. We get a high angle shot of the boy swimming back to shore as the girl is in relief that her bag is saved. We get a medium shot of the other character running into the water to get it but we see the boy coming out the water holding the bag. The music stops and in the background we can see and hear the diegetic sound of the waves clashing connoting that everything isn’t calm any more and the movie has begun.
After this shot it shows a medium shot of the girl running towards the boy to collect her bag that he saved, making him here hero. It then shows them both from a side angle, with the other boy further in the background embarrassed about him being a coward. As they introduce themselves to each other we get reverse shots. This is effective as it allows us the see their body language and contact as they talk to each other. From this we can see that there is a spark there as they can’t talk their eyes off each other. As he walks away with hesitation he turns back. The music starts again representing romance. We then get a high angle shot of them walking along the beach with the sun shining down. This could connote that something new has arose and that something new is love. As they walk together we get a straight angle shot of them walking under the pier on the sand as she asks him to go to his house to thank him. We start to get the close ups and reverse shots again as they giggle to each other.
In the final shot the camera then zooms away from the couple and leads into the high angle shot. From here we get a long shot of the beach. This is effective as the music gets louder, drowning out the voices of the characters so all we can see is them gazing at each other. The camera then stabilises on the over view of the beach. This is the moment they met, making it more special as the sun beams down reflecting from the sea and sand with the diegetic sound of the birds tweeting.
As soon as the titles are introduced we get the non-diegetic
sound of the calm music already creating the mood. As the picture is introduced
we get a blurred out vision of greenery and a lake with the birds adding the
diegetic sound of them tweeting which shows a symbol of love. We are introduced
straight away with clichés, codes and conventions as in the first shot there is
a boy and girl who are kissing in this romantic setting. From this we get the
idea that they are in love. This immediately makes the audience feel a sense of
happiness as they watch this couple look into each other eyes lovingly. The
genre has been made very clear. As the camera zooms out we see a guy playing
the piano which is often used in romances to help create the romantic mood. We now
understand that this is a directing of a movie connoting that true love only
happens in movies. As the diegetic sound of the piano changes we get the
voice over of a female talking about love, following the conventions again. As
this voice over carries on we get an individual close up shot of a boy and
girl. In the shot of the boy we can tell he is looking directly as this girl
smiling making the audience aware that this is the love of his life. However,
in the shot of her we can tell she doesn’t love him back, or doesn’t know she
does yet as she is looking down at the floor on the phone giggling and smiling to
somebody on the phone. Loving somebody who doesn’t love you back? These clichés
are extreme. The girl walks over and he kisses her on her hand, she smiles and
walks away. With her back turned to him you see for a split second in the close
up of him his pain and love he feels for this girl. In the voice over we then
hear “love is blind” connoting that they do love each other but she just cannot
see it yet. The voice over then says “now that is something I know to be true”,
this is effective as it is personal making the audience feel more comforting
and feel like they can relate so much more to the situation. Making them feel
like they are not the only one. From this the audience understand that the
voice over is explaining the couple’s situations as they don’t speak a word. The
music becomes more upbeat as the shot pans into another setting introducing a
white title on a black ground. The next shot is of another couple sitting in the car. We
get a close up of the girl who turns to look at the man with no emotion on her
face. We then get a close up side angle of the man who turns to look at her. As
they stare into each other’s eyes he looks down to the floor in disappointment and
sadness as the voice over says “love fades”, giving us an insight in their
relationship. We then get a quick shot of both of them looking away from each
other with nothing to say or do but to drive.
The next shot is then a close up of the number plate of the
car and as it zooms out we are shown a long shot of the car driving away in a
city full of pretty lights on trees and wrapped around building showing the
audience that is around Christmas which is a time for love however we have just
been shown 2 couples with issues. Enigmas are added. Will their problems be
resolved? And who is the woman doing the voice over? She may have the biggest
problem of them all.
The music is changing from up paced to slow and calming as
we are shown a medium shot of an old guy getting into bed, looking at the
photograph of his wife and the voiceover saying “for some love is simply lost”.
The non-diegetic sound has slowed down when the problems are introduced to help
the audience create the mood of sadness and to feel sorry for these characters.
The audience have seen all different
types of relationships but all ones with issues, making the audience hope that
this loving holiday will restore all love, hope and happiness.
The next shot is a medium shot of a guy walking through a
party with a drink in his hand. As he reaches his friends are full of laughter
he turns around and a close up is shown of him looking at a girl who is looking
directly back. Close ups are shown on both of them as they smile at each other
in time for the voice over to say “love can be found, even if just for the
night”.
After this shot we are shown a shot zooming in of a woman
sitting alone at her desk, implying she is at work on this special day
connoting she is alone wrapping a present. In this shot it is dark all around
by at her desk is where all the light is showing us she is an important character.
As the voiceover continues she talks about the worst type of love, “unacquainted
love” and says “from that, I am an expert”. The audience have finally met the
woman of the voiceover. From this we can infer that she is the main female
character even though we are introduced by many. The music is at a slow pace
and has that depressing feel towards in, emphasising the characters
emotion. We then get a close up of her
face as she looks down and smiles at her wrapped present as if it’s the happiest
she has been in a long time. But all of a sudden her face drops and she tucks
in away in her drawer. The tone in her voice becomes more aggressive and her
facial expression looks more worried like she is trying to pluck up the courage
to do something. As she walks out of her office into a crowd of people, looking
like a work party it all makes sense now. We get a medium shot of her stopping
and staring at somebody. She stands there frozen and breathe taken as soon as
she laid eyes on this man we are shown a medium shot of talking to other
people. At this time she says “I have willing loved that man for over 3
miserable years”. By the word “miserable” we can connote that he does not and
will not love her back.
When this clip starts the first thing that the audience
notice is the setting. It is a small flat with dimmed lighting connoting
sadness. The fire on in the background shows a calm setting. The mis-en-scene
is a lady lying down on the sofa hopelessly, in penguin pyjamas and messy hair
suggesting that it is around Christmas time and a time of love however, she has
nobody. She is under a blanket wrapped up inferring that she feels trapped in
this life alone. The wine and cigarette buns catch your eye connoting that she
is lonely and represented by sorrow and despair. The phone is rested on a sofa
chair and is closest to the camera. This phone is effective being there as it
is not connected suggesting that nobody is trying to call her anyway. Then the non-diegetic
sound is added to help create the mood of loneliness. The song 'All by myself'
playing in the background backs up all of these features we that have just said
connoting loneliness. This is effective as some of the audience can relate such
as middle aged women who are alone and want to watch a romantic movie to make them
feel better and gain faith in love.
The next shot is a medium shot of the TV as she sits on the sofa with nothing to do, in this shot you see many book games and board games expressing her life is boring and she has all of this to pass the time. The shot then fades into another shot of her flicking through magazines. As she puts the cigarette down and the smoke is cleared she checks the phone. "You have no new messages", just like we inferred. This is effective as again the audience can relate. As she removes herself from the camera you see a shot inside her house attracting you to the setting. She appears on the sofa suggesting time has passed. Non-diegetic sound has been added, it is piano. This has been added to still emphasise the loneliness as she sits there finishing a glass of wine in seconds. The music is slow paced and relaxing to represent the importance of the emotion we should be feeling.
The next shot is a medium shot of her sitting on the sofa, she is looking down at the floor telling us she has given up. The non-diegetic sound changes into another love song that she sits there a mimes too while weeping. As the song becomes more up beat we get less laziness from the character and more energy making the audience feel more power. It then converts into a long shot as the title appears. The title is bold and peachy following the conventions that it is aimed at a female audience. However, it is not a new shot and the character is still appeared in the title as she carries on singing "all by myself" with her hand openly pointed towards to title.
In this opening scene it didn't follow any cliches or much conventions. No boy met girl and there was no prince charming and it didn't follow conventions such as falling in love. However, we still understood it was a romance from this clip due to the mis-en-scene and sounds.
Age - The age that romantic films are mainly directed at tend to be 13-70 or even older in certain cases, such as a middle aged woman who is lonely and can relate. This could be because of the lighthearted nature of this genre and the fact that these films experience the prince charming, heartbreak scenario.
Gender- Romantic films are mostly aimed at women/teenage girls. This is due to the soppy cliches involved and stereotypical views that love films would make boys want to be sick. Young teenage girls are a very popular audience due to them wanting to grow up so fast and weirdly wanting to experience this prince charming situation, but understand that their hearts may have to get broken a few times before they meet the right one. Girls can relate to this genre more as they show more emotion and have more interests in light-hearted films like this that make them cry. They could also be influenced by friends, for example a big group of girls crying over love films with ice cream at a sleepover actually happens!
Interests - I find that the mains interests in romance film is the emotions you feel. It is 100% a rollercoaster of feelings. This is due to typically two young lovers who are made for each other are somehow kept apart because of certain obstacles, e.g. class, differences, parents. However, at the end there is mostly a happy ending which makes the audience feel satisfied with the film and gives them hope that love is true. Also there are many types of romance such as comedy romance, proper romance, thriller romance and those romantic films that make you cry for hours.
As you can see the main audience of this film is people aged from 45+ as 33% watched this movie. This could connote ad link with what I said about age, so them being single woman who need some sort of reassurance to find love. Howver, 15-44 was still a popular audience. Any age under this wasn't a popular audiencet, this is because the film was a 12+ limited tghe range.
The most popular gender is women, 67% leaving the male with 33%. This 33% could be due to the girlfriends bringing their boyfriends a long for a romantic date.
Aimed at female audience as they can relate more and express emotions
12 – 15 certificate to maximise the audience
A typical romance genre would include sexuality, status, gender and relationships.
Narrative: falling in love, dating, kissing
Often a voiceover is used to introduce the love theme
Main characters are introduced – attractive female and male
The setting is normally in an urban environment, a beach, a school etc, places where a chance encounter would happen.
When a romance film opens, it is likely that much of the setting will be shown to the audience from the use of establishing shots and wide shots showing characters and much of the setting and area behind them.
Cliches:
Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl
Female lead ends up with wrong boy
Prince Charming exists - unrealistic features
Bride/groom get ditched at altar
Pushy but lovable mother
Male lead has a best friend that is a lovable slob
Misfortunes can bring people together e.g. car crashes, sudden divorce
Major scene at airport or taxicab where boy realises he loves the girl and tries not to lose her
Faithful sidekick who secretly worships the male lead from afar
The opening scene for this movie starts off with a black
screen, introducing the music but not any picture yet creating the mood
already. The non-diegetic music is triumphal and is upbeat. Trumpets have been
added when the well-known Spiderman logo is introduced. This is effective as it tells the audience that Spiderman is heroic. It is red on a black
background so it stands out. This recognisable logo then blends in with Spiderman’s outfit as he starts to fall from the sky, Spiderman
is introduced straight away. You get a birdseye view of New York and can
hear the diegetic sounds of the wind as he is falling at extreme mph. This helps the audience feel the excitement and the rush. You know
it is New York from the recognisable buildings and taxis rushing by on a busy
road. Spiderman then attaches his web to a building, flinging in the air
screaming in joy. In this shot you can see him high up surrounded by blue skies
and clouds. The key lighting is bright as it is a sunny day. These shots carry
on, showing you the whole of New York and showing off Spiderman’s skills. You
get a range of long shots and medium shots as he is going so fast. You then get
shots of Spiderman in the air surrounded by helicopters emphasising how high he
is. You still have the non-diegetic sound which is the music; it is upbeat
creating a content mood for the audience. Diegetic sound has been added for the audience
to understand and Spiderman is now on a job. From this introduction of Spiderman
you can connote that he is heroic and knowing he will save the day is the cliche.
The shots have now reached the floor. It is a medium shot of
a giant truck crashing into smaller cars starting fires on the roads. It is a medium
shot so you can see the surroundings and background of all the cars showing
lives are in danger. You have the diegetic sounds of the police car sirens and
the truck storming through with nothing stopping him. You know that in this
scene the crazy man driving this truck is the bad guy due to him covered in
tattoos. The shots become way more up paced with soldiers dressed in bulletproof
uniforms expressing the danger holding high qualified weapons. There are mostly
medium shots. The camera doesn’t focus but is a tracking shot that follows the
action. This helps the audience gain that sense of rush and adrenaline as
everything is going by rapidly.
The next shot is quite clever as you get a medium shot of 2
police cars in front of this massive truck and about 50 police cars behind the
truck. The truck carries on a full speed showing that these police cars are not
going to resolve the problem and we need Spiderman! The audience’s anxiety
builds up as Spiderman hasn’t been seen for a while adding enigmas to where he is! The audience feel satisfied as Spiderman is then shown flying through the city. As soon as the
camera focuses on him the triumphal music is repeated. As he does a flip
in the air and it is shown in slow motion wowing the audience. The camera
focuses on an area and for the first time you get a close up of Spiderman as he
flies into the cameras direction.
After this shot you are shown a medium shot of a ring on
fire leading to an explosion and a hole in the floor. You have the stereotypically
criminal pressing the big red button. The diegetic sounds of the sirens are
still played but as the criminals jump don underground non diegetic sound is
added. It is low pitched up beat music that builds tension and creates a different
mood for the audience as enigmas have started to be added. What do these
criminals want? Will Spiderman defeat them?
Spiderman appears again, jumping on the truck. He finally
takes action. Spiderman knocks on the window of the truck and introduces himself. He comes across as jokey and relaxed which may add some humour to the
movie but can link in with the target audience as it is aimed at younger years. After this there is a close up of these ‘highly explosive’ liquids and the criminals face but we have already seen Spiderman trying to resolve another problem. Enigmas are again added. Will Spiderman catch all the criminals? The next shot is a usual man dressed in casual clothing representing he is normal citizen in the city. The non diegetic is gradually speeding up adding more tension and making the audience feel that the time is running out as we come near the end. You get a long shot of the truck still driving through the city crashing into cars. The shot switches to a low angle shot of the casual man picking up his papers he dropped. This could represent that he has little power. However, many of Spiderman's shots are high showing Spiderman has all the power. The music is building up tension as the shots are switching quicker and everything is all leading up the end. The bad guy driving the trucks screams in horror as he has no control and drives into several cars, blowing up. This is a high angle shot. You see a taxi coming towards the casual man but suddenly, the heroic Spiderman saves the casual man like the audience knew following the cliches. A medium shot is shown of Spiderman protecting this man as this taxi flies over their heads giving the audience a sigh of relief that he survived, even though they knew he would be saved. Conversation is exchanged where Spiderman helps a normal man feel good about himself. This could infer that Spiderman helps indivisuals in general as well as saving the world.
The opening scene immediatelystarts off with a panning of the camera as it is showing you the
setting. The camera rises until you can see the characters and the sound you can hear is diegetic sound as it is sounds of the trains however, the noise disappears as soon as the characters are shown. You can tell that is in an abandoned building and no one is going to be
around besides these characters that you are shown next. You are shown a long
shot of them; this shot is effective as you have the low key lighting where
the men are all standing around this girl who is tied to the chair. The light is
directly on her coming from above, representing that she is going to be an important character in
this film. Suddenly the next shot goes straight into action as you get a close up of one of the male characters punching her. You hear the diegetic sound of the punch helping the audience to feel her pain. You then get a little bit of a low angle shot as she breathes heavily trying to relieve the pain. This low angle shot can connote that she has little power right now. You then get medium shots of them having a conversation, they bare talking in a different language that is quite powerful. The female is wearing a black dress and has her hair and make up done looking quite formal. One of the males grab her and tilt her chair back, you are shown a shot of her feet off the ground and then a high angle shot of her lent back on the chair. From this you can infer they are trying to get something out of her and making her frightened by threatening her life. You can see in her facial expression that she is scared but not completely terrified. The next camera shot is from a different view. You are shown the characters through a mirror that is in this abandoned building. You see the back of her and then you see the front of the men. You get a close up of what the audience may think is the boss of all of this as he has the other men doing the work and he isn't showing bravery or courage, he just gets everyone else to do his dirty work for him. After a bit of a discourse you get a high angle shot of one of the men grabbing the girls face. The boss of this walks over to a wooden table. You get a long shot of all the characters but closest to the camera is this table full with hammers, knifes and torture weapons. The key lightning in this shot is a bit brighter as you have the chandelier allowing you to see around the basement. Enigmas are introduced. Are they going to torture her? What has she done wrong? Who even are these people? This gets the audience wanting more. He grabs a plyer building tension as you don't know what you are about to be shown you get the diegetic sound of them squeaking. There is not much non diegetic sound as this is all quite subtle and the diegetic sound makes up for it. All of a sudden as you think something extremely terrible is about to happen the phone rings adding more diegetic sound, one of the other men answer it. The phone call is extreme and the guy on the phone call demands the 'boss' to put the woman on the phone otherwise the building that was meant to be unknown will blow up. From this you can connote that whatever she is doing, she isn't in danger and is one step ahead. The audience start to feel confused and as you can see from the mans facial expressions he helps create this mood as he does not know what is going on. His actions become slower as he put the phone by the girls ear quite aggressively. The guy on the phone tells her to come into work and from this you can tell that she doesn't take what is happening seriously relieving the tension that she is going to get killed but making the audience curious to what is going on. The audience now start to understand that this is all a job for her. She hears some news you can tell she dislikes and to make this clearer to understand non diegetic sound is added and the camera zooms closer on her face as she says 'let me put you on hold'. The music reaches the climax of the tension and as the 'boss' takes the phone of her she kicks him in the groin. The non diegetic sound starts to become up paced and the movements are speeding up as she attacks all of these men. You hear the diegetic sounds of the punches, the chair hitting them and the men moaning in agony. The audience gt s surprise ass this girl is so superior. Her skills are showed of in this fighting scene wowing the audience. You get s direct shot of her grabbing her heels and walking away connoting that this was all a breeze for her. She picks up the phone and starts to have a conversation with the guy she put on hold. As he says 'you get the big guy' A non diegetic sound is added as the beat drops and you get a closeup of her face which is the look of shock. From this you connote that this isn't good news and a lot of action and drama is awaiting with the next task.
The trailer starts with an in depth camera shot and close up
of a black and gold watch surrounded with other watches, this connotes that
this character is wealthy or because it is in action we could get the idea that
these are stolen watches as they are matching. You hear the diegetic sound of
the watch being placed in the suitcase which again connotes a business man.
The next shot is a man in a robe opening two double doors
adding diegetic sound as he pushes them open. It is a low angle shot
representing little power at this time. The long shot allows the audience to
see all his bodyguards on the balcony, regaining the power he might have lost
from the camera shot. When he dives in the water you hear the diegetic sound of
the water clashing. The next shot is a long shot of him swimming and in the
background there are extravagant antiques connoting that he likes to show off
and confirming to the audience that he is a very wealthy man. You then get a
close up of his face coming out the water and him taking a deep breathe. This
is all effective as it allows the audience to recognise the character and understand
who he is.
After this there is an extreme low angle shot of him while
he is swimming, with the diegetic sound you can feel the tension and get a
brief idea that something bad is about to happen. As he looks down he sees a
watch at the bottom of the pool. He dives in to go and grab it then all of a
sudden as soon as his hand reaches the watch a face appears for a split second.
The other person grabs his hand and pulls him down. You get close ups of him
struggling trying to escape but this man has his arm around his throat,
straggling him. Bubbles appear all around the camera. You then get a low angle
shot of what the man being drowned is seeing, it views his balcony and there is
no bodyguard. This could connote that this murder is clever as has planned all
of this to put himself in no danger. The non- diegetic sound gets faster as
well as the shots as it comes close to this man’s death. All of the sudden the
up paced music because to an end and the bubbles stop. You do not see the
murderer’s identity keeping him a mystery for now. He rises to the top and
there is a high angle shot looking down on him lying dead ion the swimming
pool. The music is still, representing his death.
The non-diegetic sound which is the music starts the speed
up as you get a shot of the murderer running down the stairs. The camera doesn’t
follow the murders feet but shows you the stairs first and then the character
building tension. The shots are now shot and fast as the murder is up to something
and this is the reason why someone died. The conventions of an action are
starting to kick in. You never see his face properly until he takes off his
wetsuit. His identity is revealed. The camera shows the whole of his body which
is extremely muscly. Most villains or heroes are known to be strong and
muscular. His facial expressions show dedication however you can see the slight
worry in there in case something goes wrong making the audience feel anxious
and wanting to know more.
The music is less up pace and is settled when you get a high
angle shot of a maid walking past who spots the wealthy man dead. You get the
diegetic sound of her screaming and in a hurry two bodyguards appear, one dive’s
in while the other alerts. Suddenly the alarm goes off and you get different shots
of men in suits running in the building with weapons.
The non-diegetic sound starts to speed up again as you get
the close up of the murders face on his way out to escape. It is low pitched
and extremely tense, this starts to create suspense. Enigmas have started to be
added. Will he escape or get caught? Why did he kill this man in the first
place? You get a shot of the bodyguard dragging the dead man out the pool and
then it quickly changes to a high angle shot from high up on the stairs looking
down on the murderer showing that he has a lot of power. As the murderer is on
an escape route you get several camera shots ranging from medium to close ups.
The close ups stand out the most as his face is constantly serious and looks
deadly, again making you feel like he contains so much power but may not have a
high status as he is being a criminal. The shots on the dead man are so much
slower in music and movement compared to when on the criminal, this helps create
a mood for the audience. You switches of shots on the criminal running down a
bridge then you get shots of the other man lying there dead with maids crying.
You then get shown a boat coming towards the criminal,
obviously in the act. The audience are put on the edge of their seats. Will he
escape? They will have to keep watching! I find the next shot is my favourite
shot. It is a long shot of the criminal standing on the bridge closest to the
camera at the side with the background of the bridge and fields. It is my very
shot because as you can see his face is titled to the side with his fists
clenched together showing power and dominance. Suddenly in slow motion
you get him jumping off this tall bridge as the boat goes under. Beats have
started to be added in with the non-diegetic sound and the audience are shocked
at this danger. You get a long shot of him flying in the air down to the boat,
allowing the audience to see the drop. Your first thought is that this man is
full of bravery and courage. He hits the
water and the tension has reached the maximum. The camera stays still, is he dead?
Until, he rises from the water and grabs onto the back of the boat. The final
shot is a close up and the main thing that attracts the audience are the look
in his eyes.
Finally the title is revealed at the end. This trailer has
left you on a cliff hanger with unanswered enigmas making the audience not feel
fully satisfied and making them want to watch the film.
The first shot starts of by showing a close up of the main
characters boots, keeping the identity hidden for now. This shows that
immediately enigmas have already started to be added! You get the diegetic sounds from him walking,
his constant deep breathes and the background noises from wherever he is. Then
you have the non- diegetic sound which is just one constant high pitched note.
The shots are already moving quickly. You have a high angle shot of all these
knives that he is working with then it transports straight into several close
ups as he begins to make something out of these knives. You are shown his hands and feet but not face
so he is still left a mystery. You then get a medium shot of what he has made
which is a hand with knives as fingers. From this you can tell that he is a
villain and will cause the scare that this movie is all about.
The next shot is the title shot. It isn’t at the beginning
or the end however, it is still effective as you have a quick introduction
about how the main character made his claw hand. This draws the audience in
straight away and with the spooky music in the background building tension you
suddenly get given the name of the film, making you want to find out what the
storyline is all about and why he has this claw hand. The ‘Nightmare’ is bright red, big and bold
as this is the main word that jumps out at you and needs emphasis. You can tell
from this that it isn’t a recent film due to the red writing. Although ‘on elm
street’ is white and printed on top of the red writing in a much smaller
writing and different font. It is all in capital letters like a horror movie
title should be. The non-diegtic sound is quite childish and sounds like a nursery
rhyme.
Straight after the title you are shown a close up of the
finger knives cutting straight through a piece of fabric, tearing it. You have
the villain scream. The music is very spooky and is going quite slow.
The next shot is a close up of a girl looking frightened and
lost. She looks around and with this constant high pitched note that was played
at the beginning, the audience can start to feel the tension. An extreme close
up shot is then showed of her face as she looks straight into the camera, this
is direct address. This helps the audience put themselves in the characters
shoes and feel their emotions which is fear right now. You then have a long shot
of her in an abandoned corridor with low key lighting and her wearing a white
night gown, showing that this is all a nightmare. You have her running away
down this corridor panting and crying. You have the diegetic sound of the water
falling off the ceiling creating puddles all down the corridor. This is
effective as its makes the setting more scary for the audience to watch as she
runs bare footed down this wet hallway. There is then a voice over of the villain
talking and with this she turns her back to the camera looking down the lonely corridor.
The non-diegetic sound builds up and the camera starts to zoom in closer behind
her. Suddenly, there is a bang. She turns around and it turns out to be a
sheep, the villain starts to laugh. You can only hear him and not see him.
However, during this trailer the writing that tells you the
directors and producers isn’t very effective for a horror movie. It is more
comedian type of font, quite out of place and random and not all in capital
letters. The audience in modern days would find this off putting but as it is
an old film they can get away with it.
The setting then changes as in the next shot the girl ends
up running in a basement with lots of pipes and the lighting is very dark and
freaky. The non-diegetic sound is the music that sounds like a nursery rhyme again.
You get a quick glimpse of a darkened shadow which is the villain but then disappears
straight away. This is effective as it allows the audience to feel that little
bit of satisfaction by finally seeing him but not for long enough that they want
to carry on watching. You also hear the diegetic sound of all the pipes
squeaking. You get long shots of the girl running around in this basement in
the dark with scary surroundings trying to look out for the villain. The camera constantly follows behind
her, creating suspense as the audience want to know what is going to happen as
they have made it clear and this villain is following her. The voiceovers of all the laughs makes it obvious that
it’s all games to him and his amusement is watching people suffer.
You are shown a medium shot of the villain running his knife fingers
along a pipe. Scratching is good diegetic sound for a horror and is quite common. The vulnerable girl turns around and
the fabric that the villain made a tear in earlier completely rips as he jumps out on
her screaming. She runs into a dead end, making the audince think he has finally got her but then
you see him walk straight past her and see his shadow refelect. You hear the diegetic
sounds of the sheep baaing again. Slowly, she starts to walk towards the camera.
This makes the audience think that she is going to be okay and that he is gone
but all of a sudden he appears behind her grabs her shoulder and screams.
The next shot is her waking up in bed leaning forward in a
panic, you know she is panicing as you get a close up of her face as she breathes heavy and is dripping with sweat. There is knocking
on her door and her mum enters to ask if she is okay and says her name making the
audience aware of who she is. She replies with it was just a dream. However,
when she looks down at her night gown she sees the gash in it that was exactly
the same as the fabric he teared. The audience realise that these dreams are not just
dreams and if you die in your dream, you die in real life.
Straight away in this trailer we are
shown an establishing shot of this mansion filled with glassed windows. This is
effective as the audience is immediately introduced to the setting and they are
aware that whatever is about to take place will take place in this gloomy
mansion. This also follows
the conventions of a horror as they are known to be set in mansions, basements etc. Then there is non-diegetic sound to create tension and adds spookiness to
the setting. As the camera moves down from the house it views the driveway
which a van is pulling up in. The music is high pitched and sounds like a girl
singing. It is quite slow and stays at this constant slow rhythm as nothing
dramatic has happened, yet. This is repetitive and comes across as very creepy
giving the audience a clearer understanding that this is a horror film.
As the shot moves onto the
characters the singing in the background carries on, continuing to make the
audience feel freaked. Then
diegetic sound has begun to be added, for example when the mother is banging on
the lady’s door. This is a medium shot because it allows you to see the whole
entrance and the mother rush up and down the stairs in a hurry to see this lady.
The lady rushes out looking worried, she comes across as panicky and demanding
showing that what you are about to hear is very serious. The lady is standing
on the stairs so she is looking down on the parents representing that she has
got more power in this situation. With the boy curled up in his father’s arms
the story is told about him stealing this silver necklace from a gypsy. After
this the lady pulls out the necklace from the boys blanket, diegetic sound is
added when a fly flies out buzzing around the lady’s head before she swats the
fly away. As soon as the necklace is shown the music in the background goes
deep and low pitched. You are then shown a close-up of the lady’s face, from her facial
expression you can tell what he has done has got him into big trouble and using
an imperative ‘bring him inside’ shows that there is no time to waste. This
starts to worry the audience and adds enigmas such as what is so bad about
stealing from a gypsy and why has this led him to hearing voices?
When they enter the house you are
shown a high angle shot of the young boy. He is wrapped in a blanket shivering
a shaking looking up at something. You are then shown a low angle shot of the
glass ceiling. Hands with sharp nails/claws are shadowed over it and you hear
the noises that they are making. This glass ceiling is the only focus in this
shot as everywhere around it is pitch black. The camera then swirls around on a
high angle shot of the boy. This is effective as it is a different camera
technique and makes the audience follow the camera, keeping their eyes on the
boy at all times. You are then shown a long shot of the lady trying to clear
the ‘spirits’ which is another convention for a horror. The lady starts to talk
to the spirits and a medium shot of her is shown. This is due to the next shot,
in this shot you can see the double doors behind her just to make the audience
aware that they are there for when they slam open. The lady is pushed forwards
by the force and a close up of the boy screaming is shown. Shots start to move
much faster as the camera goes from long shot to medium shot to close ups. You
can hear the spirits but cannot see them. They attack the mother and the
father. With the boy lost and confused he runs out of the room screaming.
The boy is at the top of the stairs
and the camera follows him from behind. As he turns around he starts shouting
at the camera who is representing this spirit. This is effective as the spirits
stay unknown but the camera puts you in the spirits position and you can start
to feel the boy’s emotions. The boy is lifted in the air and thrown over the
stairs. It is a low angle shot so you can see the boy falling. You hear the
bang but you don’t see him land until you are shown a high angle shot of the
boy lying there. The floor starts the split and orange light shines through. The
next shot I think is quite powerful. It is a close up of the boy screaming at
what he has just saw making the audience anxious to find out what it is, with
the lady In the background stunned and hopeless at this time. From this you
could say that these are the 2 main characters in the film.
A black hand rises from the underground and grabs the boy, he is
taken underground and with his hand last to be seen the floor is sealed up and
he is gone, You are shown an extreme close up of the woman and with anger and
determination in her face she says ‘we will meet again’. This starts to add
more enigmas. Will she save the boy and how?
Finally the title is shown at the very end; having it at the end
makes the audience want to watch the whole trailer to find out what this film
is called. It is white writing on black background making it obvious that this
movie is quite recent. It is all in capital letters and the biggest words are ‘drag’
and ‘hell’. This is because they are the most effective words and need to stand
out.
Age – The general age for people watching action movies are 15
– 40. Most male teenagers love a good adrenaline burst. So watching a movie
filled with action would appeal to them as it creates excitement and it is
stereotypically what boys like. Action genre could then continue into adulthood
as they are still males and find action interesting as it is like their
childhood in a film, this is why it reaches the 40+ zone.
Gender –I think it is fairly obvious that males are mostly interested in action movies as
males find them more appealing while females find romance more appealing. This
links with being stereotypical. It is
usual for men to be drawn to ‘violent’ films and they enjoy the conventions
such as fighting, explosions and would find all the weapons ‘cool’. Males can
also relate to the characters more as the characters are male and they like to
put themselves in the character shoes. As girls all wanted to be like a barbie,
boys wanted to have super powers.
Interests - There
are many reasons why people go to see action. They are one of the most popular
genres. It is full of flavour and something is constantly happening making sure
the audience doesn’t get bored. Uses and gratifications could come into it so
the idea of escapism from reality and to entertain. It just fulfills your need
of this adrenaline rushing through your body that people can desire.
From this you can understand the main audeince for this film, in this case it is 15-24 at 36%. But ages above this are still popular. This is because teeangers and young adults enjoy that rush actions give you. The majority of the audience are males at 62% leaving the females with 38%. The females could have came along with their boyfriends or siblibgs such as older brothers.
During the opening scene of scream 5 you see a range of
conventions used throughout. These are used to help the audience understand
what type of genre the film is and get a better understanding to what is going
on.
The first shot of the trailer is the title. The font and the
colour is what immediately catches the audience eyes. It is big and bold and
has bright red writing (representing blood) on a pitch black background making
the title stand out even more. This was very popular when this movie was released
in 1996, but now days it is usually white writing on a black background. Also
when this title is displayed there is a non diegetic sound of a girl’s high
pitched voice screaming in the background emphasising the word ‘scream’.
The first camera shot of the trailer is a close up of a phone
ringing, this is effective as it shows this clip is going to be based on this
phone call. Then when a blonde teenage girl picks up the phone and you hear a
deep, creepy man’s voice say “hello” you know something disastrous is about to
happen and this phone call is going to play a big part in it. When the girl
replies she has a sweet voice and shows she is innocent and vulnerable. As she ends the phone call and walks away the phone
starts to ring again. Here it shows a close up of her face, you can tell she
looks slightly worried. This gets the audience anxious and creates tension.
Enigmas have started to be added. Who is this guy on the phone and what does he
want?
The next shot is extremely clever. It is a shot of the
double window glazed doors, the camera rests on them for about 1 second giving the audience a quick glimpse to check
if there is anyone there or something to make you jump. The camera shots are
quite slow as it is building up the tension.
After this shot you are shown a shot of the front house, it
is dark outside but all the lights are on in the house.The house is slightly in the distance as
closer to the camera there is an empty swing hanging off the tree. This shot
creates an image in the audience head of a little girl swinging on the swing
which is shown in horror movies and represented as scary.
You then end up in this girls house again, the phone rings
for the third time and it is the same person. The teenage girl leans across the
table; knives are in the view of the shot. This is effective as it makes the
audience aware that there are knives and makes them wonder will the knives ever
be used. When she replies to the mysterious man on the phone she comes across
as quite flirtatious, this is following the conventions as it shows a
vulnerable teenage girl home alone at night time flirting with this stranger. This
is because teenagers are represented as stupid in horrors and deserve to die
due to this. She then picks up a knife and you hear the diegetic sound of the
steel thrusting against the wood as she places it back straight away.
The next shot is the camera following the girl into a
different room, all the doors and
windows are glass so you are constantly looking outside to see if you spot anything.
You then have the diegetic sound of the dog barking, this could giveaway to the
audience that this mysterious man is outside. When the man then refers that he
can see her, the camera zooms in on her facial expressions and music is added
in the background to add tension. Again, as the girl walks away from locking
the door the camera rests on what is behind her for just a second making the
audience anxious thinking something might be there. The shots start the speed up. The first shot
of the popcorn things were quiet and it was cooking slowly but now the popcorn
is much louder and the noise it is making is getting faster building up
suspense. The music which is the non diegetic sound is getting louder and
faster. You can hear the worry in the girl’s voice and the excitement and
frustration in his keeping the audience on the edge of their seat.
The door bell rings, this could make the audience jump as
the girl screams and turns around in surprise. She cries “who’s there?” You are
shown the front door and nobody is in sight but as the phone rings again he
replies “you should never ask who is there.”
Age – The general age for an audience watching horror movies
would be around 15-25.During the younger ages both girls and boys want to
experiment new things and different emotions. The audience can relate to the
characters in the film and in most horror movies when something bad is about to
happen the camera views what the character is seeing putting the audience in
the characters shoes. This gives the
character and the audience a better relationship making the audience enjoy the
film more.
Gender – Mostly males would watch horror movies as they seek
thrill and want some excitement in their life. It gives them a sense of rush.
The conventions of a horror would attract males more for example horrors can be
quite gruesome and violent which males particular enjoy watching more than
females. However, this could be stereotypical.
Interests – There are a few reasons why people are
interested to watch horrors. For example it could be new and exciting for a
group of friends sitting around watching their first horror movie. It is creates
a better mood and can be extremely fun. They are also seen as good conversation
starters and if you feel comfortable in a relationship usually coupes go and
watch them.
The main audience for this movie is 15-24. This is at a high 69%. A lot of this percentage would be made up of teenagers that want a scare. In horrors you generally go in a big group of friends compared to a romance or action where you could go by yourself of with a partner. The main gender who watched this film was females at 54%. However, they are still quite close together with the male at 46%. This is quite unusual for the females to be more popular but it could be due to them going in such big groups. The percetnages may be close together as a lot of people watch horrors as a couple so the girl can snuggle up to the boy when she gets frightened and the boy can be there to comfort her.
