Horror Genre Mind Map

Well done, I am pleased to see that you have started posting your research and how it is informing your planning.  Try and complete a couple of posts a week on your research.

Target: Research film titles and write a post analysing how/why titles are used in an opening to a film. Explain the different types of titles and how they are typically used in your chosen genre.

21 Jump Street opening two minute Analysis

The scene starts with upbeat non-diegetic music. This is effective as it links in with the images now being shown on screen. We see a high angle shot of school students getting off the school bus. This links with the music because it is the type of upbeat music teenagers listen to. Also it will make the audience continue watching, especially the teenagers, because it is their type of music. We then see a mid shot of the main character who the camera is now focusing on. His back is facing the camera as he walks towards the main entrance to the school. From this mid shot we can tell by his body language that perhaps he is quite confident about something because he is walking quite fast and the way he is walking suggests he thinks of himself as quite cool.

However, this image of him being quite cool completely changes when we see a mid shot of him facing the camera. As he walks through the door, we can tell by his body language and facial expression that he is quite nervous about something. We can tell this by the way he is walking more slowly and has a worried look on his face. As he continues walking down the corridor he waves to someone but because the audience cannot see this other person it suggests the other person has not waved back. This suggests that the character is uncool and unpopular. Also as he opens his mouth the smile we see that the character has braces. This stereotypically suggests he's quite geeky, unpopular and uncool as usually in films the geeky characters almost always have braces.

 A few shots later we see a close up of a poster. The poster is advertising prom which suggests that maybe the character which the camera has been following is nervous about prom. This becomes clear when we see a mid shot of him facing the camera with an extremely nervous look on his face, as a girl starts walking in his direction, and by looking at his body language we can tell he has tensed his body up as if he is scared. As soon as the girl reaches him, he turns around and begins talking to her. As he is speaking he is stuttering and he is speaking quietly. This shows the audience, again, that he is really nervous and not very confident. Whilst he is speaking in the background we can hear a faint beat of a heart. The heart is beating fast suggesting that it is the boy's heart. This again shows the audience how nervous he really is. The heartbeat in the background is very effective because it makes the audience understand just how nervous he is. It also makes the audience think of him as a weak character who finds it hard to talk to girls.

As he continues to speak to the girl it becomes clear he is attempting to ask her to prom. When she realises she says " Oh my god, you're not asking me to prom are you?". A close up shot of her face shows that she clearly doesn't like the idea by the look of disgust on her face. At this point we are introduced to another character who begins laughing at the boy. This character is shown as a cool character who is confident around people. This is effective as it is showing the clear contrast between the two characters- one is really geeky who can't talk to girls and the other is cool and confident. However, despite the character being geeky and unpopular we can't help but feel sorry for the character because he has now been embarrassed by the other character. This is effective because it makes the audience perhaps begin to like a certain character perhaps due to his vulnerability.

After the character portrayed as cool calls him a nerd and continues laughing at the boy, he walks away looking like he is about to cry. This is effective as it shows the audience how weak this character is and makes them feel sorry for him. However, towards the other character the audience don't feel sorry for him. They perhaps look at him as a bully and someone who isn't someone you want to cross. Despite this, towards the end of the scene we begin to feel sorry for the character. He is called into the principles office where he is told he isn't allowed to go to prom due to his bad grades. We see a close up shot of him being told he can't go to the prom. This is effective as we can see his facial expression as being a bit shocked but mostly confused. He gives a faint laugh which could show he is really upset by it as he is trying to laugh it off. As he is portrayed as a cool character it could mean perhaps he is looking forward to prom quite a lot because he will undoubtedly be voted prom king due to his popularity. This perhaps makes the audience feel sorry for him because now he isn't going to be able to be prom king.

Easy A opening two minute analysis

The opening scene opens with a long shot of a school. This is effective as it shows the audience exactly where they are. Non- diegetic music begins to play. The music is happy and upbeat which suggests this is going to be a happy film and girly film. This is effective as the audience will know what type of film they are watching. Students begin to walk on screen with friends. This links with the music being happy as the students are happy also. As the scene continues we see more students come on screen with their friends. The scene is happy which again, shows the audience the film will be happy and funny.

The non-diegetic sound of Emma Stone's voice can now be heard speaking over the top of the scene. This is effective as the audience knows she is the main character as she is speaking about what is going on in the film. She is speaking about how she was anonymous and invisible. This links with the images we see on screen. We see the camera moving forward past people walking around the grounds of the school. This is effective because the way the camera is moving makes it seem like it is a person walking around, and as no one has looked at the camera it links with the fact she is saying how she was anonymous and invisible. She also says "Who am I?" which links with what the camera is doing. The camera begins to zoom in to people which gives the audience a false impression that the person they are moving the camera towards is the person speaking. However, the camera moves away at the last minute. This is effective as it makes the audience wonder who the person speaking is.

As the non-diegetic sound of Emma Stone's voice continues she says something about lying about "personal stuff". The audience will now be drawn into watching the rest of the film as they want to find out exactly what she was lying about and why she lied about it. As the camera begins to zoom in to a girl walking down a pathway the audience will get the impression that this is Emma Stone's character, Olive Pendergast. Also, because she says "I Olive Pendergast" the audience assumes this is the character. The camera follows this character for around 10 seconds until she bumps into another girl, causing her to fall to the ground. This is when the audience sees the character of Olive Pendergast for the first time.

The effectiveness of this scene is good because it makes the audience wonder who the character speaking is. The scene doesn't show one specific person until the end which leaves the audience wanting to continue watching to find out who the character is. The camera begins zooming in to people but doesn't actually zoom all the way in to make it a close up shot. This is effective because it makes the audience think that is the main character but then right at the end switches the shot to another person. This leaves the audience wondering who the character is and leaves them wanting to carry on watching.

Preliminary Task Evaluation

 

A high angle shot of a stair case is then shown, with a different figure slowly walking down the stairs looking like they know where they are going as they are not rushing. The surrounding is quite as we see no one else around, which creates a sense of mystery as to where they are going. The shot then leads onto a long shot of the same figure walking across a path way. As it is a long shot you cannot fully see where they are or where they are walking to. This creates  a sense of mystery for the audience. As they are walking behind a fence the audience are unable to see what the figure looks like. This creates suspicion for the audience.

A shot of a door is used to show a reflection of the figure in the window walking down some steps towards the door. This is effective as it creates a variation in the shot type and shows the figure itself is shown on the screen. It also gives the audience a chance to see their face, however not very clearly.  We see a close up of someone's feet walking down some stairs at a fairly slow pace. This shows they are in no rush. This is effective as it leaves the audience wondering why they are being shown this and where they might be going.

There is another character shown in a long shot. This is effective as you can see they are in a long corridor and as they are both in a building could connote that both the figures may walking to meet each other. The long shot only shows the figures back, so we are unable to tell who it is. This links with the other character as we haven't seen their face clearly yet showing some relation between the two and that they do not want to be identified at this very minute. The shot that follows is very effective as its a long shot of a different corridor showing a silhouette walking past. As it is dark we are unable to identify who the character is. This is effective as this could be a completely different character that both the other figures do not know about therefore creating suspense.

When the character sits down, we only see the side of their face which is more than what we have seen throughout all of the other shots. However we still can not establish who the character is as we are not shown a full shot of their face. Once again this is effective as it leaves the audience with suspicion as to who these people are. We are then shown the other character walking in, going to sit down opposite the other character, now showing their face, unlike the other character still not wanting to be identified.

The first bit of dialogue is shown, where we can then see a close up of the characters face saying "who did it?". This is the first time we see the characters face properly. This now means the audience are less suspicious because they can now see the faces of the characters. However there still is suspicion as to why they are there. The dialogue that is used infers that something has happened and they want answers. This is all shown though an over the shoulder shot. This shot is effective as it makes the audience feel as if they are the other character because the character is speaking facing the camera and looking at the camera. The face of the other character is finally shown through another over the shoulder shot. More dialogue is shown as we see the other character reply "I don't know". The character says it in a relaxed way as if they are trying to be smart and not give anything away to the other character, This shows that they must know what has happened but has chosen to not say. This leaves the audience with suspicion about the whole situation as they don't know what has happened. It also leaves the audience wondering whether the character actually knows what has happened.

It finishes with a shot of the character who perhaps knows what is going on walking a way in a relaxed and calm state. We can tell this by the pace of the walk and the fact they smile when they walk through the door. The character walks through the door with a smug look on their face. This is suggesting they have the upper hand in knowing what is going on.

Opening credits of Halloween 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nwMfSdlj7Y

The opening credits of Halloween 4 starts off with a black background with white writing on it. This is effective as the writing stands out. The writing is the date which suggests we will see an event which happening on this day and also it is the day before Halloween so it links with the title of the film. As the first image of old houses comes onto the screen bright yellow writing follows. This is effective as you would usually associate yellow and red colours with danger so it perhaps shows the audience that something gruesome might happen. Also in the background you can see a stack of pumpkins which again, links with the title as at Halloween you carve pumpkins. Whilst these images are being shown we can hear non-diegetic music being played. The music is sinister which also links with the horror genre of the film. This non-diegetic music is effective because it shows the audience that the film really is a horror and it makes the film even scarier because it puts the audience on edge. We can also hear the diegetic sound of leaves blowing in the wind and birds. This is effective because it makes the audience feel as if they are there because they can hear what is going on there. Also, because we can only hear the birds and leaves, it suggests that it is deserted around that area because we cannot hear or see anyone. This is also effective because it makes the audience suspicious as to why there is no one around. This puts them on edge. The second image shown on screen is of a field with buildings in the background. It is quite dark which could also suggest something dangerous might happen. It is also setting the scene for a horror film. The location in which the film is set is deserted which could suggest that no one lives there or no one wants to come out when its Halloween because something dangerous is going on.

   The third image we see is an establishing shot of a group of houses. This is effective as it sets the scene of the film and lets the audience know this is where the horror film will be set. Also the writing is big, bold and yellow. The writing says 'Halloween' which is the title of the film. As the colour of the writing is still yellow it continues to suggest that something dangerous is going to happen in the film. It also links with the genre of the film as yellow and red colours suggest danger. Throughout these opening credits we continue hear non- diegetic music. The music is sinister which makes the audience think something bad is going to happen. This is effective as it puts them on edge as they are waiting for something to happen.

   As the credits continue, more images come onto the screen. One of the images is of an old shed. There are lots of trees behind it which suggests it is in a forest. This could also suggest it is abandoned as there are no windows and it looks very old and not looked after. This links to the non- diegetic sinister music as the shed is in the forest so could be used for dangerous things. As the images continue we hear the diegetic sound of birds. This is effective as it draws the audience into the film and makes them feel as if they are there. We also see an image of barbed wire which links to the theme danger. Also, as before, there is no one around which suggests the town is deserted. This is effective as it makes the audience curious as to why there is no one around. We see a close up shot of a pitching fork with the spikes facing upwards. This shot is effective as it shows the audience how sharp the object is. It also makes the audience wonder why it is there and why the spikes are facing upwards.

   We are then shown a long shot of a road and an ambulance driving down the road. From this image we can see that it is thundering and pouring with rain. This is effective as it adds to the horror film effect. The weather isn't nice which suggests the film probably won't contain any happy scenes. As the ambulance continues driving down the road the music gets louder and faster which suggests something bad is about to happen in the film. This is effective because it puts the audience on edge as they are waiting for something to happen.

Romance Genre Mind Map

Target Audience:

• Romantic Comedies tend to be directed at women ages 13-17 or potentially even older, due to the light-hearted nature of the genre.
• Romantic films can also target the ages of 13-40+
• Teenage girls are especially targeted at a Romance film if there is a good looking male actor e.g. Channing Tatum.