Conventions of Horror

Conventions: things we expect to find
Genre: the conventions that place a film into a category
Hybrid Genre: two genres for one film - romcom, etc.

Don't
Ignore
Setting
Technical Code
Iconography
Narrative
Characterisation
Themes

Creepy house, forest, somewhere dark, graveyards = dark, death, scary, bleak. Builds tension, more frightening, isolation builds an uneasy feeling with the audience.

SMEC - sound, mise en scene, editing, camera shots. Scary noises, wind blowing, cat screams, gory makeup, fast cuts, POV, handheld camera work, close ups.

Iconography - famous celebrities, religious symbols, weapons, knives, gore, demonic symbols. Visual things that symbolize genre, filters, colours, blue filters, etc.

Serial killers, asylums, new haunted houses - cliff hangers, psychological, sequel, etc. Never ending plot (Saw), Antagonist never dies.

Equilibrium
Event
Confusion
Resolve 
New Equilibrium

Young people, people that appeal to demographic.

• Protagonist
• Sex appeal
• Irritating guy
• Token black guy
• Comeuppance 
• Unlikely hero
• Antagonist 

Theme is a recurring element in the plot. Theme - mental illness, revenge, religious belief, etc. are always a theme in films.

Feedback - Miss Spencer

Compulsion Opening Textual Analysis

In the opening of Compulsion (2013), the audience are shown extreme close ups of the fallen hero chopping vegetables and preparing a meal. The colours white and red are very prominent in this montage, which symbolises the clash of innocence, lust, and danger - which are also prominent themes in the film, such as Saffron's innocence and how she left behind her life as a child actress and is now trying to make her way doing writing. Lust and danger relates to Heather Graham's character, Amy, as she knows how to use her sexuality to her advantage, but also to get what she wants in terms of manipulation and violence, as she kills her husbands parrot when he cheats on her and supposedly kills Saffron, her new girlfriend, and feeds her to the detective at the end of the film.

In the opening, there are a wide variety of shots which display different types of cinematography, which makes the audience feel like they've been immersed in Amy's obsessive cooking, which is made to be something very intimate and attractive.

The voice over talks about how cooking is "supposed to make you feel something", which also relates back to the effect on the audience and how intimate and special cooking is to her. This also relates back to the lustful attitude Amy has with her husband at first and then later Saffron.

The Call Opening Sequence Textual Analysis

In the opening sequence of The Call, we see a birds eye view of the city of Los Angeles, the camera pans over the city and establishes the shot, and we as an audience really get an idea of the sheer scale of the city, in context with the film, we are allowed to appreciate how many people and individuals there are in the city. The pans help to emphasise and truly highlight how much area the LAPD have to cover on a daily basic. The shots of the city are at night, perhaps foreshadowing the distress that is to come during the final sequences. The bright lights not only symbolise how many people are in the city, but also provide a flicker of hope in the bleak darkness of the city.

Over the top of the shots, we hear various 911 emergency phonecalls being made, this establishes the scene and gives us some context as to things like what our protagonist does as an occupation, what sort of things are going on in the city, and just how many 911 calls are made per evening. This helps us as an audience get to know and understand the protagonist even better, despite the fact that we haven't even
met them yet.

Further on in the film, when we learn what our protagonist, Halle Berry, does as an occupation.

The opening titles are a green computer font, which also shows us the type of things a 911 emergency operator sees when doing their job. The font is also akin to films such as The Matrix, as the green colour and IT font really emphasises the technological features in the film.
In the end of the sequence, we realise that we have learned a lot about the protagonist, without even meeting them, and we are given clues as to what is to come in the film, and although these are very subtle, each small feature is effective in really showing the audience enough to entice them to watch further on.

Feedback - Miss Spencer

I can only see a little progress since my last feedback. I would like to see much more progress than this. Both of your analysis need the film opening to be embedded and screen shots that illustrate your points throughout. I am a little disappointed with your progress, and we will have a talk in the next lesson to discuss how we can ensure you don't fall behind in your work.

Knocked Up Textual Analysis

Knocked Up Textual Analysis

Cathy Maddox

In the opening to Knocked Up, we see a group of young males having what they would think is fun, taking drugs, fighting, and going on rollercoasters. The shots use slow-motion and smooth tracking to really emphasise how much fun they are having.

The audience can tell from just the opening of the film that these young men are very reckless, and are not very mature for their age, and in the context of the film, it shows they’re in no way mature enough to be responsible for a child. Point of view shots (POV) are used to show that this is the life they’re living and they’re subjecting it onto people around them.

The group on the rollercoaster.

In one part of the opening, we have a POV shot of them in a rollercoaster, reflecting their personalities and lifestyles. They’re having a wild time and they’re not going to apologise for that, which we see when they show no remorse for hurting their friends when they are fighting. Seth Rogen – the main character – is a stoner, like in most of his movies, reflecting his reckless attitude once again and showing that he’s not a serious person. This makes the audience feel like he’s not able to be responsible for another human being, as he’s barely responsible for himself.

These young men also look like they are quite arrogant, which is reflected in the high angle shots particularly during the end of the opening scene. This shows that they may believe they are on top of the world, and are having so much fun that they don’t really want it to end. This also could reflect that they think they’re powerful, also justified by the fact that they’re fighting and taking drugs.

Throughout the scene, we are subjected to a group of young men who believe they are quite powerful, but recklessly so. They’re obviously not very serious or committed to anything like a job or a family since they’re taking so many stupid risks. The opening establishes their characters as having a very immature demeanour for men who should have jobs and be working towards their future.

Feedback - Miss Spencer

You have made a reasonable start Cathy - however I am disappointed that you didn't meet the deadline and get two analysis up on your blog. WHat you have written is of good quality, however it does heavily rely on camera movement, angles etc, with less on the other areas (editing? Mise en scene ? sound?) These areas are only mentioned occasionally. You have also not talked about the titles.  
Because of this your work is in a level 2. In order to improve you should:

•  Think about the questions below, ensure you are addressing all of them.
•  Embed JPEG images throughout you analysis (stills from the film) and a video of the opening sequence in order to illustrate your analysis.

  Study the opening sequences of any film from the Thriller, Horror, and Romantic comedy genre. E.g. Seven, The Dark Knight Rises, Halloween, Notting Hill, Love Actually etc. Analyse how the sequence has been constructed through its use of: Camera angles, shots, movement, Editing, Sound, Special effects and Mise-en-scene etc.

· In terms of editing how have the separate images been put together - Think in terms of frequency of cuts, fades in/out, jump cuts, dissolves etc.

• What visual images appear on screen throughout the sequence? And what do they mean?
• · Describe what narrative (story) is being displayed in the sequence from start to finish.
• · Describe what kind of music; diegetic/non-diegetic/incidental/ambient etc. is being played over the sequence.
• · How and what titles are being displayed during the sequence and in what order.
• · What kind of characterisation is evident? - Age, gender, relationships etc.