Wednesday, 28 November 2012
Thursday, 1 November 2012
Sunday, 30 September 2012
Saturday, 29 September 2012
A Nightmare on Elm Street - Plot Summary Analysis
SUBGENRE - The subgenres for A nightmare on Elm Street is slasher and psychological. The conventions of this film being a slasher film are the fact that the main characters in this film are teenagers and also the stock weapons used are a blade and a glove (which are used in many slasher films). Also the locations in this film are very isolated much like in other slasher movies. The conventions of this film being of the psychological subgenre which are featured in the plot summary are the fact that there is a serial killer who stalks the characters throughout the movie which is a main convention of the psychological subgenre and also that the teengagers are unaware of their surroundings. The fact that there are also dreams that the characters cannot control gives the film a psychological sense because it leads the viewers to be confused and it plays with their mind, the dreams could also give the film a very supernatural sense. In the plot summary there is also the idea that there is an element of exploitation horror because of the vast amount of blood and gore used throughout the film.
ICONOGRAPHY - There are props used such as the razor sharp claws and the motif of Freddies stripy, red jumper which appears throughout. Also the music is a motif, played at different points through the film. The music is creepy, dark and eery to add tension and suspense. Also dark, low key lighting is used to create fear, tension, suspense and enigma which is an important aspect to draw the viewer's in. Distorted shadows are used to add to the fear, suspense and the jumpiness of the film.
LOCATIONS - Isolated locations are used throughout the film such as within dreams meaning that there is no escape, which substantially conforms to the psychological aspect of horror because of the fact that there is no escape but furthermore conforms to the conventions of slasher subgenre because of the isolation. For example it is set in the Midwestern town of Springwood, Ohio, which is known to be a very lonely, isolated area which adds to the suspension and the conventions of the slasher subgenre. Another location shown within the plot summary of this film is a dark boiler room, which also adds to the loneliness but will lead the viewers to be scared and feel tense because it is a very isolated place and it creates enigma because the audience do not know what is to come.
CHARACTERS - There is a disfigured villain with an unknown identity. This villain wears a hat and his face is burnt so that he is unrecognisable and his identity is revealed as a serial killer. The fact that the villain is unknown and is a serial killer who stalks the victims conforms to the conventions of a psychological subgenre of horror. It creates suspense and scares the audience because this serial killer is on the hunt to kill as many people as possible and this plays with the viewers minds leading them to think that something like this could possibly happen to them. Another of the main characters is the stereotypical teenagers who are vulnerable and naive, this conforms to the subgenre of slasher becasue teenagers are generally used within these sort of movies. The parents in this film are always in denial much like parents can be in other horror movies. Finally, it is important to note that from the plot summary we can see that there is a last girl standing (Nancy) which also conforms to the subgenre of slasher as there usually is a last girl standing who possible leaves the film open for a sequel.
NARRATIVE STRUCTURE AND FILM THEORY - There is a slow reveal of the villain, who gets revealed in stages. The film starts with enigma which applies to Barthez enigma code, who argues that the enigma keeps people watching, wanting to know what is going to happen next. In addition dreams are based on enigma.The film seems to challenge Todorovs theory because A nightmare on Elm Street begins with disequilibrium then switches to equilibrium then switches back to the disequilibriium and ends with a resolution leaving the end open for a sequel. This goes against the typical structure for a horror movie. The film begins with Mulvey's idea of the male gaze because Freddy slashes the girls knighty with knives, which is considered a phallic symbol. However the film ends with the Final Girl theory because Nancy is the last character standing who ends up having the courage to defeat the villain. The film is also based on Strauss' theory of binary opposites who states that binary opposites help drive forward the action of the film. binary opposites are used throughout such as; young vs old, teens vs Freddy, dark vs light, good vs evil and dreams vs nightmares. Juxtaposing things tells you something about both extremes. The majority of the narrative structure is therefore made up of binary opposites.
ICONOGRAPHY - There are props used such as the razor sharp claws and the motif of Freddies stripy, red jumper which appears throughout. Also the music is a motif, played at different points through the film. The music is creepy, dark and eery to add tension and suspense. Also dark, low key lighting is used to create fear, tension, suspense and enigma which is an important aspect to draw the viewer's in. Distorted shadows are used to add to the fear, suspense and the jumpiness of the film.
LOCATIONS - Isolated locations are used throughout the film such as within dreams meaning that there is no escape, which substantially conforms to the psychological aspect of horror because of the fact that there is no escape but furthermore conforms to the conventions of slasher subgenre because of the isolation. For example it is set in the Midwestern town of Springwood, Ohio, which is known to be a very lonely, isolated area which adds to the suspension and the conventions of the slasher subgenre. Another location shown within the plot summary of this film is a dark boiler room, which also adds to the loneliness but will lead the viewers to be scared and feel tense because it is a very isolated place and it creates enigma because the audience do not know what is to come.
CHARACTERS - There is a disfigured villain with an unknown identity. This villain wears a hat and his face is burnt so that he is unrecognisable and his identity is revealed as a serial killer. The fact that the villain is unknown and is a serial killer who stalks the victims conforms to the conventions of a psychological subgenre of horror. It creates suspense and scares the audience because this serial killer is on the hunt to kill as many people as possible and this plays with the viewers minds leading them to think that something like this could possibly happen to them. Another of the main characters is the stereotypical teenagers who are vulnerable and naive, this conforms to the subgenre of slasher becasue teenagers are generally used within these sort of movies. The parents in this film are always in denial much like parents can be in other horror movies. Finally, it is important to note that from the plot summary we can see that there is a last girl standing (Nancy) which also conforms to the subgenre of slasher as there usually is a last girl standing who possible leaves the film open for a sequel.
NARRATIVE STRUCTURE AND FILM THEORY - There is a slow reveal of the villain, who gets revealed in stages. The film starts with enigma which applies to Barthez enigma code, who argues that the enigma keeps people watching, wanting to know what is going to happen next. In addition dreams are based on enigma.The film seems to challenge Todorovs theory because A nightmare on Elm Street begins with disequilibrium then switches to equilibrium then switches back to the disequilibriium and ends with a resolution leaving the end open for a sequel. This goes against the typical structure for a horror movie. The film begins with Mulvey's idea of the male gaze because Freddy slashes the girls knighty with knives, which is considered a phallic symbol. However the film ends with the Final Girl theory because Nancy is the last character standing who ends up having the courage to defeat the villain. The film is also based on Strauss' theory of binary opposites who states that binary opposites help drive forward the action of the film. binary opposites are used throughout such as; young vs old, teens vs Freddy, dark vs light, good vs evil and dreams vs nightmares. Juxtaposing things tells you something about both extremes. The majority of the narrative structure is therefore made up of binary opposites.
Friday, 28 September 2012
Tuesday, 25 September 2012
Analysis of Cold Prey Trailer
Conventions of Slasher Films and the narrative structure
- victims - teenagers
- Weapons - Pickaxe
- Unknown Villain - Man
- Isolated place - abandoned cabin
- Calm equilibrium - group of teens enjoying the snow
- 20 seconds in, once the victim is alone, crisis starts, fast paced, creates suspense and heightens the levels of terror.
- Flashing shots - disorientates the viewer
- As the music builds, sound becomes more "slasher" as in panting, loud, fast music, screaming - typical conventions
- Contrapuntal sound - twinkly music when axing the window
- The music reflects where they are
- Verisimilitude - Creates a sense of reality, diegetic sounds of pots, pans, floorboards
- victims - teenagers
- Weapons - Pickaxe
- Unknown Villain - Man
- Isolated place - abandoned cabin
- Calm equilibrium - group of teens enjoying the snow
- 20 seconds in, once the victim is alone, crisis starts, fast paced, creates suspense and heightens the levels of terror.
- Flashing shots - disorientates the viewer
- As the music builds, sound becomes more "slasher" as in panting, loud, fast music, screaming - typical conventions
- Contrapuntal sound - twinkly music when axing the window
- The music reflects where they are
- Verisimilitude - Creates a sense of reality, diegetic sounds of pots, pans, floorboards
Analysis of Urban Legend trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjTV_9_Fbt8
Conventions of Slasher Film
- Victims - teenagers
- isolated surroundings
- serial killer
- weapons - axe, knife
- unknown identity - twist at the end
- female hero
- heightened levels of suspense, terror etc.
- quick flashes - fast paced
- Screaming
Narrative Structure
- opening - we are introduced to the main characters and the scene is set, we see that equilibrium has started, the teenagers are in a school lecture.
- Eventually equilibrium shifts and there is now disequilibrium. Things start to go wrong, they talk about the myths about the Urban Legends and then this starts to become a reality for them. The shots become very fast paced and give us glimpses of the problems occurring, glimpses of who the villain is.
- There are many teasing shots, we catch a slight view of the problematic events but are never fully revealed to them, leaves us asking questions... which makes this a successful trailer.
- It ends on a huge cliffhanger. The guy opens up the microwave and screams really loudly, this is an abrupt ending and leaves us as viewers in suspense, making us want to know more, asking questions such as 'why?', 'What happened to him?' etc.
Conventions of Slasher Film
- Victims - teenagers
- isolated surroundings
- serial killer
- weapons - axe, knife
- unknown identity - twist at the end
- female hero
- heightened levels of suspense, terror etc.
- quick flashes - fast paced
- Screaming
Narrative Structure
- opening - we are introduced to the main characters and the scene is set, we see that equilibrium has started, the teenagers are in a school lecture.
- Eventually equilibrium shifts and there is now disequilibrium. Things start to go wrong, they talk about the myths about the Urban Legends and then this starts to become a reality for them. The shots become very fast paced and give us glimpses of the problems occurring, glimpses of who the villain is.
- There are many teasing shots, we catch a slight view of the problematic events but are never fully revealed to them, leaves us asking questions... which makes this a successful trailer.
- It ends on a huge cliffhanger. The guy opens up the microwave and screams really loudly, this is an abrupt ending and leaves us as viewers in suspense, making us want to know more, asking questions such as 'why?', 'What happened to him?' etc.
Analysis of Texas Chainsaw Massacre - The Beginning trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gYGzJDt8HQ
Conventions of Slasher Film
- Last woman standing
- Victims - whole car of teenagers
- Villain is really strong - with a chainsaw
- In a very isolated location
- Weapons - gun, chainsaw, knife
- Fast paced editing
- Equilibrium created, very soon shifts
- Suspense created
- Successful trailer - very jumpy, as viewers it leaves us wanting to know what is going to happen next
- Lots of screaming throughout the trailer
- Sound - Slow and peaceful to very loud.
- Juxtaposed sound - Contrapuntal sound - For example, amazing grace is playing in the background as the victims are all terrified and violence is going on.
Narrative Structure
- Opening - sets the scene, we see that it is on a farm, in an isolated location. Opposes the usual horror movie trailer structure (showing that equilibrium has started) by showing that bad things are happening already. So equilibrium is created but shifts very suddenly.
- Lots of fast paced, teasing shots, we see shocking events but they are never fully revealed, leading us as viewers to want to watch the whole film to find out what actually happens.
- Equilibrium is built when the 4 young people are having a laugh in their car and quickly shifts when a man is standing in the middle of the road.
- Things are now going wrong and there is no equilibrium.
- There is a very climatic end, much like the typical horror movie trailer. The guy with the axe goes to hit the woman, therefore leaving a cliffhanger and teases us, so that we remain entertained and keeps us asking questions.
Conventions of Slasher Film
- Last woman standing
- Victims - whole car of teenagers
- Villain is really strong - with a chainsaw
- In a very isolated location
- Weapons - gun, chainsaw, knife
- Fast paced editing
- Equilibrium created, very soon shifts
- Suspense created
- Successful trailer - very jumpy, as viewers it leaves us wanting to know what is going to happen next
- Lots of screaming throughout the trailer
- Sound - Slow and peaceful to very loud.
- Juxtaposed sound - Contrapuntal sound - For example, amazing grace is playing in the background as the victims are all terrified and violence is going on.
Narrative Structure
- Opening - sets the scene, we see that it is on a farm, in an isolated location. Opposes the usual horror movie trailer structure (showing that equilibrium has started) by showing that bad things are happening already. So equilibrium is created but shifts very suddenly.
- Lots of fast paced, teasing shots, we see shocking events but they are never fully revealed, leading us as viewers to want to watch the whole film to find out what actually happens.
- Equilibrium is built when the 4 young people are having a laugh in their car and quickly shifts when a man is standing in the middle of the road.
- Things are now going wrong and there is no equilibrium.
- There is a very climatic end, much like the typical horror movie trailer. The guy with the axe goes to hit the woman, therefore leaving a cliffhanger and teases us, so that we remain entertained and keeps us asking questions.
Monday, 24 September 2012
Research into horror sub-genres
Sub Genres
Action horror, Body horror, Comedy horror, Gothic horror, Natural horror, Psychological horror, Science fiction horror, Slasher film, Splatter film, Zombie film
Slasher films
In class, we looked deeper into the sub-genre, Slasher films.
We looked at the conventions of Slasher films, they have conventions such as...
- Fast-paced
- Horror sub-genre - Stimulates viewers mood - heightened levels of anticipation, fear, dread, anxiety, surprise, terror
- Villain - Mysterious psychopathic killer, serial killer (strong, mentally deranged, physically deformed, stalks and kills victims, violent and brutal, uses weapons such as knife, chainsaw, meat cleaver), identity - known/unknown- the "who dunnit" genre, twist at the end
- Location - very isolated
- Victims - college teens, rebellious, unaware of surroundings
- Hero - female, sensible, senses killer. last woman standing, may/not be killed at the end
- Thriller conventions - tension, suspense
Action horror, Body horror, Comedy horror, Gothic horror, Natural horror, Psychological horror, Science fiction horror, Slasher film, Splatter film, Zombie film
Slasher films
In class, we looked deeper into the sub-genre, Slasher films.
We looked at the conventions of Slasher films, they have conventions such as...
- Fast-paced
- Horror sub-genre - Stimulates viewers mood - heightened levels of anticipation, fear, dread, anxiety, surprise, terror
- Villain - Mysterious psychopathic killer, serial killer (strong, mentally deranged, physically deformed, stalks and kills victims, violent and brutal, uses weapons such as knife, chainsaw, meat cleaver), identity - known/unknown- the "who dunnit" genre, twist at the end
- Location - very isolated
- Victims - college teens, rebellious, unaware of surroundings
- Hero - female, sensible, senses killer. last woman standing, may/not be killed at the end
- Thriller conventions - tension, suspense
Conventions of the Horror Genre
Locations
Basement, wilderness, abandoned houses, London underground, barns, trains/tunnels, hotels/motels, highways, ghost house, woods, abandoned theme park, diner, graveyard, holiday homes, abandoned town.
Props
Murder weapons (eg.chainsaw, sword, crowbar, axes, hatchet, pick), body parts, candles, voodoo dolls, radio (white noise), spiders/webs, light switch, telephone, non-starting car, corpses, door handle, skeleton, electric chair, medicine, ouiji board
Characters
Loving couples, happy families, innocent child (innocent victim), mysterious characters, mutated characters, care free teenagers, zombie, non believer, masked character, ghosts/spirits, hysterical female, last girl standing, male villain, hero, priest, unnatural
Themes
Good vs Evil, Revenge, Religion, depression, science gone bad, childhood issues, lust, envy, suicide, zombie apocalypse, nightmares
Basement, wilderness, abandoned houses, London underground, barns, trains/tunnels, hotels/motels, highways, ghost house, woods, abandoned theme park, diner, graveyard, holiday homes, abandoned town.
Props
Murder weapons (eg.chainsaw, sword, crowbar, axes, hatchet, pick), body parts, candles, voodoo dolls, radio (white noise), spiders/webs, light switch, telephone, non-starting car, corpses, door handle, skeleton, electric chair, medicine, ouiji board
Characters
Loving couples, happy families, innocent child (innocent victim), mysterious characters, mutated characters, care free teenagers, zombie, non believer, masked character, ghosts/spirits, hysterical female, last girl standing, male villain, hero, priest, unnatural
Themes
Good vs Evil, Revenge, Religion, depression, science gone bad, childhood issues, lust, envy, suicide, zombie apocalypse, nightmares
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