Camera Shots/Angles/Movements

Analysis of The Thing (1982) Opening

How does the title sequence establish genre, character and narrative?

In this title sequence, background music only starts after around half a minute. The music is very deep and has a foreign/alien feeling. This would lead the audience to believe that the movie is either sci-fi or supernatural horror. The narrative is only developed by a alien looking spaceship entering the Earth's atmosphere, this suggests that the movie is about an alien that has landed on Earth. Character is not established.


How does the title sequence attract an audience’s interest?

The title sequence does not give away the plot, resulting in the audience wanting to watch more so that they can understand the movie more. This method works in a similar way as a cliff hanger, where the audience want to see more.


What do you consider to be the target audience of the film and why?

The film has a mass audience but is more specifically aimed at Group C2 audience as they can relate more to the characters in the film. The characters are pilots, engineers and similar professions, these relate mostly to group C2 audiences, who are skilled tradesmen.
From the opening I am unable to determine the age rating, but having seen scenes of the movie I would determine the movie to be an 18+ movie. This is because there are many graphic scenes which are unsuitable for young audiences. The film also contains mild language which is inappropriate for children below twelve. The movie is actually rated 16  as although violence is bad, language and other aspects are very moderate. The movie is also not scary or jumpy enough to be an 18.


Who has produced the film and how is that evident in the title sequence?


The film was produced by David Foster and Lawrence Turman. This is stated at around 1 minute into the title sequence.

Analysis of Pscho (1998) Opening

How does the title sequence establish genre, character and narrative?

In this opening, the fast music establishes the horror genre, while the character and narrative is not established. Green is used to represent greed and jealousy. Green can also be associated with aliens and hence supernatural occurrences. Black refers to death and evil. So, there is a connection of death, evil, greed and jealousy. Possibly the film is about these elements. 

How does the title sequence attract an audience’s interest?

The fast music along with the animation is addictive, making the audience want to see more. The fact that nothing is given away by the opening makes the audience want to view more so that they know what the plot of the movie is.


What do you consider to be the target audience of the film and why?

From the opening itself, it s impossible to state what the target audience is. The movie itself is directed at a mass audience as its language and violence allow the movie to be suitable for a large market. The movie is more specifically aimed at groups B and C1, this is  the characters  themselves are from the same group. This leads to groups B and C1 audiences having greater sympathy with the characters.
From viewing scenes of the film I would state that the film is a 12 for current audiences, as there are only a few violent scenes, where actual wounds are not shown, making it unsuitable for younger audiences and little language makes it unnecessary to be a 15. The movie was actually rated as a 15 due to nudity scenes.

Who has produced the film and how is that evident in the title sequence?

At the end of the opening, it is stated that the film was produced by Gus Van Sant and Brian Grazer.

Analysis of Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski is a Polish film director born in Paris, 1933. His first film was Knife in the Water (1962) and his first english film was Repulsion (1965). He was nominated in the Oscars six times and has directed many psychological horrors, which is the genre for my Main Task. Psychological horror films that he has directed include; The Tenant (1976), Rosemary's Baby (1968) and China Town (1974). He has also directed films of other genres such as The pianist (2002), Oliver Twist (2005) and Carnage (2011).

The following are Roman Polanski quotes:

"My films are the expression of momentary desires. I follow my instincts, but in a disciplined way."

"You have to show violence the way it is. If you don't show it realistically, then that's immoral and harmful. If you don't upset people, then that's obscenity."

"The best films are because of nobody but the director."

From these quotes I have decided not to include any action in my horror opening as I would be unable to film it properly without stuntmen. This has led me to decide to do a psychological horror opening. Also, even though acting is key, it is most important that my actors fully understand what they need to do when filming and that I plan well enough so that I have thought and covered every possible aspect of Mis-en-Scene and so that I can create the best possible horror factor. 

A horror opening is somewhat similar to the prequel of a series, you have to captivate the audience without giving them too much information. Arguably, the most important part of a prequel is to end on a cliff hanger or to leave questions unanswered, which is what I will attempt to do in my Main Task.

Mise-en-Scene Analysis of Se7en opening - 24/10/2014

Resulting Action: I will link my points together to explain how a theme is established and will be more explanatory in my paragraphs by explaining my points and linking them to the effect created on the audience.

Analsis of The Conjuring Opening

How does the title sequence establish genre, character and narrative?

Newspaper articles show that the story is about a haunted house, showing that the film is a horror, more specifically, supernatural horror. Black and white images along with music instills a horror feeling within the audience. Black and white indicate a reference to the past, again showing that the events have already occurred.

Character is established at the very beginning of the opening where the two families, the Perrons and the Warrens, are shown by family photos. In the second frame shown above we can see the Warrens giving a lecture, showing that they are the ghost hunters and that the Perrons own the haunted house. The children of the Perrons are shown many times in the opening but, with different people. A newspaper article also shows that the Warrens got rid of a possessed doll called Annabelle. This links the film to its prequel, Annabelle.

Narrative is established by newspaper articles which, sets the scene to show that ghosts are haunting a house, which is shown by a frame showing the house. The newspaper articles indicate that ghost hunters arrived to tackle the problem. These articles along with pictures are placed in front of the audience by an unknown person, indicating that the events have already happened.

How does the title sequence attract an audience’s interest?

The music itself generates a horror feeling and the newspaper articles begin to set the scene and build up tension, making the audience want to know the entire story. The font used seems to be a commonly used one, possibly, times new roman or verdana. This tricks the audience into letting down their guard as the film actually contains many shocking scenes.

What do you consider to be the target audience of the film and why?
 

The target audience appears from the opening to be for a Group A, B and C1 audience as the opening seems to show an old fashion style of life of the characters, which tends to appeal to the higher class audience more. I would rate the film as a 15, as it contains many shocking scenes which are unsuitable for the younger audience. There are no sexual or violent scenes making it appropriate for under 18s. The actual age rating of the film is 15+.

Who has produced the film and how is that evident in the title sequence?

 

The Conjuring was produced by New Line Cinema, The Safran Company and The Evergreen Media Group. This was evident as it was written in the title sequence following the seventh frame above.

It was individually produced by Tony DeRosa-Grund, Peter Safran and Rob Cowan. This was shown in the second frame at the beginning of the post.

Representation feedback - 21/10/2014

Resulting Action: I will use different formats to present data and analyse representations and Mis-en-Scene in more detail. I will also add extra detail to my other posts, use more pictures, videos and Prezi.