Brief outline of own horror movie.

The Dare


A group of teenagers decide to spend their halloween playing truth or dare. One dare leads them into the local graveyard where they suspect they're being followed. The further they venture the more they lose their way, one by one they slowly go missing, will the remaining few get out alive? ...

'Scream' - Personal Response.

I think that the film 'Scream' is not the best film that I have seen. I think this because of it's sheer predictability and cheap budgeting.
The costumes and SFX look cheap and tacky compared to other films in the same genre as this one. The events that we see unfold seem too predictable as we can almost guess what is about to happen before it does. This could however be done delibrately as the two killers were obsessed with horror movies themselves and so they use the most predictable situations to find in a horror movie.
The events that happen are not very scary as the tense classical music gives the scenes more of a sense of tension and scare. The film is reliant on the music as the storyline is pretty weak: Girl gets left home alone, murderer tries to kill her, she escapes near-certain death about five-six times, watching her friends and neighbours being killed off in the process but only cares about getting away herself... etc.
The characters we do meet are relatively irritating and have personalities that grate on you as an audience leaving us wanting them all to die - there is no sob story making us feel for the characters.
I would much prefer to watch a high budget recent horror film with modern SFX and a better rated cast list.

'Scream'

The film begins with the sounds of screams and a heartbeat as the title of the film is displayed. These are typical sounds in a horror film.

The starting sequence is set at night in an isolated house which has been separated with the rest of the town; inside of the house is a young, blonde and good looking female she appears to be alone. This is a typical horror movie character as she is a vulnerable teenager home alone which makes her easier for the killer to get too.

The girl is about to watch a horror movie when she her phone starts to ring. The caller does not reveal his name and keeps asking the girl questions this creates a sense of mystery. There is tense non diegetic piano music that is played when she realises that the caller is watching her, this build suspense.

When the boyfriend is revealed tied up in the garden there is fog and mist which enhances the eerie-ness. There are diegetic sound effects when the boyfriend is killed of blood dripping and him being stabbed.

Close-ups are used to show the emotion on the characters faces.

The editing pace is dramatic and fast paced.

The murderer wears a mask which enforces the mystery and also creates an Enigma as the audience are left guessing who the murderer could be.

The audience are pulled into a false sense of security when the police are at the school, it creates a sense that the school cannot be touched by the killer; it is a safe place for the teenage characters. However, when the head teacher is murdered the audience know that he will stop at nothing and that the characters are still in danger.

Point of view shots are used to show that the two girls are being watched as they talk on the porch.

Heavy dark rock music is used to represent the genre of the movie.

The horror movie being shown on the TV at the teen’s party reflects the events that are happening in the film.

When the policeman gets injured it creates a sense of lack of security which enhances the feeling of suspense.

Horror Film Trailers: Don't be afraid of the dark.

The plain black screen gives off the impression that you are sat in the dark. This relates to the film title of 'Don't be afraid of the dark' and also darkness is a typical feature of a horror film.
There is non-diegetic sound from the creep whispering voice over which creates an eerie feel to the movie and accompanied by the dark screen gives off a sense of not knowing and isolation. It also creates a tense atmosphere.
The title of this film appears suddenly with a loud drum and violin like sound and the clip used at the end of the trailer with the screamer zombie is used to make the audience jump to give them a taster of the adrenaline rush they will get from being scared.
All the clips used in this trailer have low key lighting.

Representation in the 'Toxic' video by Britney Spears

Who is being represented?
The singer, Britney Spears, is being represented in this video. She is shown wearing different 'sexy' outfits, such as: An Air hostess, All in one leather suits, flesh coloured all in one suit and also a superhero costume.
How are they being represented?
She is being represented as a sort of sex symbol because of the revealing outfits. The two main costumes she is seen wearing is the Air hostess and the Superhero, these two sort of characters are usually in charge and take the dominant role. This is seen in this music video as she is being portrayed as being a strong independent character, she takes control of the men in this video.
She has also been airbrushed which gives off the idea that she is the 'perfect' image.
Positive or Negative representation?
There is both a positive and negative representation in this music video.
Positive: She is presented as strong female who is in control. This is a positive thing for women it shows that in the modern day girls can be considered strong and independent.
Negative: It can be said that Britney Spears is being represented as a sex symbol in this video as she is wearing minimal clothing, which can be quite degrading for women. Britney Spears is a pop singer which is a type of music that is listened to by a younger audience, the minimal outfits can be said to be a bad influence on young girls. Another idea that connects to the bad influence on younger girl is that Britney has been airbrushed, this can help feed a 'perfect image' issue that younger girls can face.

Editing and emotion in 'Spooks'

CUTS

1. The establishing shot is of a man who is walking down a road, it is filmed using an extreme long shot this makes him look isolated and alone. His phones starts to ring and he answers it.
2. This shows who is on the phone, it is a woman, she doesn't say anything. She is stood by the window watching him. The man does not know who it is but as an audience we do, this is a unrestrictive narrative.
3. The man's reaction to the person not answering him is quite apprehensive.
4. This is an extreme close-up of the woman on the phone, she is still not talking. This makes it quite unsettling.
5. This is a mid-shot of the man - he appears to be quite unnerved by the phone call. This shot highlights his emotion.
6. This shot gives the feel as if someone is watching from behind a car or in a car. This makes the shot quite tense and again unsettling.
7. This is an extreme close up of the woman taking the sim card out of the mobile phone. Gives an impression that she is hard to trace.
8. This is a shot of the woman walking away from the window this gives an air of mystery to the woman as she still has not spoken.
9. Another establishing shot is used. It is a building which sets the scene for the next series of cuts.
10. This shot is inside the intelligence office which again sets the scene.
11. There is a shot of the laptop that shows what this person is looking for. It creates a sense of tension.
12. The man typing on the laptop also brings tension.
13. This is a shot of a dimly lit warehouse, there are people in it preparing for something. Brings mystery.
14. This is a shot of them removing any personal items as if removing their identities.
15. Another close up of the laptop shows what is happening.
16. There is a shot of the man who is using the laptop's face. Identifies this man.
17. His hands again typing on the keyboard.
18. Another close up of men dressing, then move to one side to reveal another woman. This heightens the sense of mystery.
19. Shot of the man walking into the intelligence office, creates a business sense to the building. Shows there are more than one person working on this case.
20. Close up of computer screen which shows files being deleted.
21. Shot of the man removing a data stick.
22. 
    

Camera Movements in '2012'

• A Tracking shot is used to follow the characters running and the car driving.
• An Aerial Shot is used to show the devastation caused by the road being destroyed and it is also used as well as the tracking shot to follow the car as well as the aeroplane.
• A Handheld camera is used in the house scene with jerky movements to enhance the sense of panic and the house moving and breaking up.
• A Crane shot is used in the city scene to focus on the car and then follow the devastation caused to buildings and to get in amongst the as they collapse.

Camera Angles in 'Titanic'

•       Low angle is used from the water looking up at the Titanic to show how dominating the ship looks as it is sinking.
•       A high angle shot and a birds-eye view shot is used to enhance the height of the ship as it is sinking and is showing the audience how far down it is to the water. It also creates the sense of helplessness for the characters onboard the ship.
•        An eye-level angle is used to show what the disaster looks as if the audience was there with the characters.

Camera Shots in 'Gladiator'

•        Long shot is used to show both characters that are about to fight gives the audience and idea of who is involved.
•        Medium shot and Medium Close-ups are used to show the fighting action using only the arm and the characters facial expressions this helps the audience get a sense of how certain characters are feeling and to see what actions are done by the arms in the sword fighting scene.
•        Over the shoulder shot is used to show the impact of one character’s actions onto another. It shows the audience how one character reacts to the other fighting him.
•        Close-up shot is used to show the facial expressions of those characters in the audience. This, again, gives the audience an idea of how a character may be feeling.
•        An extreme long shot is used to show the stadium in which they are fighting and also highlights how many characters are in the audience watching the fight.
•       An extreme close-up is used to show the chain of the tiger pulling through the loop it gives the audience a visual idea of how strong the tiger is.

Audi A2 Image Analysis

The Audi A2 advert follows the journey of a car through out an approximately one minute video sequence.

The advert is set in several places as it follows the car. It goes from the sea, to a family housing estate, to the city etc. This reflects the idea that the car is aimed at more than one demographic group.

There is no speech in this advert and it has been put to music. The music is fast beat which mirrors the effect of a fast paced busy life, it is also modern which reflects the idea that the car is also modern.

The advert uses text like:

 “Where do we want to go?”

“How much fun is good for us?”

and “Aluminium Space Frame”

This creates the sense of freedom and escaping from the busy everyday life.

Useful Websites

• IMDB (Internet Movie Database) - An online database for movie/actor and crew information.
• Wikipedia - An online encyclopedia full of information about anything and everything.
• Film Education - A website specialising in film information and news.
• Filcommedia - A website designed especially for Media Studies students.
• Media Know All - A website designed for AS and A2 media studies students.
• A Level Media Revision - A revision site for A level media studies students.
• BBC - The BBC website is full of national and international news, TV, Films and Music. (Or more specifically BBC's Online Learning Page )
• Newpaper Websites - Contains current news, events and advertisements. (Daily Echo , Daily Mail , Daily Express etc).
• Other Blog Websites - Contains news, information and opinions. (Tumblr , Livejournal , Wordpress , etc).