Starts in the forest on a Friday night and it’s dark and creepy
Girl is screaming and
running away from something. She is panting heavily and running as fast
as she can. Someone is running after her.
Still outside we see her
stop and she is panting heavily and then everything goes quiet. Just as
she is about to turn around we see a hand cover her mouth and she
screams. (when editing: add in title
sequence with some creepy background music).
The next scene is then at the school. There are a group of teenagers quietly discussing something in the corner of the canteen.
Lily: I haven’t seen her
since Friday afternoon when I dropped her off at home. She mentioned
something about going on a date with some guy.
Josh: Has anyone heard from her since then?
Ryan: No, she seemed a bit
conflicted when I last saw her; like something was definitely wrong, she
just didn’t want to tell me.
Josh: When was this?
Ryan: Friday afternoon.
They all look at each other, confused about what is happening and their thoughts.
(Detective Atkinson and some officers walk through the canteen up towards the teenagers in the corner)
Atkinson: Hello, I’m
Detective Atkinson, I’m working on a new case. I need to speak to you
all separately so please can you follow me.
(They follow the detective to the room and they each wait outside for their turn to be questioned)
Summary and conclusions of Table 4.1. From this table, we can see that the Thriller genre is more popular in terms of the number of films released compared to the Horror genre. However, even though there were 64 thrillers released, the 37 horror films that were released generated more profit in the end compared to the thrillers. The horror genre made £57.5 million pound in this year compared to the £29.1 million pounds made by the thriller genre. This shows that the horror genre is not only more profitable but it is more popular then the thriller genre.
Summary and conclusions of Table 4.2.
This set of data shows us that Horror films were played in more cinemas across the UK and the Republic of Ireland than Thriller films. Horror films were played across 145 cinemas whereas Thriller films were only played across 89 cinemas in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. However, the number of thriller films released (64) was higher than the number of horror films released (37). Even though there were more thriller films released, the horror genre made more profit than the thriller genre did because the horror films released were more popular then the thriller films released.
Summary and conclusions of Table 4.3.
From this table, we can see an average amount of how much money a genre makes in one cinema when a film is released. Sticking to the horrors films, in one cinema, on average makes £10,708 for the whole horror genre. Thrillers however only make £5,127 for the whole thriller genre. Although, the total amount of sites that thriller films were played at in 2013 was 5,667 compared to the 5,367 sites that horror films were played at in 2013. Even though thriller films were played at more cinemas than the horror films were, horror films still managed to generate more profit and more money for the box office than the thriller genre did.
Summary and conclusions of Table 4.4.
This table shows the number of releases of different films from different genres. The ones I've chosen are horror and thriller. Thriller films have 10 more releases than horror film, and the percentage of horror releases is 5.0% whereas the percentage of thriller releases was 12.2%. Horror films generated £14.8 million in this year for the films released ranked by gross box office. Whereas thrillers only generated £4.1 million in this year ranked by gross box office. The percent of total box office for horror films was 5.8% whereas thrillers was only 1.2%. This suggests that even if thrillers were released more, horror were and are still popular.
Summary and Conclusions of Figure 4.1.
This bar chart shows the proportion of box office by genre for all films. It shows that again horror and thriller do not generate more box office than action and comedy. The second bar chart shows the proportion of releases by genre for all films. It shows that horror and thriller films were released more then other genres which shows how popular they can be when first released.
Role allocation: 1. What might the role of a writer be? Screenwriters create the screenplays for films. They provide the blueprints essentially for the film, however, these can be changed by the creative input the producers, directors, designers, composers and editors. They should allow the person reading it to imagine how the film would play out on screen. They should make it include fascinating characters that people from the audience can relate to and an exciting plot that keeps the audience wondering what is going to happen next. It should also fit the format and style expected in the film industry. They have to produce highly creative writing, to strict deadlines. If the script is not to the screen writing team's standards, then the script may either be given to another screenwriter or the original screenwriter may just be replaced altogether. Also, if one writer has writer's block then they can pass it onto another writer who can continue writing it. In some cases, scripts can be passed around more than 10 times before it is completely finished because each writer needs help or their work isn't of a high standard. 2. What is the responsibility of the composer? Each film has a different style of music so the composer's have different jobs depending on the film. The main role of the composer is to find music to accompany the film, this could be by bringing in musicians or getting rights to a song to put into a film. The composer has to meet with the director and movie producer when the film has been shot and is being edited to discuss what music they want in the film. 3. What might the role of the camera person be? Before the filming has even started shooting, the camera operator has to read the script so they know what they are shooting. They have to meet with the director so they can discuss they style in which they want the film shooting in. They have to make sure they know where all the locations are since in most films they have to shoot in different locations. They also have to determine what angles they are shooting from in each scene or shot so that they can get the film right. Whilst shooting the film, they have to be closely involved at all times when setting up the shots in case the director wants to change the shots around at any point. 4. What would be the role of the head of casting? Before the film has started shooting, they casting directors work with the director and producer to assemble the perfect cast for the film. Because of this, they have to have an in-depth and up-to-date knowledge of new and existing talent when it comes to acting. They are responsible for matching the actor/actress to the right roles based on the actor's experience, ability, reputation, availability and their box office appeal. They also work with production accountants to make the casting budget. They organise and conduct interviews and auditions for each part and offer the actor/actress a fee for appearing in the film. They need to be highly selective and extremely demanding so it is vital that they be patient and hard-working. 5. Who is the producer of the film and what is their role? Producers have overall control of every aspect of the production of the film. They bring together and approve the whole production team. They steer the film from beginning to when the film is completed. They are often the first person to get involved in a project. The many responsibilities of the Producer span all four phases of production. In the Development stage, Producers are often responsible for coming up with the idea for a production, or selecting a screenplay. Producers secure the rights, choose the screenwriter and story editing team. Producers also approve locations, studio hire, the final shooting script, production schedule and budget. More time and money spent in pre-production can reduce time and money wasting when the production gets under-way. 6. What would be the role of a film director? Directors direct the film. They are responsible for translating the script into images and sounds on the screen. Ultimately, they are responsible for the film's success or failure. They also manage the technical aspects of filming including the camera, sound, lighting, design and special effects departments. At all stages, Directors are responsible for motivating the team to produce the best possible results. Directors must also always be aware of the constraints of the film's budget and schedule and manage the expectations of the film's financiers.
The western genre became popular after a mass of Cowboy films hit cinema screens. This was a representation of 'dodgy' films and characters but they were popular because of the western theme to them.
The comedy genre also became popular after Laurel and Hardy appeared with slapstick comedy. Many other comedy films were made after this and now-a-days, they have nearly completely been re-made from the original comedy films that were made between 1900 and 1920.
Horror films also became popular with the release of Frankenstein and Dracula. These films were developed mostly from European stories that were passed down from different generations of families and brought over to America.
Science-fiction genres didn't become popular until 1930/40. There was fear of finding new life at this time so directors and producers thought that by making films where new life was actually found, then it would ease people's minds. They hoped that by making these films that people would have a new perception on the hope of finding new life.
What is the genre of film Noir?
Codes and conventions:
Monologues - usually detective monologues/narrations - usually non-diegetic.
Usually women involved - femme fatale - female in need
Narrative - spider and the fly. The spider is the woman who traps the fly - the fly being the detective. The spider usually has a British accent and is of a high class. She traps the fly and controls him, makes him fall in love with her and he can't escape.
Omniscient narrations.
The detective survives - he breaks free from the spider.
Hays code - gangster gets caught because the good guy always comes out on top.
femme fatale - killed or sent to prison.
relationship between the spider and the fly - the man falls for the woman in the middle of the film but she doesn't fall for him until the end when it is too late because he has to either kill her or send her to prison.
Women are objectified and fetisied.
Lighting:
Front lighting - light and dark - hints at the themes - low key lighting.
music and sound - ambient - sounds of the city
jazz music - neutral sound - saxophones - city/urban thing.
Where did Genres come from? In the 1900s, films were being experimented with. When the 1920's came, there were a lot of films that were in the industry. Directors were giving audiences what they wanted. Film companies followed this pattern and they found out what films were popular and made films in the same genre so that these films were popular. Film companies gained more money from this because cinemas were selling more tickets. There were five big companies that owned the majority of films that were being made in the 1920's. They were known as 'the Majors' or 'The Big 5'. These companies were 20th Century Fox, RKO Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. These are still around today. How did the 'Golden Age of Hollywood' re-inforce genres? At this time, genres were known as the 'cash cows', this means that companies were making money from following the same genre films. They didn't want to stop making money, which is why there are so many films that follow the same patterns and are of the same genres. This re-inforced genres because the same genre of film was being made and this resulted in many other genres not being as popular. This is why, even today, people do not really want to go and see new films that are not of the same genre and don't follow the same patterns. Which genres became popular in Hollywood? The genres that became popular in Hollywood were: Romantics, Western's and Melodrama's. These genres are still popular today. Some examples of romantic films are: Titanic, Ghost and Pretty Woman. A few examples of Weston films are: Stagecoach, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Red River. Finally, some examples of Melodrama films are: A Fool There Was, That Certain Woman and The Old Maid. Why do audiences like genre films? Audiences like genre films because they contain the same conventions, have the same plots and are of the same genre. Some people have a certain type of genre that they like watching. An example of a genre film that has been around for a while and people like watching is James Bond. There has been 24 James Bond films since 1962. Another film genre that is popular and has been around for a while is Saw. Seven of these films have been released since 2004 and because of the popularity of the genre, these films have been popular.
Origins of Film Noir: Film Noir essentially means Black Film. It is a term made by French film critic Nino Frank in 1946. Stereotypical film Noirs feature a male detective who wears a fedora and a femme fatale and usually takes place in the suburbs. It is best described as a feeling of visual style of low-key lighting and story conventions.
Historical Context: Film Noir developed because of the Great Depression of 1930s America. There were advancements in the 1920s in terms of synchronized sound, panchromatic film and better lighting. These advancements made more people go to the cinema because going was a way for economically depressed citizens to escape their life. Also, Technicolor developed in the 1930s which brought colour to the movie screens. This three strip colour process required more money and more time to be spent on making these films which is a downside to Technicolor being made. As a result of this, movie theatres brought in block booking whereby they paid for at least a hundred movies in order to gain the rights to the film so they could let people view it. There was usually a mix of A list films and uncommon B list films so that profit could be made. Another way that profit could be made was by making different genre films other than crime drama films like film Noir. They began to develop western films, gangster films, science-fiction films and horror films. They also included pulp fiction crime novels which served the basis for any film Noir. Film Noir became popular because of German Expression which was where people from Germany were escaping the Nazis by going to Hollywood to become actors. Many of these people succeeded, however many failed at this and had to return home by the time the Second World War started. This German Expression left people disillusioned and numb which many films Noirs also did. Many photographers for these film Noirs were going back to Hollywood after serving in the Military. They brought along new technological advancements post-war. Some of these were: better light sensitive film, compact lighting and many of these photographers weren't afraid of shooting on location. Hays code made sure that film makers were being suggestive in sexual manners not explicit, essentially, they were hiding the 'ugly' business in the shadows of the scenes. Some elements that contributed to films were: low budgets which meant low-key lighting, nihilism and hays code. By 1946, the Supreme court of America had banned block booking and many film makers were laid off after this so they went to Television because people were not wanting to leave their homes to watch a film at the movies. After this, film started to battle with TV to gain their audience, so by this time, hays code had been abandoned. By the 1950s, colour films were becoming more popular on set because high and bright background lighting came about. Essential film Noirs. Defining films of the era: the first true film Noir was Stranger on the third floor from 1940, directed by Boris Inkster, written by Frank Partos and Nathaniel West. One other film Noir was Double Indemnity directed by Billy Wilder in 1944. A recent film Noir is well known to everyone, The Dark Knight directed by Christopher Nolan in 2008.
- this clip is from The Maltese Falcon, another typical film noir
The sequence starts with a series of short clips, each from
different angles. One of these includes the clip of the fingers holding a razor
blade.
The extreme close-up makes it
hard for us to distinguish what is going on in the clip. However, the extreme
close-ups from different angles allows the audience to put together the pieces
to create a picture of what is going on.
There are extreme close ups, some of which include
unconventional items. Several of these close-ups appear to have metal objects
in them, signifying that the criminal in the film could be a in an occupation
which involves metal objects. This in turn leads us to believe that these metal
objects are the things the criminal uses to kill his/her victims. There is also
a large focus on hands in the clips. This could tell us that the killer is very
hands on in his killings and gets all the little details right to ensure that
he/she isn't caught.
One of these short clips is of a book, with the pages being
slowly turned. At first, we could say that this connotes an academic
profession, however, when the shot and the book is matched with the dark and
gloomy lighting, it suggest otherwise. The dark lighting shows that this
character is looking through the book in the dark and therefore suggests that
this character could have an obsession with someone or something. The tainted
edges of the pages and the way the book is put together shows that it is not academic
but in fact home-made again showing an obsession or hobby. The non-diegetic
sound that goes with this shot sounds like the shooting of a gun in the
distance which brings a more sinister tone. Then a scratchy repetitive sound is
played which connotes danger and creates tension.
The next shot is a close up shot of a drawing of a distorted
pair of hands hat have been stuck down using yellow tape. This represents how
the killer is obsessive with his passion for killing in strange ways. The
distorted hands resemble his tendency to murder in psychotic ways which
therefore confirms to the audience that the film is a horror/thriller.
There are no long shots in this sequence, so it doesn't really
allow the audience to see what is fully going on, reinforcing the mysterious
plot of the film. Throughout the clip, all of the camera angle are high angles
or at eye level which could connote that the film-maker doesn't want to reveal anything
that is important yet. This could also suggest that all of the objects shown
are of little importance as they are being looked down on.
The Mise-en scene here puts across ideas of what
could happen in the film and makes the audience think about what the tone of the
film is going to be about. The lighting in the clip is always dark adding to
the tone throughout the sequence. There are shadows which could be perceived as
someone moving around which keeps the viewers on the edge of their seats
because they are wondering who or what these shadows could be. The colours used
in this sequence are dismal and consists mainly of browns, greys and blacks.
You can see that there is a page where there are words highlighted in black pen.
Black connotes death here or evil, so we can paint a picture from this that
something horrible is going to happen in this film. Along with the colours,
there are small objects that add to the dark mood being created by the colours.
Some of these objects are blades and needles. We can gather from this that
there is going to be death in the film. The props such as the book and the
images that pop up, add to the suspicion the viewer is bound to be feeling at
this point and makes them wonder what the person is doing.
In the title sequence for the film, the titles fade up onto
the screen. Instead of having the titles fade into a black background, they
fade into the darkest parts of the clips on the screen. This allows continuity
in the way the titles are shown, without having to repeat the same screen
multiple times. This also allows for titles to be seen clearly throughout the
whole sequence. This isn't as important as the unconventional exploration of
different angles of everyday life, such as the book. The title sequence
utilises low-key lighting to create the chiaroscuro effect. The editing starts
off with slow-paced shots of objects that aren’t really of any importance. However,
it then changes to fast pace cuts showing a variety of different objects making
the audience wonder whether they are of importance and what the object is.
The sound used in this clip is mostly non-diegetic, however,
some of the sounds in the clip have been made to sound natural. An example of
this is, when there is a high-pitched noise in the clip, this tricks the viewer
into thinking that it is someone screaming. This connotes danger and it makes
us believe that there is someone who is desperate for help. The background music
for this opening title sequence sounds like heavy breathing and is quite fast
paced. This is usual in a thriller movie as it creates suspense which is what director’s
aim to do with their movies.
A stereotype is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image of a particular type of person or thing. An archetype, is a very typical example of a certain person or thing. Horror: Focusing on Dracula, Bram Stoker write he original Dracula book in 1897. Since then, Mary Shelley took on some of the conventions of Stoker's Dracula book and also, Bela Lugosi played Count Dracula in the 1931 version of Dracula. Dracula does not really change in terms of his age, gender, social class and costume e.c.t. He is usually part of the middle class and is male. He is always around 40-50 years old, although this has varied throughout the years as Dracula has been re-made. Typically, Dracula is always white with an Eastern European accent and speaks broken English. In terms of his costume, he always has a black cloak and fangs. Usually, he lives in a castle on the mountains and occasionally, he turns into a bat. This adheres to the generic conventions of horror antagonists. Stereotypical Antagonists: In many horror films, the antagonists are stereo-typically white, middle aged males. This is a very recognisable representation, stereotype or a dominant representation. Some examples of these stereotyped horror antagonists are Freddy Kruger from Nightmare on Elm Street, Mike Myers in Halloween, Jason from Friday 13th and the Clown from IT.
Horror movies Heroines: Females in being the heroines in horror films was rare when horror films first came about, however now-a-days, they are, in some cases, more popular than some of the horror films where the male lead is the hero. Usually single, white females virgins are the archetypal victims in the horror genre but their role in films has evolved from being the victim to the aggressor. Some examples of this are: Tomb Raider, Resident Evil and Underworld. Representation of Gender/Ethnicity in the "Thriller" Genre. Cultural Bias: Hollywood has always 'white' centric, i.e. leading. Actors and Directors have always been male and Caucasian with Black, ethnic, minority actors only playing minor roles. Certain actors including Will Smith and Morgan Freeman have broken this theme as they play the leading roles in all of the films they are in. In the Thriller genre it has always been common to have male, white protagonists as the key roles. The game changer for this stereotype was Se7en in the 1990s. Heterosexual bias: Having a homosexual or lesbian protagonist is almost entirely rare even in liberal Hollywood. The idea of a leading male detective, in a film, being openly gay is unheard of. Thomas Harris made nearly all of his antagonists, such as serial killers, have homosexual tendencies and sexual devices. This is a negative stereotype that he has helped to form. Gender bias: In the Thriller genre, females have predominantly played the victim role or the femme fatal (the seductive vamp that cannot be trusted). In Silence of the Lambs in 1990, the role of Jodie Foster playing an FBI agent is an example of woman rising above the stereotypical view that woman cannot play the leading role. The representation of women in Thriller/Horror films has been far more challenging. Some examples of these challenging roles are Resident Evil, Tomb Raider and Underworld, the same as those that are horror movie heroines.
