JD. Analasis of an Opening Sequence - Nightmare on Elm Street (1984, Craven)

Genre 

• The film is a Super-Natural, Slasher horror. In the introduction, there are conventions which show the film to be supernatural, but also some elements which suggest it is a slasher horror, (things such as the glove with knives attached connotes the slasher horror genre.)
• there are many archetypal features which would cause the audience to expect the movie to  scare them from the opening sequence due to the use of props (bladed glove), the sound (Screams, intense loud music, mise-en-scene (lighting is dark)

Film Language    

• The title of the film comes onto the screen after we see a scene of someone making the 'bladed glove'. The title of the film appears on a plain, black background with the words “A Nightmare” in red and a very big bold font with “on elm street” in normal font in white. The red suggests blood. Again relating to slasher horror.
• There is a lengthy shot, where we see a woman walking/running while nervously looking around. This conveys that she is confused and lost, or perhaps even trapped  
• From the dialogue at the end, we can see that the female who we previously saw running around, is shy, and possibly has problems, due to her mother saying she needs to 'stop dreaming horrible things'.
• The non-diegetic sound used is very high pitched which creates a sense of unease, the volume increases at different parts to cause panic, and to further the sense of unease. There is also the sound of growls of the the presumed antagonist, however, he is never shown on screen. This creates a nervous atmosphere as we realise she is being watched, but we don't know by who. 
• The diegetic sound used, is the sound of heavy breathing from both the antagonist, and protagonist, which is loud and fast paced therefore creating an uneasy feeling. Also there are occasional screams which cause the audience to jump. Which helps to build up the scare factor.

 

 Narrative 

• In the sequence, we see someone's hands, which start to make sharp items. We are not shown his face but it soon reveals he has made a glove, with knives on the finger tips. A woman is then on screen seen running uneasily down a hallway looking confused, and frightened. She runs around a place which looks like an abandoned building. When something appears before her, she wakes up to show she dreamt it all, at this point her parents/guardians walk in, to ask if she is alright and tells her she needs to stop dreaming such horrible things.

Representation & Ideology

• A woman is featured in this extract. Her character represents dominant ideologies of women being weak, as she is seen distressed in the horror by screaming and running away, and generally looking somewhat pathetic. She is also shown in her nightgown which suggests vulnerability. The audience get the impression that she needs saving, and probably would not stand a chance defending herself if she were in danger. This reinforces stereotypes of women in film always needing saving and being the weaker sex.

Institutional Context

 

• The actors in the film were not classed as A list actors at the time. but have, since then become more famous. largely due to starring in this film. for example, an actor in the film who is considered an A list actor today is Johnny Depp (Glen Lantz.)
• The film is an independent film, produced by Media Home Entertainment and Smart Egg Pictures. The films budget was $1.8 million and the box office takings were $25.5 million.
• The film had a limited release and was considered a commercial success
• It can be detected that this film is independent due to the actors not being well known, or 'bankable stars'. 

Audience

• The target audience for this film is 15 – 25 year old males.  As we are presented with a sharp weapon and we see the antagonist come up behind the protagonist intending to kill her, it is clear the film will be a bloody, slasher style horror. This age group and gender are more likely to appeal to the blood factor of the film.

 

AN: Technical Analysis, Scream (Craven, 1996)

For our opening we have decided to create an opening of a slasher film with some supernatural elements. I decided therefore that a good film to look into would be Scream (Craven, 1996) which is a film that pays homage to the popular slasher films of the 80s whilst at the same time building suspense and atmosphere effectively.

Camera shot	Duration	Mise-en-scene	Sound
None	0 – 0:08	Scream title flashes in then is re-coloured red	Opens with a boom then a heartbeat plays in background along with screaming and a knife being drawn
Sustained close up of phone and pan up to tracking of girl	0:08 – 0:32	Phone on wood table next to floral furniture, girl in centre frame, girl shown wearing a jumper	Phone rings then protagonist and antagonist speak on phone until she puts phone back down
Top shot of phone then pan up to locked down Dutch tilt shot	0:32 – 0:52	She picks up the phone again shown in centre shot then walks off shot	Phone rings again she picks up and speaks to antagonist again
Pan down to establishing shot of house	0:52 -1:02	Tree dark with some light from moon, swing in centre frame with house white and well lit	Extra diagetic sound of animals with creaking of rope suspending swing
Close up of stove	1:02 – 1:05	Stove is turned on and then popcorn tray put on top	Sound of stove and metallic clink as popcorn tray put on stove
Medium tracking shot of girl	1:05 – 1:46	Girl peels off top of popcorn tray then walks over and picks up phone then mug, girl shakes tray of popcorn as it cooks girl leans on counter and pulls up knife from rack	Girl peels of top of popcorn tray then sighs picking up the phone and chats again with antagonist, sounds of popcorn being shook when tray shaken, sound of knife being drawn when she picks up knife from rack
Medium long shot of popcorn	1:46 – 1:49	Popcorn tin slowly expanding	Sound bridge of phone conversation with sounds of popcorn expanding in tray
Sustained tracking shot of girl then zoom on girls face	1:49 – 2:29	Girl picks up videos and walks through to living room,  puts videos on top of TV, girl’s smile turns to fear then turns on garden lights	Conversation continues, locking sound when she touches plant walking past, non diagetic high pitched sound kicks in, a dog can be heard barking
Medium close up of girl through garden door	2:29 – 2:31	Girl looks over the garden looking scared	Non diagetic plucking of strings antagonist talks on phone
POV panning shot	2:31 – 2:34	Camera looks over garden	Ditto
Cut back to medium close up of girl	2:34 – 2:36	Girl moves over to light switch	Ditto
Medium shot of girl	2:36 – 2:39	Girl turns off garden lights and moves over to lock door	Ditto
Close up of lock	2:39 – 2:40	Girl locks the door	Sound of lock and ditto
Cut back to medium shot through door	2:39 – 2:43	Girl hangs up and walks off shot	Sound of phone hanging up conversation ends
Close up of popcorn	2:43 – 2:47	Popcorn tray starts to catch fire	Popcorn popping and loud pop of bag
Sustained tracking shot of girl	2:47 – 3:28	Girl walks back through to kitchen after hanging up again she then picks up phone again as she is about to stop the stove	Phone rings twice with threats from killer who also reveals he knows girl’s name on second ring, protagonist sounds scared, sounds of popcorn continue
Tracking shot of girl	3:28 – 3:38	Girl runs down corridor and locks doors	Soundtrack heightens with the orchestra kicking in

Iconic frames

• the title for scream is done simply with the lettering put on a simple black background with a recognisable white font. this type of titling is very common in the genre as most slashers were made on a low budget so had basic titles.
• The opening of Scream gets straight into the action with the protagonist of the scene picking up the phone which is repeatedly called on throughout the opening as the antagonist's main way of scaring the protagonist in the scene. i like the idea of using a key prop throughout the scene and could be something to add to our project.
• There is very little use of non-diagetic sound for a majority of the scene and it is only used when it becomes more apparent there is some sort of threat with the music really building after the antagonist threatens to kill the protagonist for hanging up. The scene highlights how subdued sound in films can help enhance the impact of a scene and help create suspense.
• The scene mainly uses long tracking shots for a majority of the scene with some taking upwards of half a minute, the cutting rate noticeably increases when the threat the antagonist presents becomes more apparent by saying he's "watching her".
• The scene uses juxtaposition throughout to represent tone and tension for example, the main character's tone of voice demonstrates the current mood of the scene
  
  starting with a relaxed tone before slowly moving towards unnerved and eventually terrified, whilst the popcorn tray slowly expanding until it starts to burst with pressure also demonstrates the tension in the scene.
• The film is referential to slasher tropes as well as talking abut some well known slasher films such as Halloween. the film occasionally plays these references and choices for laughs but also understand how they were used to build tension effectively e.g. the killer having total control of the situation throughout even when the protagonist tries to gain control by threatening to call the police.

AN: Typography and sound research

In preparation for our main project I am looking into possible typography and sound effects for our project:

Typography

Play All Day

Crime Times Six

 Billion Stars

 PW Rectangular Font

DJB Holly Berry


sourced from 1001 free fonts

Sound

https://www.freesound.org/people/Headphaze/sounds/158725/

https://www.freesound.org/people/lennyboy/sounds/244417/

https://www.freesound.org/people/klankbeeld/sounds/133100/

https://www.freesound.org/people/Npeo/sounds/202714/

https://www.freesound.org/people/nathanshadow/sounds/2855/

https://www.freesound.org/people/offthesky/sounds/35806/

https://www.freesound.org/people/0ktober/sounds/188831/

https://www.freesound.org/people/Tobbarebble/sounds/102195/

sounds found through freesound

HM:Analysing opening sequence Amityville Horror (Douglas 2005)

Amityville Opening

Genre

• The slasher/ supernatural hybrid genre is clear from the opening sequence. The conventions of this can be seen from iconography such as the red writing of the title on the screen a scary house and violent storm raging illuminating the images. This is also seen in similar films such as Saw(James Wan, 2005). Visual signifiers such as lightening a gun are iconic. Aural signifiers such as scary music are iconic.
• In many ways the opening sequence totally fulfils that three second judgement we make of the film down to the blood red credits and foreboding music. A man potentially possessed man kills 6 people in his own home within the first 4 minutes of the opening film. This precedes our expectations as in many films that are horror such as the shining, suspense is built over a long period of time over the film and only then is someone murdered.
• The text leaves a distinct impression giving a strong set up of what the film is all about. Such as a cereal killer and a scary maybe haunted house and possessed person, very stock characters and set. An enigma is established of why he killed his own family.

Film Language 

• POV shot from the girl looking at the killer is iconic. Close ups of the gun and items such as a book titled tell the story and let the audience into more than just knowing a man kills 6 people.
• Camera techniques such as ECUs are used to capture small details of the action but not all of it to create visceral suspense.
• The varying angles of the character at a high cutting rate emphasise what he's doing. For example two shot over the shoulder and pov. Most shots were still working with lightening to give glimpses of action.

• Editing: The high cutting rate of flashes of action are used to build suspense which is iconic in many horror films such as shutter island( Martin Scorcese 2010).Continuity editing is used to follow the murderer in the opening sequence, which is iconic in building suspense to view the action scene.
• This can also be seen in The Shining (Stanley Kubrick 1980). Many camera angles are used to create a feeling of foreboding such as continuity editing and a fast cutting rate and cutting between action.

• Props are used typically, for example a shotgun that the killer uses is iconographic and is a stock prop. This sets up what is to be in the opening sequence and aims to build suspense because a gun is a weapon which can be used to kill.
• The set is typically iconographic, the old wooden big house detached conveys to the audience that the family is wealthy. Therefore we deduce that the murder is out of other reasons than money or a social predicament.
•  The lighting in this opening sequence is the key to making all the shots work. The flashing light illuminates the shot from many fade to blacks. This positions the audience where they only catch glimpses of the action. They  created lightning from a storm instead of using flickering bulbs. This was the only lighting used apart from a light in a closet where Jody was hiding.
•  This can ideologically represents how Jody was the light in the dark and good not evil.
• This may be because she was a small girl and represent how he could not bring himself to kill her, as he had everyone else in the house.
• Sound is interlinked between the storm with lightening and non diagetic music of deep drums and flashing electronic sound interlinked with titles to emphasise them. 
• Creaking stairs are iconic in horror and appear in most horror films setting the idea of the whole film. This anchors the images as does the lightening sound drawing the audience into the scene.  
• Titles are seen in the establishing shot of the house in a storm. They phase in with electronic sound and are in blood like red colour. This connotes how the film might be gory, scary and will probably contain murder.
•  The title appears right at the start of the opening sequence setting the scene, about 2 minutes before any dialogue. This is aimed to build suspense as the audience know the film is going to be a horror and there will probably be murder.
• The question is when and where?

Narrative

•    Plot opening sequence is iconographic. A man possibly a member of the family kills his own family at night while they are sleeping through a storm. The possessed man with a shotgun is a stock character in a stock situation. A big detached house in a storm. 
• The audience are positioned in third person watching the sequence unfold. Two first person POV shots bring the audience into the sequence to be part of it.
• The audience is positioned with the murderer at mid shot following him through the house. There are also shots of the small girl(Jody) about a minute into the opening sequence. This aims to make the audience sympathetic for her. 
• Using a small girl as a victim is iconic as many horror films feature a small girl such as Come and See (Mironova,1985).
• The sequence is asynchronous as the audience see Ronny(murderer) then Jody(small girl) before Ronny has completed the task of walking upstairs and loading his gun. 
• Murder is the main theme in this sequence.
• Tension is created through the post production affect of lightening. This aims to maintain attention by symbolising how storms are scary and that flashing light only allows the audience to see parts of the sequence therefore leaving the audience in the dark as to what is going to happen next.

Representation & Ideology

•  The key social group is the family. From the size of the house and name " High Hopes" the audience deduce that this is financially successful family. They are shown sleeping apart from a young girl and a man with a gun.  Families are ideologically represented with the future birth, life and good things to come. This makes the opening sequence all the more sinister, contrasting life with death.
•  We can tell the murderer is an educated young man, from the picture of him graduating university. This gives the audience to suspect ideological discourse as man in the prime of his life living in a large house would have to have very extreme motives to kill his family.

Media audiences

• The target audience is roughly 15 to 24. This is evident from the high action. For example shooting. The high cutting rate appeals to a younger audience who prefer much faster paced films than an older audience. Adrenaline is another key factor which contributes to influencing younger people to watch it as they are more adrenaline fuelled.
• The audience might be shocked by this opening sequence as they are not as used to seeing these things in film as films and see it as brutal murder. Other people may be more concerned for the little girl as they may have a daughter and find it tragic how she was killed. Another reading could be sympathetic for the murderer who was possessed by something and forced him to kill his family. 
• I read the text being traditionally American, due to the typical framework of the opening sequence. Scary house, man kills own family in a storm while they're sleeping. I view this as a simple way to gain the audiences attention by establishing murder right at the beginning of the film. I do not find the opening sequence particularly shocking due to the fact that, he has a gun right from the start and is therefore predictable as what he is going to do.
•  The violent graphic aspect is tame in compared to some films such as Saw. My age and gender(male) make graphic images and violence on film very accessible and commonplace among the films I watch with my peers.
•  Therefore my background makes me immune. The background of being privileged and educated allows me to access and be bombarded by media. This also therefore reduces the impact films have.

Institutional Context   

• Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George star in this film. They are significant due to the fact that they are both good looking and therefore appeal to the audience. They are also very innocent and kind seeming characters emphasising the point on the perfect family that would not harm each other. 
•  The film had a budget of 19million and way produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Dimension films, industrial producers.
• This is evident through the high quality editing set and plot.  

AN: Analysis of an Opening Sequence: Halloween (Carpenter, 1978)

Genre

• The film Halloween is a part of the slasher sub-genre which is clearly demonstrated in the opening sequence by the killer's use of a large knife which he uses to then kill his stock female victim who is seen naked before her murder. This convention follows a predictable formula for a slasher horror murder establishing the film in the first 5 minutes.
• Whilst the build up and carry out of the murder follows traditional expectations of the genre, the initial reveal of the killer's identity however defies convention by both revealing his identity in the opening scene, but also the reveal that the killer is also a child who is related to the victim challenges the audience's expectations immediately and makes the audience question the killer's motives.
• the opening follows the the characteristics of the genre in the build up to the kill which utelises the setting of a big large dark house, the recognisable weapon, and the defenseless female victim all following stock aspects of the genre.

Film Language

Camera

• A majority of the opening sequence is shot in an extended POV shot from the view of the killer as he enters the house locates a weapon before finally murdering his victim and running out of the house. The shot acts to build tension as well as a sense of powerlessness as it follows the killer's every move and helps detail what is going through the killer's mind through what he observes and does, such as picking up the knife or watching the victim and her boyfriend.
  
• When the killer murders his victim he looks away and looks at the knife, this conveys a feeling of distaste towards the killing whilst the mask the character wears restricts the view of the audience causing a claustrophobic sense of unease as their view of the action is heavily restricted.

Editing

• the opening sequence uses very little editing as it consists of one continuous POV shot from the killer's perspective. This technique causes discomfort in the audience as it is uncut whilst the reliance on timing over editing gives the sequence fluidity.

Mise-en-scene

• In the sequence a key prop which is used is the clown mask which is first seen when the victim and her boyfriend are making out on the sofa and is then later used by the killer to mask his identity, this contrasts with it's earlier playful use to convey the feeling of guilt on the audience as the audience empathises with the young couple in the scene with the mask's sudden change in use further discomforting the viewer.
• The sequence takes place at night and as such takes advantage of low key lighting, this is used to make the house feel cold and oppressive setting up the location's purpose and sight of the first murder.
• Time is taken to show off the killer's choice of weapon which in the case of Halloween is an impractically large knife, the size of the knife and the way the character holds it are designed to implement a raw sense of fear in the audience as the intentions of the character they have been following becomes clear.
• The strewn out clothing and subtle adjusting down of the jumper as the boyfriend walks downstairs hints as to what the pair were up to and reveal some of the reasoning behind the killer's actions.

Sound

• The sequence starts quiet with the only sounds being the giggling and flirting of the teenage couple as the killer walks up to and around the side of the house. The lack of non-diagetic sound in this part focuses the audiences attention on the couple and conveys the killer's intentions.
• When non-diagetic sound is introduced to the scene, it is introduced through a high pitched screech as the killer checks the window before leading to a quieter but continuous high pitch sound over the rest of the scene. This high pitch sound anchors the audience's reaction to the situation triggering a basic fear response creating a rise in tension.
• When the victim is murdered the killer turns away; this forces the audience to rely on the extra diagetic sound to understand what is currently happening. At this point all that can be heard is the stabbing and the screaming of the victim. This leads to a feeling of nausea as the fact the murder cannot be seen suggests greater brutality than is shown.

Titles

• the film goes for a more traditional approach to the implementation of titles by having on long sequence where the opening titles are written on the screen and not into the action. the sequence does however hold a very long slowly zooming in image of a jack o lantern to the film's main theme adding to the unease and building suspense.

Narrative

• The opening storyline follows the killer as he enters the house to murder his older sister who is sleeping with her boyfriend. The situation uses the stock characters of the young sexually promiscuous teenage couple, as well as a large forboding house, and a large iconic weapon.
• The use of the extended POV shot allows the action and sequences to flow between one another in an expected order.
• The main themality of the narrative is the unspoken reasoning behind the killer's murder which is hinted towards being focused around sex and sexual activity.
• Tension is created through the introduction of the high pitched non-diagetic sound, and is maintained through the slow movement through the house slow reveal of seperate elements such as the weapon, the couple's activity, and so on.

Representation & Ideology

• The main social group represented in the sequence are teenagers who are shown as being sexually active and uncaring and playful through the young couple making out on the sofa and then moving upstairs where it is hinted they have sex through strewn out clothing.
• The opening instills the values of a dislike towards casual sex and a disregard of family and parents through the killer's distasteful murder of his sister with the only presentable reasoning being her actions with her boyfriend.

Media Audiences

• The film is primarily targeted towards a teenage male audience shown through the sequences use of brutal murder and female nudity.
• The opening allows for a range of possible readings, the preferred reading of it is that the killer is related to the victim of the murder and that was murdered for her sexual promiscuity. Alternative readings could be that the killer is deranged or possessed and killed his victim without reason, or that the killing could be out of jealousy of the victim and her boyfriend.
• I personally see the opening scene as being a murderous psychopath upholding his own personal beliefs on what's right and wrong through the murder of his sexually active sister. My reading can be seen as being shaped by the fact i am a male teenager and that i see no problem with the activities of the young couple that i feel no empathy for the killer's actions.

Institutional Context

• The film being an independent low budget production has very little in the way of big name actors with the main standout name in the cast being Jamie Lee Curtis who obeys the "final girl" archetype prevalent in slasher films.
• The studio which made the film is a small independent studio called "Compass International Pictures" which is reflected in the films budget being $325,000
• The opening is done without any pro-filmic or post production effects and consists of a long POV shot and a crane shot around a house; the film also relies on audience imagination for the core impact of the murder to be felt. These aspects indicate both a low budget but also good production skill as they are able to make the opening very visceral and engaging with very little in the way of effects being used.

JD: Psychological Horror Mood-Board

Psychological horror is a sub-genre of horror, this style of horror often relies upon the characters distress and emotional instability to build up tension. this sort of horror plays on archetypal shadows, and/or the darker, or even concealed parts if people's personalities, the idea of this sort of horror is to create a sense of discomfort by using universal psychological vulnerability and fears.

Group 5 Prelim

This is our groups prelim task, we experimented with the 180 degree rule and tried out some new camera shots, notably the steadicam shot, which we had not used before, we thought it gave the appropriate feel to the clip, and it gave the impression of being there in the situation with the antagonist, making it more visceral.