Final Film

this is our final product that our group made

Final Film

this is our final product that our group made

day 3 filming

Day 3 of filming took place at my house on the 24th March where we would do the majority of the filming for the movie. This is where we would film scenes 4-11. this was the most filming we had to fit in as we had to have light consistency so we filmed as smoothly and quickly as we could.



We varied the shot in order to have a good range of angles in our film. For each scene we tried a variety of shots to see which would work best for each scene and then determine which woul be bets for the editing. Each scene would take about 10 minutes each to film so we could get the variety of shot needed. An essential tool in getting some of our shots was using a tripod in order to get the high shots or to keep the camera steady to film with as the zoom button was hard to control at the same time without having to worry about blurring the action

The main thing I learnt was the importance of having enough different shots and angles to choose from since for each shot we would do two or three or four depending on the quality of the shots before .This would put us in a good position for editing as it meant that we didn’t have to re film any of the scenes again. I also noticed how different shots worked as we experimented and tested with several that worked out better than expected throughout filming.

storyboard

filming day 2

On our second day of filming we were doing the opening scene which would later on in the editing be put into black red and white. The original location for this was meant to be in the ally way by Wilkinson’s to give the gloomy effect put the bollard situated in the centre of the alley put us off this option as it would either have to be in front of the person because it was to far out of the alley way to be stood in front of. instead This scene was the first scene for the film where the main antagonist was in the centre of the shot looking towards the camera, however her face was partially covered to add mystery to it then a steady zoom in then back out afterwards

To film it we located the camera opposite the town hall on the bridge, getting jess to stand in the central arch to the camera. Then me and Amy, who were off shot would walk in to the shot and back out on the opposite side with all of us wearing red for the final edit. This was hard to achieve because the member of the public didn’t always want to be in short or would sometimes talk over the take asking what we were doing, however we got this done within 45 minutes. We also managed to get some snow in shot adding to the horror theme as it’s not often you see snow in this portrayed in this manner.

This worked really well as in the editing there was a strong colour red that was easyto pick up in and by using the leave colour tool we edited that scene and also using a slow motion tool and a fade to white towards the end to bring in the slow motion on me walking by.

Evaluation

In our media production we have decided to focus on a young girl who is really a crazed killer with a vendetta to settle so she uses toy babies as voodoo dolls in order to inflict the pain upon her victims which are depicted in red clothes in a black and white scene.
In what ways does your media product use, develop and challenge forms of conventions of real media products? 
For our horror film we want away to show who the victims were without dialogue  so to do this we decided to use the colour red which is with normal for the genre of horror as it represents blood and evil. to show who the victims are we got inspiration from Schindler's list with the scene of the little girl in red an developed that. What we did was to put the main character, who is the murderer, in red and all the other victims in red also and to emphasise the point we made the rest of the scene black and white by using adobe after effects. This worked well and gave us the effect we wanted for the opening scene
Our 2nd main idea for the story was to have voodoo dolls however we couldn’t get them so we used children’s dolls instead and applied over the top make up with exaggerated red lips inspired by the joker In batman and then blusher on the cheeks plus brown tape on their eye lids to keep their eyes open  to add to the horror you’d get with a voodoo doll. In addition to the voodoo doll we had a quick cut for a low angle shot of a knife coming down as if it was a point of view shot from one of the dolls that she was using to inflict pain on one of her victims. This is what we used from the horror genre as we used a 2 pronged fork which looked really good in shot as you could see it better than a knife from below.
Another key aspect to the film was the characters which challenged the normal convention of horror films having a young cast of people and having the main killer as a young teenage girl. This may be challenged however it’s becoming more common place in films to have a young female as the main character for a horror film e.g. the possession , Mama and sinister. The reason why we used jess as the main character is because she was shorter than everyone else to give the sense that she didn’t need to physically over power her victims as we show this in the opening scene where the height difference is clear. In the opening scene we also used dramatic non diagetic music for a stereotypical build-up of horror genre style. After this for the film title VENDETTA we used a horror style text form a text website generator to get the scary look . as the title appears we also decided to have a loud thunder noise come in as a non diagetic to sound to add tension and add emphasis to the title and then do a cross fade to a different, but equally as dramatic ,non diagetic soundtrack that’s build up in pitch corresponded with what was happening on screen.
Other things that were challenged were the logo as it was based around a pun on words with the representation of a fish tank with a turret which seems comical for a horror movie but we added the colour scheme of black, white and red to keep with the opening scene. Also for the titles we put them in a gothic style to closely match our title and we had the font colour as red to ,again match the colour scheme for the main colours of the horror genre.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media product represents an un stereotypical antagonist as it’s a teenage girl. This challenges the horror genre as not many films have a young girl as the main character because its seen that men should be the killer because of their physical strength and their age as they normally have a considerable age gap between the killer and their victims. So our film has challenged the genre and successfully as we wanted a social representation you wouldn’t expect as the main antagonist. The reason it works in our film is because the antagonist doesn’t need to be physically over powering to use the voodoo dolls  therefore the social representation we depicted was the opposite from traditional genre representation as it made it more interesting.
What kind of media institution might  distribute your media product?
I believe that the kind of institution that would distribute this film would be the Lionsgate subsidiary ,summit entertainment. The reason for this is because of the many horror films they have distributed with the majority of them linked to the supernatural e.g. sinister , Sorority Row and the twilight saga. All these films have the makings of a typical horror movie, all including blood gore , supernatural. 2 films that had inspired us were Schindler's list and “Sinister”. The reasons behind Schindler's list were because of the little girl in a red coat in the black and white however in comparison to sinister we decided to focus towards because of it is a horror genre film and the main antagonists are 6 children that kill off all their families in addition the characters are a 50/50 split between boys and girls having 3 of each. Therefore this fits with our idea of a young girl as the killer. Another factor in the film sinister was that the children didn’t need to physically over power their victims because of the methods of execution they used which started by drugging  the victim then using different ways to kill them e.g. drowning ,stabbing and burning. This was where the idea of voodoo dolls came in and this is why we headed towards the company summit entertainment because they have produced many of these genre films and know how to achieve it to a high standard in comparison to Amblin entertainment the subsidiary of universal pictures who distributed Schindler's list. Amblin entertainment haven’t done any big scale horror films so that’s another reason why we went for summit entertainment

Who would be the audience for your media product ?
The target audience for my media production is teenagers and young adults range from 15-21+ as the age certificate for the film will be rated 15 as from the start it portrays the supernatural  with voodoo dolls and also includes a weapon. However for Ireland it would have to be an 18 because of the witch craft and supernatural acts in the film as Ireland is highly religious and takes a higher approach to anything related to religion e.g. demons , witch craft and exorcisms . we imagine the rest of the film to have some violence and blood which attracts younger audiences as they prefer to be scared and shocked which is why we have targeted the younger audience range because they are more engaged with horror movies as roughly 75% of people that go to horror films are within 15-21 age range.
How did you attract/address you audience ?
To attract the audience we used the black, white and red to interest the audience and give it a twist to be different from other horror films that are stereotypical of the genre. The idea of voodoo dolls was developed from the questionnaire that showed most people were more preferred chucky which is a doll that is alive. Even though our dolls don’t move the idea that freaky dolls preferred people helped us come up with the

idea to use dolls instead of small voodoo dolls because with them make up and other features like the tape on the eyes could be added allowing for a bigger object to take up more of the screen compared to a small voodoo doll and also allowed more camera angles of the dolls to attract the audience to the  movie. In addition to the dolls the murderer is not the stereotypical villain because it’s a young teenage girl who has a vendetta to settle with someone that is depicted in the red clothes within the opening sequence. Another technique was to not focus on the girls face but on the dolls more as we don’t see much of her face leaving the audience in the dark about her identity and what see looks like as her identity is not relevant because it shows that anyone can be the killer and that it’s not always within the stereotype.
In addition to what happens on screen we chose the non diagetic sounds  to build up throughout the film. At the start of the film we used a track that subtly built up as we didn’t want it to escalate too much before anything had happened. Then for the title we used a non diagetic thunder noise to add a sense of fear to the title and make people notice it more before it disappears. The 3rd non diagetic track goes well with what happens on screen because the high and low point correspond with what happens on the screen and gives a better sense of tension and helps the story flow better which helps the address the significant moment to the audience such as when the pitch rises.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
The process form this product have been spread over 3 main software programs, adobe premiere pro , adobe after effects and adobe photo shop
The main software we used was adobe premiere pro to create our film. With the software it allowed us to layer the video and change the contrast on the clips to add more depth to the clips and darken the clips when they were too bright when we filmed it. the software also allowed use to add fades to black and to white between the clips allowing a smooth transition or change the speed for a quick transitions to add a faster pace. Another key thing this software allowed us to do was to use a green screen in filming then  by using the ultra-key to pick out the tone of green on the sheet so that then it can be replaced with the image of a newsroom for our film however this could be improved because on the footage there is some grainy areas on the newsroom clip.
For the audio we imported soundtracks to suit the film and its style. So with premiere pro we were able to trim and change the audio levels for where we need the pitch to rise and fall plus being able to fade the audio helped because where we had dialogue we didn’t want the non diagetic soundtrack to play over it too loud therefore the fading effects helped with to clear up the dialogue underneath the soundtrack.
For the opening scene that is black, white and red we used adobe after effects to achieve the process of leaving behind the colour red. The tool we used was called leave colour and this enabled us to select a colour within our clip and turn everything but that colour to black and white therefore we managed to have the effect and emphasis on the people in red which we wanted.
With Photoshop we used this to help aid in the logo and the title for the film. For the logo we drew it first then used Photoshop to refine it and add the colour red. For our title we used it to enlarge the words and clean up the title from any pixilation.
Mini HD camera we use to film the project with was helpful to use because it was hand held it was easy to carry , transport and film with therefore making it easier to do a low angle shot from the floor looking up towards the fork . another key factor was the zooming in as for many of our shots we required to zoom so having to master the zoom button was difficult as its really sensitive and hard to keep a steady constant speed without losing focus although we did get the shots to focus and in the end it did work.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from  it to the full product?
Looking back on the preliminary I feel I have learnt better camera control and how to set up the shot better including using  the green screen in the setup.
In the preliminary task the communication between the team was poor because everyone was trying to get their opinion and ideas across at the same time therefore we didn’t have a clear idea or plan on what to do for the task. In addition to the bad camera control as every time we tried to film another shot we would end moving the camera too quick and missing the action in shot or losing  focus on the person. We also needed to improve our knowledge and skills with adobe premiere because our clip wasn’t the best or smoothly edited which is what we had to improve from .
For out film we have improved on all the areas stated above. Our communication as a team was better and we were able to plan when to meet up and film and also if we had any concerns to address. Better communication helped us knowing what we had to do and which of was doing which section or part for the film. Another thing was that  we listened o each other and combine our ideas but we had a clear idea of what we’re heading for so we knew which ideas not to include in the final product. We also had developed our skills on adobe premiere pro and knew how to work most of the software and this helped us get the film done more independently allowing us to get on with the film editing quick without many issues. One issue we had was organising the date that we needed to film in town because we had problems to organise a time when we were both free. This problem was sorted and we managed to finish filming in the week that was allowed. For the filming we developed many skills and learnt many new one like using the green screen which was tricky as we required 2 rails when there was only one so we had to improvise by holding the other end up with a metre stick.  Another thing we learnt was how to leave the colour behind on the clip because we need the red to stay on the clip so we had to figure this out ourselves and then try out different ways of achieving the same effect but this tuned out to be the best method of keeping the red in shot.
Overall I think we have improved our skills significantly and by doing so it has shown in our film compared to the preliminary task  even though it’s just one clip. Also I believe our team communication has improved and as a team we came up with good ideas which we were able to produce without having to go majorly out of our way considering the time we had.

filming day one

Wednesday 13th march  was when we started filming on our news reader scene. For the setting of the newsroom we knew we’d need somewhere with a big desk that had a solid front so that the presenters legs aren't showing like on news channels. To meet the criteria for the desk we selected the room a science room because of the scale of the desk and the way it was layout, however we did have to conceal 2 items being the gas tap and the plug socket. To conceal the gas tap we used a landau forte mug which covered it perfectly and is also a common prop seen on a newsroom desk and then we cropped the plug socket off the side of the video. 2 other props used were sheets of paper in Amy’s hands , however we didn't notice till after filming that you could see the periodic table on the back of her sheets. The final prop was a teachers laptop as it is common place for them to be on the desk but not used.

To get the effect of the newsroom we used a green screen which we placed behind the desk and Amy scattergood who was our news reporter. The green screen went up and over a rail to go behind the area we need however the rail wasn't long enough and we had to attach the rest to a metre stick and hold it up like that however I the end it did work and we achieved what we wanted. Overall the filming for this took an hour including set up time.

production plan

Scene(s) to be filmed	Date and Time	Location	Time Frame for Filming	Cast	Equipment Required	Props/ Costume Required	Role Allocation
12	Wednesday 13th March 11:20am-1:20pm	Sixth Form	2 Hours	Amy	Tripod Camera Desk Green screen	Uniform Paper Mug	Amy – newsreader
1-2	Friday 15 March 3:00mp -5:00pm	King street in town	2 hours	Jess Nathan Extras x2- Kirsty Richard	Camera	Red coat for Nicole and red hoody/ t shirt	Jess-heather Nathan-Nathan Extras: Kirsty Richard
4,5,6,7,8,9,11	Sunday 17th march 1:00pm-7:00pm	James’s house	6 hours	Jess	Camera Tripod	Voodoo dolls x3 Tea party stuff Small mirror	Jess – heather

character description

Main character name: Heather

Age: 10

Height: 5ft 2

Background: Exactly 2 years ago a certain event changed her life forever and now she’s out to get revenge on those who had a part to play in what happened

Costume: Red Coat

Props: Voodoo Doll

 

 

News Reader Name: Natalie Scattergood

Age: 25

Costume: Smart Dress/Uniform

Props: News Desk, Mug, Paper, and Pen

Part to play: she reads the news about the uncovering of Nathan’s dead body

 

 

 

 

Victim: Nathan

Age: 17

Height 5 ft10

Background: he was involved in the event that changed the girl’s life forever.

Costume : red hoody

Part to play: he plays the first victim of Heather in the opening sequence

 

 

 

Costume List:

 

Heather: Red Coat, Black Leggings/Trousers, Boots

Natalie: Smart Dress:  eg. Suit

Nathan: Red Hoody, Jeans, Trainers

Horror genre research

The aim of a horror genre film is to develop a sense of fear with the audience in order to alarm panic and disorientate them. Horror films are one of the biggest film genres because of the wide variety of ideas that can be used. Common horror film ideas are mainly based on people’s fears, supernatural or the paranormal plus gore and blood are main common factors in horror films.

In 2010 the horror genre was ranking 8^th gross box office genre with comedy taking first place with sex in the city 2. Horror came 8^th with paranormal 2, which had been released that year. In total the horror genre made £54.1 million 2011 with 31 site releases and an average of £11,624 per site within the horror genre leaving it about halfway up the genre table.in comparison the horror genre had only made up for nearly 6% of all the that year releases compared to nearly 28% for Drama releases.

In 2011, the Horror genre had dropped to 11th place in the best performing genre. The genre released 32 films, which is 1 more than the previous year. Two of the top three genres are the same from 2010 however they made more money in comparison to the horror genre which made one more film then previous and made nearly £24million less at the box office then the previous year. The Horror genre made fewer releases than the top 2 genres however two of the genres above it both released just 5 films and still managed to rank above the horror genre. The Horror Genre had only made up 5.7% of all releases in 2011 and made up of 3.3% of the total box office for that year.

mindmaps

this shows the mind maps we came up with in lesson to show what ideas we had for the filming and the variation of them but how they were all horror film ideas which we could build upon however in the end we decided to pick the voodoo doll idea

Notting Hill Essay

Notting hill

analyse how the films opening establishes genre conventions and reaches target audiences through technical codes, narrative and characterization

Notting Hill is a 1999 British romantic comedy film set in Notting Hill, London, and the film was released on 21 May 1999. The film was well received by critics, and also became the highest grossing British film released in that year. The film won a BAFTA, and was nominated in two other categories.

The plot revolves around William Thacker played by Hugh Grant. Will owns a travel bookshop in the area of Notting hill. Will has been divorced and now shares his house with a welsh eccentric called spike. When he’s in his book shop William encounters the Hollywood star Anna Scott played by Julia Roberts. Minutes after their meeting, the pair collides in the street where William’s orange juice spills onto her clothes. He offers Anna to change at his house across the road. After he gets all flustered having her in the house and starts babbling however she surprises Will with a kiss

In the first 15 minutes a British ROM COM usually depicts a male trying to win over a woman but also putting himself down in comparison to American ROM COM’s where they big themselves up.

In the opening scene to Notting hill it starts off by having Anna Scott in different shot and frames many of which are extreme close ups of her in a dress with paparazzi around her and having all these superimposed together with fades and dissolves. The scene fades away to will in Notting hill where he is followed down the street with a horizontal track shot with will in the focus then cutting away to people he describes along the way. The scene is set on a sunny day with a busy market feel and to giving the audience a reassuring atmosphere by the way he describes everyone and how the scene is set. The music is a non diagetic soft background to go with the genre.

The next scene introduces wills house and his house mate spike. The first shot in his house is a zoom out and backwards tracking out of his hall way where its seems relatively clean in comparison to the rest of his house which he uses to put himself down as a stereotypical British male does in films. When he arrives in his house all the diagetic and non diagetic music stops to show that the atmosphere has changed. Spike is introduced to us as he goes to try t- shirts  on for his date of which are shown by using shot reverse shots to get the expression off both of them as the first to wouldn't have been suitable. The next scene shows him going to work at his bookshop with his business partner there. The lighting is set that it’s darker inside the shop and the street is sunny this is representing the current situation of the shop making a loss and his life that behind the closed doors it’s dull and sad. The lighting is like this until Anna walks in. at first she it’s a focus pull from will’s face to her in the background entering the shop bathed in light as if bringing light to his life.

In this scene Anna has walked into the bookshop and is all in black with sun glasses as I not to attract attention to herself so most of the on her are medium close ups as we can’t see much emotion on her face as she is also looking down towards the floor most the time. As she leaves the shop Will is putting himself down in a 2 shot at the shop counter. As Anna leaves and his colleague returns the soft focus of Anna is lost for a sharper and duller lighting.

The follow on to that  scene is a suddenly cut away to will walking back from getting orange juice with a calm non diagetic sound in the background until in a long shot he collides  with Anna on the street corner. The clothing use for this scene is of the white shirts as the orange shows up more. Will then invites Anna back as he again puts himself down. Because it’s the 2^nd time we enter his house the camera has already tracked back to the end of the hall to unveil the extent to Anna.  As she goes upstairs we get a horizontal track from the kitchen to dining room where Anna returns in a long shot in order to capture her descending down the stairs with the editing of a soft focus. As Anna is leaving Will is trying to get her to stay longer and have a conversation with her so the extreme close ups of shot reverse shots get quicker as he tries to find something to interest her. When she leaves we get a long shot of the hall way then into an extreme close up 2 shot as she leaves however will returns to the door when she forgot her bag and then she kisses him in an extreme close up 2 shot and the lighting is a lot warmer now then what it should be inside his house.

In conclusion I think that this film fit the genre of British romantic comedy very well as the main character is a British male that put himself down in order to flirt with her and she is a woman who seems out of his league and outside his world of Notting hill in London.

breif plot

the plot is about a girl who had supposedly gone missing before and has now returned and is killing her victims which are linked together somehow. 

• starts with an extreme long shot of a girl in the center of the frame. she will have her head down towards the camera in the middle of the street with people walking past. this shot will be in black & white however she and other random people in the shot will be shown to be wearing red which was inspired by the scene in Schindlers list. this scene will have credits over played over the top.
• the scene then fades away to allow the title zoom and fade in with non diagetic sound.
• this will suddenly cut away to a news reported of a girl who has been missing with a picture of her however only her name will be stated.

The Dark Knight Rises Essay

The Dark Knight Rises

analyse how the films opening establishes genre conventions and reaches target audiences through technical codes, narrative and characterization

The Dark Knight Rises is a 2012 superhero action film which was directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay along with his brother Jonathan Nolan and the story with David S. Goyer. Featuring the DC Comics characters Batman, bane, Catwoman, Alfred and many other important characters. This film is the final instalment for Nolan's Batman film trilogy, this film is based as a superhero action genre film.

In a typical action film its usually based around one or more heroes who have been thrust into a series of challenges or situations that require physical feats (of sometimes unnatural ability) , extended fights and frenetic chases and many explosions. They tend to feature a resourceful character struggling against incredible or impossible odds, which may involve life-threatening situations involving an evil villain, and/or being pursued, with victory achieved at the end of all the difficult physical efforts and violence.

In TDKR this is shown in many ways throughout the film to keep the audience engulfed by the actions of batman as the lead protagonist. Whereas with horror films they use ECU’s and jumpy music in batman they mainly focus on ELS in order to capture the fights and chase sequences. Some of the main fight sequences involve bane giving the audience a clear scenes of good and evil within the fights and showing them at opposite sides of the frame. The fast cuts also indicate that it’s a action film because in comparison to rom coms there are no fade outs but it cut really quickly to keep the audience on the edge of their seat.

In the past all action sequences were done by real people and real props however with modern technology they are able to add CGI and create fight sequences or props that aren’t real in order to aid the action. Many of these techniques are shown in TDKR by the way Nolan uses CGI to add to the action scenes. The main sequences this is incorporated into is where the football pitch blows up showing the use of CGI in order to create an action packed film and push the boundaries of the technology. However Nolan didn’t want to over use CGI and kept to using many of the actors and built many of the props such as a working batpod and tumblrs and also built the bat however this was just a life size model.

 In the opening 15 minutes Nolan is trying to set out the story straight away and introduce the characters as soon as possible to quickly build on their relationships to develop the film.  The film starts off on a landing strip with people which had been captured with bags over their heads and the emphasis of the tension builds up with non diagetic music and quick cuts building up to the action where banes men attack the plane. This scene then cuts to a extreme long shot that’s panning over the city then to the speech at Wayne manor. This scene is shown to introduce some of the other major characters such as bat man, cat women and Commissioner Gordon.  The film builds up in suspense and action in order to move the scenes along at a quick pace and keeping the tempo of th music in line with the action scenes. The majority of the shots begin with extreme close ups when it starts on the plane to give the audience a sense of the small amount of space and the emotion of the characters and has many quick shot reverse shots to keep up the pace .

In conclusion I think that TDKR keeps to the genre of superhero action film. It has a more traditional approach as they try to make as many of the props as they can to make it seem more real in comparison to CGI which is what Nolan wanted to achieve. This makes the props aesthetically real and makes the whole film seem more possible in reality. The quick scene cuts and the long shots capture the action within the frame such as the plane sequence and the fight scenes further along in the film.

red dragon essay

Red Dragon

analyse how the films opening establishes genre conventions and reaches target audiences through technical codes, narrative and characterization

Red Dragon is an American thriller film of 2002 the film is based upon Thomas Harris' novel of the same name which features the psychiatrist and serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter. The film is set as a prequel to silence of the lambs.

The plot starts when Hannibal lecter is captured for cannibalism and gets a life sentence in a prison whilst the person who captured him has to track down another serial killer who says he’s trying to transform himself into the red dragon of a famous painting by William Blake.  

In the first 15 minutes revolve around Doctor Hannibal lecter and what he is. The first scene is in an orchestra performance where they focus on one person of the band and the switches back and forth between his and lecter’ s face whilst zooming in to show Hannibal’s facial expression. The scene suddenly cuts away to Hannibal in the centre of a long shot as host to his dinner party. The mise en scene of this scene is the lighting is very dim and has a red tint representing Hannibal’s state as the meat he has served is the man from the first scene.

The next scene is where will graham who is an FBI agent has come to consult Hannibal about a criminal’s behaviour as it seems the suspect had been removing edible body parts from the victims’ bodies which leads will to believe that the murderer is a cannibal. concern of Hannibal is shown on his face when he mentions it might be a cannibal with an extreme close up and then he walks out the room leaving will to look around .as the camera zooms in on the bookcase will finds an interesting cook book in which he recipes have been added to with body parts.as ill turns round Hannibal suddenly stabs him in the gut in order to hold him there so he can choke him however will manages to stab him with some arrows then  shot him as he come back towards him which is shown well with the use of white shirts in order to show the areas of blood making it stand out. As Hannibal is shot back he lands on his back and the camera pan vertically down to his face showing him looking up towards the ceiling as if he’s dead yet he isn’t as we find out later on.

The scene has cut away and its now many years in the future and will is investigating a serial killer who is killing off families in the south and is nicknamed “the tooth fairy”  the murders carry on and another family dies which leads will to consult Hannibal who has got life in prison for cannibalism. When will arrives at the prison he is told to walk down a corridor to the end. The corridor is very dimly lit and all that’s visible to will is a chair at the other end in front of Hannibal’s cell. The tension for this is built up through the non diagetic music and the slow forward track. The corridor is full of other criminals that seem to be more mentally unstable compared to Hannibal as he is able to have a civil conversation however h is the kind of criminal that gets inside the audiences head as for the rest of the film he is in the prison cell as the main character focus is on “the tooth fairy “.

I think that this film is a good representation of a thriller genre film. In thriller films its mainly set around the protagonist and the problem they face which in red dragon is will catching the murderer before he strikes again. This becomes the emphasis throughout the film as the problem to be overcome. The camera angles for thriller films are mainly close ups for the emotion and suspension and long shots for things to jump out. Most of them have a non diagetic soundtrack that is made to build up tension and suspense in order to scare the audience or to keep them intrigued when nothing seems to be happening. Also the mise en scne is key to thrillers as most have weapons and dim lighting or to create a thriller effect t build upon to creat the setting . other props are like the costumes as a good example is with white shirts to emphasis the blood stains

In conclusion I believe this film is a good representation of a thriller genre film  and keeps to the genre with the key aspects such as close us , non diagetic background for suspense plus a sortyline with a problem  to overcome 

Candyman essay

Candyman is a 1992 American horror film starring Virginia Madsen, Tony Todd and Xander Berkeley. The film was directed by Bernard Rose and is based on the short story "The Forbidden" written by Clive Barker however the film's scenario is switched from the setting of England to the Cabrini–Green public housing development on Chicago's North Side.

The plot revolves around Helen Lyle who is a graduate student conducting research for her thesis on urban legends and myths. Whilst interviewing people over their superstitions she hears about a local legend known as Candyman. The legend contained many elements similar to the most well-known urban legends, which included endangered babysitters, spirits who appear in mirrors when fatally summoned, and maniac killers with unnatural deformities and behaviours.

In the first 15 minutes Bernard rose ah tried to give it as much of a horror feeling as possible to build up the tension but not to give anything away to early. The credits start off with a horizontal track above the city with what appears as gothic style font and a non diagetic sound of organ playing and a choir which gives us the link to spiritual and supernatural happenings. The way it’s been set out with the credits is to give the clear idea its based in an urban environment because most people would think the city is safer

This scene cuts away to a woman giving a narration over a scene set in the suburbs with a babysitter and a lad she likes. The reason its been set in the suburbs is because no one expects it to happen there as generally wealthier people live here so it is considered safer with more security and protection. The girl and boy are upstairs and in front of a mirror with the reflection giving a 2 shot of them together with a build-up of non diagetic music to give tension to the scene. The girl then dares the boy to say Candyman 5 times however he only reaches 4 times. The boy then goes downstairs and the girl then says it to the mirror for the 5^th time and turns the light off with a superimpose of Candyman appearing and striking her down with “a hook in his bloody stump” and then blood coming through the roof and onto the lad below in order to give the film a horror feeling early on.

One of the props used in was the girls white bra which is a stereotype for horror films showing that the girl is still young and innocent and as in many horror films it’s the innocent girls that die. Whereas in comparison to the boy who is in a black leather jacket and on a motorbike. This shows that in horror films girls are less protected against the violence and typically get killed for usually being sexually unclean or because they are set out to be pretty and young.

The story then cuts away to an Ariel shot over the city and then into the university and then into the building where the main character Helen is listening to the diagetic sound of a tape recording of the story with an extreme close up of her talking it back to herself although sh4e doesn’t repeat her saying Candyman as if she thinks there is truth behind it. This is also shown by the build-up of non diagetic sound which suddenly stops. This scene then cuts away to a lecture hall where the lecturer is giving a talk on urban myths and legends. The lecture finishes and Helen heads down to the male who turns out to be her husband. However a girl hangs round to talk to him and her body language suggests she likes him, plus she has been portrayed as a young and pretty blonde girl which is normally the most used stereotype for horror films. Nevertheless from the-lecture and her investigations we learn that they are both intelligent and think they have a high level of understanding of what they are dealing with which misleads her into thinking that the murderer comes from behind the mirror via a hole in the wall which is a design flaw in the buildings structure.

The following scene is then of Helen and her friend and they are stood in the bathroom looking at the mirror in a 2 shot. The tension is built up with non diagetic music and a zoom in through the hole in the wall where the murderer supposedly comes through. They then put the mirror back on the wall and star saying “Candyman” however the 2^nd women stops before she reaches the 5^th time although Helen carries on. This is followed by a prolonged silence and a zoom in on her face resulting in extreme close up of her face to show her curiosity and anxiety in the situation however this is followed by her calling her friend a chicken which lightens the mood and breaks the silence with laughter however the scene then cuts away back to the mirror but this time it’s now night and darker as the camera starts reverse tracking down the corridor and begins to pan into the woman’s room where we catch glimpse of a Christian cross. The cross possibly represents she’s a Christian which links back to the first girl who was killed because she also was wearing a cross however was becoming  sexually active which is shunned upon; having sex before marriage. This all links back to being a horror genre because with any religious vies there is good and evil so this portrays Candyman in a devil/ demon manner.

in conclusion I believe that The main technical codes used to represent the horror genre are camera angles and the mise en scene. The reason for this was because it shows the fear and emotion on the characters face. The camera angles are an essential part of the horror genre but so are the mise en scene props such as the white bra and blood and also the mirror and saying Candyman 5 times plus the hook in the stump. Whereas other technical codes these 2 go together with aspects of each other such as the lighting and the camera angles.