Creep Analysis

SETTING

Creep is set in an underground station and the tunnels surrounding it. This is a good setting as it is familiar to an audience sit gives connotations that it is safe, however when Kate gets trapped it becomes unfamiliar as underground stations are never empty and it now becomes quite claustrophobic.

The operating room creates a very scary ambiance as we are not used to seeing somewhere that should be so clean and sterile as being so dirty and creepy.

The cages where the killer keeps his ‘human pets’ is an abandoned area of the sewage system in London. This is a good setting as it ties in with the underground tunnel links and also the sewage worker.

CHARACTERS

Kate(lead) – slightly stupid, (falling asleep in underground, gets on empty train although the station is locked up…) she is quite pretty, blonde. She is very determined to survive and in the end kills the killer.

‘Craig’ (the Killer)- psychotic, ruthless killer, also a bit mentally ill, as we see in the operating theatre (puts on dirty gloves, washes hands without water)

The homeless people and sewage man- Kate finds comfort with these people although they die which leaves the audience to think she is now in a even worse position.

ICONOGRAPHY

Iconic props in the film would be the blades (scalpel in the operating theatre) use of other weapons like the blade the killer uses to kill the sewage worker. Make-up like blood is very typical of horror films and is used throughout the film.

Also screams are used when the killer is ‘operating’ on Mandy.

CAMERA WORK

Lots of different shots keep it interesting, close ups (e.g. on Kate’s face and used on peep hole of driver door) mix of stedicam and handheld (e.g. when Kate is running through the train), POV shots to give a stalking effect.  Use of CCTV shots to show her communicating with security guard.

Teaser Trailer Analysis

A Teaser Trailer is a short version of the film trailer, these are designed to give audiences an insight of what is to come in this film, aiming to excite them. Teaser trailers come out months in advance of the film’s release date, sometimes, the teaser will can come out up to 18 months in advance. Bringing the trailer out in advance of the movie release date aims to build anticipation and excitement within its audience. 

Teaser Trailers often last around 30 seconds to a minute long. These are shorter to a normal trailer, however this is still enough time to excite the audience and draw them into the upcoming film.

Shutter Island's teaser trailer has several different camera shots, sounds and effects. First of all in the opening scene we see a low angled camera shot looking towards big black doors with high walls surrounding it, this is an effective opening scene because it automatically gives the audience an impression of mystery, of 'what is it that is behind these doors?' effect. Furthermore, the sound used creates a sense of danger, the sound is like a strong but low toned, but loud trumpet noise.  The scene shows the doors opening which creates excitement among viewers because they get the chance to see what is being hidden or what is behind these big walls and doors, the scene then cuts to a mid-shot of a patient in the enclosed area, furthermore we are seen that she has handcuffs around her wrists, this adds curiousness to the audience because they will begin to wonder and ask themself why is she handcuffed?

The camera shots continue in consecutive 1 second shots and scenes, this is used to create excitement as we see more of the film, furthermore these scenes show many emotional grabbing scenes where we see him with a woman, who the audience will connote this to be his wife. we also see a child, this adds to the tension because we have already established this may be some sort of mental hostel from the opening scene, so to see a young child in the scene adds to the curiousness of the film. As the camera shots flow, the sound also becomes louder and faster, to create tension among the audience, to excite them, but most of all, to temp them to see the film, as the short clips don’t give much away, however they show enough to make the audience want to see more of the film.

The Fourth Kind Trailer Analysis

 

A film trailer is a way of advertising the film. Audiences can see them when they go to the cinema as many trailers are shown as advertisements before a film. They are also seen on television and on the internet.  They are intended to grab the attention of the audience, and show clips of the film that are exciting and leave the audience asking questions, so that they want to go and see the film, to find out what happens.

I have viewed the trailer for ‘The fourth kind’. The trailer opens with a CU shot of a camera lens. This is to emphasise that the film is made up of recordings of ‘real life’ footage. The main actress, Milla Jovovich, as herself, talking about what the film is based on. She explains the role of the doctor she is playing and the ‘real life events’ that the movie is based on. When the clips of the ‘real’ doctor are shown, her face is pixelated to enhance the ‘real’ effect, as if she has requested identity protection. This is done with ‘real life’ footage shown.

The other characters in the film are established in clips that show both the movie footage and the ‘real life’ footage in a split screen. This is to make them seem like real victims, making the movie scarier as it is showing the audience that these events occurred in reality.

The editing of clips in the trailer are so that in the middle and at the end of the trailer there are many split second clips put together to give a sense of panic.

Sound in the trailer starts with the voice of the doctor character. Her voice is high pitched and quiet making her sound weak and frightened. The trailer uses a lot of white noise as this is often associated with alien encounters as the use different frequencies that disturb our own. There is also recordings of aliens speaking in an ancient language, and loud roars etc. Generic horror sounds such as screams are also used.

The camera in the trailer is very varied. The establishing shot is a tracking shot over Alaska, probably filmed from a helicopter. Other shots include medium close ups of Milla Jovovich when she is talking about the film, close ups of the victims as they are having alien encounters.  The varied shots give keep the trailer exciting for the audience.

The mise-en-scene is important in this film as they made to make the government offices look official and the homes of the victims look realistic. However in the trailer there is no shot of the alien villains, which adds suspense to the trailer.

Creep Analysis (Short Analysis)

Magazine Analysis (Film Magazine Front Cover)

Halloween and Scream Analysis

HALLOWEEN + SCREAM

Discuss how and why film genres change from Halloween to scream

The genre within horror movies has significantly changed over the years, and I will be writing about the difference between Scream and Halloween.

Horror was at its peak during the 1970’s when a massive arrival of knife crime ‘Slasher’ violence scenes were released; Halloween set a new breed of horror which set the standard for the films to come, trying to follow the ensemble of Halloween ‘slasher’ genre, horror was very different then to what it is like today, as I will go on to explain;

After Halloween was released the genre began to become very unrealistic. The scenes of horror was very unrealistic, it was unrealistic because the murderer was becoming superhuman, which means that he can’t die. The films were becoming too violent, this was creating controversy among the audiences because they felt that it was influencing children to think that violence was ‘cool’, therefore people was starting to link the violence in the films to the violence which was starting to be found in their society. Furthermore the violence in the movies was largely aimed at men, therefore this was excluding the other half of the audience, the women.  The women’s independence status was growing in our society and in previous films shown a rather sexist portrayal of women, however now attitudes was changing combining with the women’s role in society, therefore sexism was now largely seen as uncool and dishonest. The violence in the film was also seen as rather pointless, as it did not add much to the film, it was felt like it was ‘just there’.  Adding to the unrealism of the movies, the violence never had any consequences, for example, there was never any parents around when victims was being killed.

However, in 1996, Wes Craven wanted to re-build the horror genre in the film Scream.  By doing this he challenged the stereotypes of a typical slasher film such as Halloween, and he created a newer, slasher classic. A main factor which played a part in the refreshed genre that Wes Craven created was the music he used. In the old slasher movies such as Halloween, the music was seen to be very dull, plain and obvious, this gave the film an unrealistic feel. In Scream, the music created an atmosphere which had the audiences anxious and fidgety to see what is going to happen, this was created by having different tones of music for each scene.  Adding to the realism of the new classic genre, there was less voyeurism, this allows audiences to see things from both sides of view, the killer and the victim, this adds realism because they can relate to both sides of the story, but more importantly have sympathy for the victims. Furthermore, unpredictability was brought into the film; this was done by killing off big named actors early in the film, which largely challenged the genre.  For example Drew Barrymore suggested that in the old slasher movies, because of the high status, the actor will survive the longest, or survive it all, like Jamie Lee Curtis did in Halloween. However in Scream, the famous actors name was used on the poster, and she was killed within the first five minutes of the film. It was typical for horror films to not use big named stars, an example of this would be Halloween, this was because it was a very low budget genre, which meant it was cheap, unknown actors, everyday suburban locations, boring, using obvious soundtracks and no high tech. However Scream challenged this by having a number of big name starts, including: Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, Henry Winkler and Drew Barrymore. Wes Craven kept die hard horror fanatics happy by making many references to previous horror films (quiz, questions and jokes). Halloweens music was too sloppy and boring, however in Scream, the music was carefully timed and constructed in sync with the action to make the movie more entertaining. Furthermore in Scream there was fast moving camerawork & editing unlike voyeuristic stalking in Halloween. Wes Craven also re-invented the mask from Halloween to carry on with the stereotypical nature of the slasher movies.  Furthermore, realism was further embedded when the killers was less superhuman and robotic, they was just ordinary boys from the community, which lead to equal fights between the victims and the killer, as the victims have more chance of putting injuries upon the killer(s).  however, in both films knives are used, this is very iconic in horror films, moreover in Scream, it makes sure the victims are killed off in different ways than just typical knife injuries, for example one victim got killed by an automatic garage door, this therefore creates more humour and entertainment for the audience.

From this comparison we learn that Wes Craven had his main aim to re establish the horror genre and add some critical needed spark, whilst connecting with the genres of the past classics.

Creep Poster Analysis

Scream Poster Analysis

Film Review Of Insidious

Film Review of the Film Insidious (the Guardian)

The creators of Saw and Paranormal Activity have joined forces on this silly horror – which is good for a handful of jumps and guilty giggles before it quickly reaches for the slipshod, hokey contrivances you don't expect until number 2 or 3 in the franchise. You have to pity poor Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne, playing the parents of a young family; they must keep straight, serious actor faces while trapped in a haunted house movie, rejiggered into a possessed kid movie when their son falls into a coma – his soul trapped in a nether realm. Cue a cast of undead tortured souls: creepy twins; an old lady veiled in granny-net curtains; a demon luridly covered in black and red face paint like a juggler on ketamine at a rave, most preposterous and un-terrifying of the lot. Perhaps aware that they have a largely scare-free experience on their hands, the film-makers insert a comedy sideshow: a psychic who is more Avon lady than exorcist, accompanied by two geeky assistants.

Halloween spider diagram

A2 Production Brief

This year we have been given a brief, which is to create a promotional package for a new horror film. This includes a teaser trailer (which will be no longer than 60 seconds), and a film magazine front cover featuring the film. We also have to produce a promotional poster of the film. All images and soundtrack will be original.

A2 Production Horror Collage