Task 2:Research into existing products

These are some camera shots and movements:-

ECU-extreme close up
CU-Close up
MCU-Medium close up
MS-Medium Shot
MLS-Medium Long Shot
LS-Long Shot
ELS-Extreme Long Shot
HAS-High Angle Shot
LAS-Low Angle Shot
SRS- Shot Reverse Shot

Pan,Tracking,Zoom

What makes a genre ?

The film genre i have chosen to do is horror. There is a few things the you would apply to a horror film. First of all we expect the film to have an element of shock in it. There is quite is always low-key lighting in it. This is to give a Gothic element to the film. When we see a horror there is usually some kind of monster or bad guy in it who kills of a gang of teenagers and adults. But there is other films with were there is no monster but there is some kid of nutty person who is pure evil in it. In some horror films now there is supernatural put in it to shock the audience. They use a typical scary settings such as woods,old houses and Church's and seen a lot in horror films. There is also a lots of red in the films which show danger. It also uses music that is scary. In the films there is also a lot of close-ups used to show how people can get scared. As time goes on horror films have become better though the use of better special effects and more budgets going into the films. Also there is now the stereotype and cliche in horror films when people are running someone falls over. There is also the fact that sometimes when you think the bad guy is dead he then suddenly rises back from the dead. The first classic horror films were:-

Frankenstein
Dracula
Wolf-Man
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

The new age horror classics are:-

Dawn of the dead
The Omen
The Hills Have eyes
Friday 13th
Halloween
Nightmare on elm street
Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Just to name a few.



In a ROM-com we expect things such as boy meets girl, a element of comedy that all ends up in a character having a Epiphany and then they have to fight for something they really want and love. There is usually up-beat music and clear bold titles. They have one character that stands out for there comedy they usually end up in stupid ways. Then there is the girl who meets a boy but it isn't always simple. There is usually cameos from big stars too. At the start there is usually shots that show who the main characters in the film are going to be. In the film there is never a sad ending and its like a fairy tale everyone lives happy ever after. Typical audience for these films are for mainly for girls and are directed to girls. There is also a lot of kind of love triangles but with one of the people in it being a bad person. In most films there is always a kind of lesson at the end for us. List of some Rom-Coms:-

About a boy
Wedding Singer
Bridget Jones Diary
Love Actully
50 First Dates
Ugly Truth


In a thriller it is designed to get the audiences heart beating. Unlike a a horror a thriller is not meant to scare the audience. There is always a lot of suspense in the film this is to keep the viewer engaged in the film and then they won't get distracted. There is usually an element of action in the film with a fight between a good guy and bad guy. In the film there is mostly a love interest for the main character and this usually cause some kind of weakness for them and the bad guys take advantage of it. But in the end the good guy always comes out on top. With the films there is usully at lot of voilence involved in it this is to keep the audience watching. There is a usually a lot of high-tech crash scenes in them too. List of some thrillers:-

Rambo
Taken
The 6th Day
Blade
Underworld
Mission Impossible
Get Carter.

Textual Analysis on the three genres.

In class we watched these horror films:

Scream
Day of the Dead
Switchblade Romance
Grudge

The first film we watched was a french Horror film named Switchblade Romance:-

It starts with a close up of a women who has got a lot of wounds and we are guessing that she has been involved in an accident with knives has there is a lot of slash wounds. As we are looking at the wounds it uses a tracking shot. She is wearing a white costume that covers her front part this is kind of creepy as it relates to nutters been locked in a jail. It then goes back to the woods after the narrative has been done of "what happened". It now goes to the woods with a girl running which we assume is the girl from the start. There is a point of view shot of her running making us think that she is being followed by someone there is a close of up of blood coming from the side of her. Then there is a long shot of a car coming down the road. When she is running further into the woods there is shot reverse shot of the car and women coming closer together so we know that the two are going to meet some how. The further the two get the closer the camera is and the music becomes more tense. Until bang they meet. As a viewer it is scary to watch as we are scared to find out what has happened to this girl.


Day of the Dead- This film breaks from convention. It shows that a start of the film doesn't have to be scary to make it a horror film. First off all though there is a shock with a women sitting in a room alone just looking at the walls she is seems to be closed in and then suddenly hand come in from the walls trying to grab her. She then wakes up in a helicopter. The close-up on her face to show the terror from her dream. The some quite happy music starts to pump into the background and it starts to break away from a horror. The plane then lands in a scary city that seems pretty deserted. The dialogue then comes into as two of the people on the plane start shouting out for people the tension starts building up with close-ups of the city with everything in a mess. When we are watching this we are starting to get scared as we want to know what has happened to everyone. Then the camera zooms into a newspaper that's says the dead live. Then shadows start to creep in and then we see that a load of zombies are on there way. Even though the special effects are poor the zombies are very creepy looking and could scare people who are off a weak heart. The cameras is key in this part as the long shots show how alone the human race has become and that there are now monsters about.





Scream- This is a brilliant start to a horror movie simply because it has everything you expect from a horror film. It starts with the titles saying scream it stands out in the black background then there is a high-pitch scream and then the titles turn red. It then starts with a close up of a telephone ringing. This is to show how the phone is going to play a major part in this scene. Then we see Drew Barrymore rushing to pick up the phone. Then on the other side there is a scary voice talking to her . He puts down the phone and says sorry he must have the wrong number we don't think anything of it at first. Drew then puts on some popcorn then we hear the phone ringing again this is starting to cause some suspense because she has just had a call. It is the man from earlier on and he starts to make conversation and flirts a bit with drew. Now we don't realise what is going on. He starts to ask her questions about if she has a boyfriend and what her favorite scary movie is she replies Nightmare on Elm Street at this point the camera makes a point to show the knifes in the kitchen so it links to the film and Freddy's fingers. The voice on the other end is getting more darker as the scene goes on.

The scene then becomes more of a horror when the voice on the other side goes "i want to know who i am looking at". The girl is getting really scared and her movement really shows this as she slowly walks over too the window and checks if the door is locked. She puts down the phone even after a warning. Then there is a shot off a willow tree and the swing on it is rocking very slowly. The camera is starting to getting more tracking off her walking round scared. This is really reflecting the fear off the women. The phone is rings back and then the dialogue shows how fear is really easy to put in with something simple as a phone call. The director makes a point off keep showing the popcorn rising and then this is showing how her heart is getting faster. The setting is brilliant too because it is set in the middle of no were and all you can hear is crickets in the background.


In class we watched these Rom-Com's-

Pretty Women
Monkey Business
Notting Hill

Pretty Women- At the start of it there is a man who seems very stressed about his work. He is a very high-class party. In this part there is a lot of close-ups on him making sure we see how he is feeling. In this scene too the is a lot off high-key lighting when it is on the room. Some of it is natural too when he is talking outside. The dialogue in this is quite light and easy too. The scene also shows how that in most Rom-Com's that one character always has some kind of hard time.

It then bursts into the credits then even though the music is very happy and upbeat and the writing is very bright. It also goes though the city showing the red-light district this could show a contrast that is coming maybe in the film.

Then it goes to an ECU of the girls flat. There is a lot of pictures with men's faces cut out, this could show that she has been hurt before and is sick of men. Contrast with the man having problems. The music is different from the start too as the man was more elegant but this is more rocky and edgier. It keeps hinting that the pair are going to meet up some how and change each others lives. When she is getting ready she looks quite poor and she is colouring her boots in and is trying to avoid her landlord to pay money. When she is walking out off her flat the pair are coming together we now know they are going to meet as he is looking to get rid of some stress he has by having a prostitute. Overall this is a typical start to a ROM-com as we know it is going to be boy meets girl but there is a slight twist.


The Wedding Singer- This is a different start to pretty women as it only shows one male figure and not the typical boy and girl meeting. We know it is going to be romantic from the title wedding singer as weddings are usually a sign of love and happiness. The first shot kind off gives it away too as there is editing with the the women in wedding suits could show that in time to come there is going to be a wedding coming up. The shot is a MLS too so this shows that it might not be for a while(the wedding.) Then there is the credits coming in with the song you spin me round this could maybe show something is going to spin his world around and change his whole aspect on life. After this there is a lot of shots of boys and girls together there is mainly MS used when the people are dancing together this is mainly highlighting the love off boys and girls. There is also the happy and light feeling to the start of Rom-Com's. The credits have a shiny edge to them.

When the band are performing there is MCU used this shows how close the band are so this could highlight that they are key to keeping the movie happy shows a "love" for it as well as girls. The scene carries on with some close ups off the bands and medium close ups. The when it gets to the bit with the back up saying "No one else will do" it tracks round to him this could symbolise something important that will happen in the film. The some comedy elements start coming into it with shots off and old lady trying to touch up a young lad could also show maybe a funny older character coming into the film, MS off fat lady eating the cake and then MS again off young lad drinking for the first time. There is also a gay man stripping to a old lady. The last show is the camera zooming out from the band as they finish the song.

In class we watched these Thrillers:


Seven
Old Boy
Infernal Affairs

Seven- The opening sequence of this film is quite modern for its time. We can only see hands of a person in this part. This gives us it kind of mystical effect and we are wondering who this person is. In this part only there is only ever close-ups used. Who ever this person is they are planning something very big as he is writing everything out in little writing and its detailed. This is almost like a horror start to a film as some of the things that he is doing are quite disturbing. He is doing things like cutting off his fingerprints so nobody can get a lead on him he has got lots of cuttings of pictures from old newspapers and faces are missing from certain pictures.

Music is very key to making this a thriller too. The reason for this is because there is no dialogue in this part. The music is very creepy to because it is not like normal music it is more tense and very edgy. So this makes it more off a thriller then a horror as it is playing more on our mind and is getting us thinking more then it getting us scared. The credits are very scratchy too this could reflect with the fact this is going to be a tense on the edge off your seat film.

Sin City- The start of this film is brilliant as it mixes thriller with Noe-Nair. All the way though this scene there is a lot of tense atmosphere between the two characters on the balcony. The music before the action starts is very classy and elegant and doesn't really match its genre. This is because in the scene camera work,colour and performance makes it more off a thriller.

The scene starts out with with a HAS off the city and a women in red comes into the shot. Red is very good colour in films as it shows danger and power. She walks into the view very slowly. This could show she is scared about something. A voice starts gently talking over the music this is starting to create a atmosphere. The camera then moves too the front off her which is a medium shot and in the background a young man slowly moves towards her.

The scene is starting to become tense when she turns round as there is a lot off SRS between the two characters dialogue. The ECU off her taking the cigarette starts to pump up the tense atmosphere. The lighting is also the very low key all the way though this part when they are talking. There is also a contrast between the two as one is bright and the other is dark. When the music starts to get more tense the lighting round the women becomes a lot more darker this could be shadowing a dark future for her. Then he says he wants to be with her and she agrees. This part is still using th SRS with a lot off close-ups. The rain starts to come. As he is hugging her he shoots her this is typical off a thriller as it has been tense and then bang our mind are shocked as we didn't see this coming. The zoom out at the end is very effective at showing how the mood has changed now he has shot her.