My group and I decided to research different title sequences from opening scenes in horror movies. To research, I decided to choose the movie Dead Silence. This is a horror movie that I found on Art of the Title website. I choose this movie because the title sequence fits perfectly with the movie and makes sense to the plot.
1. How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
In the movie Dead Silence, there were in total of 21 titles in the opening sequence. These included a quote and other important jobs that played a part in the film like the producer, casting agent, director, etc.
2. What images are prioritized in the opening scene?
There weren’t many images placed in the film, mostly videos. But there were times when the video would freeze on something important to the plot, that they wanted the audience to know. For example, the whole opening scene was a man making the doll which was the main focus of the film and sometimes it would stop on images of sketches of different dolls that were being made. This might’ve been prioritized because they wanted the audience to see how the doll was made.
3. What connotations do the images carry?
The images that were prioritized in the opening sequence had a creepy and horrific connotation to them. The images enhanced the already created creepy and unsettling feeling that the commercial already had.
4. How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
When it comes to technical codes, the genre was reinforced by them using camera angles to their advantage. Throughput the opening there was a man making a doll and most of the time, the camera was a POV. And all it showed was the, and hands making the doll. And in some scenes, it wasn’t exactly a POV shot but it still never showed his face and only showed his hands. This might’ve been done to show the character and foreshadow a type of mystery or importance that he has throughout the film. They also used symbolic codes by showing a quote at the beginning of the sequence. This could symbolize what the film could mean and the lesson in it. This could also provide some background information.
5. How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
The film establishes an enigma from the outset but showing the man’s hands and not revealing his identity. By doing so they developed a creepy and mysterious figure that the audience will start to question as the movie carries on. They also develop the enigma of the doll. This is because while the doll is being made, they could question if it’s going to bring good or bad to the film and what its role is going to be.
6. What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
The main strategy that as used to appeal to the audience was the score. The score really engaged the audience and again added onto the terrifying feeling of the movie. Since the audience is watching the movie they obviously want to be scared, so by using this scary music, it will appeal to the audience by adding to the effect. They also use colors to scare the audience more. The whole opening sequence was in black and white and the titles were in red, so the black and white with red titles engage the audience into a scarier mood.
7. How has technology been used effectively?
In this opening sequence technology has been used very effectively. There were many transitions used in the sequence to go from one clip to another. They used lots of dissolves and slides to do so. They also used angles and shots effectively. There were lots of jump cuts used to show the passing of time when the man was making the doll. And the whole sequence the camera was either shot at a POV or eye-level angle. But overall technology was used very efficiently because it added to the genre and all aspects made sense to the sequence.
Friday, January 31, 2020
Thursday, January 30, 2020
Title Research: 30 Days of Night
Today my group and I watched the opening sequence to the film '30 Days of Night'. We were able to watch this film using the website: Watch the Title. This website provided us with the resources necessary to further investigate the introduction of a film. I chose the film '30 Days of Night' because it perfectly matches the genre of horror that I plan to focus on throughout my next project. This film will be a great resource to look back on for future references. For instance, I may get stuck on what the next step is when filming my introduction to a movie, but luckily I will have an excellent website and resource to look back on. Now, let's move on to analyzing certain aspects of the film.
The first thing I analyzed while watching this opening sequence was the number of titles displayed. The number of titles displayed during the opening sequence of the film totaled 18. These displays are used to give credit to the people who worked on the film. While the titles were being displayed, many photos were also being shown in the background. These photos portray a very terrifying and scary connotation. They were used to signify to the audience that the film will be scary and mysterious. It creates a sense of mystery as well because the audience wants to know more about what these horrifying photos are and what role they will play in the film. These photos appear to be crime scene photos or photos of corpses which gives the audience hints about the main theme and plot.
Throughout this introduction, the genre is reinforced through scary symbols. For example, the music playing in the background creates terror along with the way that the pictures are shown on the screen. Additionally, technical codes were used to extenuate the horrific effect. For example, they used Polaroid photos displayed across the scenes to show the main setting. These photos are used to help tell the story. The camera work is also very shaky and sudden which is also used to create a more scary setting.
The film establishes an enigma through these Polaroid photos. The person who is causing horror is unknown, however, their effects are shown. In the pictures, it shows people who are all dead and killed during the night. This keeps the audience interested because they want to know more about who is the killer.
This film uses many effective strategies to appeal to the target audience. For starters, they leave many mysteries open which leaves the audience wanting to more. This is a great strategy to keep the audience wanting to watch more. Additionally, the producers make it clear what the setting and theme of the film will be. This ensures that the audience will not be confused and can enjoy the film.
The introduction to this film did an excellent job of successfully integrating technology. They used many different shots, angles, and editing techniques. One shot that was used as a close-up. This shot was used to show the blue, cold faces of the people who were killed. You could see the look of horror on these people's faces as they were being killed and could do nothing about it. One movement that was used as a zoom. The zoom was used to show the line of Polaroid photos showing all of the dead people and then zooming into each photo to show the cause of the death. For example, some photos had gunshot wounds while others had stab wounds. The last way technology was integrated was through the editing in of the music. The music is what really extenuates the horror in the film. The music is very creepy and gets faster as something is about to be shown. It also signifies to the audience when something is going to happen.
The first thing I analyzed while watching this opening sequence was the number of titles displayed. The number of titles displayed during the opening sequence of the film totaled 18. These displays are used to give credit to the people who worked on the film. While the titles were being displayed, many photos were also being shown in the background. These photos portray a very terrifying and scary connotation. They were used to signify to the audience that the film will be scary and mysterious. It creates a sense of mystery as well because the audience wants to know more about what these horrifying photos are and what role they will play in the film. These photos appear to be crime scene photos or photos of corpses which gives the audience hints about the main theme and plot.
Throughout this introduction, the genre is reinforced through scary symbols. For example, the music playing in the background creates terror along with the way that the pictures are shown on the screen. Additionally, technical codes were used to extenuate the horrific effect. For example, they used Polaroid photos displayed across the scenes to show the main setting. These photos are used to help tell the story. The camera work is also very shaky and sudden which is also used to create a more scary setting.
The film establishes an enigma through these Polaroid photos. The person who is causing horror is unknown, however, their effects are shown. In the pictures, it shows people who are all dead and killed during the night. This keeps the audience interested because they want to know more about who is the killer.
This film uses many effective strategies to appeal to the target audience. For starters, they leave many mysteries open which leaves the audience wanting to more. This is a great strategy to keep the audience wanting to watch more. Additionally, the producers make it clear what the setting and theme of the film will be. This ensures that the audience will not be confused and can enjoy the film.
The introduction to this film did an excellent job of successfully integrating technology. They used many different shots, angles, and editing techniques. One shot that was used as a close-up. This shot was used to show the blue, cold faces of the people who were killed. You could see the look of horror on these people's faces as they were being killed and could do nothing about it. One movement that was used as a zoom. The zoom was used to show the line of Polaroid photos showing all of the dead people and then zooming into each photo to show the cause of the death. For example, some photos had gunshot wounds while others had stab wounds. The last way technology was integrated was through the editing in of the music. The music is what really extenuates the horror in the film. The music is very creepy and gets faster as something is about to be shown. It also signifies to the audience when something is going to happen.
Title Research: The Reaping
1) How many titles are displayed during the opening sequence film?
In the opening sequence, “The Reaping,” it includes 23 titles. Providing credits to the directors, editors, producers, and etc.
2) What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?
Altogether, there weren’t many actual images shown in the sequence. Fairly, they replaced this aspect with small objects such as leaves, salt, pepper, and the legs of a frog.
3)What connotations do the images carry?
As mentioned before small objects replaced the perspective of images. However, they retained the same responsibility, to establish a perception of the movie. All objects illustrated in the sequence established the same feeling, mysteriousness, and creepiness. This connotation may give the audience a sense of fear or uneasiness.
4) How is the genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
As for technical codes, a microscopic camera was used to film the salt/pepper. The seasoning didn’t seem too obvious instead it appeared to be tiny particles under a microscope as if you were a scientist conducting an experiment. As for the leaves and the legs of the frog, I’m not really confident what it symbolizes but I’m sure it would be introduced to us later on in the movie.
5)How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
The sequence somewhat foreshadows a summary of the film. By doing so, it establishes an enigma. Although we do not know exactly what happened in the film the opening sequence gives us a feel of what the movie will be about.
6) What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
In my opinion, the main element that caught my attention was the use of colors. The sequence started out with the color black but later on showed us red. This continued for the remainder of the sequence. The way the editors went back and forth between colors is what kept me engaged. Even though this is what appealed to me there are plenty of other components used to keep the targeting audience interested. Such as music, images, and editing.
7) How has technology been used effectively?
Throughout the whole sequence a song was playing, this song gives the audience the feeling that the film would be something creepy. In addition, technology was also presented in a variety of ways, including angles, editing techniques, sounds. Many of the snapshots were presented at a low angle. They transitioned from one another using techniques such as fade-in and fade-out.
In the opening sequence, “The Reaping,” it includes 23 titles. Providing credits to the directors, editors, producers, and etc.
2) What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?
Altogether, there weren’t many actual images shown in the sequence. Fairly, they replaced this aspect with small objects such as leaves, salt, pepper, and the legs of a frog.
3)What connotations do the images carry?
As mentioned before small objects replaced the perspective of images. However, they retained the same responsibility, to establish a perception of the movie. All objects illustrated in the sequence established the same feeling, mysteriousness, and creepiness. This connotation may give the audience a sense of fear or uneasiness.
4) How is the genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
As for technical codes, a microscopic camera was used to film the salt/pepper. The seasoning didn’t seem too obvious instead it appeared to be tiny particles under a microscope as if you were a scientist conducting an experiment. As for the leaves and the legs of the frog, I’m not really confident what it symbolizes but I’m sure it would be introduced to us later on in the movie.
5)How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
The sequence somewhat foreshadows a summary of the film. By doing so, it establishes an enigma. Although we do not know exactly what happened in the film the opening sequence gives us a feel of what the movie will be about.
6) What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
In my opinion, the main element that caught my attention was the use of colors. The sequence started out with the color black but later on showed us red. This continued for the remainder of the sequence. The way the editors went back and forth between colors is what kept me engaged. Even though this is what appealed to me there are plenty of other components used to keep the targeting audience interested. Such as music, images, and editing.
7) How has technology been used effectively?
Throughout the whole sequence a song was playing, this song gives the audience the feeling that the film would be something creepy. In addition, technology was also presented in a variety of ways, including angles, editing techniques, sounds. Many of the snapshots were presented at a low angle. They transitioned from one another using techniques such as fade-in and fade-out.
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Research title: Watch the titles website
Today, we are looking more in-depth on the website: Watch the Titles. This website is an excellent resource for interviews, feature films, TV shows, event titles, student projects, and video games. All of these will be essential when beginning our research for the project. While exploring through this website my group and I discovered many incredible things! The resources on this website allow us to browse through many different films and watch the introduction of selected movies. This allows us to have a better understanding when we begin to film and also access to an important resource that can be used throughout the project. Not only did we discover phenomenal features we also obtained lots of knowledge. My group and I learned the importance of the introduction to a film and how it contributes and affects a film. The introduction allows the audience to generalize what the film may be about. Without the introduction, the audience would not have a clear understanding of what the film is going to be about. Additionally, we also learned about what goes into the making of these films. We learned about this by watching interviews with films directors and producers. In these interviews, the main crew gives detailed descriptions to give people an inside view of everything that goes on. Overall, this website is such an amazing resource to have. We learned so much through research and exploration on this website that it will great to have for future references.
Title Research: Art of the title website
The Website, Art of the Title is a website that gives examples of different styles and designs that can be inserted into a film. The titles in a film tell the audience of the actors or important jobs involved in the filmmaking process. The design and style of the title sequences are important because it frames the film. These titles normally open a film and give the audience a first impression of what the film will contain. The order and timing of the titles are also crucial to the feeling and purpose of the movie. Everything about a title has to make sense and fit perfectly into the movie. We are studying this website because we want to see examples of movie titles that work well with the movie itself. Seeing these examples will get our creative juices flowing for our final task. We will be able to grasp the idea of how titles should work in a movie. Since we will be making our final task a horror film, we will be researching examples of horror title sequences. The title sequences under the horror genre are often very different in styles but all have a creepy, horrific feel to them. We will need to see how certain horror film sequences look so that we can pick ours and make the look, order, and sequence specific to our movie. An example of this is that certain titles can pop up when an important character is in the scene. Or the titles can pop up in scenes that can foreshadow a certain character or event. This website shows us the best of the best title sequences in the film. This will show us great title examples that our group can learn from. Researching from this website will ensure a perfect title sequence that flows and makes sense to the movie's purpose.
Sunday, January 26, 2020
Research Genre: Us
After all of our film watching, we decided to analyze the film US as the last film. This film consists of the genre horror, thriller, mystery, and psychological horror. As done before, we are going to analyze the film using specific components.
1.Common CAMS in the movie
· Angles:
⁃ Dutch
⁃ Eye Level
·Movements:
⁃ Zoom
⁃ Trunk Shot
⁃ Hand-Held
⁃ Over The Shoulder
·Shots:
⁃ Over the Shoulder
⁃ Medium Close Up
⁃ Extreme Closeup
⁃ Long Shot
⁃ Two Shot
2. Common CLAMPS in the movie
·Costumes:
⁃ Red suits for the doppelgänger’s
⁃ Casual clothing for normal people
⁃ Torn clothing towards the end of the movie
·Lighting:
⁃ Dark
⁃ Light from fires
⁃ Artificial Lights
⁃ Normal lighting
·Actors:
⁃ Each person had a doppelgänger’s so the main characters plus the copied version of them
⁃ There were also some bystanders of the city who weren’t really included in the text
·Makeup:
⁃ The burned up face on one of the doppelgänger’s
⁃ The blood
⁃ Cuts, Scratches, and bruises from fighting
·Props:
⁃ The scissors.
⁃ The fire
⁃ Items used to kill the main characters
⁃ Items the main characters used to getaway
·Setting:
⁃ Although the setting in the film occurred in one city, it still managed to change a lot. Which includes the beach, the two houses, the car, and where the doppelgänger’s lived.
3. Common sound in the movie:
⁃ Dialogue
⁃ Non-Diegetic
⁃ Voiceover
⁃ Incidental Music
⁃ Sound bridge
4. Common editing in this movie:
⁃ Fade In/Fade Out
⁃ Shot, Reverse Shot
⁃ Eye-Line Match
⁃ Graphic Match`
5. Elements of Horror, Genre in the movie:
⁃ Bloody Scenes
⁃ The Fighting/Killing
⁃ Led to scary psychological thoughts
6. Elements of the genre the movie had that I liked
⁃ The film played out very well and realistic. Everything that happened in the film was very straightforward and relevant to what was going on. Incorporating the graphic scenes and the discussed elements also gave a boost to the horror that was going on.
7. Elements of the genre that the movie had that I didn’t like
⁃ Us was the type of movie that would leave you thinking of trying to find out the purpose of the movie. Due to the psychological horror, some pope may overthink too much and actually be truly frightened rather than being amused.
Research Genre: Boo!
We continued to further our research in the genre of horror by watching more films. For instance, the next movie we chose to analyze was Boo! A Madea Halloween. This film had both the genres, drama, and horror. Down below is a list of what we analyzed.
1. Common CAMS in the movie
· Angles:
⁃ High Angle
⁃ Low Angle
⁃ Eye Level
·Movements:
⁃ Tilt
⁃ Pan
⁃ Tracking
·Shots:
⁃ POV Shot
⁃ Medium Shot
⁃ Establishing Shot
⁃ Two Shot
⁃ Over The Shoulder
2. Common CLAMPS in the movie
·Costumes:
⁃ Throughout the movie, there were only two types of costumes. Casual clothing to match the setting of the house or either Halloween costumes for when the actors were at the frat party.
·Lighting:
⁃ Dark setting
⁃ A beam of life when the possessed girl appeared
⁃ Normal lighting when in the setting in the house
·Actors:
⁃ They weren’t any unordinary actors in the film, everyone incorporated as part of the norm. For example, the main character and her family, the frat boys and the people at the party, Madea and her friends, and the possessed girl.
·Makeup:
⁃ There wasn’t really any makeup shown in the film
·Props:
⁃ Flip Phone for Madea and her friends.
⁃ Trick-Or-Treat Baskets
⁃ Boxes
·Setting:
⁃ At the beginning of the film, the setting was at the main character’s house and the frat house. The setting then transitioned to the woods when the frat party was shut down. The characters then ended up to return to the house and fart party after the possessed girl appeared.
3. Common sound in the movie:
⁃ Dialogue
⁃ Sound motif
⁃ Ambient sound
⁃ Diegetic sound
⁃ Sound bridge
4. Common editing in this movie:
⁃ Cutaway
⁃ Insert
⁃ Dissolves
⁃ Eye-Line Match
⁃ Graphic Match`
⁃ Wipe
5. Elements of Horror, Genre in the movie:
⁃ Personally, the only thing that exemplified horror was when the kids were in the wood playing the game and the possessed girl appeared. The director incorporated both sound and editing to make the situation seem more surreal to enhance the scary effect.
6. Elements of the genre the movie had that I liked
⁃ Overall, the film was very amusing to watch. All factors analyzed above were incorporated into the film properly, this allowed the audience to have the true focus on what they were watching rather than focusing on errors the director could’ve made.
7. Elements of the genre that the movie had that I didn’t like
⁃ On behalf of myself, I don’t truly believe that this was a horror movie. Although the film incorporated the one scene where horror was exemplified, horror was not shown throughout the whole movie. The movie focused more on drama than it focused on horror.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)