A horror movie is a film concentrated to scare people. Right from the opening credits of a horror movie you can normally identify the genre of the film by the lighting and music used. The lighting used in the opening credits are usually dark colours such as black (which represents darkness) and red (which represents blood and murder).
In horror movies the audience need to be able to relate to the main characters to feel the fear the movie is trying to make them feel. To do this the horror movies generally have one or more innocent people who get caught up in the world of this scary event. The characters are usually young, pretty and who have a lot going for them in the “real world” this is so the audience feel emotionally attached to the character and generally feel bad if something were to happen to them. Sometimes in horror movies the “innocent” people come in crowds of 3 or more. This means the audience can relate to at least one character and feel part of the movie. Again these characters are usually young people who are trying to have a good time.
The scariest parts of horror movies always take place when weather is rainy/windy and it is dark. Many times thunder is herd in the background with a full moon, which creates the scary atmosphere all around the setting.
One of the main aspects of a horror movie is that there is always suspense and the audience is always left wondering throughout the film either: is a certain character going to die, who is the murderer, what is the scary force ect.
Occasionally in horror movies there is something which is actually visually scary such as the “bad guy” who has a deformed face or who wear a scary mask. Also in horror movies they like to show a lot of gory details for example, people being chopped up and blood spitting everywhere.
Analysis Of a Horror Movie
Name: Scream
Genre: Horror Movie
Textual Analysis : From the very start of the movie the director lets the audience know what type of genre the movie is. Before the film even starts the title of the movie “Scream” is shown. When the title appears on the screen a non diageitic scream is herd. This relates the title of the movie and it also makes the audience wonder “why is a girl screaming?” and “is she ok?” so its already hooking the audience into the scary feel of the movie. In addition to the scream being herd the title of the movie fades into red and gradually gets bigger. This also adds to the horror feeling the film is trying to give off because red is normally associated with blood and death and the size of the text is getting bigger suggesting something coming at you.
The actual movie begins in a living room. The room is quiet large and pleasant looking, it looks as if a woman lives there because it clean and has bring colours. The phone then rings and a young, innocent looking woman answers the phone. She seems as if she is in a good mood suggesting that by the end of the scene that good mood may change. The diageitic voice of the man on the other side of the call has the "wrong number" which is quite spooky for the audience because the audience know that this is a scary movie and something is going to go wrong but to the character in the film nothing is wrong yet which is all adding to the suspens. Once the girl puts the phone down, the phone rings again, when this happens, the camera zooms into the characters face which looks slightly worried, which makes the audience also slightly worried, however she quickly changes her face suggesting she is not scared which is pacing the movie.
The scene then cuts into the woman’s back garden showing a swinging swing, however nobody is on the swing and its not windy because the tress are still. This is building up the suspense of the movie because it makes the audience wonder weather somebody is in her back garden watching her, it also shows the audience how alone the character is and there’s no where for her to run to.
The camera then quickly cuts to a close up shot of the popcorn. The director has deliberately chose to have this shot at this point of the film because as soon as the popcorn begins to cook the phone rings again, so the tension and suspense of the phone call starts at the same time as the popcorn. As the conversation gets more intense, the more the popcorn starts to rise and constantly the scenes cut from the conversation to the popcorn. Also the conversation between the two characters builds up the tension since they are talking about "scary movies" which is what “Scream“ is.
The movie really sets the genre when the character on the other side of the phone says "Cause I wanna know who I’m looking this". At this point the camera zooms into the characters face to show the audience how scared she is which makes the audience also scared. What’s more is the diagetic sound of the dog barking outside suggests that somebody is in the back garden because the director has exposed the surrounding area in so much detail that little things such as the dog barking stands out and gets the audience thinking and scared at the same time.
Soon after that the voice of the man on the other line changes to a much harsher, violent voice and the camera again zooms into a medium close up of the characters face revelling just how vulnerable and afraid she actually is. The voice then changes into a slightly more calmer voice to slow down the pace of the movie, this is a trick to build up the audience and then drop them.
Codes and Conventions of a Romantic Comedy
Romantic comedies are movies which centre around romance between two people in a light hearted, humorous way. Romantic comedies always have a situation involving love however it always ends in “true love”. Initially the main male and female characters are not romantically involved with each other or sometimes even like each other, this may because one of them have another partner or parents do not approve. However the two characters can not fight fate and everybody else seems to eventually accept them and there one big happy family.
Usually the main characters of romantic comedies are male and female, depending on what the target audience is the ages of the characters will vary. For example teenage romantic comedies normally have teenagers or young adults as the main characters. This is because the target audience for this particular genre teenagers and young adults. Recently a lot of teenage Romantic comedies have been released because they have become so popular because teenagers and young adults can relate to the movie since the issues the films deal with are the sort of issues young people have to deal with.
Most of the time in romantic comedies one of the characters is less physically attractive then the other, for example the girl may be “typically” beautiful and have long blond hair, nice body, make up done well and popular whereas the boy may be not so popular, looked down on by the trendy people and not so accepted by their fellow class mates. Equally the boy could be the popular one, be in the football team, very toned, get all the girls but however wants a serious relationship so ends up falling in love with the nerdy girl who wears glasses, has bushy hair, no dress sense and who is not expected by the boys friends. Those are all the type of issues romantic comedies have to deal with.
Countless times in teenage romantic comedy films are set in a American high school. This is because the target audience will either be in high school or college. They will have somebody who does not approve of the romantic relationship the two characters are building up. This is normally a parent or another potential partner.
The characters normally come from a nuclear family and have a “typical” teenager / young person life which includes; going out, drinking, the opposite sex and arguments with parents.
Analysis of a Romantic Comedy
Name: 50 First Dates
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Textual Analysis: The film beings with the opening credits which a appear through the dark, black background. The words appear as if they are shimmering through the water which is giving clues to the audience about what the movie is going to be about and where about the movie is going to take place (near water suggesting a beach). The director has also given the audience a clue of the setting by the music which is playing while the credits are being shown. The music is light hearted and "Hawaiian" which is telling the audience that the movie is going to be light hearted and easy going.
The opening shot of the film is a beautiful beach with a red sky. The music is still playing to add to the effect of the relaxing feel of the beach. There is also a tracking shot which fades into the main scene which takes place in a kitchen. The title of the movie appears next to a pineapple which again is given the audience clues about the setting of the movie. The "50" is in red which is represented with love, the "First" is in a light blue which represents the sea possibly, and the "Dates" is in white which contracts with the white because Romantic comedy titles are usually red and white.
Two girls then appear on the screen, speaking about Hawaii, the woman then says " I met this guy" which tells the audience this is a romantic film. The camera then switches to another woman speaking about the same holiday which tells the audience this is going to be a romantic comedy, so the director has told the audience the genre of the movie right at the start. The camera is then constantly switching to other women speaking about the same holiday so keeps the audience on their toes, wondering who is the main character because we have been introduced to many in the first three minutes of the movie. All the women seem to be in there late 20's early 30's and all quiet pretty which links them all together. However there is one older woman speaking about the same holiday in the car which is funny because the audience is not expecting her because she’s not the like the other women.
The mood then changes when the women beginning to talk about getting this mysterious man's phone number. The camera is constantly cutting between these characters, having close up shots of their faces showing their emotion. Again the women in the car has the "funny line" because she is only one is which is over weight, old and not dressed as nicely. When they all beginning to say his name a man is introduced to the sequence of people, which is funny because again this shocking the audience because we expect to see women not a man. Which is adding to comedy feel of the romance.
Name: Maid in Manhattan
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Textual Analysis: The movie beginnings with a black screen with a tracking shot of new York city. There is also non-diegetic music behind which sets the mood. The music is happy and bubbly which tells the audience that the film is going to be a light hearted film. By the film introducing the audience to the statute of liberty it is setting the scene and telling the audience where the movie is going to be set. It is in the middle of the day, its sunny which gives a good feel to the movie. It then keeps cutting between different parts of the city to again show the audience what the city is like, still the music is playing to keep the good feeling going. The director then choices to show "cheaper" areas to show the contrast of the city. This may make the audience think somebody from the "cheaper" area will meet somebody from the "better" area, so the two areas are going to clash or meet in some way. The music then turns into a whistle, which is very effective because somebody whistling normally means that person is happy and cheerful. We then get a long shot of a building with diegetic sound of a car driving past bringing the sound from non-diegetic to diegetic. The camera zooms into the top left window of the building suggesting that is where the next scene is going to take place.
The audience is then introduced to a beautiful young single mother, who is in a rush to get her son ready to go to school. Her flat is untidy giving us the impression that her life is very busy and she’s not very rich other wise she could get a cleaner.
It then cuts again to outside where the two characters are crossing the road, again they look like they are still in a rush. The walls and buildings in the area have been graffitied on which allows the audience to get a feel of what kind of neighbourhood these two characters live in. We are then shown a view of the city, while the characters walk up some stairs. This is showing the two characters in front of this massive city suggesting that their two little people trying to survive in this big, quick lifestyle city. On the bus the two characters have a light hearted fun conversation, the bus then drives off the non diegetic music comes back on which sets the mood of fun within the movie.
Name: He’s Just Not That Into You
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Textual Analysis: The movies begins on a nice sunny day, in a children’s play park. It sets the tone of the movie which is quite relaxed and laid back. The camera does a tracking shot around the park so the audience can get a feel of the setting of this scene. The movie then switches to a young boy around the age of 7 walking onto the park. The boy is walking in front of two other boys which is making himself look like the bigger one. A non-diegetic voice then is herd, which is an older educated womans voice . The first thing she says is " a girl will never forget the first boy she likes" which immediately tells the audience this movie is going to be about romance. The next thing she says is "...Even if things don’t quite work out" which straight away tells the audience this is also going to be a comedy, so from the very start of the movie the audience know that the movie is a romantic comedy.
The scene then cuts from the little girl speaking to her mother to an older girl (suggesting the girl is now grown up and that little girl was in the past). The older girl is crying about a boy and her friends are trying to comfort her by telling her "she’s to good". The scene then straight away cuts to a extreme close of a telephone with the number 0 on it, suggesting the girl is hoping to getting a call or a message from a boy. Again the audience is introduced to a two girls, one who is upset over a boy. Again he friend try’s to comfort her in the same way by telling her "she’s too good". The camera is constantly cutting between different girls, from different cultures, wearing different clothes however they all have the same problem with a male associate. Between the shots there is non-diegetic music playing which is bubbly and light hearted making all these little scenes funny.
On the last scene with the African women the non-diegetic voice comes again, and she asks the audience question so the audience can begin to think. The title of the movie then appears acting like the answer to her question. The bubbly music is still playing. The title is in white bold writing on a black ground which makes the title stand out. When the whole title appears the "not" in the title goes green which is funny and also emphasizes the "not".
Codes and Conventions of A Thriller Film:
Thriller are typically set in claustrophobic spaces such as:
* planes
* coffins
* under water
* boot of a car
* elevator/lift
* walk in freezer
* tube trains
* white van
* small room
* car
* prison cell
* narrow alleyways
* multi-storey car parks and the lighting is always seem to be very dark and Chiaroscuro -
light against dark - creates a sense of illusion, nightmare whilst also being aesthetically pleasing. The director always uses surprises and twists to play with the viewers mind, and the different camera angles and quick cuts to draw suspense, the music that is added to create tension, there's typically always mirrors and stairs, flashbacks and time sequences are also used to make the audience think and your most likely to always see the film from a killers point of view.
