Audience Analysis of three films

Below we have analysed the audiences of three films, such as The Exorcist, The Woman in Black and The Shining and how they relate to our opening title sequence:

Conventions of Horror

Horror Film

A horror film is a type of film, which is intended to frighten its viewers or to scare or startle the viewers and to induce feelings of horror or terror.  It creates an eerie and freighting atmosphere, which can be supernatural or non- supernatural.

Purpose of horror films

To be frightened and have an adrenaline rush without actually putting the audience in danger, this means that they can be scared in a safe environment.

Codes and conventions of horror films  

Case 39 uses: diegetic sounds, low-key lighting, and an isolated location  

Low-key lighting and isolated location

Case 39

This screenshot shows the way the producers have used the codes and conventions of low lighting and an isolated location. This seems to be a common code and convention of the horror genre. The codes and conventions add to the eerie atmosphere, which the films have, this therefore means that it is more likely to achieve its purpose, which is to make the audience feel scared. They want to achieve the purpose because it makes the audience feel satisfied because fans of horror with the purpose of wanting to feel scared while watching the film, they like the Adeline rush that it makes them feel in the way that they feel uncomfortable.

Low-key lighting and an isolated location

This clip is from the mist and is an example of low-key lighting. The low-key lighting has made this  sequence more dramatic, tense and frightening, which is why we have used low-key lighting in our opening title in order to convey that message and put the audience in the same place as the characters, to make the audience feel what the actual characters in the film are feeling. 

The Mist

Low-key lighting and an isolated location

Below is the DVD cover of "The Exorcist". from looking at this cover, we can immediately tell that this film is of a horror/thriller genre, which the low-key lighting of the cover signifies, which again is why we have used low-key lighting in our opening title.

The Exorcist

Scary music(non-diegetic), distorted soundtrack and diegetic sound

The clip below signifies how diegetic sound and non-diegetic sound can make a scene more scary, and how it has the power to grab the viewer attention immediately and make them feel vulnerable and scared. In our opening title we used a background soundtrack called "Remote Location", which added to the intensity of the scene. We also added a loud diegetic scream from a spirit, which made the scene even more scary, as it almost seems real to the viewer.

The Exorcist.

Mise en scene

Props, costumes, make-up etc.

This clip shows how make-up, such as blood and props, for example the axe can make a scene more horrific and frightening, which is why we have used fake blood in our opening title to make the scene seem more scary, eerie and intense to grab the viewers attention. The props such as the axe in this scene, indicate violence and that these 2 girls where killed with it. In our opening title the Ouija board acts as the "Killer", as the two characters play the Ouija board, which leads to things going wrong, such as awakening the spirit. 

The Shining

Low-key lighting, fast paced editing & intense diegetic sounds

The clip below is a clip from "Paranormal Activity 3" and is a good example of how low-key lighting and diegetic sound can make a scene more thrilling and scary. By watching this clip, it is almost as if you are experiencing what the characters are experiencing, as it makes you feel vulnerable and the low-key lighting also adds to the intensity and scariness of the scene, which gets your heart pumping, especially when the fast pace editing kicks in, when the spirit or ghost grabs the girl off her bed. This is why we chose to use low-key lighting and the intense diegetic sounds from the characters and the spirit in our opening title.

Paranormal Activity 3

Decisions About My Opening Title Sequence

Below I have mentioned some decisions I had to create my opening title sequence, as well as all the conventions of horror.

Introduction

I will be creating an opening title sequence of a running time of 2 minutes. The genre I have chosen for my opening title sequence will be Horror. I chose the genre horror, as I like the fact how horror movies grab peoples attention and make them feel scared and frightened. The opening sequence will be about 2 guys that plan on playing a game, the Ouija board, which is a very spiritual game. These guys then play the game and things start to go wrong and the spirits start to take action…

Narrative Enigma

Narrative enigma will be created through the use of the Ouija board, as the audience will be able to expect that something bad is going to happen next, because it isn’t safe playing with a Ouija board as you are communicating with spirits and those spirits could end up being evil.

Genre

The genre I chose for my opening title sequence will be horror. I chose horror as it is exciting to film and I like the fact that horror movies really grab the audience’s attention by making them feel fear, terror and sort of put them in the place of the character within the movie. It also brings people nightmares out.

Target Audience

My film will be aimed at a target audience of anyone over the age of 18. As my film opening sequence contains scary video footage, disturbing effects and sounds, it may not ne suitable for viewers younger then the age of 18. It will mostly be targeted at a younger age group, between 18-30, as people in this age group can handle horrors and they really like them. It wouldn’t be targeted at a older age group, as my film will contain flashing images and special effects that may be dangerous to sensitive viewers.

Mise en Scene

Lighting

The lighting I will be using for my opening title sequence will be low-key lighting. I chose this type of lighting, as most horror films use low-key lighting to create suspense and make the film scarier. Low-key lighting also sets the tone and mood of a scene. I also thought it was important to control how much of the surrounding scene is revealed by using low-key lighting.

Candle light will be a good source of low key lighting, as you can’t really get any lower lighting then that. Candle light is also used in many horror films to show that the film is either set in a medieval period, or very long ago or it can convey a kind of scary effect as it is the main focus in the scene and the background would be very dark. It is also a natural source of light, so it will make the scene more realistic. I analysed the opening title for ‘The Others’, which in all the scene, candle light was used to convey to the audience that the film was set in a long time ago where they had no electricity and it made the scene more scary.

I want to be able to use candlelight to light up the characters faces to show their expressions like fear. It also gives a twist to the scene, as candle light also gives a romantic and warming effect, but my scene is about horror, so the audience will get a sudden fright when something bad happens in the scene when the boys are playing with the Ouija board and the evil spirits take action against them.

The colour used will be very dark to make the scene scarier and to convey death and fear to the audience.

Costumes & Make up

I was thinking about using normal/casual clothes, as in many horror films the characters where casual clothes. It also makes it seem more realistic. For example if a character in a film were wearing very bright, colourful clothes that stand out, it would make the movie too predictable.

The casual clothes that I will be using for the 2 characters in my opening title sequence will be normal trousers or jeans and a hoody. This is a very casual dress code for teenagers, so it will be realistic in my opening sequence.

There won’t be any make up used, I want the characters to look very natural and casual to make it seem more realistic. The over use of make up can make the scene that the character acts in more predictable, which is what I don’t what. I want the audience to find out what is happening in a ‘sudden moment’.

Setting

The setting I was focusing on to film my opening sequence in will be in an isolated place that has a very rough, old and dodgy look to it. It could be a old house with a long passage way in it, and has antique like and dusty furniture in it, which is a good setting used in many horror films. This setting would make the characters in the film seem vulnerable, scared and confused. Viewers would think that the building is haunted and may show that the film contains supernatural things such as ghosts, demons or the devil.

I will try and convey to the audience that the setting for my opening title sequence will contain ghostly effects, but I will make it seem realistic.

Props

I was thinking of using an Ouija board as the main prop for my opening title sequence, as the film is all about this prop. It is basically the main focus of the storyline and what is to happen next. It also conveys danger, evil spirits and the devil to the audience.

Other props that I will be using will be candles and an iPod with speakers. The candles will be used as a source of light, like low-key lighting. This makes the scene more horrific and intense as the focal point will be around the candle and the background would be very dark.

Camera shots & angles

We will be using close up shots to show the peoples expressions of fear, confusion and horror. We will use an establishing shot to show where the opening title scene will be set and what the surroundings on. There will also be a few long shots to show in more detail what the surrounding is of the two characters in that scene. Medium shots will be used to show body language and what the characters are wearing and doing. There will also be point of view (POV) shots to show what the characters are looking at, this will give us a perspective of what they are seeing and feeling. There would be an over-the-shoulder shot to see how the characters are positioned in the scene and how they are communicating to each other. Shot reverse shots will be used to show communication between the two characters, and what exactly they are talking about. A low angle shot will be used to show where the characters are positioned in the scene and what they are surrounded by.

Body Language

Medium shots will be used to show body language between characters, for example if they are nervous and frightened they may be shaking or losing control. The close ups will show the person’s expressions on their faces to show what they are feeling, for instance fear.

Sound

Non-diegetic sound will be used to make the opening title sequence more thrilling and scary. The sound could contain a piano, as many horror movies contain sounds from a piano as it conveys a sense of death to the audience. I thought of using sound from a piano, as I analysed the opening title sequence for ‘The Others’, which contained sounds from a piano and made the scene seem more intense. This will only be heard by the audience. This sound also tells the audience that it is a horror movie, as comedy movie don’t contain sound like this. 

Diegetic sound such as demon sounds, ghost sounds will be used to make the scene a actual ‘Horror’ scene and it will have a big impact on the characters body language and facial expressions, as they will be frightened, because they don’t know what is going on and what is about to happen next.

There are many scary diegetic sounds in films used to make the scene more realistic in a horrifying way. Characters become scared, confused, etc. For example if a character heard a ghost like sounds, they would end up being terrified.

My Opening Scene Analysis- Step by Step

0-10sec	We will be using an establishing shot of the two characters walking on their way to an old, rough looking building. There will be a close up of the one boys hand, as he is holding the Ouija board game. There will also be medium and close up shots of the boy’s to show what they are talking about and what they are wearing. This is also when the credits start coming up, saying who directed the movie and who the actors are and what the production company and producers are.
10-20sec	There will be a long shot of the boys arriving at the old, rough looking building. Then there will be close up shots to show what the boys expressions are and what they are saying before they open door. They also dare each other to open the door, as they are scared. Then there will be a close up shot of the one boy’s hand on the door handle as he opens the door.
20-30sec	There will be an over the shoulder shot of the boy looking through the door into the building. Then a point of view shot will follow to show what the boy is seeing. Then there will be two close up shots of the boys facial expressions to show what they are saying and who is to enter the building first. Then there will be a medium shot of the two boys from the back, showing how they both walk through the door and enter the building. Then there will be a long shot to show the boys have entered the room and to show that there is nobody else around. Then there will be a close up of the boy’s faces to show that they are surprised, shocked and scared as the building is very dirty, old, rough and dodgy looking inside, like a haunted house.
30-40sec	There will be a medium of the 2 boys looking around the “haunted house” to see what there is. This is when the 2 boys decide to sit down in the middle of the room of the “haunted house” in front of the main door where they came through. There will be a medium shot of the boys sitting down and a close up shot of the boy setting up the Ouija board game on the ground. There will also be a close up of the boy lighting the candles and setting up his stereo or iPod. There will also be close up shots of the boys laughing in excitement to play the game.
40-50sec	Close up of boy turning on the music. Then the boys start to play the game. A extreme close up will show the boys hands placed on the Ouija board. The boys then start to play the game by asking questions to the spirits, as this is how the game works (spirit communication). Close up of the boys faces expressions after they have asked a question to the spirits.
50-60sec	Suddenly a song the boys where listening to on the IPod turns into a creepy demon voice. This is when the boys jump up and scream in fear. A long shot will show the boys jumping up and running trying to get out the house, but the doors are locked, there’s no way out. A long shot will show the door shutting by itself. A close up shot will show the boys facial expressions as they are screaming. This will convey to the audience how scared they are and what they are experiencing. There could also be a point of view shot to show the viewers what the boys are seeing and experiencing. This sort of puts the audience in the same place as the boys and makes them feel what it would be like to be in that situation. A medium shot will show the boys trying to open the door.
60-70sec	There will be “sudden” noises coming from behind the furniture and cupboards, which give the boys a big fright. This will be shown by a medium shot of the boys shaking and screaming..
70-80sec	There will also be a close up of a “ghost like feature” in the background, which the boys then see and become even more terrified. Another close up of the boy’ s faces will show their expressions of fear.
80-90sec	There will also be a “ghostly hand” popping out from the darkness, giving the boys another fright. An extreme close up will show the “ghostly hand”.
90-100sec	The boys are now terrified out of their minds. The start running around looking for different exists, but they find nothing. Close ups will show their facial expressions.
100-110sec	The boys suddenly hear a demon voice in the background telling them to finish the game or they will never be able to leave the house!!!.. There will a medium shot of the boys from the back looking at where the noise came from and a close up showing their facial expressions. A medium shot will show the boys discussing with each other in terror whether they should finish the game or not. They both decide to finish the game.
110-120sec	A long shot will show the boys walking back slowly to the game and a medium shot will show them sitting down again next to the game. The boy’s then start playing the game again… asking the spirits what they want….

Sound

The Woman in black- 1st scene

In the first scene, music from a toy box is being played which is also diegitic because the character hears and reacts to it. The child like music heavily contrasts what the audience sees which puts them on edge and makes them feel uneasy. I think that this was a good use of the sound because it quickly builds tension and makes the audience immediately aware of imminent threats and danger, making them feel more and more uncomfortable. After the music is turned off the audience may feel slightly more relaxed but only so they can be caught off guard by the sudden loud collection of noises, which is non diegietic because it is only used to scare the audience but not affect the character. I think that the sounds here worked great by building tension and catching the audience by surprise by the abrupt frightening noise.

The Woman in black- 2nd scene

The sounds from the second scene are mostly from the fire which is diegitic and the high volume makes the audience feel like they are in a similar position and surrounded by the fire which makes them feel concerned and on edge. I think that this was used well here because it quickly and effectively makes the audience concerned for the character.The short supernatural sounds are also make the audience feel tense which is a good use of the sound here.

The Woman in black- 3rd scene

The third scene uses the sound to build tension by increasing the volume and works really well because it makes the audience gradually feel more worried because it seems as if something is coming closer to the character. The sounds stop but for a short time before a frightening scream fills the room, this was used very well and scares the audience effectively by unexpectedly playing when the audience may not expect it. The scream is also a convention of horror films  the timing of the sounds and music have been used to their potential and work very well in this scene

Our opening title background sound effect

From analysing other horror movies, we thought that using a 'remote location' sound effect would work well in the background of our opening title. This is because it builds up the audience's tension and they suspect that something bad will happen next, which we have shown in our opening title sequence, as the 1st character opens the barn door of the roof and then suddenly the 'remote location' soundtrack starts playing to indicate that the characters are entering the isolated barn, which also signifies that they are not supposed to be there and that a spiritual presence is present, which is also shown by the Ouija board, as Ouija board are there to be played to summon demons or spirits. As the soundtrack plays as the door opens, the audience immediately realises that something is wrong ,which then also builds up tension, which is the aim of our opening title sequence, as this is used in many horror movies to build up suspense and tension and that something bad is going to happen next.

'28 Weeks Later' opening scene analysis

Introduction

I will be analysing the opening title scene of '28 Weeks Later', which is a movie of a horror/thriller genre. The reason for analysing this opening scene is because I will be creating my own opening title scene of a horror genre and I will need to take into consideration the different aspects that will make my opening title scene relate to the genre horror by using different elements such as low key lighting, eerie music and soundtracks, different camera shots, especially close up to show facial expressions of characters to show what they are experiencing and to put the audience in the same position, etc. I would ned to use as many horror conventions as I can to make my opening title seem as scary as possible.

28 Weeks Later


28 Weeks Later is a film sequel to 28 Days Later. This film is about a rage virus outbreak that hits London in the form of zombies killing whatever is in their way, and whoever gets bitten turns into a zombie to.

The first horror convention i noticed in this sequence was low-key lighting, which could symbolise isolation, vulnerability and add to the intensity of the sequence. The candles in the sequence also add to the low-key lighting and would be a very obvious prop and convention of horror, and it could also symbolise hope, for example the people in the scene praying that they will survive and hoping that they will be safe from the zombies.

The characters in this sequence seem very frightened, and are waiting to see what is going to happen next, which is shown by the closing off of all the windows and doors with wooden blanks, which also indicates how prepared they are, so they are not only scared and vulnerable, but also 'prepared'.

There is a close up shot of the little boy eating, which shows that he is very hungry by the way he eats, which signifies that he hasn't had something to eat in a while, due to the fact that he was hiding away somewhere, and he has got mud all over his hands, which also tells us that he hasn't had the time to take a bath, as he had more important things to worry about, like hiding away from the rage outbreak.

There is a close up panning shot of the woman walking towards the window which has been covered with planks. this panning shot shows that she is up to something and that her eye are watering, meaning she is very scared and nervous. As she removes a plank from the window, we can immediately see how sunny it is outside (natural daylight). This signifies that a sort of freedom to the people, as there is nowhere else to go, and inside their house the lighting is very low-key, which signifies that they haven't seen daylight in a long time, which is especially shown when the lady removes the plank from the window.

This film has an age restriction of R, which means if you are under 17, you have to be accompanied by a parent when watching this. I would say this film is targeted at an audience between 17-25, as most horror/thriller films are targeted at this age group.

'The Others' opening scene analysis

Analysis of "The Others" opening scene

Introduction

I will be analyzing the opening title sequence of 'The Others'. The reason why I am analyzing this opening title sequence is because I will be creating an opening title sequence for my AS coursework of the same genre, which is horror/thriller and sub genre supernatural. 

Narrative Enigma

The opening scene shows various images, trying to show a storyboard of the film and what is to be expected. All these images also have a flickering effect on them, like a flickering candle. This gives a kind of scary feeling and ads to the audience’s adrenaline and makes them aware of how scary the film will be. So basically narrative enigma is created through the use of all the images (storyboard), which makes the audience want to find out what is going to happen next. There is no dialogue used, as it makes the audience imagine what is going to happen next.

Genre

The genre is Supernatural, which firstly tells us that the movie could contain things such as ghosts, spirits, witchcraft, the devil or other scary things related. The images used when the opening credits come up, include no dialogue, which leaves the storyline up to the audience. The images also show that the film is of a supernatural genre, as the images are of shadows of a body, which could be a ghost. These images make the audience aware that the house is haunted by something such as ghosts. There is also a age restriction (15) on the front cover, which also tells us this movie is not for younger viewers. This also gives a sense or horror.

Music

The music has a scary sounding tune to it, which makes the audience aware that it is a scary movie of some kind. The music sounds like a children’s lullaby at the beginning, which makes the audience aware of the importance of the children characters in this movie. Lullaby’s are normally supposed to give a relaxing sense, whereas in this case they don’t, they give a scary effect. Also relating to horror movies, in many horror movies the main characters are children, as they can make the film scarier in a way, such as the child being a demon or being possessed, etc. Further into the opening credits, we hear different types of musical instruments, which also give off a scary effect and could show that things might be going wrong in this haunted house. At the end of the opening credits we hear a piano, as this is used to create another scary feeling for the audience and make them uncomfortable some how. Pianos are used in many thriller, horror and drama movies.

Typography

The typography doesn’t really stand out in the opening credits as it is in plain white and in a normal font. This is maybe because the images are more important than the font. It also shows that the movie is not really gory in a way, otherwise the writing would be in red and bold and would really stand out to the audience.

Mise En Scene

Camera shots & Angles

There weren’t any camera shots or angles used. The opening credits were all done on computer, although there was an effect where the images where zoomed onto and out again to show details of that image and what it is trying to convey.

Lighting

The lighting used is low-key lighting, as this gives off a scary and thrilling effect. Most horror movies contain low-key lighting to make the film more intense and make the audience’s hearts beat faster. If the lighting were high-key, it wouldn’t be as scary. 

Setting

The setting of the opening scene is of a book, like a story. There are different images to show what the film is about. It’s almost like a myth of some kind, like a scary fairy-tale. The images of the storyboard are also hand drawn, which could show the importance of these images. Many of the images contain children, which tells us this film could be like a nightmare for a child, or the main focus of the plot is on children and their fears.

Props

There weren’t really any props used in the opening credits, mostly just hand drawn images, which were enough to show what the film was about and what is to be expected. There was editing used, where the images where zoomed onto and out again, this could show us more important details about the image, trying to tell us something in better detail.