The genre of horror has many different sub genres within it one of these which is widely recognised for films such as scream is the sub genre of slasher films. This sub genre within horror is widely known for the amount of violence and blood that is used within the films. This sub genre has edvanced alot over a period of time due to the amount that tecchnology has actually advanced within films. This sub genre of film has alot of conventions that are followed to ensure that a slasher film is a large success. The film scream uses these conventions not only to make the film a successful slasher film but also uses these conventions to add a comedy flair to the film. One of the conventions that is almost always used in a slasher film is that sex leads to death in a slasher film. Another convention that is used in a slasher film is that is someone says i will me back in a min then they are either the killer or are about to die. Slasher films where first created in 1930's and helped to give teenagers morals that sex was bad and that they shouldnt do it. Some of the most well known slasher films where made by Wes Craven some of his most well known films where the last house of the left, nightmare on elm street and scream 1 - 4. Other well known slasher movies are texas chainsaw massacre by Tobe Hooper and the ward and halloween by John Carpenter lastly Friday the 13th by Sean Cunningham.
The slasher film Halloween was made in 1978 is was also directed by John Carpenter as said above, This film stared Jamie lee Curtis and Micheal Myers. This slasher film is said to be what fueled all of the films that where made during the 80's this is because of the massive fan base that was formed around this film. This was surprising for the people involved in the film due to the fact that it was made so cheapily this was also surprising as there was no advertising used to make the film seem special and make people want to go and see the film. It is said to make the audience seem more scared than what other films did due to the film being more relatable for the audience, the film was more relatable because it was filmed on normal streets in normal neighborhoods. This meant that the audience got more of a sense that this could actually happen to them and made them get more scared as a result of this. During this slasher film there was a flair used that was obvious to other directors and writers this meant that they then wanted to create a slasher movie like it so that they can get the audience that this film drew in. This was then found to be hard to do by them as they could not quite understand how this was done.
media nats unit 1
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
Thursday, 1 March 2012
The Ring 2002
The ring was released in 2002 this film is a mystery thriller which can also be classed as psychological. The Director of the film is Gore Verbinski and the Writer is Ehren Kruger. There was a globalization of the genre as The Ring has an international Audience. The writer and the Director where largely influenced when filming and when they where writing the film by Japan.You are introduced into the film by strait away being told about the video that kills you seven days after you watch it. The characters know that they are going to die after 7 days as they get a phone call that whispers you'll die in 7 days. You are introduced to this with two girls sat in their room talking about the video. Katie then reveals that she watched the video with 2 lads at the weekend. The phone then rings and they both get scared. Her friend then thinks that Katie is only joking about watching the film but then she realises that Katie actually did watch the video. TV then comes on and makes a fuzzy noise She then turns the TV off and then she walks out of the room and then the TV comes back on. There was then a flooded room shown where there was water coming from under the door onto the landing, close ups of the door handle are used. You are then shown a montage of images of when she gets traumatized
After this has done there is a transition used that is a fuzzy screen like when a video doesn't work. The film then moves on to Katie's cousin and the teacher talking to Katie's aunt Rachel about being concerned about him. Three nights before katie died Aiden was drawing pictures of katie dead. This gives the idea that he actually knew what was going to happen. This is when we find out that Katie told Aiden that she didn't have much time left. While Katie's funeral is going on there is dark sky in the back ground this gives the affect that it is a dark time. As well as using this dark sky they also use white flowers this puts the idea of purity across this shows that she was pure. Her dad as a result of her dyeing gets very depressed and starts to sleep all day as he can not cope with what has happened.
They find out that the reason that Katie died is because her heart just stopped this is an unusual thing to happen in a teenage girl. However the Doctors can not actually give an explanation to why this happened as they don't actually know why it happened themselves. They also found out that everyone that died had the same expression that katie had when she died. These where all the people that watched the video therefore Katie's aunt Rachel thinks that there is a link between the video and there expressions.
Becca who was Katie's friend that was with her on the night that she died is now in a mental hospital due to the events that happened that night.
Aiden goes into Kaite's room at the funeral where he stands there starring at her television as well as the picture of her an Aiden. This makes the audience want to know why he is starring at these and whether he knows what happened on that night. They then found out that one of the people that watched the video with Katie died on the same night. however they think that he killed himself but still had the same expression as what Katie had when she died. In katie's room they find a photo card her aunt Rachel then gets these photos developed all of the photo's are normal but one is blurry they think that this was taken after they watched the video. This makes the audience want to know why this has happened and whether this is actually to do with the video. As they watched the video at 10pm they all died at 10pm 7 days later. This makes the audience and Katie's aunt try to make the link between the video and the deaths that have occurred. This then makes Rachel her aunt want to know why this is happening and try and work out what the link between it is. Therefore she then travels to Traven where they watched the video however she dose not know this yet. the reason that she travels there is so that she can see where the images where taken. When she gets there she finds out that people used to complain about the reception that they got on the TV's in the rooms. Therefore they decided to put video players in all of the rooms so that then they would not have guests complaining anymore. All of the tapes that Traven have are what are left by old guests. Rachel then took the video that she thinks is the one that Katie watched 7 days before she died. She then takes this video back to the same cabin that they stayed at the night that Katie watched the video. Rachel then watches this video and gets a phone call where someone whispers down the phone 7 days.
When someone watches the video if they then have their photo taken their face goes blurry. This again makes the audience want to know why this is happening and what the link is to the video and why this is happening. After this has happened there is scene transitions that say what day it is. This makes the audience feel more involved in the story as they know how many more days that Rachel has left. You then move on to Rachel visiting Noah. She then shows Noah the video and then the phone rang, however they do not answer the phone so the message goes strait through to aanswer phone. On this message it says that same thing that was said when the phone rang when she watched the film . However it was only on the answer phone. Theey then try to copy the Video, but when they copy it the numbers dont just go foward from 1 to ect but instead they skip back and foward all the time.
The film then moves on to a different scene where Rachel is interviewing Becca who is the girl that was at the house when Katie died. This interview was mainly about the death of Katie and what she knows. Becca knew that she had 4 days left which probably means that she watched the film. Becca was afraid of this and says to Rachel that she will show her in 4 days. When they pause the video they find out that when they pause it on the lighthouse the fly can then be taken of the screen. Rachel's nose then starts to bleed which shows the affect of the video as well as the fact that she is slowely dying. Moeskoe island is where the women from the video is from the women is Anna Morgan Rachel finds out that all her horses died and then she started to suffer from hilousanations. Rachel then starts to scribble out faces on pictures which it turns out katie was doing. this makes the audience wonder weaver this is something to do with the 7 days. Noah then sees his face in a CCTV camera in the shop, when he sees his face in the CCTV he sees that his face blurry like Katie's picture and Rachels.
There is a girl in Aidens room, Aiden then wakes up after having a dream about a girl in a fully white room in a puddle of water. Aiden has watched the tape. One day something happens to Anna and then as a result she ends up in a psychiatric hospital. We also find out that before anyone that watched the video dies they see the ring. As well as the lid of the well letting through sunlight.
Film then moves on to Rachel getting on to a ferry, this scene has heavy rain in the background this gives an indication to the audience that something is going to happen. This is an enigma to the audience as it makes the audience start to guess what this is going to be. Rachel then finds an article on the internet about Anna Morgan's daughter. On this ferry a horse escapes from a horse box and jumps of the edge on the ferry. Horse dies and hits the propellers under the boat which meant that the water fills with blood. After this has happened it is the end of the ferry journey.
Rachel then goes to "The Morgan's" house, Part of the video that kills people in seven days is filmed in the house. Richard Anna's husband is then worried when Rachel says about the tape and the people that have died from it. Richard then says that he does not have a daughter however there is a swing outside. Rachel then realises that a drawing that Aiden has done is of the Morgan's House with the Daughter's face scribbled out. Aiden draws alot of black dark images. Aiden then sees the daughter and speaks to her she says that the horse kept her up all night, this makes the audience realize that she is in a dark place. This also makes the audience question why Aiden is the one that draws all these pictures and how he always knows stuff before it happens. Samara is adopted and has know been referred to the Psychiatric unit on the mainland she is stuck in a fully white room. Tape then goes missing, last person to watch it was the girls father Richard.There is then a centepede on the birth records. On the video there is also a white room, as well as the video dosn't have the images on it they appear as the girl sees them. This video is currently missing, the girl on the video wants to hurt people and dosent know how to stop. When the video ends Richard Anna's husband smacks hwer round the back of the head with a blunt object. The pictures on the video will never stop, Richard then fills the bathroom with water and then turns the electric on which causes Richard to die.
She don't like the barn as the noises keep her up at night, the ladder is kept in the barn. She is now alone as people blame her for her mother going crazy. There is a tree under the wallpaper which is shown before shelters mountain.
She knocks over marbels, there is an arrow over the well. TV then flickers on, there is water running, There is nails and screws being removed from the floor boards, bugs are everywhere. She then falls down the well, she is then in the water holding black hair this is Samara, There is scratches on the side of the well from her nails. The well then closes this is where the term "Ring" came from. We then find out it is Samara's mother that killed her, there is a black bay over her head fell into well. Samara wanted to be heard so made the tape, we also find out that if you make a copy you will survive that is why Aiden dose. Samara survived in the well for 7 days she never sleeps. The TV then comes on again, phone starts ringing, walks towards the TV, water then comes out and over the TV. She then climbs out of TV. Dead in chair.
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
The Devil Rides Out
The Devil rides out is quite a short film with a running time of only 96 minutes, this is just over half the lengh that the newer horror film run for. The reason that horror films now seem to be between 2 and 3 hours is because they need to build up the tension within the film to get the reaction from the audience that they want. However in the past they had not developed there knowledge of the genre as much as they have now so where not aware of the imagination and the build up half of the film they just wanted to scare people by showing them things that would actually scare them rather than using things that would make the auidence use there imagination about what the sound was or who or what the shadow could be from. This film was produced by the Hammer film production which where known for wanting to get their films 'X' rating this is like getting an 18 certification on a horror film now. The Devil rides out also had a recovering actor that was Christopher Lee in the film which meant that they wanted this film to be his big breack back into the carear.
The title sequence for the film a satanic theme to it. It also has an image of a devil like creature as the background this makes the audience question whether this is ironic becouse the film has the word devil in it or if this shows you that the story line of the film is going to be about a devil. They use a black magic style iconograpy. These title sequence tells you the cast and crew, RCA sound recordings, producers. As well as using a dramatic syled music during this. This is used to from the start build the tension for the auidence it makes the audience want to keep whatching the film to find out what it brings. This is better than having country music in the background as this does not have the same affect on the audience and make them get the wrong impression of what the film is going to be like. This title sequence ends with flames that fade into the film, this also builds the tension as it makes the start of the film seem dramatic. The audience may also be not exdpecting this to happen which would mean that the film will start by making the audience jump. This will build the audience up as they will be thinking about what is to come if they have already jumped in the first few minutes.
When we are introduced to Simons house the mise en scene of the scene has a large impact on the audience. This is mainly because when we are first shown the house it is dimly lit which means that it gives more of a creepy feel than if you where shown it in the daytime. This then gives the audience the feeling that something is going to happen here as it is built up alot. As well as this there is also music in the background of the scene which also add to the audiences uneasyness and the on edge feeling that something is going to happen. The link to sci fi is then made as Simon joins an astoniomical society.
The camera work in the devil rides out has alot more movement within it than what frankeinstein dose this is probably because between the filming of both films there was a lot of development done into new cameras. this helped the production of smaller cameras which meant that they could move the cameras around more due to the fact that it took less people to move the cameras. This movement is mostly following the actors around but this is better than paming which is what is used in Frankeinstein.
Rex and Nichoias have to leave the scene due to the fact that they are not members. The camera here is possibly on a track. I get this impression due to the smoothness of the moving of the camera. As well as the camera movements in The Devil rides out being alot smother and alot more variety of shots being used the transitions in thr film are also alot smoother, this also shows the development in films and the way that theey are both filmed and edited. This helps the audience to follow the film more as it dose not seem as stop and starty due to the black outs that are used in Frankenstein rather than transitions. As the film is alot smother it means that they can use there imaginationalot more that Frankeinstein but not to the extent that we use are imagination these days. In the Devil rides out there is alot more background music used. This helped with the development of film becasue the realised the extent that music has on the audience. The music that is used in this film helpes to build up the tension for the audience.
Simon, Rex and Nic walk into a room where there is a devil/ black magic sybol on the floor which is an enigma for the audience as they want to know who left the symbol as well as why it is there and what the sybol means, This makes the audience want to finish watching the film as they want to know what is going on. After they have seen this symbol Nic then walks towards the a cupboard, as he gets closer to the cupboard the music gets louder this creates alot of tension witht the audience as they want to know what is in the cupboard, however this turns out to be a method that is used in alot of horror films when there is tension built up within a situation but then it turns out to be something that if u came across in real life would not scare you. however because of the build up you jump anyway. In this situation it turns out to just be chickens this can be a link to black magic. Simon is then punched and lands on the floor where the symbol is, This shot is filmed with a handheld camera it seems due to the messyness of the shot. After this Nic tells Simon that he should look into a mirror and listen to him. He is then hypnitised and will wake again at 10 am the next day. Nic then tells simon that he should where a cross dendent for protection while this is being said there is creepy music as well as creepy symbols in the background. Whenever something important or with a large impact is said then they zoom in on Nics face as he is the one talking. The pendent that simon has been told to wear then gets tighter and tighter round his neck. The butler Max takes the pendent of Simon and then he escapes out of the window. During this scene there is background music used which gets louder and quiter acording to the conversation occuring, this builds up the tension in the audience as when the music gets louder the audience gets on the edge of their seat as they think that something is going to happen. Afer this Rex and Nick then walk back into the room where the symbol is on the floor and it gets realy cold, this makes the audience want to know what is going to happen as well as trying to guess why it has got so cold. They then move onto another cupboard and open it wher they find a claucule of solomon book this is another relation to black magic ytthis then again gives the
imprssion that something is gpoinj gto haappen to do with this book and to do with black magic. While this is happening the room gets even ccolder tyhan it was before. The lights are also dimmed in the room when they find the book. Simon then comes out of the decvil floor as this happens it glows red. There is SFX used here. There is then alot of smoke that apears this makes the audience wan t to know where this smoke has comefrom as well as guessing if anyone is going to come out of the smoke or is anything going to happen. From this smoke a guy appears with a white glow around him this at first makes him look pure and good untill he fully appears from the smoke when it is then revelaed that he is wearing all red, this can be linked with the devil and bad situations it can also be linked with blood and pain. This makes the audience want to know why he is wearing all red and what he is going to do. After the man has fully appeared Rex looks strait into the mans eyes and as a result gets possesed and is then drawn towards the man. Nic then throws the cross pendent and makes a chant onto the man. After this chant Nic and Rex then get into a car as they are told that Simon will be dangerous if he is not found in 24 hours. There is not many shadows in this film as they are more advanced in both lighting and tecnnicolour. There is then a women called Tarith who is collected by Rex. There is a green screne used in all of the car scenes. Tarith is shown to be affraid of a man who is named Mocata, this makes the audience want to know who he is and why she is so affraid of this Macata. We are then introduced to the fact that Tarith has not been re baptised which means that it is easy for the devil to take her. Tarith then looks into the car mirror when she looks into this car mirror there are eyes we dont know whos eyes are in the mirror nor do we know why they are there. These eyes then start to talk to her but Rex can not hear the voice and is not aware of what is going on. As the audience dose not know what is going on and dose not understand why this is happening, because of this it keeps the audience guessing and makes them to finish whatching the film as they want to know who it is and why they are doing it. After this they then arrive at Mr and Mrs Eaton's house who is actually Nics niece Tarith then drives of in Recs car, becuase she has just driven of and Rex dose not understand why she then follows her and tries to chase her.
The camera is then in the drivers seat which then helps to give a poinjt of view shot of Tarith. After this shot the eyes then come back into the mirror where they then talk to her again. the eyes tell her to listen and obey them, these eyes then tell her what to do however the audience do not actually hear what the eyes tell her to do this makes the auidence question what is going on and what the eyes have actually told her to do. A man then crashes into a ditch again the audience want to know who this man is and why he has crashed. We then find out that the man that crashed the car is Rex we find this out as he gets out of the car and folows another to a housing estate. Peole then come out of one of the houses dressed in black robes these make it look like the people are in a cult of some kind. After this there is then a fade out of this into a scene whyere a car is driving into a dark woodlands in an area that is fully surrounded by fire. The cheif then comes out in a purple robe in which has a satanic sybol on it, this makes the audience want to know what the symbol meajns, This has dramatic music played in the background. Chants of spells are used to bring a sci fi edge to it. The shot then pans and you see Simon and Tarith there. There is then blood that we think is from a goat helkp up in a bowl this symbolises the power that they have This makes the audienmce want to know why they are so powerfull as well as making the audience want to know why they have a bowl full of goat blood and what they are going to do with it. The lighting in this scene looks different it looks like it has gone from night to day . The people in the robes then dance around with blood. Nic throws the pendent and again sayds a charm like was done before there is then SFX smoke that appears and an explosion happens. Nic and Rex then take Simon
and Tarith back to the house. Tarith then say's that she has to leave Mr and Mrs Eaton's house before nightfall hits. There is then a romanace between Rex and Tarith that forms. Simon and Tarith are not allowed to be left on there own. There is then a man that turns up at the house this man turns out to be Mocata who was the man in the purple robe but is also the man that tarith is afraid of, he tries to take Tarith and Simon which is why they are not allowed on their own. As he can not get them he decides to hypnotise Mrs eaton this is done by eye contact and playing with her head. there is then close up used of macoto's face which show that his eyes are not moving and he is also not blinking Mrs Eaton is still under Macata's influence. There is then an extreem close up of macota's eyes.
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
Newspaper
There is three main scopes for newspapers these are Regional, Local and national.
Shropshire star - Regional
Advertiser/ Herald - Local
Sun/ times - National
As well as these scopes of newspapers there is also a variety of different formats of newspapers which include Tabloid, Broadsheet, Berliner and compact.
Sun - tabloid which is image heavy with not alot of text in it this is because this is not what you want with a tabloid newspaper
Old telegraph - Broadsheet which is also heavily text rather than having alot of images within it.
Guardian - Berliner and National
Some newspapers also have digital versions which can be brought this is alot more expensive but can be easier to access as these have apps, facebook as well as being able to download the whole newspaper this can be quite useful if people have tablets or i pads. Newspapers having websites is more of a new idea for them as it is more accessible for most people in this format.
Broadsheet news has to be balanced However print news is actually allowed to be biased as long as the information written is actually true and accurate. It is actually the ofstead that say that a broadsheet must not be biased. This means that as a result there is more trust in a broadsheet news than what there is in a print news. There is more trust in it due to the fact that people are seeing and hearing the news rather than reading it as people can get there own interpretations of what is being said rather than having it told to you. Print news used to be self regulated like PCC. Contempt of court is a legal matter that means that people can not publish names or too much information about a court case in a newspaper as this could be said to influence the jury's final decision. There is also the Official Secrets Act and Defamation.
Below you can see a diagram showing you what is used on a front cover of the Daily Express to draw the customers in.
Local and Regional newspaper industry
Both local and regional newspapers are read by most of the country this means that because of the amount of people that are reading it means that the papers are very influential due to this. These papers are not only read by millions but they also make millions because of this. There is about 1200 different local and regional newspapers in the UK from The Sun to the North Shropshire Chronicle. The Shropshire star is considered the most trusted medium between Local and regional papers. There is around 1,600 websites that are associated with the newspapers this number has actually doubled in the past 5 years due to the increase of people that are using the internet, this means that it is most likely to be read if it is online rather than on paper. Local news papers are read more often than national or regional papers local newspapers are read by around 33 million people a week. However there is still a large difference between this and the 42 million people that log onto the shropshire star website every week. There is more than 6,100 local newspapers that are sold every minute in the UK. Local newspapers are what people turn to first to find out any local problems or issues that are arising The local media and Newspapers employ more people than what the BBC dose, They employe 30,000 people which includes 10,000 journalists. this is a large chunk of employers that have jobs just because of local newspapers this shows that people are more willing to buy local newspapers like the shropshire star to help keep their local people in work. As if they didn't then this would actually have an impact on them rather than the regional papers which wouldn't so much if they weren't doing so well. Local newspapers are also important to the readers as this is what keeps them in touch with what is going on around them. The local newspapers are what help to keep them in touch with any of the local council issues that could actually have a large impact on them. Over 85% think that this is a very important thing to have available to them. It is also said by over 60% of readers that their local papers are important to them because they actually use the advertisement in these papers as these are local to them. newspapers and advertisement on the TV have larger percentages of working than what advertisement in magazines and the radio do, this shows the impact that these must have on the customers to react more to advertisement in newspapers than the advertisement on the radio as this is produced to become catchy and non forgettable as it is supposed to get stuck in your head.
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
Frankenstein - AO2
Frankenstein was released in 1931. However sound was first used in films in 1927 this meant that within the 4 years they have been able to develop ideas of sound. This development meant that the sound that is used in Frankenstein has a large impact on the audience due to this sound. The sound that was used in Frankenstein was cracidy sound. There is also a warning notice at the beginning of the film, this warning is to tell the audience what to expect of the film this was so that the audience was fully aware of the type of film they where about to watch. At the Introduction of Frankenstein is credits these credits include production team, director, crew, sound and then it starts to go into the actors in the film. The credit for the monster does not actually have a name of the actor who is playing it but a question mark instead. I think that this makes the audience see him more as a monster rather than the actor who is playing it. Frankenstein is a black and white film. In the graveyard scene there is alot of panning used this becomes a camera shot that they use alot throughout the film. This is because in the 1930's the cameras where alot larger that what they are now this meant that the way that we can move the camera around now was not possible then because of the weight of them. It would take a team of two to three people to move the camera at all. In the graveyard scene there is also faded transitions into shots this is to show a period of time. The sound effects in the film sound fake and edited in a large example of this is the coffin. Every time this coffin moves the sound affect is the same no matter how much it is opened or even if it is being closed. This makes it seem very un-realistic to watch.
As soon as the words " We must find another brain", the screen goes black and the film cuts to another scene. this leaves the audience wanting to know more and makes them want to carry on watching the film to find out what is going to happen. This means that it gives an enigma. This cuts to a university setting where they are in a biology lab. This scene is all built up around shadows, these shadows are of hunched men and skeletons hanging in the lab. By having the scene based around the shadows has a large impact on the audience this is not because of what the audience is actually seeing but because of there imagination and what they think they are seeing. For the audience these shadows could be completly different from what they actualy are. For example the audeince could think of the hanging skeleton as a hanging person.
The way that Frankenstein is edited means that all of the scene to scene changes are very choppy i.e. they go from seeing one thing to anougher. These edits could be done more fluidly by having fades. By having the scene changes so choppy it means that it is easy for the audience to get confused with the story is it is constantly just changing. They also use alot of blackouts in the film which can also be confusing for the audience.
Next in the film there is love introduced into the story this is between Henry Frankenstein and Elizabeth. Henry Frankeinstein left university which as a result had Elizabeth worried this could show a psychological change. After this there is a blackout again in the story, this could signify a change in the setting or just a new scene.
During the film there is a change in the quality of the film depending on where the camera is. There is a storm at the lab which adds a creepy element on the scene. However the lightening that is used is too bright which makes it look quite fake. This adds a sci- fi element to the film as they are talking about the electrical elements with the storm. This gives the film a new genre that it can be linked with this adds more depth to the film.
The scenee then moves onto Henry Frankenstein with the brain that he has stolen fron the university, in this scene Henry looks almost hypnotised by the brain. There is loud si-fi like noises used in this scene this is to add the tension of the film these noises are used when the machienes are started in the l.ab scene. During this scene there is a pan upwards to show the whole of the lab this therefore gives you a better look at what Henry is actually doing. We as the auidence are told at this point that the monster is an experiment of Henrys. There is a large change in the way that the aaudience has seen Henry Frankenstein in this seen when you see a close up of him looking possessed over his work this a complete change to the way that we have been seeing him loved up when he is with Elizebeth. In this scene Henry Frankenstein shouts out "dont touch that" and when he shouts that there is a small amount of thunder that goes off. This makes the audience wounder what is going on what has been touched and why did thunder then go off is there a link. Henry started off experimenting with dead animals then he moved on and decided to experiment with a human heart, this was kept alive for 3 weeks. By Henry doing this shows his admiration for his work. There is alot of close ups in this scene to show edsacualy what is going on. When the machiene is started the lightening that is still going on in the background of the scene gets darker. After this machine is started there is a long shot that reveals a body that is tied to the table with straps and buckles. There is then a crane shot when the body is lifted up this then gives an enigma again as the audience wants to know where the body is being taken. The low contrast of the set adds a kind of eeriness, there is then a big flash of light. There is also shots of equipment shown which makes the experiment that Henry is doing seem more technical rather than just odd. There is then a close up of Frankensteins monsters hand quivering then the monster moves, by having this close up means that the audience is aware of the first movement when Henry isn't. This helps the audience feel more involved in the story, the more involved the audience feels the more they are going to be terrified when something goes wrong.
In this film there was a few things that the hays office refused to let them release with the film and made them cut it out. The first example of this is the sentence "It's alive! Now i know what it feels like to be God!". This sentence was cut from the film because of its link to god and the impact this would have on the audience in the 1930's. They also cut this from the film because it made Henry sound possessed with his work. After this there was then a back out again.
After this scene there is then two storylines going on at once one of these was Henry Frankenstein and Elizabeth getting married. The other is Henry finding out that the brain he has taken is evil. Henry then brings the monster into the light the monster walks backwards to get to the light and then he slowly turns around to finally reveal his face. As seen in the image above. There was then two close ups of his face zooming in was also used here. There is silence from the monster even though you would expect there to be some sound to come out of the monster. However because there is such a large amount of silence then you expect there to be something scary to come. This makes the audience go on there edge of there seat preparing for something to come put it doesn't. Rather than the monster actually being scaring it is actually scared of everything around it fire, people etc. Therefore the monster started to become violent to defend itself as it thinks that people are going to hurt him. The screen then goes blank and all the audience can hear is bangs and smashes this is another enigma used to get the audience guessing what has happened. This method is used alot in this film as the writer constantly wants the audience to be using there imagination and to be thinking the worst.
The next scene is introduced by a scream this makes the audience think that someone is being tortured this is another enigma. There is then a sot where The monster kills a man there is then a shadow of a man hanging this is not too visible to the audience so it makes the audience want to now who the man is as well as if that is the man that the monster just killed. After this Henry then goes into the room where the body should be and where the audience has seen this body hanging and there is now neither the body or the hanging figure. Henry then collapses and Henry drugged the monster so he was unconscious. There is then an examination of this monster where there is also close up shots of the surgical rods in which Henry is using to examine the monster. This scene then moves on to close ups of the monster once he have re gained consensus, these close ups are of the monster walking. There is then a close up of the monsters arms going up to strangle Dr walds. This is a slow movement of the monster. The monster then escapes from the laboratory this leaves the audience wanting to know where the monster is going as well as if the Dr is dead. This enigma is created when there is a black out as the audience are left wanting to know.
Henry Fankenstien then goes back to Elizabeth so it seems like he is getting better. There is then another Black out.
The film then moves on to Henry and Elizabeths wedding day. camera zooms out of the shot so that the audience can see the whole family. During this film there is very little camera movements due to the fact that they where very large and heavy so doing the style of camera work that we do know would have meant that they would have needed more than one person to move them which was not fundable for them. However they had just discovered how to do tracking, pans, crane as well as stationary shots where used. The house of Frankenstein is a large house with a rich family living in it. The shot is then moved on to outside of the house at the town who are all gathering outside for the wedding. This camera then moves through the town this is probably done with either a dolly or a tracking shot.
Film then moves on to a shot of a house in the country where there is an innocent girl around the age of 6 who is playing with flowers. Frankensteins monster then sees her and gets confused but seems to like the girl so goes over and plays with the flowers with her. They both then start to flout the flowers on the water like boats. This seems to be quite a nice scene but gives the audience the idea that something is going to happen as it seems too quiet. After the monster runs out of flowers his evil side takes over and he throws the girl in the water as he thinks that she will flour like the flowers. This was not just a evil thing that he did, he didn't understand that she would not flout. This scene was taken out of the film when it was first released as they found it disturbing. However they have now put it back in due to the rules of film changing. After he throws girl in he runs away.
There is a large contrast between this sad scene and when they go back to the house of Frankenstein where everyone is happy as they are unaware that Frankensteins monster has escaped. Therefore it goes on to the happy street party. Elizabeth is worried as she thinks that there is something coming between her and Henry. Therefore Henry locks her in a room as he finds out that the monster has escaped. There is then a search for the monster as there hear some noises. These noises change depending on where they are in the house. We then move on to Elizabeths room where we see the monster luring in the shadows of Elizabeths room. Elizabeth then sees him and screams so Henry comes to her and the monster runs off. Scene then moves on to the girls dad coming into the town carrying the girls body. Everyone then follows him to the house of frankenstein. Henry then tells everyone that he will kill the monster because he hurt Elizabeth. The town then follow Henry to find the monster only the men go and they want him to be alive. All of the men then walk into this dark area so it gives the audience the vibe that something is going to happen. Silhouette's then used no light on the faces. Henry then walks off on his own to find the monster. The monster then pops round from the back of a stone and starts to fight with Henry. Henry then gets knocked uncocious so the monster then takes is body to the lab. The men then watch this and follow the monster. The men then walk towards the shadow of the monster these shadows make the monster look alot bigger and more intimidating. Henry then wakes in the lab and there is more fighting between him and the monster. The monster then throws Henry of the windmill i.e the lab onto the sails of the windmill, body then lands on the floor. Windmill then sets on fire the monster fears and starts to scream. This fire was expensive for the studio to do. The monster then tries to escape from the building and a beam lands on him, fade out is then used to give the audience the enigma of whether he is dead or not. Then it moves back to the house of frankenstein where there is then a short scene into the end of the film.

There was a good cast of actors and actresses used in this film. The studio realises this and therefore talks about re using them. The audience knows this as it is said in the credits "A good cast is worth repeating". Also in the finale credits they change the monsters name of the actor from a ? to the actual name of the actor. Orchestra music is used in the background of the credits.
As soon as the words " We must find another brain", the screen goes black and the film cuts to another scene. this leaves the audience wanting to know more and makes them want to carry on watching the film to find out what is going to happen. This means that it gives an enigma. This cuts to a university setting where they are in a biology lab. This scene is all built up around shadows, these shadows are of hunched men and skeletons hanging in the lab. By having the scene based around the shadows has a large impact on the audience this is not because of what the audience is actually seeing but because of there imagination and what they think they are seeing. For the audience these shadows could be completly different from what they actualy are. For example the audeince could think of the hanging skeleton as a hanging person.
The way that Frankenstein is edited means that all of the scene to scene changes are very choppy i.e. they go from seeing one thing to anougher. These edits could be done more fluidly by having fades. By having the scene changes so choppy it means that it is easy for the audience to get confused with the story is it is constantly just changing. They also use alot of blackouts in the film which can also be confusing for the audience.
Next in the film there is love introduced into the story this is between Henry Frankenstein and Elizabeth. Henry Frankeinstein left university which as a result had Elizabeth worried this could show a psychological change. After this there is a blackout again in the story, this could signify a change in the setting or just a new scene.
During the film there is a change in the quality of the film depending on where the camera is. There is a storm at the lab which adds a creepy element on the scene. However the lightening that is used is too bright which makes it look quite fake. This adds a sci- fi element to the film as they are talking about the electrical elements with the storm. This gives the film a new genre that it can be linked with this adds more depth to the film.
The scenee then moves onto Henry Frankenstein with the brain that he has stolen fron the university, in this scene Henry looks almost hypnotised by the brain. There is loud si-fi like noises used in this scene this is to add the tension of the film these noises are used when the machienes are started in the l.ab scene. During this scene there is a pan upwards to show the whole of the lab this therefore gives you a better look at what Henry is actually doing. We as the auidence are told at this point that the monster is an experiment of Henrys. There is a large change in the way that the aaudience has seen Henry Frankenstein in this seen when you see a close up of him looking possessed over his work this a complete change to the way that we have been seeing him loved up when he is with Elizebeth. In this scene Henry Frankenstein shouts out "dont touch that" and when he shouts that there is a small amount of thunder that goes off. This makes the audience wounder what is going on what has been touched and why did thunder then go off is there a link. Henry started off experimenting with dead animals then he moved on and decided to experiment with a human heart, this was kept alive for 3 weeks. By Henry doing this shows his admiration for his work. There is alot of close ups in this scene to show edsacualy what is going on. When the machiene is started the lightening that is still going on in the background of the scene gets darker. After this machine is started there is a long shot that reveals a body that is tied to the table with straps and buckles. There is then a crane shot when the body is lifted up this then gives an enigma again as the audience wants to know where the body is being taken. The low contrast of the set adds a kind of eeriness, there is then a big flash of light. There is also shots of equipment shown which makes the experiment that Henry is doing seem more technical rather than just odd. There is then a close up of Frankensteins monsters hand quivering then the monster moves, by having this close up means that the audience is aware of the first movement when Henry isn't. This helps the audience feel more involved in the story, the more involved the audience feels the more they are going to be terrified when something goes wrong.
In this film there was a few things that the hays office refused to let them release with the film and made them cut it out. The first example of this is the sentence "It's alive! Now i know what it feels like to be God!". This sentence was cut from the film because of its link to god and the impact this would have on the audience in the 1930's. They also cut this from the film because it made Henry sound possessed with his work. After this there was then a back out again.
After this scene there is then two storylines going on at once one of these was Henry Frankenstein and Elizabeth getting married. The other is Henry finding out that the brain he has taken is evil. Henry then brings the monster into the light the monster walks backwards to get to the light and then he slowly turns around to finally reveal his face. As seen in the image above. There was then two close ups of his face zooming in was also used here. There is silence from the monster even though you would expect there to be some sound to come out of the monster. However because there is such a large amount of silence then you expect there to be something scary to come. This makes the audience go on there edge of there seat preparing for something to come put it doesn't. Rather than the monster actually being scaring it is actually scared of everything around it fire, people etc. Therefore the monster started to become violent to defend itself as it thinks that people are going to hurt him. The screen then goes blank and all the audience can hear is bangs and smashes this is another enigma used to get the audience guessing what has happened. This method is used alot in this film as the writer constantly wants the audience to be using there imagination and to be thinking the worst.
The next scene is introduced by a scream this makes the audience think that someone is being tortured this is another enigma. There is then a sot where The monster kills a man there is then a shadow of a man hanging this is not too visible to the audience so it makes the audience want to now who the man is as well as if that is the man that the monster just killed. After this Henry then goes into the room where the body should be and where the audience has seen this body hanging and there is now neither the body or the hanging figure. Henry then collapses and Henry drugged the monster so he was unconscious. There is then an examination of this monster where there is also close up shots of the surgical rods in which Henry is using to examine the monster. This scene then moves on to close ups of the monster once he have re gained consensus, these close ups are of the monster walking. There is then a close up of the monsters arms going up to strangle Dr walds. This is a slow movement of the monster. The monster then escapes from the laboratory this leaves the audience wanting to know where the monster is going as well as if the Dr is dead. This enigma is created when there is a black out as the audience are left wanting to know.
Henry Fankenstien then goes back to Elizabeth so it seems like he is getting better. There is then another Black out.
The film then moves on to Henry and Elizabeths wedding day. camera zooms out of the shot so that the audience can see the whole family. During this film there is very little camera movements due to the fact that they where very large and heavy so doing the style of camera work that we do know would have meant that they would have needed more than one person to move them which was not fundable for them. However they had just discovered how to do tracking, pans, crane as well as stationary shots where used. The house of Frankenstein is a large house with a rich family living in it. The shot is then moved on to outside of the house at the town who are all gathering outside for the wedding. This camera then moves through the town this is probably done with either a dolly or a tracking shot.
Film then moves on to a shot of a house in the country where there is an innocent girl around the age of 6 who is playing with flowers. Frankensteins monster then sees her and gets confused but seems to like the girl so goes over and plays with the flowers with her. They both then start to flout the flowers on the water like boats. This seems to be quite a nice scene but gives the audience the idea that something is going to happen as it seems too quiet. After the monster runs out of flowers his evil side takes over and he throws the girl in the water as he thinks that she will flour like the flowers. This was not just a evil thing that he did, he didn't understand that she would not flout. This scene was taken out of the film when it was first released as they found it disturbing. However they have now put it back in due to the rules of film changing. After he throws girl in he runs away.
There is a large contrast between this sad scene and when they go back to the house of Frankenstein where everyone is happy as they are unaware that Frankensteins monster has escaped. Therefore it goes on to the happy street party. Elizabeth is worried as she thinks that there is something coming between her and Henry. Therefore Henry locks her in a room as he finds out that the monster has escaped. There is then a search for the monster as there hear some noises. These noises change depending on where they are in the house. We then move on to Elizabeths room where we see the monster luring in the shadows of Elizabeths room. Elizabeth then sees him and screams so Henry comes to her and the monster runs off. Scene then moves on to the girls dad coming into the town carrying the girls body. Everyone then follows him to the house of frankenstein. Henry then tells everyone that he will kill the monster because he hurt Elizabeth. The town then follow Henry to find the monster only the men go and they want him to be alive. All of the men then walk into this dark area so it gives the audience the vibe that something is going to happen. Silhouette's then used no light on the faces. Henry then walks off on his own to find the monster. The monster then pops round from the back of a stone and starts to fight with Henry. Henry then gets knocked uncocious so the monster then takes is body to the lab. The men then watch this and follow the monster. The men then walk towards the shadow of the monster these shadows make the monster look alot bigger and more intimidating. Henry then wakes in the lab and there is more fighting between him and the monster. The monster then throws Henry of the windmill i.e the lab onto the sails of the windmill, body then lands on the floor. Windmill then sets on fire the monster fears and starts to scream. This fire was expensive for the studio to do. The monster then tries to escape from the building and a beam lands on him, fade out is then used to give the audience the enigma of whether he is dead or not. Then it moves back to the house of frankenstein where there is then a short scene into the end of the film.

There was a good cast of actors and actresses used in this film. The studio realises this and therefore talks about re using them. The audience knows this as it is said in the credits "A good cast is worth repeating". Also in the finale credits they change the monsters name of the actor from a ? to the actual name of the actor. Orchestra music is used in the background of the credits.
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
AO1
There is a variety of different ways in which the genre of horror has developed over the last 100 years. They have gone from being silent black and white films to more advanced and realistic films that are now used more to horrify and scare you rather than make you laugh and surprise you.
In the 1925 Phantom of the opera the silent version was brought out this was staring Lon Chaney who has a large impact on the development of make up this is because he practiced and used different techniques so that the monster has the impact on the audience that he desired. Lon Chaney doing his own make up and making it such a large part of what the monster is then helped people to understand the impact that make up can make. If Lon Chaney had not done this then the monsters of Frankenstein and Dracula would not have been the way that they are known for to this day. Phantom of the opera was produced by Universal studios and was set in universal studio opera house in paris this still stands to date and is said to have the ghost of Lon Chaney. This studio has now recently been used to film the latest muppets film which was released in November 2011.
During the 1920's there was a large depression worldwide. This depression meant that studios had to pick a genre that they felt was going to bring in the biggest audience. As a result of this Universal Studios decided that they where going to choose the genre of horror as they felt that this would bring the largest audience in. This depression also meant that the studios had to pay their actors less but they would put them on a permanent contract. This was good for the actors as they always had a wage coming in even if it was lower than what they where used to or deserved at least they had a job.
The next film after Phantom of the opera was Dracula which was released in the 1930's this film had to be cut down alot compared to The phantom of the opera because of the depression that was around when they where filming it. However it was Dracula that helped with the progression of horror because of it being the first horror with any sound as well as them starting to use low key lighting within the film to add to the affects of shadows which helps horrify the audience not by the actual shadows but what the shadows could be, it is more the audiences imagination that scares them more than anything else. This lighting has a large impact on the use of it now in modern horror film because if they had not used it in Dracula then it would not have progressed in the way that it has. The actor that played Dracula was Bela Lugosi who was a hungarian actor which meant that due to his accent he had limited opportunities because of the accent. However in Dracula his hungarian accent actually added to the affect of the monster and made it have that much more of an impact on the audience. In the first release of Dracula there is no blood or fangs this is because of the Hays office stating what they can and can not show within films. This had a large impact on horror films especially as they had to think about how they where going to show particular scenes within films that would deemed wrong by the Hays office. Another cultural change that affected Dracula during filming was the german jews coming over from germany. They where all coming over due to the holocaust that was occurring back in germany. This meant that the germans wanted there influence on films just like the english had. This was one of the most modern horror films of the time but still was missing something that no one could quite put there finger on.
The next big horror film was frankenstein which was released in 1931. The creators again wanted Bela Lugosi to play the monster and actually wrote the play as if Bela was Frankenstein. However in the end it was Borris Karloff who played Frankenstein not Bela Lugosi. The image that is known as Frankenstein today was actually Universal's idea i.e. the green square face and the bolts in the neck. The reason that they actually used the square head was to do with them picturing Bela Lugosi as the monster and then them having to change it to Boris Karloff. This was the first horror to try and put in gore and necrophelism and get away with it even with the Hays office still in action. However they did raise issues in society due to during the film frankenstein throwing a girl in the river and killing her. There was also progress in the genre because of the makeup-try used on the monster i.e. frankenstein. Boris Karloff brought alot of his own experiences to the film to make the monster as realistic as he did. Both Dracula and Frankenstein helped to make horror the genre it is today, if they had not pushed the boundaries that they did with the genre then directors would not be able to do what they are with horrors today. All horrors up until this date had been set in one time period, however when warner brothers took over from doing horror films as well they decided to set them in the present day this made the horror films seem more realistic than what they seemed before this time as it seemed as if this could actually happen.
The next big film for universal studios was the mystery of the wax museum, this was important for the progression of horror as it was the first horror that had any form of color in it. The color that The Wax Museum used was early techni color which meant that they could show in better detail the color of the skin and then when they turn to wax you can see the difference better. If this color was not used in the wax museum then there would not be the progress that there is today. However even though The Wax Museum did help so much with the progression of horror Universal is still not known for this film but for Frankenstein and Dracula.
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