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Friday the 13th - Movie Poster Analysis

 

The film Friday 13^th was released in the year of 2009 and is classed as a horror film. The main image on this horror movie poster shows the murderer. We get a clear view of the killer as we can see his whole body. A low angle has been used to make the viewer feel smaller and make the murderer look more powerful. The murderer is wearing a mask which restricts the audience’s view of his face giving a sense of mystery to the poster. As the viewer’s eye travels up the poster we can see more and more detail of the murder, including the fact that he is wearing a mask. We can see where the main location of this film is going to be by the tall trees in the background which appears to be surrounded by a thick mist making the poster and the film seem scarier.

The dominant colours which are used on this movie poster are again the stereotypical colours which appear in most horror movies which are black and red. The red standing out in front of black grabs the viewers’ attention. The title of the film is in capitals letters shouting out to the audience. The tag line “welcome to crystal lake” introduces the audience to where the setting of the film is and it welcomes the audience to the setting as well to make them feel like part of the film. Again I would say that the target audience for this horror film is for older teenagers who enjoy horror films. The film is rated at an 18.

Stereotypical Horror Fan

The Stereotypical Horror Fan

As a group we have discussed who our stereotypical fan for our horror movie would be. We are aiming to target a stereotypical female with in the age range of 18-30 years of age. By discussing the demographics and psychographics off our target audience we are able to make a better trailer which will aim to please the stereotypical fan we have created.

The character we have created is a female between the ages of eighteen and thirteen. Our female fan is called Roxy; she has long brown hair is quite masculine. Roxy is classed as working class, working as a police woman wanting to change the world for better. In her free time she watches horror films with her cats in her flat. She plays guitar in her band called ‘Rocking Headstones’, her and her band mates play in small pubs around her town. Roxy has a large tattoo of a rose on her upper arm, which adds to her masculine side. Roxy has her nose and tongue pierced with a variety of piercings on both her ears. She comes across rather rebellious in a feminist way, she doesn’t believe in inequality between genders.

The Final Destination - Poster Analysis

The film The Final Destination was released in the year of 2009 its country of origin is America. There are currently 5 "Final Destination" movies in its franchise. This horror movie poster from the film the final destination shows a victim from the film. The victim appears to be a young attractive female. The female character shows to have half of her face looking normal with skin and the other half shows a skeleton mouth representing death. This tells the audience that she could possibly die in the film. The face of the women is surrounded by shattered glass that looks as if it is piercing her skin. The shattered glass affect could also tell the audience that the female is as breakable as glass. The tag line on this movie poster “rest in pieces” also links to the glass imagery. The colours on this movie poster are the traditional colours that are used on stereotypical horror movie posters which are blacks and other pale colours. The black represents the dark side to the film which tells the audience that this film is a horror. The fonts on the poster kept simple and are in capitals. The colour of the text is a bright white colour making it stand out to the viewers against the black background; this could also be a representation o0f death as it brings a heavenly presence to the poster. I think the target audience for this film is for older teenagers as the film has been rated as a 15.

Nightmare on Elm Street - Poster Analysis

    

 

The film nightmare on Elm Street was released in the year of 2010. It is a horror/mystery/thriller. This poster shows the three categories which the film has been placed under. The movie poster shows both victim and the killer. The victim again is a young attractive female who is sitting on the floor in the foreground of the poster, showing that she is vulnerable; however we can only see her outline and slight details on her face. The killer of this movie is standing in the background of the poster and appears to be a male in the way in which he is standing showing power to the character. Again we can’t see much of the killer but we can see his outline. This poster is shown from a low angle so we can see the full body of the killer in the background.
The colours in this poster are very stereotypical for a horror poster showing blacks and reds, the black which is used around the boarder of the poster. The red text on this poster is a stereotypical colour used on horror movie posters representing blood and death. The orange like colour taking over the poster could represent hell because of the orange colours used to look like flames.  The font on this poster has been written in capitals so it is shouting out to the audience grabbing there attention.

The tag line on this poster “he knows where you sleep” suggests that the murderer in this film knows where you live and is coming to get the victim in the film. I would say that this poster is aimed at older teenagers because of the elements of the poster. The film is actually rated as a 15.

The Woman in Black - Personal Movie Review

The Woman in Black - Film Review

Film Title: The Woman in Black

Year of Production: 2012

Genre/Genres: Horror

Director: James Watkins

Brief Plot and Outline

When Mr.Kipps is struggling with his job as a lawyer, after the death of his wife, he is sent to remote village to settle the estate of a deceased woman. The villagers try to make Mr.Kipps leave to conceal the secret of the village. Mr.Kipps soon discovers that the house he is visiting is haunted by a woman dressed in black.

Which two scenes impressed you the most? Why?

The first scene which impressed me was when Mr.Kipps is first exploring the house (creepy location). The audience is introduced to an old, abandoned bedroom which is showered in children’s toys. This is the same bedroom which is in the opening scene when the three little girls jumped out of the window and killed themselves. I liked this scene because of how it linked to the death of the three girls. He other scene I liked was when we see the woman in black standing next to Mr.Kipps in the bedroom window, but Mr.Kipps doesn’t. I liked this scene because it created suspense and tension by the way that a slow montage was being used.

How has watching this film helped you understand this genre of filmmaking? Which features on the genre checklist did you spot in the film? When? How?

But watching this film “The Woman in Black” it has helped me realise what it takes to make a good horror. “The Woman in Black” created suspense and tension in a number of places, making the viewer interested and gripped to the film. The features I spotted of the genre checklist in this film included… restricted narration when a women is heard screaming but isn’t seen in the shot. The creepy location in this film is the large house with a graveyard outside of it. Throughout the film there was a lot of parallel music to add to the tension of the film. The character and representations I spotted in this film is the psycho serial killer and possibly a slow moving monster, both represented by the woman in black. The themes which I spotted in this film are loneliness because the woman in black is trying to be reunited with her dead son. I also spotted fear of death, because Mr.Kipps towards the end of the film has a fear that his son will be the next child who is killed. The film in some ways has an unhappy ending because both Mr.Kipps and his son die, but it’s happy because they are reunited with Mrs.Kipps. The film also has an opening ending when we see the woman in black standing in a dark place which suggests there is going to be a sequel to the film.

 

 

Which aspects of the film would you like to include in your own trailer? Why?       

In my own trailer, the aspects of film “The Women In Black” I would mainly include the build-up which was created when Mr.Kipps was exploring the house. I liked this aspect because it kept me interested in this particular scene which was due to the slow montage and low key lighting. I also thought the parallel music which was heard the majority of the time helped with each scene to make to make it more mysterious, and make the audience wait for something to happen. I also thought the point of view shots worked well because it made the audience feel like they were the woman in black sneaking up to Mr.Kipps from behind. This aspect makes the audience feel uncomfortable because in some ways they are acting as the murderer. I also liked the aspect of going quiet in the scene to loud for example when the crow flew through the window. The crow representing death makes the audience more aware of the scene and makes them think there is going to be a death taken place. 

Which aspects of the film would you like to avoid in your own trailer? Why?
There aren’t really any aspects I would try to avoid. I thought the flow of the film worked well as it didn’t drag scenes out and ever making the audience bored as they were watching the film. I thought the film also had continuous scenes which made people jump.

What were the best aspect / more enjoyable moment in the film? Why? Can you recreate this in your own film? Why?

I think the most enjoyable part of the film for me was when Mr.Kipps was exploring the house and we (the audience) kept seeing the scary black figure in the distance, for example when the woman’s hand appeared as a shadow on the back of Mr.Kipps’ shoulder creating suspense as the viewer didn’t know what was going to happen. I think this aspect is doable for me to recreate in my own horror trailer.   

How does the film reflect its institutional or historical context?

The woman in black represents the current popularity of the 15 rated horror films. Despite the fact that a lot of people are saying horror has become “torture porn” there has been a lot of successful 12 and 15 rated horror films. These films don’t rely on body horror, but instead rely on being very jumpy, for example “insidious” and “sinister” made loads of money and pretty much have no body horror shown in them.  The woman in black was a very successful film financially but relied on making the audience jump. In an interview the director James Watkins said he aimed to make a “Proper, classy, scary, ghost film” and stated that “It’s not about gore it’s not about violence and if it can play on peoples fear and imagination and really get under your skin with some jumps and some jolts, but that real creepy sense of dread that stays with you” showing that a Horror film doesn’t need to contain body horror to make it scary.

The Yellow Brick Road (2010) - Personal Movie Review

The Yellow Brick Road- Film Review

The film the yellow brick road was produced in the year of 2010. It was directed by Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton. The genre of this film is crossed between a horror and a mystery. The yellow brick road is based about a group of researchers who after 70 years when an entire town left their homes and walked up a mountain and were never seen again discover the trail and attempt to track down the mystery which doomed the citizens of Friar.

 

 The first scene which impressed me the most from the film was when the first death took place. Erin is the first girl to be killed and represents the character stereotype of the female victim. Erin is stabbed by her brother Daryl who seems to be the first member of the group to lose his sanity. This scene uses body horror and shows the audience what is happening to the victim.
The second scene which impressed me during this film would have to be when Daryl is killed by Liv with again a phallic weapon. Liv is the last surviving girl but eventually takes an overdose and dies. This scene impressed me because it was a fast montage of shots which made the scene more interesting and exciting. A collision cutting was used in this scene to go from a slow montage of shots to a fast montage. 
 
By watching this film it gave me more of an insight of what techniques what are commonly used and what I could possibly use in my own movie trailer. The features I spotted in this movie from the genre checklist includes, blood and gore, this is shown when the first death has taken place. A creepy location is used in this film in the form of an overgrown forest and an abandoned cinema which we see at the end of the film. Parallel and contrapuntal music is used throughout the majority of this film. The contrapuntal music suggests that this is what makes the group loose there sanity, as it is played into the forest they are in. when the first murder has taken place there are a lot of close ups showing the audience the expressions and emotions which the characters are conveying. Canted angles are also used in this film to show a sense of confusion and in the characters cases insanity. The stereotype of the psycho killer in this film is portrayed by Daryl. The female screamy female victim in this film is portrayed by the character Liv. This film has an unhappy/ open ending which sees teddy being the last survivor of the group end up in the old abandoned cinema at the end of the trail, in the cinema he finds the ghostly townsfolk watch the souls who have died on the road, Teddy is stuck there watching the film and as the end credits begin we hear Teddy scream.

The aspects I would like to use in my own trailer which I saw in this film would include, a hand held camera because I like the way in which it makes the audience feel a part of the film. I would also consider using a couple of canted angles to create a sense of confusion. If I was going to make a psychological horror which I probably will, I will use less blood and gore and maybe use more restricted narration. I would also like to use a point of view shot to make the audience feel like they are a certain character. Although this film is classed as a horror I didn’t think it was that obvious in scenes, so when it comes to making my own horror trailer I need to consider adding more aspects to make it more like a horror. For example I think this film could have done with including some point of view shots, and a lot more close ups to make the audience feel slightly uncomfortable.

The most enjoyable moment in the film for me was when the first girl was killed. For me this was the most exciting part of the film because it used a fast montage of shots, creating excitement and suspense. We later see that Liv is turned into a scarecrow linking to the well-known film the wizard of Oz, where the yellow brick road originated from.

Favourite Image Analysis From The Women In Black (2012)

This is my chosen scene from my horror research, it is from the film the woman in black (2012).

This still shows a number of young children huddled together. This still is taking from the scene at the train station when Mr.Kipp’s son jumps on the train track, and we see the children standing on the other side of the platform. The children have a sense of innocence and vulnerability making the audience sympathise over them. The children appear to have pale skin making them seem lifeless, and making the audience relies that these are the victims who have been killed by the woman in black. The clothes which they are wearing are pale making them look more ghostly.

This shot appears to be an establishing shot making the children all fit in the frame. The lighting in this shot seems to be low key creating shadows of the children, making the audience feel anxious. The light shining on the group of children shows the audience there innocence. The surrounding darkness in the shot resembles the darkness conveyed in the woman in black and her killing the children.       

Dawn Of The Dead (1979) Image Analysis 3

 

This image from Dawn of the Dead (1979), shows Stephen and Roger both holding a phallic weapon. This scene shows a slight competition between the two males fighting over the title of the hero. This scene again shows the weak side to Stephen because this is when the zombies are attacking and Stephen aims his gun at one of the zombies who seems to be moving faster than Stephen can shoot. Roger then pushes Stephen away with his phallic symbol and shoots the zombies for him showing that Roger fits more of the hero stereotype. The lighting in this scene is natural coming from the sun which looks as if it is setting, the dusk because the dawn at the end of the film.

Romero as an “auteur” flips character stereotypes in this film because the audience have sympathy for some of the zombies for example the baseball zombie. In the mall. In this case the stereotypes are reversed because Roger gets bitten by a zombie and slowly loses his power over Stephen. Roger is shorter than Stephen again showing power in the characters. Stephen should be more powerful because of his height making Roger more vulnerable, However Roger is shorter and holds more power. Another Romero film which challenges stereotypes is “Day of the Dead” (1985) showing one of the zombies “BUB” being one of the main heroes of the film. Again showing Romero’s “auteur” theory.

 

Dawn Of The Dead (1979) Image Analysis 2

 

 



This photograph shows one of the main characters in Dawn of the Dead (1979). Stephen appears to be the stereotypical male hero of the film as he is white, “good looking” and is in a relationship with Francine, However he comes across rather wimpy in the boiler room and shoots the zombie’s shadows instead of the zombie itself, and often show he is terrible with a gun. This scene in the film shows that Stephen has gotten greedy when he shouts “it’s over, we took it” to the bikers who have invaded the shopping mall and shoots one of them. In this picture Stephen is shown to be holding a phallic weapon representing masculinity, but he is inaccurate with his shots. The scene where Fran and Stephen have sex it appears that Stephen is depressed which again suggests he isn’t the stereotypical man.

 George Romero goes against the typical stereotype of the male hero because as the film goes on the real hero of the film is discovered to be Peter. Peter goes against the stereotype of the male hero because he is black, a fact that would have been more shocking in the more racist 1970s. George Romero pushes the boundaries in a positive way here because in early horror films the black guy was usually made out to be the villain. Another film where we see a black hero in a George Romero film is in “Night Of The Living Dead” (1968) showing Romero’s auteur style.     

 

 

Dawn Of The Dead (1979) Image Analysis 1

This photograph taken from Dawn of the Dead (1979) shows the audience the location of where the film is set. A long shot is used to show the audience the full scale of the shopping mall which links to the time when the film was made when shopping malls had just opened up in America. People were excited about the newly opened shopping malls, so for people to see shopping malls conveyed like this in the film was more shocking to audiences. The high angle shot also shows the zombies which represents slow moving monsters of the film. The mall is very enclosed which creates a claustrophobic environment for the characters.

Contrapuntal music is used in this scene when we see the zombies walking through the shopping mall. The music that is being played is a happy up beat piece which comes across weird and unsettling to the audience. The lighting in this scene appears to be both high key and light, to create a sense of darkness within the light areas again showing good from bad.

Dawn Of The Dead (2004) Image Analysis 3

 

This photograph shows the group of survivors who at this point are still in the shopping mall. The group have just run away from a mass of zombies which created chaos in the scene. They then make their way into a nearby elevator which creates a sense of normality for short amount of time. Collision cutting has been used before and after this scene to go from a loud scene to where something is happening to another scene which is quiet and there isn’t much going on.

The music which is being played into the elevator is contrapuntal which adds a sense of happiness which doesn’t go with the chase scene. CJ adds slight comedy when he says “I like this song” which makes the other members of the group look at him in confusion. The elevator itself -disconnects the group from the rest of the world where zombies are over powering, making it a safe haven for only a couple of seconds.

 This shot shows a medium close up so the audience can see all of the characters in the elevator. This scene creates a sense of claustrophobia as they are all confined in a small space, making the audience feel slightly uncomfortable at times. The lighting appears to be ambient and is sourced from the elevator, again creating abrief sense of normality.

Dawn Of The Dead (2004) Image Analysis 2

 

 This photograph shows a medium close up of Ana who fits the character of the final girl. Ana comes across physically and mentally tough throughout the film, as she fights the zombies and tries to save people’s lives. Ana goes against the typical stereotype as she is one of the last surviving girls but has blonde hair. However she does have that tomboy look about her as she seems like she doesn’t care about the way she looks.

This scene is when the remaining survivors escape the mall and find a boat which will take them to a deserted island. In this shot we see the American flag erected on the boat this symbolising freedom and power and links to the American U.S war and their desire to beat both Terrorism and Iraq during their conflicts.  

The lighting appears to be natural in this scene and is shining on Ana as she watches Michael on the jetty. The light shining on Ana suggests that there is hope for the character and that they will find a safe haven for themselves. This sets up the final twist, because during the end credits we see that the survivors makes it to the island however they are soon attacked by zombies and end up dying making the film have an unhappy ending.

Dawn Of The Dead (2004) Image Analysis 1

 



This picture is from the opening scene of Dawn Of The Dead (2004). The opening scene of the film gives the audience an insight to where the zombie virus began and relate to fears of swine flu. This image appears to come from satellite phone from a mosque in the Middle East linking to 2004 context of the Iraq War and of the 9/11 attacks in 2001. This suggests that the virus started from religious people as we can see a numerous amount of people praying in there mosque. The way in which this image is black and bleak makes it look old and adds to the emotional effect the director is trying to convey.

The opening title introduces the audience to the zombie virus and informs them about it. The contrapuntal music which is playing played “The Man Comes Around” linking to biblical Armageddon. We hear the people praying slightly which again suggests the virus has started, as well as the end of the world.

The critic Janet Staiger who wrote about “Audience Studies” looked at how audiences responded to films in her famous book “interpreting films” (1992) due to this I think the film would have been more powerful to audiences in 2004 because the attacks of 2001 would have been more fresh in their minds.

Psycho Image Analysis 3

This photograph taken from the film shows the creepy location of film.  This picture introduces the audience to Bates Motel. The house back of the motel is shot from a low angle which is an expressionist angle to make the house overpower Marion. The motel is shown as a dark, uncanny building which adds to the mystery of the scene and leaves the audience uneasy. In this scene the stereotypical weather of rain is used which is commonly used to make a location more eerie in horror films. This shot is a good example of pathetic fallacy where the weather reflects the mood.

The house is back lit to make it appear as a silhouette which adds to the menace. Low key lighting is also used in this shot to make the buildings look darker and more disturbing to the eye. The creepy location creates an unsettling atmosphere which makes the audience know that something disturbing is going to happen in this location.     

Psycho Image Analysis 2

This photo is from the famous shower scene in the film Psycho. This is the first glimpse we get of the murderer when Marion gets killed. We only see a silhouette of the murder creating a sense of mystery to who the person is, which makes the audience feel intrigued.

 Although it is only a silhouette, the murderer, from looking at the hair looks feminine, due to the outline of the feminine bob haircut. We can slightly see the phallic weapon (knife) which is used to kill Marion in the shower. This scene contains sex and the taboo by Marion being in the shower naked and being stabbed with a phallic symbol. In this scene we have restricted narration which means we don’t actually see Marion get stabbed we just hear the knife going into her.

This scene is famous for its parallel music. It is very dramatic and adds to the shock of the murder. The scene which this photograph is taken from shows of Hitchcock’s mastery of montage, as the scene starts with a slow pace when Marion’s gets in the shower and then quickens as the attack happens.

The lighting used in this image appears to be both low and high key lighting as the light is being overpowered by the presence of the dark silhouette of the murderer. This makes the scene very interesting because the light and dark which is shown in this image connotes both personalities of good and bad.

Overall, this image clearly shows the importance of “auteur theory” (as written about by Andrew Sarris in “Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962”) because this scene shows the impact of Hitchcock on his films. We can see his “auteur” style through the clever manipulation of lighting and editing. This “auteur” style can also be seen in the bird attack in The Birds (1966), which also uses a quick montage to create panic.

Psycho Image Analysis 1

 

This scene from psycho shows Norman Bates sitting in the back room of the reception. In the foreground we see a side view of Norman, and in the background we see a couple of stuffed birds. In this shot Norman shows innocence and vulnerability but we later learn that he is the psycho serial killer. The stuffed owl being a bird of prey shows a link between the bird of prey and Norman. Another link between the characters and the birds of prey is when Marion is seen eating like a bird of prey which further suggests Norman being like a bird of prey.

The lighting used in this shot is low key creating shadows on the birds of prey on the wall. The deep shadows being casted leave the audience feeling anxious because the shadows enlarge the birds and make them more terrifying. Low key lighting creates half dark and half-light areas connoting half good and half evil, which also represents Norman’s schizophrenia. in this shot Normans face is shown to be half dark and half-light as well again showing the audience two sides too his personality.