Horror genre opening film analysis of the conjuring - 2013

The conjuring opening film analysis

Analysed the first 2 minutes

The film opens with a voice over narration explaining a dramatic, mysterious incident with a doll. This is supported by an extreme close up shot of a section of the dolls face, this reveals that the doll has a cracked glass eye and cut cheek which is a typical cliché of the horror genre but also very abnormal for a typical doll a child would play with. This also creates enigma codes as the doll appears to be battered, bloody and broken. The opening cuts to a group of young adults who are shown through a medium shot, which highlights their anxious faces. They are being interviewed about an event involving the doll; the audience are placed in the position of the interviewer through an over the shoulder shot.

As one of the female teenagers begin to talk about their experience with the dolls, it flashes back to the time she is describing. A medium shot shows two girls opening the door combined with a diegetic sound of the girls giggling, their costumes shows that they have potentially just came back from an evening at the pub. With both characters being female this highlights how vulnerable the both are as they enter the apartment. They notice a note placed on the floor which has a creepy message written in red pen on it, it reads “miss me?” There is then a close up shot of the doll placed on the floor holding the red pen in its hand, this makes the audience question the dolls innocence. The use of low key lighting (flickering) and eerie non diegetic piano music goes with the typical conventions of a horror film. There is then a wide angle shot which reveals the same message on the wall as it did on the piece of paper. A medium shot shows the characters looking up, it shows that they are weak.  

Horror genre opening film analysis of Scream - 1996

Opening film analysis of scream

Analysed the first opening 2 minutes and 30 seconds of this film.

Scream opens with a diegetic sound of a phone ringing and a match on action shot of a young female women picking up the phone. It then switches to a close up shot of her happily answering the phone, she then has a short and strange conversation with a deep voiced man, asking her questions like “who she was” and “what her number was”. She swiftly ends the call and the camera switches to medium shot of her walking away from the phone. A diegetic sound of the phone rings again, and the camera switches to a close up of the girls shocked and apprehensive face. This creates enigma codes as the audience want to know why the phone keeps ringing and who’s on the other end of the line? The same match on action scene repeats in a way, the female answers the phone again to the same deep voice. There is then a close up shot of the girl speaking to the male, as he tries to entertain her she smiles flirtatiously about the attention she is receiving but quickly ends the call.

A wide angle shot shows the top of an old, rusty tree and pans down to see a wooden swing hanging from it blowing in the wind, this is a cliché from a typical horror film. A close up shot shows the female putting popcorn onto an oven, when an off screen sound of a telephone rings again. For the next 20 secs or so the camera pans round the female on the phone, the male begins to ask her questions about whether she likes horror movies or not. As she responds she begins to slowly rub her hands along the knives placed in the kitchen, another typical cliché for a horror genre. She then slowly walks into the living room, carrying on this conversation the man asks “what's your name” she responds “why do you want to know?” and he replies “because I want to know who I’m looking at”. A close up shot on her face shows her shock and confusion.

Target audience for horror films

Target Audience for the horror genre:

The target audience is typically young males aged 16 to 24, with an interest in gory, creepy and exciting things. They are most likely to watch it because they can be spooked and obtain a thrill more easily and opposed to those who are older and might not find these things exciting. Most people enjoy the idea that the costumes are very over exaggerated and the scenes build with tension as the film goes from the start to the end. 

Codes and conventions of a horror film

Action genre opening film analysis of Mission impossible: Ghost Protocol - 2011

Mission impossible: Ghost Protocol opening scene analysis

Analysed the first 2 minutes

Mission impossible: Ghost protocol opens with 4 short shots, one from outside a highly secured prison, the second and third being of criminals in their bunks asleep and the fourth on the main character throwing and catching a ball against the wall, it is completely silent apart from the repetitive diegetic sound of the ball bouncing of the wall. The camera then pans down from the prison onto a mobile van unit, this and off screen sounds of dogs aggressively barking highlight to the audience how something is about to happen. The audience then sees a couple of medium shots of inside the van and the spy tech that is laid out, a close up shot of one of the spy like characters shows him typing. The camera then switches back to inside the prison which shows a long shot of 4 guards relaxing in the control room, either reading, sleeping or playing cards. The screens that the guards are supposed to be watching goes black for a split second and then back to a normal screen. This creates some enigma codes for the audience as they want to know what the spy like character is up to and if he is going to get caught out. The prison setting, lack of sounds, prison officer’s uniforms and prisoners highlight to the audience that this film is part of the action genre and most likely something exciting is going to happen.

The audience then hear an enhanced sound of a verification buzzer, combined with the diegetic sound of one set of cell gates opening. A medium shot shows the prisoner surprised that his sell is opened. The audience then see a short perspective shot (from the spy’s computer) of the prisoner opening the cell and looking out, the camera switches back to a close up shot of the spy character smiling successfully. As the prisoner walks out of his cell, there is a continued off screen background noise of the ball still being thrown against the wall. As a guard discovers this prisoner wondering about, the camera switches back to inside the van where the character says a short dialogue to himself. With another enhanced sound of a verification buzzer, the camera switches back to the prison where two more prisoners are released from their cells. The camera switches back to another perspective shot from the spy's computer where the audience can see the three prisoners beat up and get into a hustle with this guard combined with diegetic sounds of the guards cries for help. Then there is a close up of the spy character mouthing “sorry” and pulling a awkwardly sympathetic face.

The camera then switches to a completely new setting of a female character running down a dark and dingy sewer combined with diegetic sounds of the water splashing below her feet.     

This switching back from inside and outside the prison is known as parallel editing where it switches between two or more events occurring at the same time, in this case I think it's applied to cause the audience confusion and persuade them to carry on watching.

Target audience for action genres

The target audience is typically a young adult male, with an interest in action, thrills and excitement. They would usually go to watch these films with other males as action films usually contain things that are stereotypically masculine eg. Car chases, explosions, gun fights and fighting. Due to most action films having a strong male character this is also another reason why a male would want to go watch this type of film, however there are also different ethnic or even female actors that could interest others to watch them. Another reason why they are so popular is because they give people an adrenaline rush and make them feel like they are a part of the film.

Codes and conventions of an action film

Favourite film analysis - Charlies Angels - 2000

Favourite film analysis - Charlies Angels (2000)

Charlies Angels is an action packed film with fight scenes, explosions and much more. It is one of my favourite films because it involves 3 strong women who are courageous and smart and are able to save the day. I guess when I first watched it when I was much younger it almost made me want to be like these women.

The opening scene of the trailer is a tracking shot of an airplane, it then shows two characters, in a hustle whilst one of them is trying to drag the other one of the plane. This shot is really effective as the audience instantly thinks how action packed this film is going to be. Whilst this is all happening there's a voice over by the mysterious Charlie who is describing how these three girls are intelligent, talented, tough and attractive and how they all work as private investigators. The audience then sees a quick explosion, the main characters flying through the air and then landing safely on a speed boat. Whist this is going on there are sound effects in the background, a combination of the explosion, water and speed boat.

The trailer then flows through of different medium and close up shots of fight scenes, explosions and comedic sections from the film.

Horror genre opening film analysis of The purge: Election year - 2016

   

The purge: election year opens with a medium shot of an iPod and on screen, diegetic rock music which quickly switches to a tracking shot of bloody knives and scissors, leading to a close up shot of a middle aged man in a creepy mask sitting down, dancing happily to the music. This is followed by lots of cuts of extreme close ups of victims with smeared blood, sweat and tears running down their face, this highlights to the audience that the film is part of the horror genre. It then switches to a medium shot of a mother and daughter like characters looking up to each other in discomfort and pain as they are tied up. This creates a number of enigma codes as the audience want to know what’s happened for the victims to get into this state and why are they there.

The lighting of the whole scene is very dark and gloomy reflecting the current mood, however every time the camera focuses on the masked man there is a sudden flash of light showing his power within the situation. The masked man then has a short dialogue were he explains how this last song will be played as it is their last game of the evening. This begins to give the audience many conclusions about what's gone on, as the non-diegetic music plays and the masked character continues to explain their fate, the audience sees a wide angle shot of the 4 victims all tied up and sitting next to each other in unease and distress, it then zooms in on a close up shot of the father figure victims face showing how he feels weak and useless to his family.

Once again you then see lots of short and sharp cuts of extreme close ups and close ups of the victims in rage and anger as they try and beg for their freedom, along with lots of flashes of bright lights. A wide angle shot then shows the masked man suddenly standing up and empowering the victims.