The locations of horror films tend to be enclosed spaces, emphasising claustrophobia in the audience and making the threat of an attacker more frightening and ever present. Westerns tend to use wide, sweeping landscapes of America, such as this location used in 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly':
As we are trying to make a combination of genres, this contrast could be a problem. However, we are only taking the element of the threat of horror films and putting them into a typically Western style and situation, meaning we should be attempting to find locations that are reminicsnet of Western settings. However, there are not many areas in Oxford that look like this. There are many parks across the city that could give a wide landscape to film in. Also, due to the more urban and less natural nature of horrors, we could attempt to modernise the style of Westerns by using a contrasting location such as a concreted carpark or road. This would give a darker visual style than a park which is what we are aiming for.
The opening of a film is very significant as it establishes the overall theme and tone of the film and gives the audience an impression of what they will be watching. It should set up or foreshadow the narrative but also establish the atmosphere of the work. Filmmakers must know what will appeal to audiences and make them want to continue to watching. Different genres have different audiences, meaning that a combination of genres will attract a wide range of people.
This is the top ten UK box office results from the current week. It displays a wide range of genres, including horror, comedy, thriller, drama, romantic comedy and family films. The genre of horror is popular with audiences because it is enjoyable to be scared and they are easy to watch and highly entertaining, unlike some of these films which may be more complex and difficult.
This graph from the UK Film Council shows the demand for different genres of films, based on a poll taken by 1978 people. As is also shown here, the genre of horror is fairly popular, though Western is much less so. This is because of the gradual loss of mainstream Western movies over time. They were very popular in the early to mid 20th century, as the whole genre of Western in other fiction had been prominent around that time. Since then Westerns have become far less popular and it is unusual to see them in the cinema. However, there has been a phase of modern Westerns becoming popular, such as the American television show Justified. Remakes such as '3:10 to Yuma' and 'True Grit' have been successful in the last few years, indicating that Westerns and genre films in general may be gaining popularity again.
This shows that both Westerns and horrors are more popular with men than women and generally younger people. This could be because of the exaggerated fast paced nature of them.
Typography is the art of lettering based around the style, size and type being used. As a large amount of lettering is used in the credits of films, it is a significant area for us to investigate. The opening credits and the title board of a film give the audience an impression of the overall tone and genre of the film because of associations we have with certain styles of lettering. Writing is also sometimes used in film to display the place and time events are occurring. As typography establishes so much about the style of the film, I have looked at different uses of it in film.
Our aim is to create a film opening that comically combines the two contrasting genres of Westerns and horror. Both are very recognisable and stylised, meaning audiences will gather expectations for the film based on the association of the font used.
Westerns are one of the oldest film genres, as they were based on popular Western fiction in other media from the late 19th century, the style of typography used in them has developed over time.
Posters such as these were used in the actually Old West and the typography used in them was developed into the lettering seen in Western films.
These are screenshots from Sergio Leone's 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly'. It is a Spaghetti Western, a more arty and stylised type of Western made by Italian American directors. The typography mimics the aforementioned posters typography, giving the film and impression of authenticity. The manner in which the lettering appears on the screen is reminiscent of a splatter of blood, emphasised by the sound of gunshots. The font is large and consistent in the centre of the screen, signifying strength and certainty of the characters and theme of the film.
A similar technique of transition is used in this horror film, 'Dawn of the Dead'. The typography more realistically changes into blood and disperses than in the Western. This could be due to the darker tone of the horror genre and more graphic nature of the violence in this film. The colour also connotes aggression and blood, relating to the death caused by the zombies and the infection of the disease. The font used is also in the centre of the screen, signifying the strength and relentlessness of the threat in the film. It is also less decorative than the Western font, showing that the film is more serious.
This is from David Fincher's 'Se7en', a crime horror film about murders based around the seven deadly sins. The typography used here is small and off centre as the lettering flickers, signifying fear and the fragmented nature of the characters and tone of the film. The font is simple and childlike, contrasting with the image on screen in an unsettling manner. White is used for the letters to emphasise the darkness of the rest of the image, making the words seems very distinct.
The colouring here also contrasts with the background, emphasising the significance of the typography. The lettering is slightly more rough and and less formal, relating to the cartoonish drawings in the title sequence. The Walking Dead television show was based on a comic book, meaning that the visual style of typography relates to this.
From looking at this examples of typography, it's clear that relation of the lettering to the visuals is especially important, as well as the positioning of title and credits on the screen.
To find a suitable font for our film opening, I used the website http://www.dafont.com/ which provides free downloads of a range of fonts in different styles.
This is a fairly simple font used for every word that reflects Western style of typography. However, while it is more comical and informal than some fonts, I think that the combination of genres is not obvious enough and could be represented better through the use of contrasting styles.
I used contrasting fonts in this example. First I used the more horror associated style with the word 'zombie' and Western style for 'cowboys'. However, to make the combination of genres more clear, I swapped this around, using the red, violence associated font for 'cowboys' and Old West style for 'zombie'. The positioning of the typography is uneven, signifying the damaged and fragmented nature of the zombie attack.
We decided to focus our film opening on a combination of genres. Genres films are commonly stylised and recognisable, using many genre conventions including directorial style, soundtrack, cinematography and the content of the film. Combining genres has recently become popular in film and television, with many examples subverting the conventions expected by audiences to create original and refreshing material. We decided to focus on the genres of horror and Western. While both are dissimilar in content, they share many features.
Western: Westerns are based on the American Old West and became popular in the late 19th century. Western films originally focused on life for settlers in that time period and almost always featured a cowboy or gunfighter protagonist. They would typically be brave and a good person who would rescue others from the enemy, though later evolved to be a more complex and darker character.
Horror: First appearing in the 1930s, the genre of horror films are those that attempt to scare the audience. They typically include a form of evil that will evoke the viewer's fear, for example supernatural forces or serial killers. Subgenres have developed, including slasher movies (those that include a psychotic stalking murderer) and splatter movies (those focussing on graphic violence).
The combination of these genres for our film opening could be funny as they are so different. However, they are similar in some areas: both generally make use of techniques that give the films a stylised nature. While both may originally be based on aspects of truth (actual cowboys in the Old West/people's fear and rare true horror stories), there is rarely an attempt to make them appear realistic. They are both based on exaggerated reality for the audience's entertainment. Both also make use of stereotypical character. The Westerns first used a typical heroic male character, then commonly developing into a 'mysterious stranger'. Horrors have developed many conventions that have become so common that they have been referenced and subverted in films such as 'Scream'. They often feature token characters, representing their whole gender or ethnic group.
Our initial idea was to combine the two highly recognisable genres, which we then developed using the 3 act structure:
Act 1:
1. A wide shot of the Little Guy running through an abandoned landscape, with evidence of an infectious outbreak in the background mise-en-scene. He is frightened and panicked, so runs into a lamppost by accident. A bird's eye view shot of him lying on the ground, unconscious. The feet of two zombies appear in a low angle shot from the ground, and it becomes clear that this is in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. They enter into a Western style showdown over him, through the use of close up shots of eyes and hands and tension building Western music. The music cuts out and a wide shot shows them both moving very slowly towards him in competition. A medium shot of one of them shows it falling, to reveal the Cowboy stabbing it. This changes to a low angle shot to emphasise his height. He takes off his shades and makes a cool zombie related quip (which we may or may not actually be able to think of), with the sun shining behind him.
2. The Little Guy follows the Cowboy to his hideout where they agree to team up.
Act 2:
3. The Little Guy treats his wounds with surgical spirit, which unbeknownst to them attracts zombies, causing a raid.
4. They both escape and run to the hospital to gather provisions, including surgical spirit.
Act 3:
5. While searching for the surgical spirit, the come across a room full of zombies consuming it and realise they feed off it.
6. They try to hide in a cupboard, finding a large supply of surgical spirit and form a plan.
7. They leave a massive trail of surgical spirit into the centre of the hospital. The Cowboy lights his last cigarette and throws it into the chemicals, blowing the zombies up as they both run for cover.
8. The Cowboy gives the Little Guy his hat as a sign of respect but is suddenly attacked by a zombie on fire. The Little Guy escapes and recues another survivor, restarting the cycle.
Characters:
The Little Guy:
Works at the Games Workshop and enjoys strategy games, meaning that he is skilled at manoeuvring around the zombies when they attack
Was hiding in the Games Workshop with his friends until the zombies broke through their barricade and he escaped
Has stereotypically nerdy traits: into Warhammer, intelligent, weak - subverted when he helps to kill the zombies
The Cowboy:
Archetypal hero - very brave and strong but not as intelligent or as rational as the Little Guy.
Reflects the protagonist of classic Westerns - from the deep South, mysterious stranger, courageous, rescues others, rides a horse
Carries a 'last cigarette' to smoke before dies - cheesy action hero trait that contrasts Little Guy
Searching for salvation after zombies killed his family
I chose this extract of the 1990s American television supernatural drama Twin Peaks as an example of good editing. The editing helps to create the unnerving atmosphere of the nightmare the character is having about the murder case he has been sent to Twin Peaks to solve.
This is done by editing many shots of different characters and settings together. The idea that he is dreaming is established through the juxtaposition of the camera slowly zooming into his face as he lies in bed and himself in a completely different location. The transition is a fade which emphasises the fact that he is losing consciousness. The scene continues with high paced cutting between images relating to the victim. This, juxtaposed with fast electrical sounds connotes the impression of crime scene photography, relating to the character’s mission.
The scary and nightmarish tone is emphasised by the use of fading into seemingly random people and objects (which later are revealed to relate to the crime), with the use of threatening point of view shots, dark lighting and ominous soundtrack. After the fast paced and disorientating cutting, the setting changes to the red room. The editing is at a slower pace and lingers on characters for long lengths of time, leaving the audience disconcerted.
To complete the task of creating a film opening, we have assigned roles to each member of our group so we can effectively cover each area of the production. The roles involve:
Typography: The use of typography in film most commonly relates to the title board that displays the name of the film at its start. Typography covers the typeface, size, colour and general style of lettering. It is also used significantly in the opening and closing credits, meaning that it has an effect on the audience's first impression of a film. The style of the typography should also relate to the overall theme of a film, so is important to our film opening.
Story narrative: The narrative of a film is the way in which the story is told. The film contains multiple story arcs of different characters which are usually set up in the opening of the film. To create a film opening that makes narrative sense (e.g. correct pacing and effective beginning of story arcs) we will draft the complete narrative of the film in the form of a pitch.
Audience research: This is a significant area for filmmakers as it can help them find and understand the demographic their film will be aimed at. Certain genres of film have audiences differing in things such as age, gender and location. Films with widely popular genres are more likely to be produced than ones with small audiences, in interest of profit. If we look at the demographic of the genre of our film opening, we can use the information to make it appeal more greatly to them.
Visual planning: The most significant area of visual planning is the storyboard. We will use this in our film opening to plan the type of shots to use and exactly what will be happening on camera. This will make the filming process faster and more efficient, though if necessary we can make changes to the shots while filming.
Music and soundtrack: The soundtrack adds greatly to the atmosphere and tone of a film. Many genres are strongly associated with a certain type of music that will commonly feature in them. The soundtrack can contrast from the visuals for comic effect, or add to the tension of a scene in a horror. Sound effects are also used in film, particularly those such as science fiction or action to emphasise the technological or intense tone. As the opening must establish the atmosphere of the film, our project must use music and sound effectively to do so.
Scheduling, casting and locations: Before filming our opening scene, we must find people to cast as the characters. As we are in a school environment, there are many people, such as those taking theatre studies, or may be willing to participate. The location of the filming will be influenced by the genre of film we use to do. This could be a problem, as Oxford doesn't have a wide range of varying locations to film in. As many people will be involved in this project, we will have to schedule times to plan and film the scene.
I am going to work on the areas of typography, the story narrative, audience research and locations.
Narrative arcs are the path and progression of a character or storyline within a narrative. A character can have multiple story arcs, the number and length depending on the type of text. For example, films are shorter in length than television series, which often run for around 20 episodes in American series. This contained nature of cinema means that the narrative arcs of the characters and other elements of the story will be shorter and sometimes less developed. While television has episodic narrative arcs that may be concluded by the end of the episode, they also contain larger series arcs that run for many episodes and may involve many characters. This is reflected in the openings of both television and film. The openings of both must set up the future arcs, but television must contain both the episodic and series arcs. The progression of the episodic arc will be faster than film, though films must develop every element at an overall greater pace due to length.
In ‘Blue Velvet’, the opening uses strong foreshadowing to present the nature of the overall narrative arc of the film. The symbolism used that I previously described displays the film’s themes and the protagonist’s journey throughout the film. This implication of the sudden and drastic change in tone of the opening from idyllic to nightmarish presents the audience with a contained display of the result of the character’s personal narrative arc, as he continues to find a dark, violent and surreal criminal underworld situated in the peaceful and seemingly perfect neighbourhood that he lives in.
The opening of ‘Manhattan’ similarly establishes the style of the film and the tone that the narrative arc will result in. While neither film indicates much of the main content of the film e.g. characterisation of the protagonist or their situations, both present a very strong atmosphere from which the audience can infer the direction of the narrative arcs. ‘Manhattan’ presents less information on the individual character’s arcs, focussing more on the setting of the film.This is appropriate as it present’s the importance of New York to the plot and the character’s attitudes towards it. Overall, this suggests to the audience that the location of the events of the film will be extremely significant to the individual and overall narratives of ‘Manhattan’.
‘Vera Drake’ also uses the previously described techniques of camera movements and angles, and mise-en-scene to establish the atmosphere of the film as well as the setting and time period. However, ‘Vera Drake’ focuses more on the protagonist of the film than either ‘Manhattan’ or ‘Blue Velvet’ by opening with her interacting with other supporting characters in a typical environment for her. This give the audience greater evidence towards the direction the character’s narrative arc will take, as it features the character’s storyline rather than just imagery to foreshadow events or set a tone for the film. This is a more direct method of setting up the narrative arc of the film and a more conventional one: as films are shorter than a television series overall, they usually must introduce the main elements of the narrative more quickly.
The most common structure used in film is the 3 act structure. In the first act, the overall narrative arc will be setup. This includes the main characters, the setting and the times period of the film. Towards the end of the first act events will lead into the confrontation of second act which will most commonly present a problem to the characters and progress the plot. The third act will increase the narrative's tension to the climax of events in the final quarter and will end with a conclusion of the narrative arc. This structure can be seen in many film, especially older and more traditional ones, as modern filmmakers often attempt to find new ways of expressing a narrative through film.
Hannah and her Sisters (1986), directed by Woody Allen, begins with his traditional visual style of title sequence, in this instance with a piece of jazz music playing over it. This is non-diegetic music and helps to establish the characters in the opening scene and the overall atmosphere of the film. The style of music is associated with America, relating to the New York setting and connotes a sense of nostalgia. This nostalgia, or longing for the past, reflects the character’s futile pinging after his wife’s sister whom he is in love with. This is supported by the connotations jazz music has with a two person dance, emphasising his feelings for her. The music is energetic, further establishing the lively party setting, which is established later through diegetic sounds, and the animated nature of the woman. It also indicates that the character may be intellectual and sophisticated, as jazz had a greater popularity in the 1940s era and was uncommon in the 1980s setting’s mainstream. This piece becomes the motif of the two character’s relationship as it develops and changes throughout the film.
Immediately after the title sequence are the written words ‘God, she’s beautiful.’ which are displayed before any visuals. These, juxtaposed with the image of the male character directly afterwards, imply that these are his thoughts, as is confirmed by his repetition in his voice over instantly afterwards. The absence of sound in the writing before he speaks signifies the personal and contained nature of the audience is seeing, while the voice over indicates his inability to supress it.
The film's opening displays a representation of the strive for the perfect yet unrealistic middle class life in America. It begins with a downwards tilt of the camera, showing a white picket fence, a bright blue sky and a row of red flowers. The objects in the shot all connote the idea of the realisation of the American dream through a perfect suburban home though the bright colours used, which connote peace and contentment, seem artificial, foreshadowing the reveal of corruption. The image fades into the next, signifying the gentle quality of the setting. There is a series of long shots and medium shots, displaying a seemingly idyllic neighbourhood and its peaceful occupants, while the static nature of the shots signifies the stability of their lives. The non-diegetic 1950s pop song ‘Blue Velvet’ plays over the opening, emphasising the picturesque and nostalgic quality of the images. However, as a man in his garden suffers a stroke, there is an extreme close up of the grass and the camera tracks forward, displaying the sinister image of insects fighting in the undergrowth. When juxtaposed with the previous ideal imagery and the use of positively connoted colours, the visually and thematically dark imagery and disturbing diegetic sound signify the artificial and constructed nature of the perfect neighbourhood and model suburban life. This symbolism foreshadows the later content of the film, as the protagonist discovers a criminal underworld taking place around him.
The film had the relatively low budget of $6,000,000 and was not put out by one of the most major studios. This would have affected the marketing of the film, causing only a fairly small profit to be made. This could have been also due to the niche demographic of the film as it was 18 certificate due to violent and sexual content and the dark themes throughout, and the fact that it was neo-noir, drawing from noir films of the 1940s. This style had decreased in popularity, leaving a smaller target audience.
Manhattan (1979) opening scene:
Manhattan was directed by Woody Allen who commonly uses New York as a setting for his films. The budget is not likely to have been large, as the production was minimal due to the understated character based story, using no special effects. The widescreen aspect ratio allows the frequent use of scenery to be fully displayed and have a greater impact on the viewer.
A male author narrates a montage of black and white shots of New York City in the 1970s, describing a character’s love for the place. Non-diegetic jazz music by George Gershwin plays while he speaks. His representation is that of a citizen of New York, more than his identity through his gender or age group. He is portrayed as humorous as he comments on his own writing as he speaks, though his affection and pride for the city is clear as it is implied that the character that he is writing for is based on himself. The pride over his regional identity displayed in the opening monologue is represented as being nostalgic and sentimental due to the juxtaposition of the black and white images and the old fashioned jazz music, which signifies the character’s longing for the past and his youth. This contrasts with the expected style of a film of that time period, as colour and more modern features were common, causing the audience to infer the importance of regional history to the character and people living in New York. The character also mentions his dislike of contemporary culture, supporting the idea of the character’s over sentimentalised perception of the place in which he lives.
The genre of Manhattan is romantic comedy, though while most films of this genre are targeted at women and use marketing techniques designed to interest them, the setting of this film rather than the content was used to market it. The poster for Manhattan features a significant shot from the film of two characters sitting by the Queensboro Bridge, using a minimalist black and white design in keeping with the film. The audience, therefore, was likely to be those that could relate to the protagonist’s enthusiasm for the city and nostalgia for culture from the past, so could have been an older demographic.
Vera Drake opening scene:
Vera Drake (2004) was directed by Mike Leigh with a budget of $11 million. It is plot driven film, meaning that high production values were not necessary as there was no need for features such as special effects.
The titles sequence opens with yellow coloured credits in a formal font over a black screen. Old fashioned, mournful non-diegetic music plays, creating a sense of nostalgia in the audience and connotes a 1950s time period. The opening medium long shot displays a middle aged woman, who the camera tracks alongside, signifying her importance, while the connotation of the mise-en-scene further establishes the setting and time. The camera focuses on her shoes before she enters the house, displaying the type and quality of clothes she wears, from which the audience can infer her class and social position. The setting also establishes the context of the film: the style of the house and the wallpaper used are old fashioned and associated with the 1950s. A medium shot of two characters in the house emphasise their representation as working class, as it highlights the cramped living conditions. Much of the content of the mise-en-scene is brown, connoting simplicity and nature, rather than colours such as blue and gold which would indicate wealth and a higher social class. The character, who speaks with a working class London accent, is shown over enthusiastically tending to a sick man, implying that life in this social class is difficult for them.
The audience of Vera Drake was likely to have had a wide range, as it is a historical drama, which is a popular drama. However, it was also heavily marketed to emphasise the crime story aspect of the film, as this would draw in a large and varied audience. The tagline ‘Wife. Mother. Criminal.’ was possibly used to attract the interest of a younger demographic that might not normally see this film.
The value of a certain amount of time of a film or TV show (types of video media) based on the percentage of budget applied to it. The production values of different texts vary, but generally films are higher as they are shorter. Television, however, can run for up to around 24 episodes in American seasons, meaning that the overall amount of funding given to each is much lower than a two hour film. There are more sources of investments for films, increasing the budget, which allows a more stylish and higher quality appearance of the film. Some films, however, may intentionally imitate the features of low budget and production values, for example art films, independent cinema and exploitation and B-movies. This may be because of a lack of funding or stylistic choices. However, there are many factors that contribute to the production values; for example, films tend to have more famous actors that require higher pay, and television
may have a greater number of staff for a longer amount of time.
Verisimilitude:
The measure of the reality created within a media text and how accurately the creators stay to the reality they have constructed, which doesn't actually have to be realistic overall. Everything in the text should keep with the premise of the reality even if it would occur in the real world.
This is our preliminary video that we made to help us develop skills to use in our actual film opening. We included examples of match on action shots (the shots showing her walking through the door at the beginning), shot reverse shots (between her and the sandwich), and we kept to the 180 degree rule. This task helped us to understand the various effects of combining shots and different shot lengths, for example we thought the build up of intensity made through the repetition of the shot reverse shots was effective.
However, when making the real film opening I think that we should add a greater variety of shots and more camera movement to make the story more engaging, as well as improving the editing to make the film smoother and less disorientating for the audience. Furthermore, the mixture of different genres and styles in this preliminary video - the horror aspects of the soundtrack and the Western style intense shot-reverse-shot of her and the sandwich - are not particularly clear. To develop and improve this, we will research into the conventions of various genres if we continue with this multi-genre style.
Gender is a major theme in the British television show ‘Prime Suspect’, due to the strong female protagonist and her conflict with a variety of male characters in the male dominated environment of the law enforcement profession. In this extract, the use of camera movements, shots and mise-en-scene present this opposition in gender.
The camera movement and shots in the extract present Helen Mirren’s character’s struggle to be promoted in a male favoured occupation. It begins with an over the shoulder shot facing Mirren’s male superior colleague from a similar point of view as her character, displaying the authority the man has over her and the contrast between their professional roles. This leads into a series of close up shots, presenting her response to his refusal to promote her or listen to her ‘women’s rights issues’. These shots display the man as the leader of the dialogue and the more powerful figure, as they cause the audience to focus on her reaction to his rebuke. The following medium long shot displaying her empty seat at the man’s desk signifies her forced submission to the patriarchal structure of her career path, enforcing the close up shot’s display of the passive female role in contrast with the active male role.
The subsequent scene is in contrast as a whole with the previous, presenting two men at a desk in an office. The exchange is similar but the use of a static medium long shot rather than the unstable exchange of close ups implies a greater level of equality, most probably due to the lack of discrimination against males despite the different levels of professional authority. The shot is also slightly angled to the left, presenting the characters as more open and equal in comparison to the previous over the shoulder shots.
The mise-en-scene also gives the implication of the male controlled environment through the use of colours. The office is coloured with bleak browns and blues, which are colours associated with masculinity. Similarly, the positioning and posture of the characters are more relaxed and informal than when the female character was present, who is never mentioned by name. Their use of “her” implies that they prejudicially consider her representative of her gender in a form of discriminatory depersonalisation of her as an individual.
Camera shots are also used in another scene to display the gender imbalance toward men. A medium shot pans across a room of employees, the movement presenting a total lack of female presence, indicating that it is a prejudiced environment. This is in strong contrast with the previous scene, in which the camera tracks Mirren in a medium shot with the mise-en-scene displaying the word ‘Commander’ on the door she exits. The juxtaposition of this with her celebration implies her gain in power, while the movement of the camera is largely in contrast with previous scenes with static shots of males. This signifies her progress and success in subverting the gender binary roles displayed in her career.
A close up of Mirren’s face when reacting to a female murder victim shows her typically female-associated emotional response to an upsetting image. It implies that she, as a female, empathises with the murdered woman, a reaction that is not displayed by any male character, highlighting their differences. However, her show of emotion is quickly suppressed, implying that she feels she must display masculine traits to succeed in this field. The over the shoulder shots used when she interacts with another female employee parallels her exchange with her male colleagues. The mise-en-scene supports this masculine imitation; both female characters dress in a masculine manner and have short unfeminine, hair.
In conclusion, contrasting uses of camera movements and shots in accordance with opposing genders and the use of male associated features of the mise-en-scene all contribute to the representation of the repression of women in the character’s vocation.
