Camera shots

Long Shot- The object of the shot (in this circumstance the tractor and hay bails) are fully in shot, or as much as is comfortably so.

Extreme Long Shot- The focus of the shot is in the distance, and this can often be used as an establishing shot.

P.O.V(Point of View) A shot which is from the characters perspective, it helps the audience to sympathise with the character, or in some circumstances, like John Hitchcock’s Psycho, you are put into the position of the murderer, which makes the audience feel uncomfortable. So basically it can get things across to the audience without them realising.

Mid Shot- The mid-shot is from about the waist to above the head, enough to get close enough detail on the face, but without being too close and giving across things to the audience which you don’t intend.

Medium-Close Up-The shot in between a close up and a medium shot, often used as a gradual change from medium shot to close up.

Close Up A certain feature or part of the subject takes up the whole frame. Often used in climatic scenes or when an emotion needs to be shown clearly.

Extreme Close Up  A shot used to show a certain section of the face. For example in a horror it could use a extreme close up shot on a someone’s mouth to show her screaming.

Over the Shoulder shot-Looking from behind a person at the subject, used in dialogue scenes, often swapping between the peoples shoulders as they speak.

Two-shot- A shot of two people, framed similarly to a mid shot. Often used to show intimate scenes, fight scenes or simply just people talking.

In groups of four, we were told to choose a horror film and to watch the opening and make notes on the following: Mise en scene, Camera Angles, Sounds and editing. But first we had to get some background information on the film:

Silence of the Lambs

·        The silence of the lambs was the first horror movie to win an academy award for the best picture.

·        Also has the distinction of being only the third movie in history to win the five major Oscars.

·        It is an adaptation of Thomas Harris’s bestselling novel.

·        The film was a deserved winner featuring superb performances from Jodie Foster who played the main role of Claurice Staling a young FBI agent, and Anthony Hopkins who plays the role of Hannibal Lector.

·        It was directed by Jonathan Demme, previously best known for comedy but also had directed a few gore films.

Plot Summary

·        Claurice Staling is asked by her commander at the FBI, Jack Crawford, to visit the notorious serial killer Hannibal ‘the cannibal’ Lector a former psychiatrist held in a high security asylum/prison, who may have an insight into the case of a murderer named Buffalo Bill. 

·        The witty cultured Hannibal is too clever to give up such valuable information easily.

·        He draws Claurice into an uneasy disturbing relationship in which he demands insight into her childhood in exchange for information on the case.

·        They move Hannibal to a better facility but once there he manages a thrilling and physiological escape which involves the death of policemen and medics.

·        Claurice eventually manages to discover the whereabouts of Buffalo Bill and resorts to killing him her and the lives of the girl and possible other girls. 

·        At the end Claurice is awarded with her full FBI status and gets a phone call from Hannibal telling her congratulations and that he won’t harm her but doesn’t plan to stop killing others.

·        It is left with the camera panning out on Hannibal in a foreign country following a man who has done him wrong.

Advert Analysis

This is my advert, it is called ‘Rubber Floors’ and is by Budweiser; http://www.tellyads.com/show_movie.php?filename=TA2571

Location/Setting

This advert is set in a relatively dark, what can be presumed as a flat. This shows straight away that you do not have to be rich to drink the beer. The two rooms that it is set in are the kitchen and the living room, both which can symbolize comfort and enjoyment.

Costumes/Make-Up

What all of the characters are wearing is pretty similar, quite casual clothes which don’t really stand out from the background. This shows once again that it is not just a drink which you have when your dressed up and going to events, but can have when your at home and just lounging around, shown by the casual clothes.

Props

Obviously, the main prop used in this advert is the bottle of Budweiser, which throughout the advert is followed by the camera which shows that it is that which is significant. Also the fridge is used, and is quite lit up and sticks out from the dull background, which links to the message of the advert which is ‘Budweiser Chilled’.  Also in the background you can see a TV playing football, a dartboard, and they are also eating pizza. All these things are quite stereotypically male, almost as though it is like a bachelor bad.

Lighting/Colour

The whole apartment is quite dark which once again shows how you don’t have to be that rich to drink it. Also there are beams of light coming from the windows, and whenever the beer is bounced off the floor, and when it lands it someone’s hand, there is always a beam of light highlighting the beer. This not only make it seem the key focus of the advert but also makes it seem almost heavenly.

Horror Film Conventions

Horror films are unsettling films designed to;

·         Frighten and Panic

·         Cause dread and alarm

·         Invoke our hidden worst films

·         Captivate and entertain us in a cathartic experience

·         Often conclude in a terrifying shocking finale

Fears created by horrors;

·         Nightmares- In some horrors, they can create fears which make people literally fear even when sleeping. For example, In Nightmare on Elm Street, people are attacked actually in their dreams, and for some people, they could actually start to fear sleeping itself.

·         Our Vulnerability- A lot of the time in Horrors it comes to the point where the victims become helpless, whether it being there not fast enough, strong enough, the murderer/monster being a step ahead every time etc. For example, In Friday the 13^th, the killer, Jason Voorhees, seems to be everywhere, and they increase the tension by never actually showing where he is, but him moving, then finally showing him

·         Revulsions- In some horror films there is a lot of gore/torture, in films such as Saw, the main plot revolves around the gore of the film, which can cause the audience to gain fears of such things.

·         Terror of the unknown- In most horror films there is points where the characters enter somewhere without knowing what’s going to happen, for the audience this can cause be scary as it makes them think when they don’t know fully about a place are fully aware of.

·         Fear of Death- In almost every horror film ever made there is at lest one death or close encounter, so it is natural for the audience to grow a general fear of death.

·         Fear of sleep/darkness etc. – This links to vulnerability once again, what scares the audience is being attacked when they either have no way of seeing what is coming or not being awake to defend themselves. In Nightmare on Elm Street, what the bad guy in the film “Freddy Krueger” does is haunts them in their dreams, and whatever he does to them there happens to them in real life, so would cause a fear in the audience of being hurt when actually in sleep.

The stereotypical horror contains;

·         A lead character that often results as the survivor/ hero of the film

·         The killer/monster often has a trademark characteristic in the way he kills, for example the type of people he kills/ where they are/ what he kills them with.

·         There is usually a character who you are drawn to dislike, who often dies very late in the film

·         The outcome is almost always that of the hero surviving and the bad person/monster is prevailed upon

·         It is often ended in a way which makes it seem like there is a chance of extra killing.