Title design research: Horror

 How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?

 Which ones?

In the opening sequence of the final destination there are 25 titles that are shown. They were designer, coordinator, music by, etc. They were used to give credit to the people who worked on the film.

 

What connotations do the images carry? (how do you they make you feel)

The connotations that the images carry are a scared and uneasy feeling. Seeing as though it is a horror movie that would be the case. The imagery used in the sequence is amazing. It shows people dying in x-ray vision. It is brutal and it is supposed to make you feel scared. It also made me feel concerned for the characters and what will happen to them. The images also made me feel scared for what I may witness as a viewer.

 

How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?  

(Can you tell what genre the film is)

The way that the genre is reinforced is by the fact that the sequence in itself is incredibly brutal. It shows people dying in a somewhat “upsetting” way. It also gives the idea of what the movie will be like. Since the movies in the final destination always show people dying in horrible ways, the opening sequence does a good job of showing the idea of the film. It also does a good job of showing what the audience would find interesting/ exciting and entertaining.

 

What conventions are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

The conventions that were used that ensured that the film appeals to its target audience were imagery,Typography, editing, and camera movement. The sequence looks “edgy” which would appeal to its audience. I feel like the target audience are males age 16-28, and the fact that it shows people dying would also appeal to them. They would also like the fact that it is really cool. They also made sure to move the camera in a way that would make sure that the audience keeps full attention to the opening sequence. It is also keeping them excited to see the rest of the film.

Title Website Research

 Hello again. Currently we are working on researching title sequences that are basically always in films. A title is an important part of a film. It lets you know the people who worked on said film. They tell who the important people are and give credit to them. They tell you about the producers, actors, editors, etc. They are way more important than they may seem. They also give you the vibe of the film. The people who create them try to make sure of that. For example take a horror film, they are usually scary so they will try to show that in the title sequence. They would use effects to also enhance the sequence. These effects sometimes are 3d to also make it cool and exciting to the viewer. Also title sequences should hint or foreshadow at what is going to happen to the characters. They want to give the viewer a feeling of excitement or make them want to see what happens later in the film. Features that are typically found in these title sequences are Typography, Editing, Imagery, etc. They are used to enhance the sequence so it isn’t boring or interesting. Some title sequences that people find really well done are Dawn of the Dead(2004) and Deadpool. They use some of the features that were mentioned.They also foreshadow what the film will be like. For example the Deadpool title sequence includes someone being shot. The movie itself is just as violent, and the title did a good job at showing that.

Heathers research

 For the final movie choice that we as a group have chosen, it will be Heathers. A classic among drama and mean girls themed movies. Though there is a play that came after the movie, we won't be using any material from that but focus on the movie's canon. The film follows four young girls in a clique at an Ohio high school, three of which are called Heather, one of whose lives is shattered when a sociopath arrives intent on murdering the popular kids and faking their deaths as suicides. "A picture is worth a thousand words," as the saying goes. That is, after all, a fantastic example of what mise-en-scene is in the film industry. In essence, mise-en-scene is the idea that by looking at still photos from a movie, an audience member may gain a sense of the characters' connections and situations. These visuals are created by elements in a scene, such as the arrangement of performers, sets, costumes, make-up, and lighting, that are set in place before the scene begins and utilized in a certain way during filming. The usage of low angles is another aspect of cinematography in this film. The camera in low angle framing points upward toward the character. The camera perspective descends to a low position after Veronica and J.D. murder someone. This viewpoint provides the audience with a unique perspective. It portrays Veronica's uncertainty and guilt for what has transpired, especially in terms of how she feels. It adds an element of turmoil to J.D.'s life, such as when he's fleeing through the woods chasing Ram. Blood and violence are two things that come to mind when thinking about horror movies. Heathers, on the other hand, isn't a horror film by definition. A mediocre comedy is transformed into a dark comedy by the presence of frightening components. There are lots of laugh-out-loud moments, such as Heather C.'s "fuck me softly with a chainsaw." However, underlying themes of teen suicide, psychopathic tendencies, and school shootings/bombings run throughout the film. This film parodies some of the heavier issues.

Get Out research

 For the next movie that we decided to research in the thriller genre is Get Out. Get Out is a horror thriller that was released in 2017. A basic synopsis of the movie is that a black man is meeting his white girlfriends parents for the first Time. He thinks that the reason that her parents are nervous is because of their interracial relationship. He soon discovers that isn't the case, and that her family transplants their brains into other peoples bodies to live longer as well as for their physical characteristics. So he then must find a way to get out. The movies main message is about racism. The film consistently uses POV shots in order to put your self in Chris's(main character)position and look through his eyes. One example of this is when Chris is outside and he sees movement in the grass, we then see him squint and then we see a POV shot of a man running towards him. This shot makes the watcher feel like they are in the situation and that the man is running towards them. The certain shot builds suspense/fear of what is going to happen. Another use of a POV shot in the movie is when Chris is in the "sunken place"(dark place in his mind) he can see the world through a screen. We then get the POV to make it feel as though we are there and we can see how he is seeing things. 

 The movies also uses quite a few close up shots. Within the movie they are used to show extreme feeling and importance/significance in the movie. An example of this is when Chris is being hypnotized and there is a close up on his face. Within that close up we can vividly see how he is feeling. We can see how scared, afraid, and conceded he is about his current situation. We the audience can feel the what he was feeling through that shot. The movie also has multiple uses of certain sound techniques to enhance the film. For example to film have constant uses of diagetic sound and non- diagetic sounds that are used throughout the film. They are used to bring the viewer an uneasy feeling while watching, among other things. 

 

Thriller movies

 For the first movie we researched, we watched Jurassic world. The movie is an action thriller that was released in 2015. The movie is about a resort that houses artificial dinosaurs that break free. The movie uses a lot of high angles, over the shoulder shots, wide shots, medium close up shots, and closes up along with extreme close up. For example the scene where the T-rex is attacking the sphere with the two boys begins with a tilt then a low angle as the T-rex is revealed. Then when the sphere is attacked and begins spinning we view an over the shoulder scene which transitions into a medium close up shot. The editing helps make these scenes more impactful. For example in the scene where Owen, the main character, along with two other workers are in a cage that actually had a T-rex in it. The T-rex begins to chase them which the editors put in cross cutting, cutaways, and jump cuts. The scene also uses a lot of non-diegetic sound i.e background music to make it more tense along with sound motifs.   

Along with diverse shots and editing, the movie also has many mise-en-scene. The set is set up as a forest and a luxury theme park. The lighting is usually kept dark with multiple flashing bright lights along with smoke. The costumes generally stay the same but the make up makes the characters seem more run down, dirty and injured.

All of these elements help bring the genre, thriller, into the movie by making the film tense and anxiety ridden. These elements must be included in our final task to allow it to be classified as a thriller. The usage of sound and also the lack of sound is a key part in this film with its effect. The biggest thing in this film that we are going to stir away from is the usage of special effects. The film uses special effects to animate the dinosaurs, along with the objects in the location breaking. Since we are simply high school students we have decided to not use special effects to the same advancery. 

Our final choice

 After we have researched and thought about the three different genres we have come to a conclusion. Our conclusion is that thriller will work best for us. We had compare the pros and cons between the three and thriller came out with only one major con.

The only con for thriller was the setting. Typically, thrillers are filmed in locations that are scary and suspenseful, we may not be able to achieve this effect. Simply because of the fact that we are high school students which limits accessibility and safety to remote locations. Similarly, horror has the same problem but to a more extreme. The biggest difference between horror and thriller, is that horror is far more gory which is why a secluded area is needed to not disturb passing civilians. While with drama, the genre is too character center which would complicate things. Horror would also suffer the same consquences since it would be very difficult to try to explain and film a murder scene within the two minute introduction scene. 

The pros for thrillers also outweigh the pros for horror and drama. The biggest pros with both drama and horror is the atmosphere they create. They both create two drastic atmospheres yet make the same effect of making the watcher sit on the edge of their chairs. However their pros do not outweigh thriller’s pro. Thriller’s pro is the use of sound, angles and lighting to make the genre come to life. 

To us, this pro is deemed very important. Our past assignments we had only used basic music and basic sunlight. Along with only including angles that were demanded of us. We believe that the opportunity to explore different techniques with sound, edits and camera angles will bring our media journey to a successful conclusion. We wish for our final task to be one of the best we will create in our high school career.

What a horror!

 One genre, we as a group researched was horror. We had been thinking about making one of our assignments one of horror since the music video. If we were to do a horror introduction we will need to include, a high angle, close ups, tracking shots, reverse shots, tilted angles, and low angles. Horror movies also tend to use hand held cameras especially during intense scenes.

There is typically two types of horror costumes. One in which the character uses a childish aesthetic to hide their murderous intentions and then the other one is the serious side that is filled with more grays and blacks along with typical white masks. The make up in horror tends to be bold and unnatural and tend to make the skin seem washed out. In nearly all horror films there is a prop weapon involve. There is also a lot of flashing lights.

The editors tend to edit in special effects, cross cuts, jump cuts and cutaways. Editors also input the sound in the horror film for example sound motif, diegetic sound, and sound bridges. You can find these examples within the Nun, it 2, the Empty Man and Fear Street.

The elements of horror that we like is the aspect of it. The idea that one can find creepy and disturbing things entertaining is intriguing. Not to mention, the ways we'll get to explore our environments and editing skills. 

The biggest thing we don't like is how difficult it would be to include a murder scene in the introduction of a film. It would feel very out of place and strange for it to just be a murder scene. Not to mention, it would be difficult to find fake blood during the beginning of the year. Another thing would be finding a location where we will have a good atmosphere but also won't bother other people. We don't want to get in trouble for pretending to fake murder someone.