Scream - 1996 - Wes Craven

Enigma codes-

• Who is she?
• Is she a key character?
• Is she significant?
• Why is she alone?
• Where are her parents?

-create a hook so that the audience wants to keep watching to find out the answers, which are later answered. The lack of information we receive about the character makes the narrative even more suspense filled. Moreover the phone keeps ringing throughout raising further enigma codes. You wonder who is on the other end ringing? Why they keeping ringing? Why they have chosen to target her specifically. Whether the phone will played a key role throughout in building suspense? Will it keep cropping up? All of these questions keep the audience interested and wanting to know what the story line is, although they are answered in time.


The characters presented in the opening sequence is typical of the horror conventions. A young female with blond hair and pale skin, which immediately portrays her as innocent and vunerable. The audience doesn't find out much about her, Casey, in the way of background information but you do get a clear sense of her character through her actions and choices. Such as when she keeps answering the phone even when its clear to her as well as the audience that the person on the other end is 'bad news' highlighting her as naive and it would seem to the audience that she lacks common sense - this is commonly played by females in horror films - they generally do the opposite to what they should be.

Mise-en-scene

Through the majority of the opening sequence, the location is the downstairs of her house. This shown through an initial establishing shot of the outside of her house, using a panning shot to show more of the setting. This is very typical of horror films as they make the characters seem wealthy, while also establishing the unsettling mood as the house is so large and isolated. The size of the house also emphasises how small she is in comparison; again highlighting her vulnerability.

Lighting

The establishing shot quickly tells the audience that the narrative takes place at night and therefore creates anxiety and uncertainty within the audiences minds as it has a creepy feel. The darkness outside has also been used effectively by having lots of shots of her looking out of the many windows into the darkness. Again making the audience feel uneasy and weary of what is out there. The bad unknown character can see her inside but she can't see him out side, and that has a really creepy feeling of being watched about it that I don't like at all!

Editing

Cuts have been used to mimic the atmosphere throughout the opening sequence. Beginning with longer shots where cuts are less frequently used, creating a more relaxed mood in contrast to later on when she becomes fearful and panicked; shown through a use of short shots and quick, sharp cuts to pick up the pace and reflect her emotions.
Of course, match-on-action is fairly evident throughout to maintain the flow. Eye line match has also been used in places to make the audience feel as if they are experiencing the narrative from Casey's point of view; therefore feeling more involved in the story.

Iconography

Typically, like in many horror films, Scream begins by having a phone ringing to puncture the existing silence, surprising and possibly scaring the audience. It also creates a fear of the unknown and begins to reveal the direction that the story is taking.
Blood has of course has also been featured - what's a horror film without blood?- although not to a huge extent in the opening sequence. When it is used, it is all the more dramatic and horrific as Casey looks so young and innocent lying dead and covered in blood; it's an image that shocks the audience even though it was pretty obvious that she was going to die eventually.

Titles

Unlike the typical conventions of horror films, the title for Scream appears at the very start without having footage before hand to foreshadow event to come... or even the producers or distributors for that matter!
The colours used for the title are very important as it is the first thing that you see and so needs to clearly identify the genre of film. To do this the title first appears as stark white on black- clear and simple- but then changes to red on black to symbolise and foreshadow the events and blood that is to come. The font is also  bold and simple so that it's easy to see, ensuring that it is the focus of the audiences focus.

MIRRORS - 2008 - Alexandre Aja

I couldn't find the opening sequence so I've included the trailer instead!

The first time that I watched this I was genuinely very freaked out and a little grossed out due to the graphic gore included- I suppose that's the point. However the concept is very clever and the whole plot carefully thought out, so definitely worth a watch if you haven't already seen it.

The Basic plot-

This film follows the basic out line of the original film 'Into the Mirror'.

The concept is based around a deamon that is trapped within the mirrors and consumes the spirits of the poeple that it kills. The people die when they look in the mirrors as their reflection has control over them- the reflection does something completely different to what the person does- this is something that I can't understand how they managed to film.

Any way, the night watchman Ben Carson (main character) soon realises what is happening once he starts seeing terrible things in the mirrors where he works, soon followed by his sister dying from her reflection ripping apart her jaw (a gory part!). He tries to protect himself and his family from suffering the same fate by going in search of the girl who released the demon into the mirrors in the first place many years ago. He does find her but you'll have to watch it to find out what happens in the end -if you haven't watched it already of course!

Like many other horror films, Mirrors is broken into sections:

Firstly- The production and distribution companies are shown

20th Century Fox and Regency Enterprises

Secondly- The situation/problem or curse is revealed to the audience. In this case the audience are shown that the mirrors have control over the people looking into the mirrors.

The main character isn't revealed to the audience yet, the focus is on a random victim (the original night guard as seen above). This is done to foreshadow what is to come in the main story aswell as to raise enigma codes.

Thirdly- The title of the film appears

 followed by the main actors (USP), producers and finaly the director.

By this time though it's gone over the two minute opening sequence.







Fourthly- It jumps forward to the present time and the main story begins, introducing the main characters.

This order allows the film to begin with dramatic action that grips the audience and entices them to watch more. Having all the titles .etc. afterwards allows the audience to reflect on what has just happened and think about the enigma codes raised. Although some would say that this disrupts the flow of the film.


Enigma Codes-

♦ Who is he?
♦ What's his significance to the story?
♦ What is he running from?
♦ How come the mirriors can control the people looking into them?
♦ How is it going to carry on into the rest of the film?
♦ How can it be stopped?
♦ How can you get away from it?
 Although some of these are answered fairly early on, others aren't answered until the end so it keeps the audienec interested.

Mise-en-scene-

Unlike many horror films Mirrors begins by beng set in the underground, instead of the typical solitay house or mansion. This tells the audience that it's set in a public place and so hints that it could happen to anyone at any time, making it seem more real.
The place is completely deserted apart from one single train that goes by. The contrast from a normally busy underground station begins to make the audience feel uneasy as the character is isolated with no one around to help them and no way of escape it would seem. Not only does the location help to build tension, it also draws attention to the characters actions as there is nothing to distract the audiences attention.
The character runs through the station until he ends up in a locker room; a location in its-self which again is deserted and creates a tense atmosphere as the audience knows something bad is going to happen in the confined space.


Lighting-

Lighting is a crucial element in this opening sequence as it is vital in portraying the necessary mood to support the narrative and correlate with the characters futility. Without it the story would not be portrayed effectively and the audience would be little confused.

Right from the beginning the lighting is very dull, probably due to it being underground with no natural lighting. The only light is produced from the lights in the ceiling, but even they aren't very bright. There is however enough light to illuminate him throughout.

Throughout the opening sequence the lighting flickers on and off an awful lot, which can only be intentional. I think it could reflect his rising panic, which is then something that the audience begin to feel aswell. Or perhaps it was done to show that the demon is able to change the lighting and that it is after him, as where ever he goes the lights flicker as he goes by.

A further good example of lighting is where he reaches the door to the locker room, as the door is illuminated while the surroundings are in shadow. This could symbolise his hope that he had finaly found an escape.

And again in the room, lighting has been used effectively when the locker doors all magically open and the mirrors are spotlighted with his reflection in them. This part has been done in a really dramatic fashion to make an impact as his reflection keeps appearing out of the darkness.



Cimematography-

The cimematography as whole is very dynamic within this opening sequence. This is shown through the use of a hand held camera which follows the movements of the character and has a shakey focus, making the audience feel as if they are moving with him and are part of the story.This also makes the audience feel slightly disorientated. This is added to by the camera tracking the character as well as using a lot of panning shots to keep the camera moving. This then adds to the feeling of panic as the camera is never still. If it was still, I think it would portray a calmer mood, which is not what's needed.


A huge amount of close-ups have been used throughout as they are vital in portraying and exaggerating the characters emotions, allowing the audience a clear view of his expressions and the effect theat they have on the general atmosphere. As his expressions are so frequently focused on by the camera, it shows that the director really wants the audience to pick up on his fear and rising panic, so that they then start to feel it themselves.

 

These were then alternated with  long shots to show him running and to give a generally better view of what's going on.

Additionally, low angle and high angle shots are used towards the end when he looks into the mirror, showing the reflection/demon's control and power while he looks weak and afraid.

Editing

Again the editing helps to reflect the atmosphere. The cuts are sharp and very quick paced to match his desperation and also mimic the pace of his actions; quick when he is runing and then obviously slower when he slows down. This provides a good contrast of pace throughout, so that when it does suddenly slow down, it makes it all the more dramatic and builds suspence.

A lot of the cuts are cleaverly matched to the characters actions, for example when he smashes the lock off the door with the fire extiguisher, it cuts at the exact same time, again making it more dramatic.

All of the continuity techniques are present throughout. Match-on-action is the most frequently used though as it ensures that the pace if maintained, this is evident in the shots where he is running as you see it from lots of different angles and shot types. Eyeline match and shot reverse shot are also evident in the shots when he is looking into the mirror.

Sound

The score in a horror film is extremely important as it has an influence over how the audience percieves the narrative. It may be very obvious, but in this case there is only a quite and subtle score playing in the background, consisting of an eerie instrumental which is typical of the genre. This is the only example of non-diegetic sound, the rest is diegetic consisting of his foot steps, the train going past and of course the dialogue. Hearing all of these diegetic sounds allows the audience to feel as if they are in the story while they are subconsciously taking in the non-diegetic score and the tone that it imprints into their minds.

Iconography

Of course, the typical blood and gore is included straight away within the opening sequence by his reflection cutting his throat. Another typical feature included is when the character slowly turns around to see the doom that awaits them, this is shown when he turns around as all the locker doors start to open.

The graphic gore that is included means that this film has been rated as an 18+. The content and subject matter is unsuitable for a young audience, as may give them nightmares. However I feel that a 15+ audience would be fine watching it. 

Preliminary Task- Analysis and Evaluation

This is the final outcome of our preliminary task, with the main focus being on continuity editing. Although Mise-en-scene, Cinematography and Sound were also carefully thoughtout.




Mise-en-scene

We chose a location that we hoped wouln't be too noticeable as in school (an art classroom), having previously thought about the setting we were able to discuss how we were going to munipulate the area available to work in to our advantage As the room had plenty of space it ment that we were able to move the vast majority of desks out of the way as well as any clay bins etc that would have been evident in the shots.
There were however still small inconviniences that presented themselves in the establishing shots, such as the sink and art work that we weren't able to move. We tried to hide the sink by placing one of the actresses in front of it, this was partially successful, although not completely. There was nothing more that we could do though, if we changed the angle so that the sink was not in the frame, something else would have been. This is the same case with the clay models behind the other actress, which in away draw the attention away from her a little (shots 10-13). We made the best of what we had.
Thankfully there was no class in the room next door so there was no background noise that would hinder our progress. We weren't really interruped -except for Mr Reece briefly-so we could get on with the task in hand, which was helpful as we had limited time.




Since the narrative was set in the day rather than the evening, it was important that we achived the right lighting. This was not a problem though as we were filming in the middle of the day and so day light was plentifull. This was further aided by there being lots of large windows with light pouring in. This then ensured that the actresses had light falling on them, and therefore were the focus of the shot. If it had dim lighting it would have caused a problem as the audience would not be as drawn to look at them and their actions and emotions wouldn't have been as evident.. We would have then needed to create our own lighting, which wouldn't have looked as natural. Luckily though none of this was needed!


Cinematography

We used a variety of shot types and angles to help portray the narative to the audience.
Long shots were primarily used to establish the setting and give a clear view of where and what the characters are doing (their relationship with each other).
Close ups where then used to help portray and emphasise their emotions as well as the present; especially in our shot reverse shots where we wanted the narrative to be evident.
Eyeline matches were further shown by close ups to make it evident where and what she is looking at, something which would not have been aided by a long shot for example, as it wouldn't then be the focus of the shot, defeating the object of the eyeline technique.


Sound

I feel the score for our preliminary task works really well for the purpose. It was probably what we spent the longest on the editing stage doing, as it is the most technical to get correct as it needs so much tampering with to get it right. We have focused on using non-diegetic sound (what the actresses can't hear but the audience can) however we could perhaps think about using a mix of diegetic and non-diegetic to make it more interesting and complex.


Overall I'm really happy with the end result as I think it clearly covers all that we where asked to do. The journey to this point has been very enjoyable and I have been reminded of all of the processes involved, of which I felt vague on in the begining.

Preliminary Task- The editing Stage...What a joy!

So when it came to Flora and I editing our footage, we had 100 minutes to idealy complete the task (one lesson) which I was confident that we wouldn't have a problem doing, as we already knew what needed to be done. While we decide on editing decisions together, in previous years I have let Flora take the lead on the actual 'clicking around', as things tend to go wrong when I'm unleashed on a computer. However this year I really felt that I needed to take more responsibility in the editing stage, so we actually did an equal amount of editing this time; which surprisingly went quite smoothly as I remembered more that I thought I could. This however is the process that I'm most worried about when going on to my coursework opening sequence.

Differences from the story board

Overall there were minimal changes that needed to be made as we stuck closely to the story board. The major difference was that we needed to change shot 21 to ensure that we would achieve match-on-action and continue the flow of the present being opened.
Other changes were made slightly on timings as some shots didn't quite achieve match-on-action, this was probably down to us only having one camera to use. So to do this we simply cut off the the very first 'half a second' of a shot. We went through this process for shots 2-3 where she is visibly standing still at the start of shot 2, and 5-6 where she pauses before she comes through the door. I think we have now achieved the desired continuity technique.
Since we stuck to the story board during filming, it meant that we had already achived many of the continuity techniques and so little needed to be done during editing- which I'm fairly relieved about.


Score Choice
We had originally chosen some piano loop from Garageband to put with our animatic. However since filming we have decided that this music really doesn't suit the purpose. So after a considerable amount of time searching we chose to replace it with a guitar score; this was chosen as we still wanted it to be cheerful and upbeat to reflect the narrative.
Once we had chosen the score it was just a matter of lowering the dynamics when there was dialog so that it remained clear and audible. This caused a little problem as we couldn't figure out how to do this on Final Cut so we had to go back to Garageband to achieve what we wanted. We eventually finished though and the result worked well with the footage.

The Filming Process

Flora and I filmed last Wednesday and the experience was very revealing in the amount of organisation and planning that needs to be put towards the process. Thankfully we had already organised where we were going to film (that being the art block) aswell as the props needed and the two actress's (Laura and Laura). What with my name also being Laura, it was inevitable that this would cause a bit of confusion at times.


Although we were relitively organised before hand, we did not foresee the time it would take to rearange the room to suit our purpose. We had to move heavy tables and objects such as bins that we didn't really want to be in the shots so that we could make it less obvious where the setting was.


It then dawned on us that we were going to have to run through all of the shots with both Laura's so that they would know what to do, which took up additional time but was necessary to make sure we achieved the desired effect in the narrative and would match what we story boarded. Both Laura's were really great and followed the directions that we gave them, with was good considering that we hadn't talked them through our ideas previously and so had to do this as we filmed each shot.


My Role
I really enjoyed being a co-director with Flora and found that putting my ideas and vision across to her was easy enough, as thankfully her vision was very similar and so we were able to work in harmony with out any squabbles. This process of course was aided by us already being friends, also using our friends as actors meant that we were at ease with each other and so could work well together. In the real world of film production this would not work in the same way as you would be working with strangers and so would take time to get used to each other. I'm not sure that I would be able to communicate my ideas as effectively to people that I don't really know...I don't think I'm destined to be a film director. I am however still looking forward to filming my opening sequence, I quite like being able to boss people around as director : )


I was also put in charge of props. For this task I didn't really have much to do as the narritive is so short but for my opening sequenece I imagine that I may have considerably more to do in this departement. Not that I mind as it's one of my favourite parts of the production. So all I had to do was design the present, as without it the narrative would fall apart. I designed it so that it looked fairly elaborate, this was done because the majority of the shots included focus on the present either being given or opened. And as there was lots of close-ups, it was important for it to have an impact. The strange thing is that the present doesn't actually have anything inside of it, this was because it would be irrelevant as we don't show what's inside, enabling the audience to wonder what it could potentually be.


The filming of the majority of shots went really smoothly. We shot each shot twice to ensure that we would have choice when editing. The only other issue that became evident was the lack of two video cameras, this made shooting the match-on-action shots considerably more complex to make sure that they matched up propperly. We won't know for sure if we have been successful in doing this until we begin editing. Nether the less we managed to get done in the time given and am feeling confident that our end result will be as we planned.

Do's and Don'ts for Filming - what I'll think about and apply for later filming in my coursework.


Do- Organise the location
Do- Organise any props that are needed
Do- Arrange actors and communicate effectively before and during filming
Do- Arrange whatever costumes may be needed to keep the narrative realistic
Do- Arrange to use two cameras to assist with match-on-action shots
Don't- Forget to keep refering to your story board during the filming process
Don't- forget to discuss the suitability and adaptability of the chosen location
Don't- work with people with the same name as you (if possible)

Preliminary Task

The Continuity Rules: These were a vital focus  in our brief so Flora and I chose to keep our narrative simple so that we could clearly demonstrate the techniques.


The 180 rule-The camera has to stay on one side of the line and if you want to cross this line you have to show the camera doing so. This is used to orient the viewer and give a sense of geography. This video clip clearly explains:



Shot reverse shot- One character is shown looking (often off- screen) at another character, and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other. This is a good example of the technique:




The eye-line match- This is based on the premis that the audience will want to see what the character on screen is seeing. The eyeline match begins with someone looking off screen, there will then be a cut to the object or person that the character is looking at. Such as in this example you see a lady looking into the distance and it then cuts to the painting that she is looking at.




                           

Match-on-action-  This is cutting from one shot to another, using a view that matches/carries on from the previous shots action and energy. This example uses the technique:




My Interpretation of the brief:

To fullfill the brief of producing a simple narrative sequence using moving image, we decided on a story line of a girls birthday where her friend surprises her with a present and they then exchange a couple of sentences.
We felt that this was simple but would still allow a lot of emotion to be shown on camera, while allowing us to explore continuity techniques. An additional reason that we chose this story line was that we didn't really want it to have a sad narrative, as we felt that this had been done many times before and perhaps is a little harder to make it look realistic if you need a character to cry on the spot.

The story boarding process:

It's advised that before you begin the filming process, you complete a story board to visualy show your ideas so that you are well organised and have thought out all aspects of the narrative. However this does not mean that your decisions are set in stone, shots and effects can easily be added or removed during the filming or editing stages .To story board we included:


- The shot number
- The shot type
- The mise-en-scene
- The camera angle
- Timings
- Sound effects and dialogue
- Possible visual/editing effects

This is our animatic showing the timings for each shot:




When it came to Flora and I Drawing up the animatic, we found that we went two shots over the 20 shot minimum to ensure that we included the contiuity techniques - The 180 degree rule, match-on-action  shot reverse shot and the eye line match.
We also decided on what sound track and effects may be suitable and what parts we would want them to be played at. As can be heard above, we chose have a continual high pitched piano playing throughout to reflect their excitement and anticipation. However when there's dialogue, we have kept it quiet so that its clear and audible.


The use of continuity techniques first become apparent in shots 1-6 where we have used match-on-action when she goes to open the door, and it then cuts to the other side to see her coming into the room. And then again in shots 8-10 where she sits down.


We then used the 180 degree rule from shots 11-12 showing the present from both girls points of view and also to establish their physical relationship.


Shot reverse shot is evident in 13-14where the characters are seen (presumably) looking and each other while exchanging dialog. Followed on by eye line match to show the present exchange.


In shots 15-17 we have used match-on-action to show the present being opened, we felt that for these shots it was important to have fluid motion and to bulid up pace.


We then have further use of shot reverse shot in shots 18-20, showing the girls looking at each other again and exchanging dialog once more.


Finaly, match-on-action has been used for the last time in shots 21-22 to pickup the pace once more a she looks at what the present is.

Previous Filming Experience

Previously in my year 11 coursework I produced this music video, which has ensured that I have filming experience to carry through into this years work. From this project I have gained the knowledge of how certain angles and shot types affect the final outcome and their effects on the audience.