Task 3 - Research into the Genre

Christian Metz created a model for Genre Development which he used to catagorize horror genres.
He believed there were 4 Phases which films fit into.
These phases were:

• The Experimental Phase
• Where the earliest films experimented and explored with horror in their film narratives.
• These were often created by method of German Expressionism.

Films that fit into the Experimental Phase include Nosferatu (1922) and The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1919)

• The Classic Phase
• Where the genre is truly established, cementing the narrative conventions of the horror genre in it's most successful, and possibly its most defining period.

Films that fit into the Classic Phase include Frankenstein (1931) and Dracula (1931)

• The Parody Phase
• This is the phase where the genre has been mimicked in such a way as to make it comical to the audience.

• The Deconstruction Phase
• These are films that have taken the generic elements of horror, blending it into an amalgamation of sub-genres

However, it could be argued that during the 1970's-1980's, there was a rebirth of re-imagined films, a new age of classic films such as Psycho, Halloween and Friday the 13th were created, these do not fit into the model, and it can be argued that the model needs expansion to allow for these new-age films.


During the 50's, Hammer Films churned out a number of Horror "Classics", featuring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee together in a number of films with numerous sequels, these often featured graphic violence such as staking vampires, setting Frankenstein on fire, and shooting the Mummy to pieces.

Mood Boards

Rom-Com

Horror

Thriller

Task 2 - Research into existing products: Comparing and Contrasting Romantic Comedies

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
Right from the start, during the Paramount studio logo, there is an upbeat pop song from a recognized artist, this acts as a soundbridge from the logo, to the opening titles, and from the opening titles to the film.
The opening credits are comprised wholly of magazine articles and article titles for the woman's magazines written by the female protagonist, this is easily told by how there is a picture of her in each article, a brief scene where she is talking her way out of a parking ticket, and then a freeze frame of that, dropped onto another article, making it seem like the article is being put together by editing software. During the film, the titles continue to progress, appearing on the screen even though the story has begun.
The female protagonist is introduced early on as a writer for a magazine, but she wants to produce more political stories, as is evidenced by the article on her computer, which a colleague says won't make it into the magazine, demonstrating both a glass ceiling and an aspiration, though she is already in a highly glamourised job, writing articles for a woman's magazine, and getting tickets to the NBA finals for free, whereas most people will pay hundreds of dollars to get in.
In contrast to the female protagonist, the male protagonist (the first man to be shown), is seen riding a motorcycle through a traffic jam in a black leather jacket and a black helmet, creating the ensemble of a "cool" rebel. He is spoken down to the women outside of the company building, despite the fact that they hold the same job. The women are all wearing proffessional clothes, this is called "power-dressing", whereas he is more flippant with his clothing, prefering to wear casual clothes.

Just Like Heaven
Again, the film begins with the studio logo with an overlaying piece of music, the song "Lust for Life" by Iggy Pop, which carries over to the film, becoming a sound-bridge. The titles continue on in the film for a long time, considering they are only opening credits.
The scene begins with an aerial shot, above a low cloud cover, floating down and rotating, as it goes through the clouds. This alludes to the title "Just Like Heaven" as it opens up on a rose garden in warm sunset light. The female protagonist is wearing a long dress and is sitting in a plastic chair, the first sign that something isn't right. A hand reaches across and touches her shoulder, saying "Wake up."
The scene cuts jarringly to the female protagonist in scrubs, wearing a stethoscope around her neck. She asks how long she was "out" and is answered with "six minutes", signifying already that she doesn't get enough sleep, which is then further shown by her copious coffee consumption. As a doctor, she is well payed for her work, and is a consumate proffessional, acting calmly and quickly in emergencies and well versed on procedure, she is looked up to by many of the staff, as they often ask her opinion or for her help in their jobs. Her boss confirms this as she obtains a position as "attending physician", when he comments that she spends a lot of time caring for patients. 26 hours of time. He tells her to go home, and before she goes, she has a phone call from her sister. Her sister is a housewife with two children, a typical nuclear family with an a-typical 7 room house, she also plays the part of match-maker for the female protagonist.
On her way to her sister's, the female protagonist is on the phone again, driving at night and in the rain, the audience already knows that she is going to be in an accident, as the scenario is a familiar one.

Task 2 - Research into existing products: Red Dragon

Red Dragon was directed in 2003 by Brett Ratner, featuring Anthony Hopkins as the infamous Hannible Lector. It builds on a series of thrillers featuring the psychopathic cannible as he manipulates and confuses professionals through his dizzying intellect and method of thoughts.
I will be analysing the opening sequence in several parts: The Opera House, the Dinner Table, Special Agent Graham's visit and the Actual Titles.

Opera House
Mise en Scene

The scene begins in the Opera house, with extravagant architecture, and an orchestral symphony playing to a crowd of upper class gentry. This sets the scene as an upper class location where people have highly refined tastes.
As the camera turns to a Flutist, you can see and hear him play wrong notes, his facial expression is annoyed, and when the orchestra finishes it's piece, he lays down his instrument and looks around at the other players resentfully, as if they were playing the wrong notes, not him.
However, as the camera focusses on Hannible Lector, you see him in central juxtaposition, surrounded by extras and wincing at the wrong notes, as if it is physically painful, meaning that either his predatory nature has given him inhuman senses, or he is very knowledgeable about music, and he recognises the man as an amateur. He tilts his head, as a canid does before attacking, this alludes to him being a predator, and the flutist is his prey.

Editing
In terms of editing, before the Opera House scene, there is a black background with red and white text, a single word being red and the rest is white, this alludes to purity being corrupted, the red text relates to blood, violence, and evil. Put together, the text already alludes to purity being corrupted by evil, while the black background already creates the idea that the movie is a thriller or a horror film.

Sound
The first sound the audience hears is quiet, eerie orchestral music, then at the scene cuts to the Orchestra itself, the music volume spikes in a rather shocking conjunction with the sudden light and colour. The only sounds that do not fit in with the music are the off-notes played by the flutist.

Camera Angles

Task 2 - Research into existing products - Halloween

Came out in 1978, directed by John Carpenter, an iconic horror director, makes his own soundtracks.

Halloween is a 1978 American independent horror film, set in a fictional suburban town of Haddonfield on Halloween.

A psychotic murderer who was institutionalized since childhood escapes on a rampage while his doctor chases him.
It was argueably the first of a long line of slashers inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), which founded many of the clichés used in low budget movies for the next three decades. However, very little graphic violence is actually shown.

Mise En Scene

• Pumpkin - deranged, mad, not right
• Night - shadows, hidden
• White wooden house - American suburbia - well furnished
  

Editing

• Seamless
• Opening titles - Fade to and from screen - red, orange, yellow, pause, orange, red, fade.

Camera Angles

• The clip begins in the opening credits, zooming slowly on a Pumkin, then the scene dissolves to black.
• Pan to white house, then the clip uses a POV camera of Michael Myers for most the duration, the age of the character is percieved as a lot older than he is because of the hight of the camera, decieving the audience to think the character is an adult until he walks outside and his father takes the mask off, changing the camera position to a high angle crane shot of Michael Myers holding a knife, zooming out to see his parents looking down at him.

Sound

• The non-diegetic music used in the clip is high-pitched, repeating music loops and low pitched, loud noises.
• The non-diegetic sound includes children singing, dialogue, the sounds of a clock and an owl, and heavy breathing when Mike puts on his mask.
• The sound of children singing is synonymous with innocence, which, when combined with the fact that the audience is aware that it is a horror movie, makes it disturbing.

Preliminary task