The visual images and symbols used in a work of art or the study or interpretation of these.
We use iconography to help the audience identify the genre of the film. This is because over time we have learnt to associate certain symbols and signs to different film genres.
Some examples of iconography would be seeing long dusty roads, saloons, cowboy hats and horses in a western film. Another example would be seeing a large abandoned house, a normal family and one supernatural entity in a supernatural film.
To create the title for our film, we need to analyse the titles of other existing horror films.
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If i was to analyse this tile i would mention how the writing is distorted disfigured. This is not a normal title screen, you don't often see a title that is uneven like this, so it tells me that strange things are going to occur throughout this film. Another thing that stands out about this title of this film is the static signal happening in the background. This tells me that this film is going to have something to do with CCTV or television, maybe the whole film is the recordings for a camera. Static is also strongly associated with spirits and ghost, telling me that the sub genre of this film could be supernatural.
The next horror film title that i am going to analyse is called The Thing. The first thing that stands out to me the most about this tile is the font color and the background color. The color of it tells me that the setting of this film could be set in some kind of arctic location. The style of font also stands out to me, it is very jagged and rough, they almost look like claw marks. This tells me that this film may involve some sort of violent creature.
The final title that i'm going to analyse is REC. This title gives of a similar feeling to Paranormal Activity. This is because both of the titles make me think that recordings or TV have a big part to play in the film. Unlike Paranormal Activity, the name of the title actually tells me that this is how the audience will view the film, the film is called 'REC' which i think is short for 'RECORDING'. This is then backed up by the red dot that is next to the title. These are often seen in the top left of a camera when you press play or record.
Scientists Fairly well paid professionals Bank Clerks
Well paid professionals 'White Collared professionals'
Group C2 Group D Group E
Electricians Manual Laborers Students
Plumbers Drivers Unemployed
'Blue Collared' professionals Manual workers Pensioners
Why are audiences important?
An audience is vital to any piece of media, they control whether or not a piece of media will be successful, if there is no media, there is no profit. Also, without an audience there is no media. Producers tend to take advantage of the audiences for thing like; to gain popularity, money and education.
Analyzing Movie Audiences
Carrie
Carrie is a film about a schoolgirl who is finding high school tough, with her schoolmates picking on her and bullying her in the locker room and her extremely religious mother keeping her housebound, life is bound to be difficult. But there is something different about this shy schoolgirl, she has the ability to move object with her mind. I feel that this film is aimed at people in the Group E, specifically students. This is because the films main character is a struggling school girl and the final scene of the is her going to the prom with her date. If i was to be even more specific i could say that film was aimed a school girls and not just school students, this is because the film revolves around the life of a teenage girl and the people who usually picked on her were girls.
The Babadook
This film is about a single mother who realizes that her child is telling the truth about the monster in there house through a book that was left on there doorstep. I feel that this films audience is aimed a single parents or anyone that has had to raise a child by themselves. I feel this way because throughout the film you see how difficult it becomes for the mother to care for and protect her child when she is haunted by the death of her husband and the monster lurking in her house. I would also say that this film would steer towards Group E, because single mums are usually people who earn low pay and struggle for money.
The SAW Franchise
These films are about a sadistic serial who targets and traps people who have done wrong in their lives. He creates deadly traps and games that he forces his victims to take part in. These victims are usually very prestigious people who have caused other people bother in the past. This is why i feel that these films are aimed at Group A,B or C1. I feel this way because the professions in these groups are some of the most prestigious jobs any person can have.
Our Target Audience
By looking at these classes, i have decided that our film will be aimed at the people from group C2 to E. This is because the people in these groups tend to be the lesser paid professionals, meaning they would have a lot more time on their hands. With this spare time they will visit church and concentrate on religion, unlike the people in the higher classed groups who who will not enough time to go to church. Group E includes pensioners, the elderly often are very religious as they have lots of spare time.
Production Companies control everything in a film, this could vary from the scripting and the scheduling to the actors and the budget. There are two different types of Production Companies, these are 'major' and 'independent' companies.
Independent
These Production companies are are very small. Unlike major production companies, they usually need funding, but there is a benefit of being a independent production company, you will have more control of the film, meaning you will be able to choose who will star in your film and you will decide the scripts and the schedules.
Major
On the other hand, major production companies have a large sum of money and they decide when they want to back up or fund a film. These companies consists of Warner Brothers Studios or Universal Studios.
What does a Production Companies name tell you about them?
All production companies have a certain name, the name tells us about the origin and maybe about the creators of the company. For example, the name Warner Brother Studios tells us that it is a company made by the Warner family. Also, the name of a company may tell you what sort of films they usually produce. For example, the company Universal gives me the feeling that they mainly produce family films.
What do production companies names tell you about them?
Production companies also have their own logo. These logos usually give you some idea on what sort of films they usually produce. Here we see the logo for Blumhouse productions, this company mainly focus's on supernatural films, some of their most famous are the Insidious franchise or the Paranormal Activity franchise. I feel that this logo, supports its main genre because it is very gloomy and mysterious. It also looks like the background is a room from a old, abandoned house.
What is the BBFC?
The British Board of Film Classification is Non - governmental organisation that has classified cinema films since it was since it was set up. Their mission is to protect the public from harmful or offensive content. What is classification?
The BBFC have a set of specific guidelines, and they use these to classify films. Every 4-5 years, the BBFC carry out a major public consultation to find out what the public think about age ratings on films before they are released.
The U symbol stands for Universal. U rated films are usually films that are suitable for children over the age of four. There should be no swear words but the film may contain some bad language, such as words like 'damn'. The should also have no sexual behavior but it may contain kissing/cuddling. U rated films may also have some scenes that could come off as scary, which resolve in a good outcome.
PG stands for parental guidance, this means that the film is suitable for people aged 8 years or over but some scenes may be unsettling for younger ages or more sensitive children, this is why the parents should decide if the film is suitable for their child. It will not contain any themes that are not suitable for a child but it may contain some bullying or racism. There may also be mild swearing, but it will not be said in an angry manner and there will not be a excessive amount of it, if so the film may be passed at a higher category. PG films may also contain some jumpy scenes, but these will not be intense. Both drugs and sexual behaviour will not be a constant theme in a PG film but there maybe references aimed towards both, comedy films that are rated as a PG may do this through innuendos.
12 and 12A rated films are films that are suitable for people of the age 12 and over. No one under the age of 12 may see a 12A in the cinema unless they are accompanied by and adult. Some strong bad language is allowed, moderate violence is also allowed but it is not allowed to go into much detail. If justified, gore is also allowed in 12A films.
No one under the age of 15 can watch/buy/rent a 15 rated film. These films may contain strong language and sexual references, violence and drug taking. You also see cases of sexual assault, but this will only be brief.
If a film is rated 18, it means that the film is suitable for people 18 or over, some of the themes that are used in rated 18 films may even cause offence to some adults. These films can include real sex scenes strong horror. No theme is prohibited in 18 rated films. You may also see very strong language and scenes of sexual voilence or discrimination.
I feel that my groups film will be rated 15. This is because it will contain strong horror and violence. Our film may contain themes like Religion and Hell, which may be confusing for children under the age of 15.
Here are some examples of horror settings. When i was analyzing the churches and old buildings, i noticed that they were often huge structures, that stood in isolation. This meant that when a character would walk up to the building, they would feel over powered and intimidated. The tall buildings also create a sense of because the building is so much bigger than the character.
Another setting that I analysed was the apartment room in 'The Conjuring', when I was analyzing this location I noticed that the corridor in the apartment was significantly long, dark and narrow, this also gives the audience the feeling of isolation. The corridor is so effective because you do not know who is standing at the other end of it, because of how dark it is. Also, the girls who live in the apartment are overpowered by the corridor because of how narrow it is, they look like they have no where to run.
The next setting that I analyzed was the house from the film 'Psycho', the thing that stood out to me most in this location was the fact that there was no other houses around it, telling us that this area is not like a normal neighborhood, it also gives us the feeling of isolation and it could tell us that a character in this film was committing crimes and he didn't want people to find out about it, hence the fact that he has no neighbors. Another thing that stands out to me about this location is the trees that surround the building, this could represent a feeling of suffocation as the trees are placed so closed to the sides of the building. The color of the building is also something that i analyzed, most locations in horror films are often presented by with dark colors, this could create a connotation of misery or death as dark colors usually link to this. It also tells the audience that death may be a feature throughout this film.
I am going to be looking at the synopsis of religious horror films as this is the sub genre we have chosen for our film.
Most religious horror films involve two characters, the antagonist and the protagonist. The protagonist is usually an innocent person who is living a normal life, the character is showing signs like scratches, convulsions, tone of voice changing and the use of foul language. The antagonist is usually the devil or a demon, this character is never shown because he is usually portrayed through and object or an innocent person, usually a child, we see this in movies like 'The Exorcist' and 'Annabelle'.
We see all this happen in the film 'The Exorcist', when a normal, innocent girl is possessed by a demon. The early symptoms of the possessions were just her feeling sick and nauseous and throughout the film we see her symptoms get worse and worse, her appearance ends up changing and so does her voice, it gets distinctly deeper and darker and she starts to use foul language that no girl of her age should be saying. Towards the end of the film, her condition becomes very worrying, she starts to spew this green liquid.
The protagonist of this film is then introduced as the local priest. He performs a Exorcism on the girl and ends up banishing the demon from her.
The main use of a prop in a horror film is to represent a character. If the character is using a weapon, it will tell the audience that the character has bad intentions and plans to kill people. The choice of prop may also tell you what sort of person a character is, if he/she is wielding a chainsaw it tells us that this person likes gore and blood when killing his victims. On the other hand, if they are carrying a small blade, this may tell us that they prefer to be silent and quick with their murders.
As you can see in this photo, the antagonist is carrying a small blade. This tells us that he prefers his murders to be more up close and personal. Something that particularly stands out to me is the size of the knife, it is no more than 3-4 inches long, this is not the sort of weapon that will kill someone instantly, telling me that he enjoys plunging the knife repeatedly into his victim, portraying him as a malicious character.
This prop represents the character carrying at as someone who also like to get up close and personal with his kills, but this time, he wants the kills to be a lot more bloody and gory. Unlike the common knife, you don't often see a chainsaw used in many horror films, it presented this character as being a vicious and creative killer . A chainsaw is known for being a very loud contraption, so the fact that his victims may already hear him before they see him tells us and the audience that he like to chase his victims before he kills them.
I feel that the props in this scene are used for a specific reason, if you watch the video you will see that the victim in this scene is sat in a position that looks like he is going for a haircut, you will also notice that the victim is someone who has scruffy hair and has an untrimmed beard. So I feel that the use of the scissors and the straight razor are implemented to make us feel like the man is going for a haircut as the the scissors and the straight razor are items used by barbers. When we get further into the scene, we see the antagonist proceed to scalp the victim, whilst he is still sat in the chair, this could also connect to a barbers or a hairdressers.
Font is the style of the writing that you see in movies and books. It is a set of a characters that are that are used in a specific size and style. There are many different fonts, such as Courier and Trebuchet.
Why do we use font?
The main reason we use font in our films and books is to establish a genre or sub - genre. For example if you see a a word in a bold font and colored red, you know that this is going to be a horror film or even a 'slasher'. A good example of this would be the font used in The Evil Dead.
Sans Serif/Serif
If the font has curls and tails on the end of each character it is called serif, if not it is called sans serif. We use serif to make the font seem formal, you would often see this used in other genres such as fairy tales or fantasy films, although we do see it in horror films sometimes.
This is the font used for the title of the film 'Halloween', the color of this font alone tells me that this film is going be a Halloween based horror movie, the writing is colored orange, which is a strong connotation to Halloween as pumpkins are the color orange. Serif is also used in the font of the title, this is used to make the writing seem more formal.
Here is what you should look at when you are analyzing a title sequence
How does the title sequence establish character, genre and narrative?
How does the title sequence attract an audiences attention?
What do you consider to be the target audience and why?
Who has produced the film and how is that evident?
The Evil dead is a film produced by Rob Tapert, Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell. this is evident because in the title sequence because their names are shown in a bold font and in a blood red type of colour,
The title sequence helps establish the genre as horror by using an extortionate amount of blood. This may tell us that the film will consist of gory murders and blood shed. In the title sequence their is a clip of blood running down the stairs, this will intrigue the audience and will make them want to continue watching to find out what caused this. The horror genre is further established through the use of the bold and red font, this tells us that this film will definitely include a huge amount of blood and gore. The red font may also give the audience a feeling of danger and violence. There has purposely been a a dark and miserable effect created by using colors like black and red, this is then developed by the slow opera music playing over the title sequence.
From looking at this title sequence i feel that this horror film is aimed at people who enjoys films involving murder and violence. I think this is because of the use of blood in the title sequence, the blood foreshadows the countless killings that will occur in the throughout the film.
What props are in the opening sequence?
There are a number of different props in the opening scene of Nightmare on elm street. It starts of with a scarred hand searching for metal objects in what looks like some sort of scrapyard or waste. H eventually chooses a pair of gloves that are both filled with holes and some sort of sharp blade.We then see the character move over to a work bench to combine these objects into a weapon.
I believe that the the use of these items so early in the film are used to captivate the audience and to make them wonder what this unknown character is going to do with this contraption. It also tells me that the producer wants to make the let the audience know that this film will contain a lot of violence and danger.
The setting is never made clear in the opening scene, but from watching it I can infer that it is some sort of abandoned factory, I know this because the building is completely empty, it is completely silent apart from the odd creak. The use of an empty building makes the audience want to continue watching to find out whether there is a story behind it.
What lighting and colour used in the opening scene?
The lack of lighting in this opening gives a dark and miserable effect, it tells me that this abandoned building may have some sort of history, and this will make the audience want to carry on watching to find out. It is then very strange to see the mysterious character who is creating these weapons wearing a red and black jumper, this tells me that this character may have had a happy life once, one that did not consist of darkness and isolation.
What does the characters facial expressions and costume tell me about them?
Towards the end of the opening scene, you are introduced to a new character. This character is a young girl who has no reason to be in an abandoned building. Her costume also tells me about her, she is wearing a night gown that normal people would wear where when they are going to bed, this portrays the young girl as being very vulnerable, this is further developed by the young girls facial expressions, she has a very confused look on her face, which tells the audience that she has no idea where she is and why she is there.
It was 1889 when the horror film was created, George Melies' film Manoir Du Diable was initially made to amuse instead of scaring them. Translated, House of the devil, Manoir Du Diable is a two minute long film about a demon that creates a cauldron and makes creature such as skeletons, ghosts and witches until an underworld cavalier holds up a crucifix and the devil disappears.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a 1920's German silent horror film that was directed by Robert Wiene and was written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer. It tells a story of a deranged hypnotist who uses a somnambulist (sleepwalker) to commit murders the film contains a dark and twisted visual style, structures and landscapes that lean and twist in unusual angles and shadows that are painted directly on set.
Nosferatu was a German Expressionist horror film that was shot in 1921 and made in 1922. It was a different story to Bram Stokers version of Count Dracula with edited character names and other details. For example, Vampire became Nosferatu and Count Dracula became Count Orlok. Despite the negatives it is said to be a influential masterpiece of horror and cinema.
Universal horror is the name given to a series of distinctive horror made by Universal Studios from 1923 to 1960. The series began with the film The Hunchback of Notre Dame and continued with Dracula, Frankenstien, The Mummy and The Wolf Man.
Alfred Hitchcock introduced the world to a new type of horror called 'slasher' when he made the film Psycho. The film is based on a crazed killer who shows no remorse when he goes round killing people for the thrill of it. Hitchcock's film is now ranked as one of the best horror films of all time. It also set a new level of acceptability for violence.
Black Christmas was a film made in 1974 that included a psychopathic killer stalking and then murdering a sequence of victims in a graphic manner. He would often use a bladed tool such as a knife, machete or an chainsaw. This film was also one of the first 'slasher film' to be made, leaving a new impact on the horror genre.
Later that year came The Texas chainsaw massacre. This film portrays the stereotypical 'slasher film', the victims are a group of clueless teenagers who will be in an isolated setting and killed of 1 by 1 until only two survivors are left, they then need to try their best to escape the maniac either with aid or themselves.
Other films that followed the 'slasher' type sub-genre were Halloween (1978), Friday the 13th (1980), Nightmare on Elm street (1984). These three slasher films would go on to be the icons of the 'slasher' genre, all because of the introduction of the immortal killer, these killers could be severely injured but could never be killed.
These slasher films started to become less popular during the 1980's, until SAW was introduced in 1996. The SAW franchise began creating a new perspective on horror and imagery to the 'slasher' genre.
Another sub-genre is 'visual horror'. This is where instead of the film playing on your mind, you are disgusted to watch by showing extremities and all the gruesome action that is happening. Examples of this are zombie films such as Dawn of the Dead (2004), or other films like SAW (1996) and Hostel (2005). These three films are well known for being very Gory and Gruesome films.
Horror films have changed massively over these years. Going from the short two minute clips to the action packed films you see today. The horror genre is one of the oldest genres to date and it will always continue. Horror will always continue as it has inspired a number of other platforms such as video games or TV series'.
