Horror questionnaire and results and anaylsis

 

 

Questionnaire rules

-          Keep the questions short

-         Collect precise measurements by collecting data to its rawest form.

-         Ensure the respondents fully understand the questions

-         It would keep the interview brief and to the point and be so arranged that the respondents remain interested throughout the interview.

-         Put questions in a meaningful order

 

These are the rules I have found from reaserching how to create a questionnaire.

 

 Horror Questionnaire

Thank you for completing this questionnaire. The results will be used to inform the choices I make for my practical A Level Media coursework. Although I will analyse and produce a summary of the results, your individual response will be kept anonymous.

1.         What gender are you?

•Female

• Male

 

2.       How old are you?

• 12-18

• 19-25

              • 26-32

              • 33-39

              • 40+

 

3.        What’s your favourite aspect of a horror film?

(Please tick one)

     • Blood and gore

     • Thrill/Adrenaline rush

     • The chase

     • The resolution

 

4.       What scares you the most in a horror film?

(Please tick as many as is relevant)

• Psycho killers (e.g. the orphan)

 • Cannibals (e.g. Hannibal)

 • Real life situations (e.g. Jaws)

 • Mysterious creatures (e.g. Predator)

 • Supernatural (e.g. paranormal activity)

 

5.       Within a horror, what’s your favourite genre?

(Please tick one)

 • Blood and gore slasher (e.g. Saw)

 • Psychological (e.g. Red Dragon)

 • Thriller (e.g. Se7en)

 • Monster based (e.g. Frankenstein)

 • Other (please specify below)

 

6.        What puts you off watching a horror film the most?

 (Please tick as many as is relevant)

• Bad acting

• Not scary enough

 • Spoof

 • Too much realism

 • Not enough realism

 • Other (please specify below)

 

 

7.       Do you enjoy watching horrors?

 

• Yes

• No

 

8.       What’s your favourite location of a horror setting?

(Please tick one)

• A domestic setting

• Isolated part of town or countryside

• Underwater

• Forests

• A haunted house

• Religious grounds

• Other (please specify below)

 

9.       How would you describe your horror habits?

(Please tick one)

• Always

• Occasionally

• Rare

• Never

 

10.   What monsters do you find the scariest?

(Please tick as many as is relevant)

• Zombies   (e.g. Dawn of the dead)

• Vampires (e.g. Dracula)

• aliens   (e.g. Alien)

• Evil humans   (e.g. Silence of the lambs)

• Other (please specify below)

 

11.   What do you find the most frightening horror prop?

(Please tick one)

 • Weapons (e.g. Candyman like the Hook)

• Masks (e.g. Nightmare on Elm Street)

• Possessed objects (e.g. exorcist, Chucky)

• Torture equipment (e.g. Saw like the traps)

 

12.   What would you expect in the opening sequence of a horror?

(Please tick one)

• Introduction of characters

•Switch from action to a flash back

•Aspects of the lives of ordinary people

       •Shows past of villains

       •Other (please specify below)

 

  These are the questions I created for my horror questionnaire to help me understand what people enjoy and hate the most about horrors. These questions would be helpful for us to when deciding on the plot of our horror as we would know what audiences want out of horror films.

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Horror questionnaire results and analysis

 

These are the pie charts I created form the data I collected from the my horror questionnaire.

 

 

 

This pie chart shows the results of my question “what gender are you?” I tried to keep my data relatively even by asking the same amount of females and males. I asked five females and five males to complete my questionnaire as I wanted to try and keep my results unbiased so I could get a range of results but from different genders. I felt that having an even amount of females and males answering my questionnaire to make sure neither gender could gender inflict the results. In addition is would give a broader and balanced view. I choose ten people to answer my questionnaire as I felt this would produce a smaller range of data however enough to be able to get an accurate conclusions of what people expect from the genre of horror and what conventions are involved.

This pie chart presents the data received from my question “how old are you?” the chart shows that the main age category who answered my questionnaire was 12-18 year olds as four out of the ten people asked were in this age range.  However, there is mainly an even spread of age ranges. I did this so I could get a wide range of data from people of a different age as people’s age can have an effect on the way they perceive horror films. Nobody was 33-39 years old indicating my results could be more biased towards other categories such as the teenage range who may want to see more blood and gore than thrillers, therefore this could effectively have an effect on my results. Linking back to question one “What gender are you?” because the males and females who answered the questionnaire I made sure where a range of ages so my results would create a fair result and unbiased towards different genders and ages.

This pie chart formats the data from the question “What’s your favourite aspect of a horror film?” the chart shows that thrill/adrenaline rush was the most popular aspect of a horror as seven out of the ten people asked voted for this. Whereas, in the other categories only one person voted for that aspect as the scariest. This data can be useful as I now know what I should maybe include thrill and adrenaline rush more than other elements such as blood and gore. This links with question 5 “Within a horror, what’s your favourite genre?”, from the results of both questions I can link together what aspects and genres the people expect and want to see in a horror. These can then help me in what I should include in my horror, such as the element of the thrill/adrenaline and a thriller genre.

This pie chart represents the data from the question “what scares you in a horror film?” the chart shows that the people asked find psycho killers in a horror film the scariest as five out of ten choose it. Whereas, the supernatural element only one person choose it as what they find the scariest. These results will help me to decide what I should include in my horror it make it scary, it suggests that I should include a psycho killer as opposed to the super natural element.

 

 

This pie chart represents the data collect for the question “Within a horror, what’s your favourite genre?” the pie chart clearly indicates that the genre of thriller is the most popular with six out of ten votes. Whereas, blood and gore and another genre was the least popular from the people I asked. This data will help when producing our film as I have a good idea of what audiences want within a horror as I know to use more of a thriller element as opposed to blood and gore.  

 

This pie chart represents the data I collected for the question “What puts you off watching a horror film the most?” The chart shows that bad acting and too much realism was the two main causes that put people off watching horror as they both received six ticks each. This data helps give me the knowledge to know what not to include in my horror such as bad acting by making sure the actors are believable and make the storyline not too realistic but make sure it is still scary and believable.  On this question the ten people asked were allowed to tick more than one as I felt that it would expand my knowledge on what people feel makes a bad horror so I know what I need to avoid when producing my own.

 

This pie chart represents the data for the answers to the question “Do you enjoy watching horror films?” the chart indicates that five out of the ten people asked do enjoy watching horrors however three out of the ten do not. This data is useful as it suggests to me that maybe I should do horror but with a genre such as a thriller as the results for question five shows that it was classed as their favourite genre of horror. Other questions provide more data that can help me when deciding what aspect of horror I should do. Question six suggests that too much realism puts some people of watching horrors so by not using too much realism more people would enjoy watching horror films.

This pie chart represents the data collected for the question “What are your favourite locations of a horror setting?” the pattern suggests that a religious ground was the favourite location of a horror setting. Whereas, underwater and a haunted house were the least favourite location settings of a horror film. I can conclude from the data that a religious ground could be the best place to film our horror as the most of the people asked indicate that’s their preference of choice.  The pie chart shows more than ten pieces of data, because even though I only asked ten people I gave them the option to tick as many as is relevant on this question as in most horrors there isn’t just one setting so by giving them the option they could choose the ones that they enjoy seeing in the horrors. I can link this question with question three “What‘s your favourite aspect of a horror film?” as both the location and aspect fit together as there can be a certain location that fits the genre used in the horror which both complement each other and both fit a certain film. These results can help me distinguish what categories fit with other conventions such as forests and mysterious creatures.

 

 

This pie chart represents the data I collected for the answers to the question “How often do you what horror films?” The pie chart shows the data was quite evenly spread as the categories always and rare both had three people choose each of them. Whereas, occasionally and never was chosen by two people suggesting the data is not conclusive. This data will be helpful to me as it implies that maybe I shouldn’t make my horror too scary and maybe include some elements of other genres as not many people watch them. However the data collected was from a wide range of age categories so that could affect the answers as maybe not as many older people may watch the horrors compared to teenagers.  Linking back to question five “Within a horror, what’s your favourite genre?” the data implied that a Thriller was considered the best as it revived the majority vote of six. This question is useful when looking at question nine as it indicates that I should make my horror with a thriller element to capture the attention of the audience.

This pie chart shows the results to the question “What monsters do you find the scariest?” the pie charts shows conclusive results that evil humans are found to be the most scariest retaining eight votes compared to vampires only receiving one.  This question has more than ten response’s as the ten people asked were allowed to choose as many as is relevant as they may find more than one thing scary within a horror and it also helps me as it creates more solid evidence as to what they find scariest and which ones they do not. Referring back to question 4 “What scares you the most in horrors?” psychotic killers and cannibals were found to be the most scary, this corresponds with this question as it shows a pattern in what they like to see in their horrors which helps me in my understanding of what I should and shouldn’t put in my film.

This pie chart represents the data for the question “What do you find the most frightening horror prop?” the pie chart shows that masks where classed as the most scary as six people asked choose this prop as opposed to the other props. These results will help in deciding on what props to use, it suggests to me that I should use masks in the film and could even cooperate other props such as possessed objects.  

This pie chart represents the data collected for the question “What would you expect in the opening sequence of a horror film?” The pie chart implies that aspects of the lives of ordinary people followed closely by switch from action to a flash back. This data will be helpful as I know now what to include in my opening sequence such as showing the aspects of the characters involved as opposed to show the past of the villains.

Summary of the horror pie charts

I made a twelve question questionnaire based on the genre of a horror film. The questionnaire has produced data that will help me with the decisions I have to make when plotting and producing my horror opening sequence.                                                                                                                    

    The questions link together by following the same pattern of a certain genre of film which is horror, I did this as it was the area me and my group are interested in making so felt if we gathered data on horror films it would broaden our knowledge and expertise. In addition we felt it would make it easier to distinguish what patterns the data show and provide strong evidence as to what the best convections of horror are.

     The twelve pie charts I created are a useful way to present my data as they were quick and easy to do and an accurate way to present my findings as they are labelled so easy to read and distinguish what patterns each of the questions shows.                                                                                                                                                                                       

    The data has enabled me to come to conclusions of what to include in my horror such as elements of a thriller genre as question five provides evidence to suggest that the majority of people asked class thriller as their favourite genre of a horror film.  The pie charts have also helped in deciding what conventions to include such as props, locations and the killer. The pie charts suggest that the scariest prop chosen by the ten people asked was masks; this has suggested to our group that our killer should have the element of a mask as it will portray a scary mysterious villain. Question eight on locations has helped us in narrowing down the locations where our film should be set. The data suggests that we don’t have to stick to just one location we could do a combination as most horrors don’t just have one location.

   The data I collected is sufficient enough evidence for me and my group to be able achieve a good understanding of horror films and get an idea of what people consider their best and worse points from different audience perspectives.  The amount of people I asked was enough to receive an accurate conclusion for each question. The wide age range makes the data unbiased and produces a clearer outlook as the results aren’t basely leaning towards a certain age group. Even though the data acts as a useful tool I will also use the internet to find more research on horrors to broaden my results from my questionnaire and also get more data so I can compare and contrast the two.

  As a group we have decided our opening sequence will be a horror. By producing three separate questionnaires one by each of us and distributing the  to a wide range of genders and age ranges we have a large amount of data that we can then use to compare and see whether there are any patterns evident, which will help us when deciding what to include within our horror.

                                                                                                                                                             

 

 

 

 

 

 

How does the film Candyman meet the genre of horror?

 

      The film Candyman is a 1992 American horror staring 'Virginia Madsen' and 'Tony Todd'. The opening sequence entails the credits which are bold and white this shows the importance of the actors to the story. This film is a cult film; it strands upon the supernatural side of the horror genre, but also touches on the psychotic killer’s side. It is based around urban legends of cult groups. This film is a chilling horror based around a student 'Helen' who writes a thesis on an urban legend based around 'Candyman', she dives herself into more danger when she visits places such as “Cabrini Green” which are haunted by the phantom 'Candyman'. This film is very realistic as it shows how the extent of racism can create a fearful legend as we later learn that 'Candyman' was a son of a slave, he was hunted by villagers and killed by them due to his race. The reviews of the film entail positive feedback about the American chilling 90’s horror. “Despite its sugary title this film leaves a very dark in the mouth.” (Source-empireonline.com)

  The credits are on a background of a shot of forward tracking of the city, this helps set the establishment shot as it shows us the setting of the city and also reinforces that this story is going to happen to regular people in this area.  The establishing shots of the city of Chicago are accompanied by the non-diegetic sound of organs playing and a choir singing. This ominous music creates a sense of mystery and fear and also implies that this film could have a religious background as the music is from church. However, an alternative suggestion could be the religious contexts of heaven and hell as we know this film contains the element of death. These factors helps portray the convention of horror as the forward tracking is an infamous camera angle used in horrors. The use of the spine tingling non-diegetic music creates and air of mystery and fear, it also helps bring in themes to the film like religion by using the music at the start as a contextual reference to church which contrasts with death of civilians and whether they go to heaven or hell.

   After the credit it cuts to a wide shot and then zooms in on a large number of bees, the masses of these creatures suggest the significance they have to the film. The non-diegetic sound of a man talking over laps this shot. The dialect used it quite scary and frightening as he is talking about killing people by splitting open their guts with his hook for an arm. This phrase is used to scare the audience and show the reoccurring theme of death and gives us an indication of what the film is about and what murder weapon is used, a hook suggests the murder has dominance and power of their victims. The voice is very dark and mysterious this air all adds to the suspense as we don’t know who that person is and what he looks like we can only hear him. It then dissolves to a wide shot of the city and uses CGI to show the millions of bees flying over the city and taking over, this represents that the killer is going to take over the city with his crimes as he is a danger and threat to them. This use of dialogue reinforces the horror genre as the voice is cold and dark which makes him un-relatable to the audience which creates a sense of fear as the audience don’t know who the person talking is he doesn’t sound friendly or happy which also adds to the ominous feel of the film.

   After the shot of the bees taking over the city it cuts to a shot of a house it then forward tracks towards the house suggesting this is the scene where an event is about to take place. There is a non-diegetic voice over that accompanies this scene. The girl speaking acts as though she is the narrator as she introduces the people in the scene. Her voice is calm and soft which helps the audience feel like they can trust her view on what she is about to say. She describes the scene suggesting she is maybe telling the event too someone in the present but there are flashbacks to the time of the event. In addition there is dialogue from the characters involved suggesting the film is flicking back to the event to make it more realistic and show the audience what actually happened as they can see the visual images of what happened. However, it was the past and now it is in the present when the narrator is telling it. The scene mainly takes place in the bathroom with two teenager’s one male and one female. The female isn’t wearing much clothing just trousers and a bra this foreshadows to us that she may be in danger as she is quite venerable as she has no layers to protect her so is the main victim and in addition the gender stereotype that women are the "damsels in distress".  The male character is in informal clothing and portrays the stereotype of the typical American high school bad boy. The female pressures him into doing a chant in the mirror this reinforces further that he is trying to portray a brave fearless character. He however only gets to four suggesting he wasn’t brave enough and maybe he isn’t going to protect the girl which the audience could once have assumed as he was portraying a bad boy and protector stereotype. Once the girl is alone in the bath room there is a wide shot of her face and she chants the name 'Candyman' one last time then reaches to turn off the lights. The dark quick blackout instantly suggests death and then this is accompanied with a piercing scream which reinforces the horror theme and we know that the girl is dead. The next shot is of the lights being turned back on and blood is splattered onto the wall, we know this the victims’ blood. The prop blood is a common thing used in horrors as most horrors are based around death and cold blooded murders.

  This is followed by a dissolve close up of a women’s face who is smoking. The women has blonde hair and wears make up this mise-en-scene is used to promote the lady as pretty as it can make her relatable and appealing to the audience. This implies that the characters are everyday ordinary people which helps the audience relate. The lady is smoking which indicates that she maybe breaking the stereotypical stereotype of women being “angles” and never doing anything wrong as smoking can be seen as an unsavoury habit. We later learn that she is called 'Helen' and is investigating the legend that surrounds 'Candyman'. This also implies she is breeching a stereotype barrier as she is doing a manly job which isn’t seen as a job necessary for women as there is a certain amount of danger involved.

   The cuts used in the film is continuity editing the cuts are fluid to show the film is fast moving, this adds to the drama because in most of the scene there is a new issue raised. There are many close up shots used in the film this is too bring the audience closer to the characters and almost get attached because they want them to reel the connection so they feel an emotion when they are killed.

   
  The clothing the character wear in the film is very casual and informal which helps enforce to the audience that this can happen to anyone, they are trying to portray and girl next door stereotype as the characters are ordinary. This aspect adds to the film being the convention of horror. The props used such as body modification adds fear for the audience as also suggests which character has dominance as the hook shows that 'Candyman' has dominance over his killers as he has a weapon to kill. The weapon is welded to his arm suggesting even more violence in the film as he must have gone through pain and suffering to have had his arm amputated and maybe opposing far and sheer violence onto his victims to inflict the pain he went through. This helps create the film to be a horror as it shows the violence that can lead to disfigurements.

How does the film “Notting Hill” use conventions within the film to fit the rom-com genre?

 

  'Notting Hill' is a British rom-com featuring the stars 'Hugh Grant' and 'Julia Roberts'. The opening sequence entails a divorced man called 'Will' who owns his own travel bookshop in the heart of a London place called 'Notting Hill'. He shares his house with a welsh eccentric called 'Spike'. 'Will' later finds himself in his book shop with a famous Hollywood movie star 'Anna' and then later has another encounter in the street with a cup of orange juice, in a short amount of time they are back at 'Will’s' and share a kiss.

   The credits at the beginning of the film are placed on a black neutral background so the audience will focus on the credits. The titles of the actors are in white and pink, these pale colours represent a light hearted film maybe a comedy and the pink suggests the air of romance. The male names are all in blue and green these suggest the male stereotypical colours whereas the pinks are for the women suggest the female gender stereotype. Straight from the credits it cuts to a dissolve montage of a women’s life, it shows her on the red carpet and at movie sets suggesting the successfulness of the character. The cameras zoom in on her suggesting someone is taking the time to photograph her which represents her fame as people are capturing the stages of her life which suggest she is of importance. She can be seen as an attractive character which is portrayed by her glamorous lifestyle and significance of her life to others. It's then a continuity editing to an establishing shot of a man walking through a street with diegetic sound of hustle and bustle of a street. There is a voice over which overlaps with the character 'Will' talking and introducing himself and we learn that its located at Portobello in 'Notting Hill' a part of London. The tracking’s and pans that show the wide shots of the street where he lives. We see markets stalls, bakeries and pubs which are all the stereotypical things associated with Britain suggesting this is a realistic believable rom-com that can take place in Britain. We also learn 'Will' considers himself a “loser” which reinforces the typical plots of British rom-coms where the male is seen as a typical no one who has no luck with women. Whereas, in American rom-com films the main male character is seen as the perfect stereotypical man who all women look for, this is where British and American rom-coms differ.  The non-diegetic music through this film is peaceful, calm and soft; it’s very mellow and creates all the emotions we associate with romance and love.

 The wide shot of 'Will’s' house shows a big bold blue front door. This door can be seen as a symbol of 'Will’s' happy intelligent character as its colour blue suggests he is quite light hearted and warming man as it looks quite inviting. This could also instigate there is something unique and maybe different about 'Will' as most people do not have bright blue doors. 'Will' enters his house and the pans show that it’s not filled with expensive luxuries more the basics, this contrasts to the back luck he has had with love as his wife left him. We are then introduced to his roommate 'Spike' who is a very comical character. The editing of the two shots are used through the opening scenes as it’s a romantic comedy so it’s used to show the relationships and bonds each of the characters share.  The shot doesn’t so the two characters 'Will' and 'Spike' to be too close and as the dialogue develops we can see they do not share the same intelligence level. 'Will' is much more intelligent where as 'Spike' is more comical, the tee-shirts he wears reinforces this as the slogans are comical and to do with love. However, even though they are intellectual on different wave lengths they share the same intelligence of women and romance as they both have limited expertise with love. The subjective point of view shows 'Will’s' view on his friend 'Spike' this makes the audience feel more involved as they feel like they are actually there and part of the scene.

  When 'Will' goes to his book shop we as the audience meet his other friend who helps with work in the travel bookshop, he is also very comical and portrayed as quite dim-witted whereas 'Will' is quite quick witted with his remarks.  The friend doesn’t even realise that 'Anna' a famous celebrity walks in. 'Will' notices her straight away and looks again to make sure he isn’t mistaken. Over the shoulder shot shows that 'Anna' is in amongst the book and actually fits in with the surroundings which aren’t what we as the audience would expect or what 'Will' would expect as she is used to being at Hollywood parties not an unsuccessful travel shop in Notting Hill. The dialogue of 'Will' shows him to babble quite a lot toward 'Anna' this could be because he is nervous and awkward as he doesn’t know how to react. There is a focus pull used in the bookshop scene when 'Will' has to go and deal with a male who is trying to steal. He threatens to call the police but doesn’t enforce this action suggesting he is maybe quite kind hearted and a bit soft. Whereas, when the male asks for a signature and a date with 'Anna' she is slightly more rude indicating she is more dominate other the male where as 'Will' wasn’t. The focus pull is used to show he has duty to stop the man stealing his book as it’s his livelihood however she is still in the back of his mind and he wants to get back to his conversation with 'Anna'. (Book shop scene- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-hu8rjfzOc)

  
   Non diegetic sound of some more light hearted music the horizontal tracking shows 'Will' walking down the street the skies are clear and the sun is shining this could foreshadow a bright future ahead. He then bangs into and spills the prop orange juice all over him and 'Anna'. This prop acts as another meeting point.  It’s also almost slow motion when 'Will' is walking along the street as if he is oblivious to the rest of the world just day dreaming. Then when he spills it and is transferred back to reality as the music stops and the hustle and bustle from the street returns.  Once again 'Will” babbles to say how sorry he is and that she should come back to his house to get cleaned up.

At his house it shows a cut and wide shot shows him rushing around trying to clean up implying he doesn’t feel that his house is good enough for her. Another over the shoulder shot is shown when she walks up the stairs this shows the significance of 'Anna' to him as he stops what he is doing and is almost looking at her in ore while she walks up the stairs. He doesn’t even care to change his tee-shirt he just cares about getting her clean.  The two shot by the door when she comes back into the house shows the close proximity they share. 'Anna' instigates the first kiss which is quite a shock for the audience as though the scenes 'Will' has been seen as the walker party and almost taking on the stereotypical role of women where they babble whereas she is more dominate. However. she is now exposing her emotions to him within the safety of his own home. There are many medium close ups of 'Will’s' blue door the colour blue is very neutral suggesting he is quite a calm and easy going person. The shots when the two characters 'Will' and 'Anna' share a kiss and have a close conversation the door is very apparent right behind, it can be seen as a barrier from them and the outside as all the sounds from Portobello is being shut out.

  The mise-en-scene of the scenes show the costume of the characters to be quite casual as they are wearing informal clothing which is seen as everyday which implies that the film is about casual people suggesting that the love story can happen to and ordinary person. However 'Anna' in contrast does where quite casual clothing in the shop but does where a designer channel hat suggesting her glamour and wealth is shining through. 


  All the camera angles, mise-en-scene, sound and editing suggest that this film is the genre of a British rom-com as they portray all the conventions of a rom-com such as two main characters one female and male and also there characters fit the typical British rom-com as the male is seen as the weaker party due to his clumsy nature just like 'Will' and also “The prime minister” in  another British rom-com film “Love Actually” as they are both portrayed as a dippy babbled character   whereas, the women are more powerful and independent.

  

How does the film “The Dark Knight Rises” use certain conventions within the film to fit the superhero/action genre?

 

 The film 'The Dark Knight Rises' is the last instalment in the trilogy of the batman films 'Batman Begins' and 'The Dark Knight'. The film made by major Hollywood studios Warner Bros features the A-list stars 'Tom Hardy', 'Christian Bale', 'Anne Hathaway', 'Morgan Freeman' and 'Joseph Gordon-Levitt'. The opening sequence enters the stereotypical superhero genre as it introduces all the major characters and is jam packed with action. It entails major action throughout from aeroplane fight scenes to 'Catwoman' stealing 'Batman’s' finger prints and jumping out of a window. The plot straightway suggests the genre of action as the aeroplane scene is packed with quick cuts and wide shots to show that action taking place. The non-diegetic sound at the start is quite ominous and threating; it suggests the genre style as it sounds like chanting. This is foreshadowing what happens later on in the film when Batman is in the prison and the prisoner’s folk law is that they chant when someone is trying to escape the prison. This indicates that it could be a soundtrack to the film as it’s used frequently from then on throughout the film. The pitch and volume both increase adding to the importance and also acts as the incidental music and acts as a marker to show when action is taking place. The music used fits the genre as its incidental and dramatic which implies the significance of the scene that its being played over. This convention portrays the action/superhero genre as the music is quite fluent throughout and even though some pitches are softer than other it’s still keeps its mysterious feel.

  The starting scene shows a medium wide shot of three men in the back of a car with sacks on their heads, the mise-en-scene suggests that they are covering their identify and maybe they have done something wrong as they also have their hands tied, this prop implies they are bound and therefore have limitations. The costumes are army attire suggesting the theme of violence and fighting, this links with the action convention as fight starts to irrupt once they are in the sky. The editing during the plane scene is continuity editing, the edits are quick but fluid which helps contrast the action on action plot. The dialogue used is very high volume as they are all shouting each other. This adds further to the action genre as its shows the emotion the characters are feeling such as anger and it reciprocates when they all start to fight. The fight scenes are very realistic which is a convention of a superhero film as it shows the strength and agility the characters have and that some involved are just ordinary people.

 The aerial tracking and pans of the plane shows the special effects used such as CGI, these computer camera angle helps the audience with the understanding of the setting by showing the surroundings. The dialogue of the character 'Bane' is very scary and mysterious. The tone doesn’t seem friendly so therefore the audience feel like they can’t relate to him and therefore doesn’t know who he is. The fact he has a sack on his head adds the suspense and mystery of whom the person is and what he looks like. The medium close up of the reveal of the sack suggests the importance of this character of 'Bane' as the shot focuses just on him. The focus pull gets all the attention on the man in the sack portraying his significance and how important it is for the audience to see the reveal. The reveal is very slow which builds suspense and almost fear amongst the audience as we don’t know what’s going to be under the sack especially with his sinister voice. This convention indicates that 'The Dark Knight Rises' is a superhero/action genre as most superhero films are filled with mystery as to who the characters are and who are stereotyped the “goodies” and “baddies”, so the sacks add to the unknown. There is a wide shot of the sky showing the plane 'Bane' is on and another bigger one above it. The size of the plane is taking up most of the shot which suggests the importance of it, and maybe it’s going to have to do with something that happens next which we soon find out that it hijacks the other plane. Once the scene breaks out into violence it shows a wide shot of various characters fighting even though the main focus is 'Bane' and another man fighting the wide shots shows that there isn’t just one fight broke out there is various. This is a convention used in an superhero/action film as it suggests that fighting and violence is apparent with all the characters in the scene. The prop of the blood used when 'Bane' takes blood off of the

Doctor and transfers it into another man’s body that appears dead. This is a convention of an action/superhero film as blood can represent death and violence that does take place within this certain genre.  The aerial shot shows the wreckage of the plane falling downwards and also reveal to the audience which characters have died.  There is then a wide shot to show the bigger plane that we learn Bane owns as he was the one who hijacked the other plane falling to the ground. The bigger plane then fly’s away, with the two characters of 'Bane' and the Doctor which could symbolise the importance of these characters.

    This then cuts to a new scene where it pans to show a city setting which sets the location of 'Gotham' which is a CGI. It cuts and pans to show the location and also familiarise the audience with the characters there and indicate what sort of event it is. The mise-en-scene costumes are formal suggesting it’s a black tie event, the setting is dark as its night time which can be considered a convention to the superhero/action films as it is a mysterious time, as anyone could we lurking about portraying the unknown. There is dialogue that can be heard whilst the camera pans, which  helps the audience understand that its quite a “chit chatty” tone indicating its quite a laid back formal event. Then a wide shot is shown of a man standing on a podium with the people gathered around. Then there is a high angle shot used which suggests the man’s superiority to the others it implies he is the dominant character. His costume is very formal adding to the importance of this man. Once he starts speaking his dialogue suggests he is very well educated and what he is saying has relevance to the event.  There is than a subjective view point of a women waitress, the males voice is transferred into the background suggesting he still plays an important role however the main focus now is this lady it suggests her significance to others around her and that she is different from them. The camera then tracks her into the kitchen; her movement is quick and fluid implying she may have a hectic schedule to get through. Once she takes the key off the butler she travels upstairs to put a tray onto a table. The pans of the room she enters shows the big size of the room and the furniture and accessories it’s filled with.  The subjective view point is used again so the audience see what she sees through her eyes, the movement is very quick and edgy, we could interpret this to be in reference to her cat like characteristics as her vision is very clear cut. It then focus pulls as she then picks up a photo of a man and a woman indicating these characters are going to have significance to the film. Most of the objects in the room are covered over with white sheets, indicating they don’t want to be shown or seen. The colour white is very drab and neutral indicating that these dull covers could be hiding something interesting underneath but has lost its interest. The women starts searching through items however she isn’t frantically searching suggesting to the audience as to what type of characters she is. It suggests the persona of quite a calm exterior and how she is confident enough to search through someone’s belongs. In addition, it also implies she may know what she is looking for. The prop of the archery is used to break her search; it suggests the skill of the man who fires it. Once the male is shown, we see a man who has a walking stick and dressed in informal clothing, which doesn’t really fit the formal exterior of the room. As the scene moves on a two shot is shown of the man who we know as 'Batman' and the women we find out to be 'Catwoman' it is used to show the close proximity between the two characters, it can be used to foreshadow future events as we find out later that they become an item. Even though the scene isn’t very long it shows the dramatic change in both of the characters as 'Catwoman' starts off to be quite innocent but the prop of the stolen pearls is used as marker to show her change in character as she knocks 'Batman' to the ground and jumps out of the window. 'Batman' is portrayed as a cripple in this scene indicating he couldn’t have been a superhero but we soon see the change in him when starts to return back to 'Batman'. This portrays the convention of a superhero film as it shows that character’s change from being normal people into strong individuals knows as superheroes.

 

 The use of camera angles, sound, mes-en-scene and editing are all used to portray 'The Dark Knight Rises' to be a superhero/action film as the scenes are filled with wide shots to show all the action alongside the mysterious music to create the scene of the unknown as to who the heroes in this film actually are. 

How do the films “Se7en” and “Red Dragon” meet conventions of horror and thriller films?

 

The films ‘Se7en’ and ‘Red Dragon’ meet the conventions of horror and thriller genres by the use sounds, camera angles, MES, edits, plots and characters as they provide an air of suspension and terror as the audience don’t know what’s going to happen next. All these factors create the fear factor for the audience as they aren’t in the known which makes them feel on edge.

  ‘Se7en’ and ‘Red Dragon’ show many close up shots of the props and the characters faces; this is to provide the audience with evidence as to what the characters look like. They are very intense shots of the characters it shows the expressions that are on their faces which indicates the emotion of whether they are happy sad or angry. It also provides the audience with clues as to whether they can trust this certain character as we don’t know who the ‘baddie’ is. The extreme close ups provide the audience with eye contact which is key as the audience will then judge what type of character they are and make their own conclusion on who good and who is evil. However the thing with horrors is that they don’t like to give anything away which is why it is hard for us to understand what roles the characters are playing as we are directed to ‘trust know one’. These camera shots link in with the type of music the two films play; both have sinister terrifying music which creates suspension for the audience, and sometimes when characters are on screen the type of music played indicates to us that whether the character is sinister. However it also maybe indicates the victim is about to be killed as the music played is tense and jumpy, the sound gives us a clue that something is about to happen but the fact that it’s always tense and creepy we don’t know when it’s going to happen we just know its soon so they still keep the element of surprise. This happens during the scene in ‘Red Dragon’ when he killer goes back to a blind ladies house. The music played is very tense and jumpy which suggests something is about to happen however it doesn’t.  However, Later on in the film the woman is killed so the music almost acts as a warning sign that she was his next victim. In comparison both ‘Se7en’ and ‘Red Dragon’ have a similar uses of camera angles which meet the conventions of horror as both use many close ups during the open scenes to introduce the characters these main focuses clearly suggest to the audience that they are a big part of the film. The fact they both have similar openings with the credits at the start as well is an indication that most horrors and thrillers have similar openings to each other. However, they are different in the opening scenes as ‘Red Dragon’ opens with a wide shot of a musical house, this establishment shot sets the scene as its shows an orchestra on stage and then shows a close up shot of a man in the audience this is significant as we later learn he is the killer he is doctor ‘Hannibal Lector’. Whereas the opening of ‘Se7en’ is much darker it shows an apartment with belongings in it such as a clock that ticks this could be an indication this film is to do with time maybe it has a time limit. The first shot shows a man that has his back to the camera which is an unusual way to start a movie but it’s a chance to the audience to adjust to the settings and understand what era it is due the props and costumes.

The credits of ‘Se7en’ are very iconic it was produced by David Fincher (http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=SEZK7mJoPLY). The credits appear it’s very shaky. There are two sets of the same writing as well that unmerge when they're about to disappear. In addition it has a close up of someone scraping away their skin with a razor, and a non-diegetic sound of a girl screaming, which gives the impression that it was a memory. They have made the opening credits very tense which creates suspense, one part in the credits that shows its psychological is when they have merged two shots together of someone writing on a bit of paper it shows him writing one part. Then suddenly it shows the person writing something else at the same time. The music in the opening credits is very slow, you can hear a heartbeat, and it sounds very echoed then it suddenly picks up its pace and the suspense and tension rises. ‘Red Dragon’s’ credits are very similar it starts with a book the same as ‘Se7en’ and then shows pictures of body parts just like ‘Se7en’. This is an indication that they have similar genres, sev7en shows a disturbing image of someone removing another person’s eye and the word cannibal is shown in the eye. Images similar to this were shown in ‘Se7en’ as well this indicates to the audience what the film entails and are both shown as scrapbooks. However the differences of the credits for ‘Red Dragon’ and ‘Se7en’ are that in ‘Se7en’ the actor’s names are corked and the ends credits roll backwards which is disorientating. Whereas, ‘Red dragons’ actors names are written in red which indicates death and a horror theme.

 

  The mise-en-scene of ‘Red Dragon’ and ‘Se7en’ are quite similar, both show characters dressed smartly in the opening scenes they are dressed in suits which is formal tyre this is in an indication to what sort of era it is and also what sort of profession the characters have. Both films have the similarity that they have detectives characters as part of the storyline this suggests to us that the film could be a horror and thriller. We know from their costumes they are detectives due to the stereotypical long coats and hat and tie. However detective graham in ‘Red ‘Dragon’ wears more casual clothing however we learn that he is a retired detective so maybe he is wearing some more casual clothing in some scenes to show he isn’t part of the job anymore and maybe even reluctant to be back as he won’t wear the typical detective uniform. In addition it suggests that maybe the era of this film is later than ‘Se7en’. The setting of the film ‘Se7en’ is a very urban city of New York, the lighting of the scene is very dark which symbolises the film is very drake and intense. The city is shown filled with people going about their everyday lives, it shows the hustle and bustle of the city this may be to show the volume of people living in the city to suggest that anyone there can be murdered and anyone of them could be the killer. Throughout the film in mainly all the outside scenes its always raining this adds to the dramatic affect that the film is dark and suspicious and indicates maybe a bleak outlook is ahead. The end scene is outside and the sky is a contrast of blue and yellow. However, even though these colours are considered as bright they seem very dull indicating that the film has a sad ending but is coming to the end of the darkness of the story. In addition, maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel even though the detective’s wife was killed.

  The music in both films was critical to the films to help achieve an atmosphere of tense and suspicion. ‘Red Dragon’s’ title music starts very loud suggesting anger and aggression it then goes into classical music however odd notes are wrong which creates a sense of danger and uncertainty. When the scrapbook is shown during the pre-sequence title the music is very on edge it changes constantly to shown the dramatic changes to the scrapbook as it shows good newspaper articles of lector and all the work he’s done as a psychologist but then shows picture of gruesome body parts and the newspaper articles of how ‘Dr lector’ is a cannibal. This is when all the factors in the movie like lighting and editing are used to make the dramatic effect of the films storyline.  The lighting darkens and the music turns into a low pitch one with aggression, these two types of music coupled with the drastic editing of the images shows how quickly characters can turn from good to bad. In addition, the editing of the actors names in red and white could represent the two sides to ‘Lector’ the white shows his calm cool side and the red represents danger as it indicates that they could be written in blood, Whereas in ‘Se7en’ even though the title sequence is similar the music styling is different. ‘Se7en’ music starts of low and then dramatically builds up as the picture get worse as they show gruesome pictures this builds a sense of intensity and puts the audience on edge. The editing accompanies the music well as there is a lot of cuts which helps build up suspense especially when they don’t follow a specific pattern they are all over the place which creates the films is odd and different. This clip is the opening sequence for ‘Se7en’. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4thzyFFdvVc )