VODCAST 2: Slasher Genre Conventions

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Slasher EG2: Halloween (1978)

Halloween

John Carpenter (1978)

BBFC 18, MPAA R

Film Opening Length: 

Budget: $325k
UK/US/World Box Office: ?, $47m, $70m
Theatrical Distribution in 

Production Companies: Compass International Pictures, Falcon International Productions
Distributors: Compass International Pictures

LINKS:
IMDB, RottenTomatoes (Tomatometer 93%, Audience 89%), BoxOfficeMojo, Wiki

Trailer for 'Halloween':
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POSSIBLE INFLUENCE FOR MY FILM

I like the stalkerish shots of the sister and boyfriend in this film opening and I want to include this style of stalkerish shots in my film opening somehow. Also, I may want to include similar kinds of non-diegetic music in my film opening, I really like the non-diegetic music at the start of this film opening.

COMPANIES/IDENTS
There are no film idents shown in this film opening, because of the time period it was made in (the 1970’s). Back then, film idents weren’t a common thing to see at the start of slasher films.

IDENTIFYING ANY PROTAGONISTS
The first characters shown in this film opening are a couple kissing and having sex. Since the film is of the slasher genre, you can connote that these two characters are ‘scream queens/kings’. Usually, at the start of a slasher film a ‘scream queen/s’ is/are killed.

OPENING SHOT

The opening shot has a really long take of 3 minutes and 6 seconds. This shot is entirely in Point-Of-View (POV). This POV shot starts on an extreme long shot of a white house. This establishes the setting to the audience. 

The opening establishing extreme long shot is of a house to establish the setting/ setting the scene to the audience and to connote that the main event (killing) is going to happen here.

TITLES
The entire first half of this film opening is just titles. You can denote that the titles are sans serif, they alternate between the colours yellow, orange and red to connote that the film is a horror (the red connotes blood). The actual names of the cast are in upper case lettering and the roles e.g. director of photography are in lower case lettering.

The first titles shot is of the film institution: Compass International Pictures. 

The font colour starts yellow then changes to red just like the first one. This happens throughout all the titles (colour changes from yellow to red). All the titles are in upper case to emphasise the film's dramatic, horror, spooky mood/atmosphere; this gets the audience engaged already. 

A pumpkin appears on the left side to connote that this film is set during halloween (pumpkins are used only during halloween) and that the film is set around the idea of halloween.



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The pumpkin has gradually zoomed in through every change of titles to connote the prominence and importance of the pumpkin (signifier of halloween) to make the audience very aware that the film is about halloween. The fonts are still red to connote the horror genre.


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This is the last title shown, it denotes the setting to the audience.

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After the first scene (the girl in the house is killed by her brother, Michael) there is another title shown. It creates a kind of bridge between the film opening to the main body of the film. The title is the exact same as the title shown at the start of the film opening; so it is being denoted that the main body of the film is set in the same town as where this girl in the film opening was killed. The audience are provided with exposition of the setting again.

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This title is the same as the title shown at the start of the film opening but instead of saying 1963, it says 1978, so 14 years later. Also, instead of the date saying Halloween, it says October 30. This has been done so that there isn't much emphasis put on Halloween because the events about to happen at the start of the main body of the film are not related exactly to Halloween.

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MISE-EN-SCENE FOR EXPOSITION

This long shot is seen from someone's view (Michael's) making it a point of view shot and is handheld/shaky to connote that someone is watching these two characters and that something is going to happen to them (these shots are trying to get the audience to feel uneasy and scared). The fact that these two characters are the first to be shown normally connotes that these characters are the main protagonists but since this film is a slasher horror, it actually connotes that they are the scream queens/scream kings. 

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You can see in this shot the person who is stalking/following the couple (Michael) opening the drawer and taking out a knife. You can see the sleeve this person is wearing which denotes to the audience that this person is wearing a halloween outfit (a clown outfit) to further connote this halloween setting.





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This person picks up the mask from the floor and puts it on so the audience can see what this person sees through the mask. This is also a point of view shot. 







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The audience can partially see here a naked woman (the girl from the couple) with blood pouring out of her connoting that this person in the mask has just stabbed/killed her. Also, the fact that this woman is naked further connotes that she is the stereotypical scream queen.




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This is a crane shot to connote the end of this scene/the film opening. It is somewhat countertypical to reveal who the killer is at the start of a film. Also, the audience is being given some context now that these new two characters have entered the scene. It is clear that these are the killer's and the dead girl's parents. So the context given now is that the girl from the couple was supposed to be babysitting her younger brother but instead she invited her boyfriend to come over so they could have sex while her parents had gone out. This is somewhat normative behaviour of teenagers, therefore allowing the audience to relate with the teenage couple (Uses & Gratifications theory).  

NARRATIVE
Barthes’ narrative enigma can be applied to this film opening. 

SOUND/GENRE SIGNIFICATION
The entire first half of this film opening is just titles. Throughout this title sequence, non-diegetic sound is playing. You can denote this as shortly held piano notes and long-held chords, long-held electronic synths and short-held ticking clock/time bomb diegetic sounds. 

SHOT VARIETY
There are only two shots in this film opening, the first shot has a really long take of 3 minutes and 6 seconds. This shot is entirely in Point-Of-View (POV). The second shot is a crane shot zooming out on Michael Myers in a clown costume with a knife in his hand.

1ST 5 SHOTS OF FILM 2: Submarine

Submarine

Richard Ayoade (2010)

BBFC 15, MPAA R

Film Opening Length: 0

Budget: £1.5m
UK/US/World Box Office: $2.3m, $467.6k,
Theatrical Distrinution in 5 countries.

Production Companies: Warp Films, Film4 Productions
Distributors: Optimum Releasing (Studiocanal UK), The Weinstein Company

LINKS:
IMDB, RottenTomatoes (Tomatometer 87%, Audience 82%), BoxOfficeMojo, Wiki


Trailer for 'Submarine':
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SHOT 1
Before this opening shot, there are some titles (for the production companies - e.g. Film 4). The opening shot here is a long shot of the main protagonist's bedroom to connote that this is where the protagonist spends most of his time and to show to the audience what the main protagonist is like e.g. quite child-like and vintage from the single bed which is blue and wooden and from all the vintage objects in the room etc.



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SHOT 2

You can denote that there are lots of posters and pictures stuck to the bedroom walls in this character's room to connote the strangeness and madness of the main protagonist, that his mind is constantly all over the place (lots of thoughts in his head). You can denote that the objects in his room are unusual, old fashioned and different to what an ordinary child would have in their room, to again connote the strangeness of this character.

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SHOT 3
This is a panning shot around the main protagonist's room to show the room fully to the audience. Then at the end of the panning shot you finally see the main protagonist. Since he is the first character shown in the film this connotes that he is the main protagonist. The audience can denote unusual objects again such as the skeleton and telescope which connote that the main protagonist is interested in science and nerdy things. This further signifies to the audience that the main protagonist is a nerdy character. Since there are many objects in his room, this could connote that he spends all/most of his time in his room using all these objects; this could further connote that this character doesn't have many friends and spends most of his time alone. At the end of this shot, non-diegetic music starts playing (a tick that goes in time with the shot cuts changing to getting closer on the main protagonist).

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SHOT 4
This is the second shot of the three shots that get closer in on the main protagonist. This shot has framing left, not central framing, to connote that this character is strange, unusual and different, so being in central framing would be too normal for this specific character. There is a painting of a submarine to connote the unusualness of this character and to relate with the title of the film (submarine) which could metaphorically connote that the main protagonist feels submerged, just like a submarine so he relates with them. 



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SHOT 5
The shot has got closer and closer to the main protagonist's face finally to a close up only showing his head at the bottom of the frame and there is left framing again, these things combined help to connote that this character is isolated and strange. The fact that only the character's head is shown connotes his isolation from the world (looking out of the window into the world as if he is isolated) and the strangeness again of this character. 
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EG2: Friday The 13th (2009)

Friday The 13th

Marcus Nispel (2009)

BBFC 18, MPAA R

Film Opening Length:

Budget: $19m
UK/US/World Box Office: $3.1m, $65m, $91.3m
Theatrical Distribution in 

Production Companies: Platinum Dunes
Distributors: New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures

LINKS:
IMDB, RottenTomatoes (Tomatometer 25%, Audience 46%), BoxOfficeMojo, Wiki

Trailer for 'Friday The 13th Remake':
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1ST 5 SHOTS OF FILM 1: For Those In Peril

For Those In Peril

Paul Wright (2013)

BBFC 18, MPAA Not Rated

Film Opening Length: 0

Budget: ?
UK/US/World Box Office: $3.8k, $18.2k, ?
Theatrical Distribution in 

Production Companies: Warp Films, Film4 Productions
Distributors: Studiocanal

LINKS:
IMDB, RottenTomatoes (Tomatometer 90%, Audience 68%), BoxOfficeMojo, Wiki


Trailer for 'For Those In Peril':
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SHOT 1
The first film titles shown are BFI, Film4, Creative Scotland and Screen Yorkshire (they are funding agencies that the government gives grants too except for Film4 who is an exhibitor expecting the money back, since they are showing this film on Film4 the TV channel). The main three film institutions appear first in the titles, then below, there is the title 'In Association with Screen Yorkshire' connoting that this film institution is less important than the others above. It is connoted that this is a low budget film because the film institutions are low budget, for films that are targeted for a small audience (Britain). The 'In Association with' font is smaller than the film institution names' font. The overall font is a typewriting serif font in all upper case letters. Also, the text overall is very small, to connote that the target audience of the film is adults (age rating is 18). 
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SHOT 2
You can see here the title for the film institution, Warp X. Warp X received all their money from the national lottery as a government grant to make 6 films. Warp X is a subsidiary of film production company Warp Films. It is made clear here that Warp X is the main production company because it says "A Warp X Production".

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Using selective focus the effect of looking ghostly is created here, everything in the shot is out of focus. The fact that this character is shown immediately first centrally framed in a medium close up connotes that this character is the main protagonist. The signifier in this shot is the sea shown in the background to connote that the sea is a very important element of the film. There is natural lighting used here and the weather looks cold. You can also denote that the camera used is handheld.
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SHOT 4

This is an extreme long shot of the sea in the distance. A diegetic voiceover appears here, providing the audience with exposition through the accent heard - Scottish. This signifies the setting to the audience. "I remember when I was little." Non-diegetic music starts playing here, which can be denoted as organ notes (connotes church funeral music - normally signifying death) which connotes sadness and seriousness; this helps to establish the serious drama genre to the audience. 

There has also been a black and white grainy filter used on the footage which connotes that this scene is set back in time. A very long take (27 seconds) is used here - which connotes that the audience of the film is older (age 18+). A teen/young audience would have got bored already.

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SHOT 5
You can now here diegetic sound of the ocean. There are connotations that someone has died here because the framing has got tighter on a section of rocks in the sea.

1ST 5 SHOTS OF FILM 3: Bridget Jones's Diary

Bridget Jones's Diary

Sharon Maguire (2001)

BBFC 15, MPAA R

Film Opening Length: 0

Budget: $25m
UK/US/World Box Office: $60.2m, $71.5m, $282m
Theatrical Distrinution in 

Production Companies: Working Title Films, Studiocanal, Little Bird
Distributors: Universal Pictures, Miramax Films

LINKS:
IMDB, RottenTomatoes (Tomatometer 81%, Audience 81%), BoxOfficeMojo, Wiki


Trailer for 'Bridget Jones's Diary':
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SHOT 1

The opening shot of this film opening is a medium long shot of the main protagonist (it is clear that she is the main protagonist since she is the first character shown). You can denote that it is snowing and the protagonist is holding a piece of luggage to connote that she is going somewhere for Christmas or New Year's Eve/Day (setting denoted from the snow - winter time - christmas time). The lighting is bleak to connote Bridget's life and how she feels when she goes to see her mother. You can also denote that there is a black taxi in the background which further denotes the setting (London) to the audience. A female diegetic voiceover appears in this shot, establishing the first person narrative; this voiceover provides anchorage of who this character in the shot is. She is saying: 

"It all began on New Years day... on my 32nd year of being single. Once again, I found myself on my own and going to my mother's annual turkey curry buffet. Every year, she tries to fix me up with some busy-haired, middle-aged bore and I feared this year would be no exception."

This voiceover doesn't provide any narrative enigma (Roland Barthes) in the film opening at all but instead provides the audience with exposition (her age, where she is from - her accent tells us that, that she is single and where she is going) immediately into the film. This character is heading to her mother's annual turkey curry buffet on New Years Day. The fact that the bags she is carrying are not feminine and that she is carrying all her luggage provides binary opposition (Levi-Strauss) to the stereotypical girl.

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SHOT 2

The next shot is an extreme long shot of the village where Bridget Jones has just arrived at to go to her mother's house. There are multiple signifiers here which connote that the village is stereotypically British white middle class in the A-C1 class range, such as the religious cross, the church, the red telephone box, the red poppies on the cross etc. These signifiers are used to attract an international audience because they are very familiar and stereotypically British. The signifiers like the church in the background and the cross signify that the village is also quite religious.

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SHOT 3

This shot is a crane shot, following where the character is going. This connotes that the film is not a low budget film but instead, a high budget film (A Working Title film). You can denote that the house in this shot is very big and the garden is very decorated which connotes that the people who own this house (Bridget's parents) are very wealthy. You can denote that in the garden, there are two bushes which are decorated as two swans touching nose to nose (two swans together connote love), this connotes that the family (most presumably the mother) is obsessed with love. As you hear from what the main protagonist says in her voiceover at the start of the film opening, you know that her mother always goes on at her about finding a man.

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SHOT 4

This shot immediately tells the audience that there is a completely different atmosphere in the mother's house to how Bridget is in her own life, from the drastic, immediate change in non-diegetic sound to what can be denoted as an upbeat song. This non-diegetic music also reveals to the audience that this is not just a film in the romance genre but also in the comedy genre - therefore rom-com). This shot says to the audience that whenever the main protagonist sees her mother, it is always a fake kind of happy and an act. She hates how her mother sets her up all the time for a date. 

SHOT 5

There is a sort of dutch angle here which connotes that this house is an uncomfortable, uneasy place for the main protagonist. Also, this dutch angle connotes that she found the hug and kiss from her mother uncomfortable. The furniture and objects in this shot are old fashioned and very ordered to connote that this house is dominated by the mother; this tells the audience immediately what the mother's personality is like. Also, the inside of the house connotes wealth. The father living there may have had no say in any of the design or furniture of this house. The mother's clothing is stereotypical of an old, traditional person. 

1ST 5 SHOTS OF FILM 2: Wild Child

Wild Child

Nick Moore (2015)

BBFC 12, MPAA PG-13

Film Opening Length: 0

Budget: $20m
UK/US/World Box Office: £5.1m, $19.7k, $22m
Theatrical Distrinution in 

Production Companies: Working Title Films, Relativity Media, Studiocanal
Distributors: Universal Pictures

LINKS:
IMDB, RottenTomatoes (Tomatometer 42%, Audience 62%), BoxOfficeMojo, Wiki


Trailer for 'Wild Child':
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SHOT 1
Immediately when the film idents finish, non diegetic music/sound starts playing which is peaceful, romantic and tranquil to connote the vibe of the early morning rising as the main protagonist wakes up calmly. 

The opening shot is an extreme long shot of the sea, there is high key lighting to connote that the film is upbeat, happy and perhaps comedic; also it connotes that it is the dawn of a new day, creating a beautiful, light atmosphere. The first title is shown in white, sans serif font to connote the contemporary, modern, girly, upbeat, comedic feel/genre of the film.
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SHOT 2
The calm, peaceful, tranquil non diegetic music changes when we are fully zoomed in on the main protagonist in a close up shot, when a realisation hits her and she says "shit", then bratty, girly, rocky non diegetic music starts playing.



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SHOT 3
This medium shot shows the actions/movements of the main protagonist rushing out of bed. Also, we can see some signifiers in this shot that connote the film is about a very stereotypical modern day girly girl: the pink pillow, pink top, the blonde long hair, the bed colour and the lamp. The long blonde hair and clothes connote that this character may somewhat be the 'dumb blonde girly girl' who is bitchy and mean. 


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SHOT 4

This is a long shot of the main protagonist's bedroom with lots of signifiers in the room that connote a stereotypical teenage girly girl. The title font for the film is in sans serif font. The font attracts the target audience of females who like glamour (the silver gems on the word 'wild' connotes this) and the prominent background colour of gold connotes the rich, posh, glamorous side of the film/main female protagonist. The film title font perfectly connotes what the main protagonist's personality and life is like. 


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SHOT 5
This is an 'dirty' over the shoulder shot which shows what the character is looking at. It is a calendar full of events. The main event there is portrayed through an explosion drawing and lots of arrows pointing towards this explosion to connote that this event is completely horrific and the equivalent of an explosion/torpedo to the main protagonist. Her reaction from looking at this connotes that it is that day with the explosion drawing on. Also, the colours (lilacs, purples, pinks, light blues) and fonts of all these decorations reinforce and further connote that this main protagonist is very stereotypically girly. 
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Order of Titles
1. Universal Pictures Presents
2. In Association With Studiocanal
3. A Working Title Production
4. Director's name then film
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Immediately when the film idents finish, non diegetic music/sound starts playing which is peaceful, romantic and tranquil to connote the vibe of the early morning rising as the main protagonist wakes up calmly. This non diegetic sound changes when we are fully zoomed in on the main protagonist in a close up shot, when a realisation hits her and she says "shit", then bratty, girly, rocky non diegetic music starts playing.