Welcome To My AS Media Blog! This is the blog tracking my film opening production for AS Media Coursework. This is a re-submission of work started in September 2016. I have kept many of the original dates, but substantially revised posts, especially adding material on audience, genre and within the evaluation questions.
... COMPANIES/IDENTS There is only one film ident shown in this film opening, which is for 'Universal Studios', one of the 'big six' conglomerates. This is common for the slasher genre to only have one film ident shown. OPENING SHOT
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The opening shot is a tracking LS/ELS of what you can denote as a traditional bricked building with the American flag attached to the roof of an archway. This denotes the setting to the audience as the US and connotes that the setting is quite traditional, formal and patriotic. You can denote from this shot that rain is pouring, that there is thunder and lightning (from the flashing effects on the shot) and that it is night time.
... TITLES There is a lot of titles shown in this film opening. Before the opening shot, there are two intertitles shown, in this order: 1. Universal Pictures presents 2. A David Kirschner production 3. A Ronny Yu film
After these three titles, the first scene of the film takes place. There are no more titles until this scene has ended (when the bride of Chucky walks off with the pieces of the doll Chucky, that the policeman had stolen from the 'Lockport Police Dept. Evidence Depository'. Here is the order of titles after this scene has ended: 1. 4 Main actors 2. Main Title: Bride Of Chucky 3. 3 Actors including the voice of chucky 4. Co-Producer 5. Casting by 6. Costume Designer 7. Opening Title Song Performed by 8. Music Supervisors 9. Music by 10. Chucky and tiffany dolls created by 11. Based on characters created by 12. Chucky and tiffany puppet effects created by 13. Edited by 14. Production designer 15. Director of Photography 16. Executive Producers 17. Produced by 18. Written by 19. Directed by IDENTIFYING ANY PROTAGONISTS The first character shown is a policeman. It is stereotypical that the first character to be shown in a slasher horror film is the scream queen/scream king (person who gets killed by the killer). Proving this point to be correct, this policeman character in this film is killed by the killer (the bride of Chucky). The bride of Chucky is slowly introduced through close up shots of her feet and legs, to create a sense of narrative enigma (Barthes) for the audience of who this character is. You don't see her face until after she has killed the policeman character. SOUND/GENRE SIGNIFICATION At the very start of the film opening there is a lot of use of diegetic sounds to create impact on the audience, these sounds are thunder and rain.
SHOT VARIETY NARRATIVE MISE-EN-SCENE FOR EXPOSITION
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Budget:$14m UK/US/WorldBox Office:?,$103m, $173m Theatrical Distribution in 16 countries Production Companies:Woods Entertainment Distributors:Dimension Films
I really like the main title sequence in this film opening (in this case there is just one title, the main title). I would like to make my main title sequence a lot like this, by making the main title stretch out upwards then stretch inwards. Also, I would like to include the diegetic sounds that are in this main title sequence such as the telephone sounds, the screams and the slams of when the words stretch back inwards sharply/harshly.
TITLES The title size goes from big to small in bold on a black background, twice once in the colour red then in the colour white. This suggests that the word scream has great significance within the film suggesting that there will be a lot of screaming going on from the characters but also from the audience. Also the colour of which it is being displayed in also connotes bad atmospheres where red can be seen to connate danger and white can be seen to connate ghosts. Within the opening of Scream it is only the films name which is shown which may express how low there budget was in terms of not having a company presenting the film. However it could express how quickly they want to get straight to the action.This is an interesting example of a sans serif font, almost a bubble font, with some elements of the font itself (not just colouring/animation) carrying horror connotations that we'd usually expect from a serif font. OPENING SHOT The opening shot is a close up of a telephone ringing, connoting that this telephone is a major signifier of what the film is about and is going to be an object continuously used throughout the film. The fact that it is not a wireless telephone and that it is quite retro connotes the setting also, that it is set in the 1990's.
IDENTIFYING ANY PROTAGONISTS The first character is shown in the second shot here, Normally the first character shown would be the main protagonist but in slasher films, the first character shown is usually the 'scream queen/scream king'. Also the fact that she is blonde, is wearing make up and is attractive further connotes that this character is the scream queen.
This shot is an extreme long shot of the house this girl is in. This shot has been used to show that someone had just been sitting on the swing because it is swinging slowly. This creates/builds suspense for the audience.
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This shot is constantly referred back to during the film opening because every time, the popcorn packet seems to be rising even higher. The fact that this shot is referred back to a lot makes the audience feel slowly more tense and scared each time there is a shot of it getting bigger. The rising popcorn foreshadows and connotes how Casey (female character) is feeling as the killer keeps calling her.
SHOT VARIETY
Throughout this film opening there are a variety of shots used such as extreme long shots, close ups, medium close ups, long shots, medium shots and extreme close ups. few shots later, the audience sees a close up of the same popcorn cooking but at a dutch angle. The popcorn packet has also expanded a lot more from the shot before of the popcorn. This dutch angleclose up shot has been used to create and build even more suspense than the first shot of the popcorn; this is due to the fact that the shots have been getting closer on the popcorn, making the audience even more scared. This shot also makes the audience feel uncomfortable and uneasy as if something really bad is going to happen next.
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Budget:$325k UK/US/WorldBox Office:?, $47m, $70m Theatrical Distribution in Production Companies:Compass International Pictures, Falcon International Productions Distributors:Compass International Pictures
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. ...
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. ...
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. ...
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. ...
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. ...
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.
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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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.
... 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). ...
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.
... 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. ...
... 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 seriffont 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). ...
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".
...SHOT 3
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 upconnotes 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. ...
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.
... 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.
Bride Of Chucky
