Evaluation

Audience Feedback

During one lesson last week, we had the chance to watch everyone else’s films. Each time someone film was played, 5 questionnaires were handed out to various people in the class. We had to evaluate each others coursework by filling in the questionnaires and handing them back to them. This way, we each got random opinions of our work.
The questions that had to be answered included-
1) How well did the film follow the codes and conventions of the Romantic Comedy genre?

2) From the evidence you have seen, how well planned was the coursework?

3) How much imagination did the coursework show?

4) On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being excellent) rate –
a) Shot Composition
b) Mise-en-Scene
c) Editing
d) Sound and Music
e) Titles

5) Any other comments

Out the five people, 3 said that our production had excellent codes and conventions. The other 2 people said that they were good. I agree that we followed the codes and conventions of a romantic comedy effectively. This is because the lead couple are split up and are not together, providing the romance element. The comedy comes from the friends trying to cheer Nova up.
People thought that our film was well planned. I agree because we stuck to our action plan as much as we could. The only thing that slowed us down and affected our plan was missing a week of filming. Otherwise, everything went well.
Four of the people asked said that our film showed high imagination and creative flair. We all agreed with this because, even though our film was a typical romantic comedy, we still tried to make it unique. An example of this is when the couple are not together at the beginning of the film, which will make the film different to most. It will also make it unpredictable and intrigue the audience.
On question 4), we were mainly given one’s and two’s. When editing, we aimed to put as many different shots in as possible without taking away the simplicity of the film. We focused on making the mise-en-scene as effective as possible e.g. example the pink furniture, girly clothes, and bottles of wine. We were really proud of our editing, as we had worked really hard on making the film professional and seamless. We added dissolves in so the film would be more effective and realistic. From the beginning of the coursework, our group loved the songs that we used, so we were glad when people said that the sound and music worked well in the film. The credits of the film were also given high marks. We though that the pink and white went well with the romantic comedy genre. Also, the font of the writing was simple to go with the film.
All of the comments that people made were fair, and as a group we agree with them…
-‘Music went well’
-‘Good, creative editing’
-‘Singing and dancing in street could have made more sense’
-‘Didn’t need improving’
-‘Very good’
-‘Music suited well’
There are certain things in the film that each of us would change if we had the chance of one more editing session…
-Nova looks at camera when she finds the bra
-Bit blurry when they run down the stairs
-Singing in the street was a bit out of sync
That being said, we are all very proud of our film, and the little things that we would change don’t make the film bad.

Editing

On the 28th January, we put together a Recording Log of all the shots that had been filmed on our tape, whether we wanted to use them or not. After this, we had to decide which shots we wanted by viewing the clips on the computer and putting together an Editing Decision List. When we had completed this we had to log and capture the shots. Myself and Hannah did this as Matt was away. We had to make sure that we left two seconds at the beginning and end of the shot so that nothing was cut out. It took quite a while to make sure that all of the shots that we wanted got onto the computer properly. Also, because of the amount of footage we had, loading the shots we had decided on took an hour and a half.
When we put together a rough edit of clips according to the storyboard, we found that what we had was too long to fit the criteria of the film being 3 minutes long. When we were about half way through the storyboard, our film was already 2 and a half minutes. This meant that we had to go back over what we had put in place and cut it down. A major part that we altered in the film was the beginning. Instead of panning across the pictures of them happy, we decided that it would be better for the sequence of the couple together to be a sequence in itself. This way, it would seem like a dream sequence that the girl has just before she wakes up. We decided that this would still fit in with the film whilst taking up less time, allowing us to make the whole film less than 3 minutes. We also shortened other shots that we had put on so the film looked more fluid and a lot more professional. An example of this is when she is chasing him down the stairs, the sharper editing makes the sequence flow better than it did before. After we cropped some of the shots, we found that we had reduced the film by about a minute.
The songs that we chose for the opening were: Joss Stone- L.O.V.E, and Gloria Gaynor- I Will Survive. We felt that these two songs would fit perfectly in our film. For the first half, when the couple are breaking up, L.O.V.E is playing, and the words of the song assist in the telling of the story. We edited the pace of the footage and music to play parallel to one another. When Nova finds the bra under her pillow, the words “love is more than just a game for two” are sung. This plays until Nova’s friends say “Let’s put some music on!!”. The song fades out at the same time as the screen cuts to black. This connotes a new chapter in her life. Whilst the screen is still black, the introduction to I Will Survive is playing. It sounds almost magical at the beginning, like the girls are in a fairytale. The song, I Will Survive, is a very popular karaoke song, and a real feel good song for girls who have just split up from their boyfriend. When this song is playing, Nova’s two best friends are miming to her to make her feel better. The tone of the film at this point begins to change, as Nova starts to get over James. The words of the song could easily be a metaphor of what Nova wants to say to James. When the words “thinking how you did me wrong” are sung, Nova’s friends are trying to pull her up to dance, but she is clearly thinking about James.
One of the major things that we had to consider when editing was the timing of the shots. This is especially important as the friends are meant to be singing in the film. Although we couldn’t get the timing with the singing exactly in sync, we still felt that it was believable. The songs, as I have already mentioned are crucial in the opening to our film, as they tell the story. The first song, is slower and more romantic than the second. We chose these songs because there is a significant difference between the two, which coincides with the tone/mood of the film. We had to put all the shots we wanted onto the timeline, as well as the music that we had chosen. Then, we had to decide how long we wanted the shots to last for, so that we could edit them together. When we had synced the songs to the shots, we locked the audio so that if we changed the length of the shot, the music would also change at the same time. We found that this saved us a significant amount of time later on in the process of editing. Whilst we were still in the planning stages of our film, we knew that we wanted the music to tell a story, and for the significant parts of the film to be accompanied with specific words from the songs. Although we found this really tedious and frustrating at times, we knew that it would only add to the effect of the film.
The words in the song are especially in sync with the significant points in the film. To emphasise the importance of this, we decided to put transitions and effects in at those points. This is also because we didn’t want the rest of the film to be too busy. When Nova discovers her boyfriend has been cheating on her the song explains that “Love is more than just a game for two”, to connote that their relationship is being ruined by a third person. During the second song, the words “thinking how you did me wrong” are sung, we felt that this was a really significant part of the film. To emphasise this, we dissolved together two shots – a shot as her friends are trying to get her to dance, and a shot of Nova and James happy together, to show that she cant forget him. Also during the second song, some of the words are “and I grew strong”, this is the point in the film when Nova’s friends persuade her to enjoy herself, and she gets up to sing and dance. Also, James is trying to get back into the door as the words “I should have changed that stupid lock” are sung. Even though Nova is getting over James, it is clear that she is still thinking about him. “You’d be back to bother me”, as these words are said, there is a black and white shot of them together that was originally intended to go at the beginning. We had cut it out, but decided that it fitted in with how Nova would still be thinking about her relationship with James. Another edit we used was a fade towards the end of the film when all of the girls are dancing in the street. This editing decision was made for two reasons. Firstly, we wanted to show a passage of time. We also needed to put the fade in because the two shot that had been filmed had the girls at different places in the road, so by putting the slow fade in, it looked more believable. At the very end of the film, as the title appears on the screen the words being sung are “I will survive, as long as I know how to love I know I’ll stay alive…”
Not all of the edits in the film were done just so they went with the music. We didn’t want all of our shots to have effects on them, as this would make it less realistic. However, I feel the edits we used worked really well with the shots they were used on. One of the hardest things to edit in the film, was the split screen when the two girls are singing. Not only did we have to distort Kirsty’s frame, we also had to make it look like the girls were singing in time. The main reason we had trouble aligning the two shots was because of how the girls were standing, and dancing. Kirsty moved a little bit more than Sinead so she took up more space. To make the split screen, we had to view the images with wireframes enabled, and put them on op of one another. This allowed us to move them around and position them how we wanted. This was also frustrating as when we got one girl how we wanted, the other didn’t fit in the frame. At some points when we were editing, we discovered that unfortunately, we had not captured some of the shots that we wanted. An example of this is when Nova has just thrown James out, and she slides down the door. The problem we had was that Nova’s hair was on different sides for the shots. However, the fade hides the mistake. In our preliminary task, we had to use a match on action, we also decided to use 2 matches on action in our film so that the editing would look seamless. They are when Nova rolls over to kiss James in the first half of the film. The other match on action, which is less noticeable, is when Nova is eating crisps. The film is from Nova’s point of view, we decided to reflect this by using point of view shots to show the audience the film from her perspective. This is shown in the picture as Kirsty and Sinead put make up on Nova to try and make her feel better. At certain times in the film, we faded and cut the screen to black or white. We did this to connote the lightness and darkness of the film, and also to mirror how Nova is feeling. When the screen cuts to black as the girls put some music on, there are connotations of a new chapter in Nova’s life starting and she is forgetting the bad times. This could also be perceived as a passage of time. At the end of the opening, the camera tilts up to the sky and fades to white to show how the sky is her limit. Also, the lighting is brighter in the second half as she begins to get over James. When we started to watch our film back, we noticed that when Nova screams, there is a change in her voice because it is a mix of two different shots. To get over this, we made the first audio clip of the scream longer so that her voice didn’t change. When the friends arrive at Nova’s house, they bring with them the essentials of a girly night in – alcohol and junk food!! There is a pan across empty bottles and glasses, not only to show a passage of time, but also to show that the girls are gradually getting more and more drunk. When the girls are outside dancing, there is a particular shot when they point to the sky, that we wanted to be in time with the music. When we did, we found that the rest of the footage was out of time. This meant that we had to spend extra time making everything fit together.
When we had finished putting the shots and music as we wanted them, we had to put credits on top of the shots. When we were waiting for the editing suite one day, myself and Hannah decided to call our production company Minted Pictures. We also decided that our credits would be pink and white, to connote love. There is also the connotation of two different sides to everyone. Kirsty’s and Sinead’s names appear when Nova discovers the bra, this is to show that they are there for her when she is in trouble. For the rest of the credits, we tried to put them evenly throughout the film, so that it wasn’t to busy at one point. Also, we positioned them at different places in the frame, so that they weren’t covering anything. This could also be thought of as unpredictable, like the characters themselves.
We handed in our final edit on 27th February, and we were all really happy with our film. Although we did have a few disagreements along the way, I think that this proves that we all wanted the film to be the best that it could be. I also think its good how we were all passionate about the end product.
In our film, we mainly represent the differences in gender. As the film is a romantic comedy, and typically more females will go and watch this sort of film, we wanted females to be represented as strong and able to cope without a man. Although our film was largely influenced by Bridget Jones, we didn’t want to have the typical formula, in the sense that the couple are broken up at the beginning instead of later in the film. In the film, it is the female who throws James out, representing her as strong. However, when he isn’t around, she breaks down. When she is upset, it is her best friends that are there to help her, as soon as she texts them, they are at her door. Also, it was the female in the relationship who made decisions i.e- most of the furniture is pink, which is obviously down to her. It is also her who is making the effort in the relationship as she leans over to kiss him , whilst he seems less concerned. The male in the film was represented as an idiot. He is meant to be cheating on his girlfriend, but he is so stupid that he hides a bra under her pillow. Also, he is humiliated by her . The separation between the two characters is shown as they lie in bed facing opposite way, and also they are shown in separate shots when they are arguing.

Filming

According to our action plan, we should have started filming on January 18th. However, as Matt was hungover, we had to postpone filming until Saturday 24th instead, so we were a week behind. Fortunately, the whole thing was shot in one day. There were still problems with filming on the day. There were some shots that were planned that sadly didn’t work out on the day because of various reasons, the lighting being the main reason. An example of when the light got in the way was when Nova was in the hall on her own. There was glass at the top of the door, so the sun was shining through, making it difficult to film scene that was intended to be dark to reflect her situation, this was resolved by covering the glass so that the light didn't get through to the hallway. As some of the shots didn’t work, we added more shots so that we had extra to look at when editing, even if we didn’t use them, for example – the girls going conga outside. Also, when we were going to film on the 18th, most of the props were at my house e.g. the knickers. For filming at Matt’s house a bra was used instead. Other than this, everything else went to plan, and we were all happy with what had been filmed. The house that it was filmed was believable as the girls own house. The bedroom was easily recognisable as that of a young girl, because of the pink and girly furniture. Also, we made it clear that she was the type of girl who would have her friends around when she is upset, this is also relevant in terms of what she is wearing. We had to consider our target audience when filming, and what they would expect to see. The cheating boyfriend was wearing just his boxers and a tshirt. His tshirt was black and there was a slogan on it, both of these things made the boy look like a dark and nasty character. Also, the bra that Nova finds is black, so there is a clear link between the boyfriend and his cheating ways. It is contrasted with the light pink that she is wearing. Both of the friends were wearing heels, which makes them look stylish, and also professional. They are wearing scarves and cardigans – what they are wearing makes them look like older middle class girls – which is our target audience. The living room was full of bottles of wine (well, ribena!), some of which were empty, this makes it look to the audience that they have been drinking all day. The three girls who were playing the friends were great for the film as they looked like good friends, and it was easier for them to act together. A reason for this being that a theme that we are trying to portray in the opening of the film is girls being able to cope on their own without men. Also, James and Nova, who play the couple who break up in the film, are an actual couple. This meant that they were comfortable with each other and what they needed to do ie- lying in bed together. Each shot was filmed more than once so that we could edit the best shots together. It is easier to have lots of footage and have to cut it down, as oppose to searching for clips to make the sequence longer. As it turned out, we had more than enough footage and thankfully didn'y have to arrange to film any shots again.

Action Plan

To make sure that our coursework was completed by the deadline of February 27th, we made an action plan to give ourselves plenty of time to the filming and editing. We also had to make considerations for if anything went wrong.

Sunday 18th January – Start filming
Saturday 24th January – Finish any extra filming
Wednesday 28th January – Complete recording log. Log and capture the shots
Thursday 29th January – Rough edit
Friday 30th - Continue editing
Saturday 31st January/ Sunday 1st February – Time for any extra shots that are needed
Wednesday 4th - Thursday 12th February - Continue editingFriday 13th - Sunday 22nd Feb - Half TermMonday 23rd Feb – Adding music and transitionsWednesday 24th - Friday 27th - Put together final editFriday 27th - Deadline

Directors – Hannah, Lauren and Matt
Filmed by – Hannah, Lauren and Matt
Editing by – Hannah, Lauren and Matt

Cast –
Main Girl – Nova Arkasrivorn
Cheating Boy – James Alexander Smith
Best Friends – Kirsty Louise Lloyd and Sinead Wakefield Smith

Setting –
Main girls house – Matt’s house

Main Props –
Knickers
Wine
Chocolate/Crisps
Ice CreamCD Player
Hairbrushes

Costumes -
As he is the cheating boyfriend, we wanted James to wear a dark t-shirt, which would be contrasted with Nova's light pink pyjama's. This would show a dinstinct difference between the two of them. Also, we wanted the underwear that Nova finds under her pillow to be either red or black, to further continue the theme of betrayal. When the friends arrive later on in the sequence, we wanted them to look young and stylish, without looking too overdressed. This is so that our target audience can relate to them. For the very start of the film, where it in black and white, we want Nova and James to look quite similar in their styles. It is easier to achieve this as they will both appear to be in black and white.

Our Final Idea and Storyboard

We have chosen to do Moving On. We chose this because we felt it would be the easiest to make in terms of following the codes and conventions of a Romantic Comedy. It will also be the easiest for us to create i.e- settings, characters, props etc.

Below is the outline to our storyboard...

1- Black and white photos on the bedside table of them together (Music: Joss Stone - L.O.V.E)
2- Pictures start to develop into footage of them happy
3- Pan across them in bed, high angle shot
4- Long shot of them from bottom of the bed, they are facing seperate ways
5- Match on action - She rolls over to kiss him on the cheek and rolls back over
6- Puts her hand under her pillow and feels a pair of knickers and pulls them out
7- She sits up and screams, go to extreme close up of her mouth
8- High angle shot of them arguing in pyjama's
9- Reaction shots/Medium close ups of both them as they argue
10- Insert of her hand on the door handle
11- She puts the knickers on his head and kicks him out, slams the door
12- Medium shot/Tilt as she slides down the door, crying
13- Insert of text message "He's been cheating on me"
14- Wide shot of her on her own, fade to black
15 - Low angle shot of stilettoes running up the drive, bright colours
16- Medium close up of friends coming in the door with wine and chocolate
17- Over the shoulder of her friends, girls reaction
18- Close up of the girls face, make up has run all over her face
19- Shot of putting last wine bottle down. Pan across the full bottles
20- Point of view shot, friends wiping her face and putting make up on her
21- Pan across the now empty bottles of wine, the last one knocked down and dripping
22- Point of view of girl as her friends stand up and say "You don't need him", low angle
22- Girl sits on the sofa with her pyjama's on, but make up done, eating ice cream
22- The friends say "Let's put some music on" (L.O.V.E starts to fade out)
23- Insert of finger pressing Play button on stereo (Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive)
24- Friends singing a line at a time into hairbrushes
25- Try and pull the girl up to sing and dance
26- "But I grew stong" She stands up and they all sing and dance together
27- Medium shot of door - they all run towards it
28- Shot of door left open
29- Various shots of the girls dancing outside
30- Whilst still dancing in the road, the camera tilts up to a clear blue sky, and the title "Moving On" appears
31- Fade to white

Initial Ideas For Our Film

After looking at all of our research combined, our group decided that the best genre for our film would be a Romantic Comedy. We chose this genre for a number of reasons, as well as our research. In the time we have to make and edit the film, and considering our resources, we felt that we could most justice to the Romantic Comedy genre.

As a group, we came up with 4 initial ideas that we could possibly use as the opening to our film...

1 - GAY BRIDGET JONES
We thought that a male main character would not follow the conventions of a romantic comedy, but still feel like one when watching it because of the characters. We decided that it would be a subtle but postivie twist on the genre. The opening of the film would be the man gettting ready to tell his family that he is gay, and their reactions to the news. His family are religious, so they obviously disagree. Even though it is a serious subject that we would be confronting, the humour emerges from the reactions of his family. We wanted the main character to be like a friend to the audience, so we would include a voiceover at the beginning, because this worked so well in Bridget Jones. The voiceover would also make the serious subject funny.

2 - RICH MAN / POOR GIRL
A poor girl lives on a council estate with her Mom and little brother, where she meets a well educated, rich and handsome business man - the complete opposite to her. She gets a job as an intern where he works, everyone else is really bitchy and stop them getting together. The opening would show them both getting ready for work, and the differences between them and their ways of life. We thought this idea reminded us of Ugly Betty.

3 - LOVE STORY
An author, who writes love novels, can never seem to find love for herself. She is very eccentric, which would probably be the main source of comedy. However, as she writes one of her stories, it starts to come true and she finds herself living her own novel. The opening would be the woman at her type writer starting her story. As she types the introductions of the characters, they fade onto the screen. The opening would end with her writing about the main character, there would be a close up of her face.

4 - MOVING ON
A couple have been together for a while, they are happy together. We would show ths by having some black and white images of them together. However, the girl finds out that he has cheated on her, and immediately kicks him out. The first thing she does is texts her friends, who turn up at her house with the essentials - wine and chocolate. They get drunk together, and the girl starts to forget about her ex. The humour would come from the girls breaking into song at the end and dancing about with hairbrushes to a song like 'I Will Survive'.

We love all ideas, but unfortunately can only choose one.

Secondary Research

The following data is taken from the UK Film Council Statistical Yearbook.

This table indicates that the Comedy genre had the highest number of releases and was the top grossing genre at the UK Box Office. Therefore, the comedy genre is most popular and made the most money.
Overall, comedy had 127 releases and made £206.6 million at the box office. The thriller genre, which was fifth on the list, had 28 releases and made £67.6 million at the box office. This seems like a drastic difference.

However, when you consider that comedy had 99 more releases than thriller, the difference isn’t as much as it first seemed. It could be argued, though, that this is irrelevant – There was a larger amount of comedy films made, simply because the genre is most popular. The horror genre only had 24 releases and made £28.8 million at the box office, putting it tenth in the list. Even though there was only 4 extra thriller releases, it still made an extra £38.8 million. This shows that horror would be the least effective genre to produce. The romance genre was fourteenth on the list. There was only 21 films released, and they made £15.7 million. However, we had the option to make a RomCom. Looking at our research into each of the two genres, if we made a RomCom, we would have to include more comedy elements to appeal to our target audience.

Questionnaire - Results

After people had given me back their completed questionnaires, I had to analyse my results so that, along with the rest of my group, we could decide what genre we should make our film opening.
The most popular magazine among females was Heat, but OK! was also very popular. Males preferred GQ and NME. For both males and females, the most popular choice for watching films was occasionally/often on DVD. The clear favourite genre of females was Romantic Comedy. Men preferred horrors more than the other two genres, however, thriller was still quite popular. The most popular choices of Thriller films were Seven and Fight Club. This is mainly because of the twists in the films and the red herrings in the film which kept the audience interested. In a thriller film, people expect to see a city location, and dark settings. By far the most popular Horror films were Halloween and Scream. The people I asked said that they expect lots of blood and gore in a horror film. They also said that they like to see a horror take place in an isolated setting as oppose to a city location in a thriller. A twist in the story is also expected. Both males and females said that their favourite Romantic Comedy is Bridget Jones Diary. The main reason for this choice is the comedy that emerges through the story and also the characters in the film. Another popular factor in romantic comedy films were the soundtracks. All of these are things that need to be taken into consideration when making our film.

Primary Research - Audience Questionnaire

To get the audiences point of view on the different genres we have been focusing on, we all had to design questionnaires that we would hand out to some of our friends and family. It is a way of us finding out what our target audience expects in the different genres, so we could suit our product to appeal to them.

QUESTIONNAIRE

1) Gender?
[ ] Male [ ] Female

2) Age?
[ ] 11-15 [ ] 16-20 [ ] 21-25 [ ] 26-30 [ ] 31+

3) Please state your occupation
_________________________

4) Which is your favourite TV channel out of the following?
[ ] BBC 1 [ ] BBC 2 [ ] ITV 1 [ ] Channel 4 [ ] Channel 5

5) Which of the following magazines do you read?
[ ] Heat [ ] OK! [ ] Sugar [ ] Rolling Stone [ ] GQ [ ] NME Other______________

6) How often do you watch films?
[ ] Never [ ] Rarely [ ] Occasionally [ ] Often [ ] All the time

7) How do you prefer to watch films?
[ ] Cinema [ ] TV [ ] DVD [ ] Internet

8) Out of the following, which is your favourite genre?
[ ] Thriller [ ] Horror [ ] Romantic Comedy

9) What is your favourite Thriller? Why?

10) What is your favourite Horror? Why?

11) What is your favourite Romantic Comedy? Why?

12) What would you expect to see in a ...
Thriller?_________________________
Horror?_________________________
Romantic Comedy?_________________________

ROMANTIC COMEDY - Individual Research

Romantic Comedies are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines that are centred on romantic ideals such as true love being able to conquer anything and everything. Romantic Comedy films are a sub-genre of comedy films as well as romance films.
The basic plot of a romantic comedy is that two protagonists, usually a man and a woman, meet, part ways due to an argument or other obstacle, then ultimately reunite. Sometimes the two characters meet and become involved initially, then must confront challenges to their union. Sometimes they are hesitant to become romantically involved because they believe that they do not like each other, because one of them already has a partner, or because of social pressures - One of the best examples to illustrate this is When Harry Met Sally (1989). The screenwriters leave clues that suggest that Harry and Sally are, in fact, attracted to each other and that they would be a good love match. The characters often separate or seek time apart to sort out their feelings or deal with the external obstacles to their being together.
While the two leads are separated, one or both of them usually realizes that they are ideal for each other, or that they are in love with each other. Then, after one of the two makes a grand gesture/effort to find the other person and declare their love, or due to a coincidental encounter, the two meet again. Then, perhaps with some comic friction or awkwardness, they declare their love for each other and the film ends happily. The couple does not, however, have to marry, or live together "happily ever after." The ending of a romantic comedy is meant to affirm the primary importance of the love relationship in its characters' lives, even if they physically separate in the end. There are many variations on this basic plotline. Sometimes, instead of the two lead characters ending up in each other's arms, another love match will be made between one of the principal characters and a secondary character e.g. My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997). Some comedy films such as Knocked Up (2007), combine themes of romantic comedies and stoner comedies, creating a subgenre that appeals to both men and women.
There are certain actors that are linked to the Romantic Comedy genre, as with other genres (i.e. Christopher Lee, Vincent Price, Janet Leigh and Jamie Lee Curtis are associated with the horror genre). Probably the two most popular Romantic Comedy actors are Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts.
Hugh Grant is a British actor that is probably best known for his breakthrough performance in Four Weddings and a Funeral. After the huge success of the film (written by Richard Curtis), Hugh Grant became an overnight star. It could also be argued that this film is the reason he is typecast in so many romantic comedies including:
-Notting Hill
-Bridget Jones’s Diary/Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
-About a Boy
-Love Actually
Julia Roberts became well known during the early 90’s after starring in the romantic comedy Pretty Woman (1990) opposite Richard Gere. She was the first actress to receive $20 million for a film. The film was Erin Brockovich, this is also the film that earned Julia Roberts her first academy award win for Best Actress. Other romantic comedies she has done include:
-My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)
-Notting Hill (1999)
-Runaway Bride (1999)
It is estimated that her net worth is around $140 million.
In terms of box office income, Julia Roberts is the most successful actress in the world. As of February 2007, her films have grossed $2,204,631,930 at the American box office making her the biggest female movie star in history and she did it with only 31 films to her name. She was also placed at the pinnacle of the Ulmer Scale, a comprehensive guide to the global star power of actors and directors in independent and studio films created by James Ulmer, ahead of other actors such as Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks. This was partly owing to her ability to attract filmgoers solely on the basis of her name's appearance above the title and without the support of a male co-star, something few other actresses have been able to do.

ROMANTIC COMEDY - Analysis

Bridget Jones's Diary:
Bridget Jones is a British 2001 romantic comedy films, based on the novel of the same name written by Helen Fielding. She has stated in many interviews that the novel was based upon both Jane Austen’s work Pride and Prejudice, and the 1995 BBC adaptation Pride and Prejudice. Prior to the films release, there was a considerable amount of controversy surrounding the casting of the American Renée Zellweger in the role of what some thought was a quintessential British heroine.
In the opening scene of the film, the audience are introduced to two of the three main characters, and secondary characters, like their parents. As Bridget arrives at her parent’s house, we are shown that they live near a church, which has romantic connotations. The house itself is a large detached cottage, hinting to the audience that the family is quite well off. Later, in the second half of the sequence, the audience are taken into Bridget’s flat. She lives in South London, near to a railway. It is contrasted to the country home of her parents. Bridget’s parents house is large, which is the opposite of her small and enclosed flat, where she lives alone.
Another aspect of the scene is the set decoration and props. They give an insight into what is happening in the film. In the opening shot, Bridget is walking in the snow, this indicates to the audience that the setting of the film is in winter, and also Christmas. In the garden, the hedges have been cut into the shape of two swans’ heads making the shape of a heart, suggesting the romantic them to the film Bridget is carrying a suitcase to show the audience that she has travelled a distance to go and stay- an indication of how far away she lives. The furniture inside the house is very dated, this, coupled with the stripy wallpaper, connotes that Bridget’s parents are old-fashioned. In the party, everyone has a drink in their hand, showing that they are all having a good time. Also, quite a lot of the people are smoking indoors, which gives the impression that they are relaxed, thus giving us a sense of community and closeness between them. Around the house, there are various Christmas decorations i.e. - a tree, cards and tinsel, which once again show what time of year the film is set. There are pictures on the wall in the background of the scene could be symbolic of Bridget’s childhood, and other family occasions. In between the scene at the buffet and Bridget’s flat, there is a shot of a party hat that has been left on a fence covered in snow and ice, this is symbolic of the end of a party, or similarly, the fact that Bridget feels that she hasn’t had a good time. There is an exterior shot of Bridget’s flat, showing that the building is quite traditional. There are a number of props in Bridget’s apartment that contribute in the telling of her story. Firstly, there are a lot of books around her flat, showing that she is a well educated person. However, it could be argued that the state of her flat contradicts this. She has a miss match of furniture that doesn’t go very well together. Compared to where her parents live, Bridget’s flat is very compact and a lot lonelier. The phone is at the front of the shot, right next to the camera, whereas Bridget is at the other side of the room. This shows the disconnection between Bridget and the outside world. She has a bottle of wine and cigarettes next to her, which implies to the audience that they are all she needs to make her feel better about herself. She has a few cards and pictures on the wall, but there doesn’t seem to be anything that significantly stands out in the flat, everything blends in with everything else. She is sitting on her own watching the classic sitcom, Frasier. There is a shot of the television and the board games, Twister and Monopoly can be seen on the shelf. Both of these games require more than one person to play. Finally, Bridget is wearing a necklace with a heart on it; this is symbolic of the love she is trying to find.
Next, the costumes in the film play a big part in the audience’s perception of the characters. At the start of the sequence, Bridget is wearing casual clothes, which make her appear laid back and easy going, but also maybe a little frumpy. When her Mom opens the door, she is wearing an old fashioned dress that suits the way her house is decorated. Also, the way in which the characters use their costumes indicates what is happening, for example, Bridget taking off her scarf shows that she is staying. Her mom has prepared another outfit for her which she has to wear, Bridget herself, calls the outfit a carpet. She is wearing something that her mom would happily wear, at this point, her confidence decreases and she doesn’t feel comfortable with herself. Everyone in the scene is smartly dressed, which makes Bridget stand out even more. When Bridget meets Mark Darcy for the first time, he is wearing a green reindeer jumper, and for the first time, although she doesn’t know Mark, she feel she can relate to him as they are both uncomfortable in the outfits that their parents have picked out for them. It also shows that they haven’t made their own choices, which makes the audience wonder whether they would be able to make the right choice for themselves in a relationship. The colours that they are wearing also have some significance in the story. Bridget’s outfit is bright red, which has various connotations. It could be an indication of love, or danger. Mark’s jumper is green, which is the colour of envy, this gives the audience an insight to what will be a theme in the rest of the rest of the film. Also, it is a popular saying that ‘red and green should never be seen’. When Bridget is alone in her flat, she wears her comfortable pyjamas and thick woolly socks. Once again, the outfit she has on is red, which is a continuing theme from the previous scene.
The lighting in a scene can help to capture the mood or tone of a situation. At the beginning, Bridget’s mom has the lights on in the house, even though it is still relatively light outside. This could be her trying to make everyone feel more relaxed and calm. Mark is wearing a dark green jumper, which could have connotations of a dark trait in his personality. Also, when Mark and his Mom are talking about Bridget, and she is in the background, she appears to be lighter than them. This shows that she has a brighter spirit within her, even though she is getting insulted. Bridget’s flat is dimly lit by one light and a fireplace. It feels a lot gloomier and enclosed than her parent’s house. It is a reflection of how she is feeling at that time.
The music/sound is also an important feature of a scene which can often get overlooked. In the sequence, there is the use of both diegetic and non-diegetic sound. Throughout the film, Bridget does a voiceover, telling her story. She talks to the viewer like a friend, and we feel a connection with her as she pours her heart out to us. When Bridget arrives at her parent’s house, the music being played is almost like music from a fairytale, this also applies when Mark turns around – could her be her Prince Charming? Other music in the scene comes from the party. First, the song is Perry Como’s Magic Moments. When Bridget’s outfit changes, so does the song, it changes to Cant Take My Eyes Off You. This song plays through until Bridget hears Mark talking about her. The music then changes to Jamie O’Neal’s version of All By Myself. When Bridget checks her phone for messages, the use of sound indicates to the audience that she is all alone, and no one has left her any messages. Whilst Bridget is drinking more and more, the music builds up, and at the crescendo of the song, the title of the film appears.
Camera shots and editing is a very important feature of mise-en-scene, and there are various ones that could be discussed. Firstly, a point to be taken note of is that there are more shots and editing techniques used in the buffet scene, because there are more people there hence, more is happening. At the beginning of the sequence there is a fade in to reveal the character of Bridget. There is then a crane shot which is also an establishing show of where her parents live. When Bridget is walking from the taxi to the house, there is a pan to follow her movement, and then a tilt to reveal the house that she is going to. When her mom answers the door, there is a shot over Bridget’s shoulder to give the audience her view. There is a shot when Bridget steps into the house from the top of the stairs, it is almost as if it is a point of view shot of a ‘fly on the wall’ type character. There is an extensive use of medium close ups through the scene to portray characters emotions and reactions to conversations. Another shot which is used a lot is the point of view of Bridget, this is so the audience can relate to her character even more, and so we feel included in the party atmosphere. When Bridget goes into the living room wearing the second outfit, there is a backwards track to slowly reveal the full length of what she has on. There is a two shot of Bridget and her Mom, when she first sees Mark; this is so the audience can see that they both like him. When Mark does turn around, it is done in slow motion to keep the audience captivated. It is also an intertextual reference to Pride and Prejudice. There is then a tilt down to reveal his reindeer sweater, which is also done from Bridget’s point of view, because she did what everyone in the audience would have done at that point. Bridget and Mark, when talking, are on separate sides of the screen to put distance in between them. Also, when they have a conversation, they are not in the same frame as each other to increase the detachment of the pair. When Bridget overhears Mark talking about her, there is a forward track and also a shift in focus to show how Bridget copes with the situation. As she walks away, there is a freeze frame, so that the audience capture her emotion at that moment. There is then a dissolve to an establishing shot of Bridget’s flat; this shows the passage of time. For the rest of the scene, there are only 2 more shots used – a medium shot and a wide shot. There were two locked off cameras that didn’t move for the sequence this is to mirror Bridget’s life. While she may be trying to move on, it isn’t going anywhere, and at the moment, she is always going to end up at the same place. Bridget is fading in and out to show how much time has gone by whilst she is still in the same place. It doesn’t just have to be one night, it could be a metaphor for her life played out in one scene. The fact that there is hardly any camera movement makes the scene more focused on Bridget. The medium shots in the scene show Bridget getting increasingly frustrated and emotional. As she bursts her arms open at the climax of the song, the shot jumps from medium to wide, as if she is pushing her life out, and pushing away people who are getting too involved in her life i.e. her mom. It could also be her opening up and accepting that it is time to make a change. At the end of the scene, she appears to be singing directly to the phone, showing that she wants someone else in her life.
In addition, throughout the scene in Bridget’s flat, the use of verbal codes is evident as the names of the actors appear on the screen. The credits look as if they have been hand written, which relates to the title and theme that runs through the film. The main three actors in the film are Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth. All of these are recognisable making them box office draws. Renée Zellweger was known for her role in Jerry Maguire (1996) and Hugh Grant is known for doing a lot of romantic comedies like Four Wedding and a Funeral (1994) and Notting Hill (1999). Colin Firth played the role of Mr Darcy in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, the film on which Helen Fielding based her novel. This will make him a recognisable character in the film.

Love Actually:

Love Actually is a 2003 British romantic comedy that was written and directed by Richard Curtis. He is known for his work in romantic comedies e.g. Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Notting Hill (1999) and Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001). As Love Actually is a British film, there are a lot of famous British actors that are recognisable in the opening sequence alone. These include – Hugh Grant, Bill Nighy, Colin Firth, Keira Knightley and Kris Marshall.
One of the first things I noticed when watching Love Actually was that, with reference to the credits on screen, one word was red and the other was white. The red could be symbolic of the love/romantic theme in the film, and the white could connote innocence and truth. The red and white could also indicate the time of year being Christmas.
The first scene in the sequence is people in Heathrow airport greeting and hugging each other. There is a voice over talking about how love is all around. The airport is significant of people travelling to different countries, and this could also suggest love travelling between different people around the world. The camera shots are long, which makes the audience feel like they are in the airport with the characters. There is a range of different shots as well as long shots. There are pans to show how many people are around and how realistic the situation is. The slow motion editing makes the audience concentrate on exactly what’s happening. It could be considered as a point of view shot as we feel like we are there in the airport.
The scene then cuts from the airport to a recording studio, where there is man singing “Christmas is all Around”, this is an intertextual reference to the song Love is all Around from the popular romantic comedy, Four Weddings and a Funeral. The man who is singing the song is dressed in a very brightly coloured shirt and he looks out of place. He appears to be a middle aged rocker, and his shirt gives the impression of mid-life crisis. Also, we know that he must be quite well off as he is in the studio in the first place.
The audience are made aware by the mise-en-scene that the film is set near to Christmas. Firstly, and most obviously, because there is writing on the screen informing us that it is 5 weeks until Christmas. Also, there are people outside are ice skating. It is also an establishing shot of where the film is going to be set – London. This is clear because of the famous landmarks that are shown e.g. the London Eye.
The next scene in the sequence is between a Mother and her daughter. The young girl is talking about her school nativity play, which is typical around Christmas time. When she reveals that she is ‘first lobster’, there is a close up on the mom’s face to show her confusion.
Also in the opening sequence, there is a wedding going on, which is obviously linked in with the romantic theme of the film. There is a two shot of 2 men standing side by side. The camera zooms out to show that it is set in a grand church. When the bride walks in, she appears out of a bright light, showing that she is a light and innocent character. Also, the slow motion and shift in focus adds more impact to her introduction. The lighting in the scene, and throughout most of the opening is bright, and reflects the overall mood and tone of the film.
The final part of the opening sequence is the new Prime Minister being introduced the staff at 10 Downing Street. The main woman that is focused on in the scene is wearing smart clothes, as is the Prime Minister, and their outfits complement each other. It also indicates a higher social class. When they are talking, she embarrasses herself by swearing, and the audience are aware that she is nervous around him. There is an over the shoulder shot, and this shows how they are getting along with each other. As he walks away from her, he glances behind himself and looks at the woman again. This is to show his feelings and that he is still thinking about her.There are various stories that are going on at the same time as each other, although at this point, the audience don’t know how, or even if, the characters are connected.

ROMANTIC COMEDY - Codes & Conventions

Codes and Conventions

-Narrative: A romcom is a hybrid genre in which a romance story generally emerges and is presented in a comedic way. There is an archetypal formula that romcom’s follow in terms of narrative. The narrative that can be observed in a romcom has a typical three part structure. A boy and a girl will meet, and for some reason, they will be torn apart. Throughout the film, they will realise that they are meant to be together, and try and back to each other. In the resolution of the film, although it might not be a happy on, the characters will meet again and work out went wrong between them.

-Main Characters: The audience must be able to connect with, and relate to, the characters in a romantic comedy. They need to be likeable and down to earth, so that the audience support them.

-Cinderella Story: The two main characters in the film are likely to be of different social classes. This could be portrayed as one of the main things keeping them apart. One of the characters will be from a middle class background, as this makes them more relatable to the audience.

-True Love: Throughout the film, there will be an underlying theme of true love conquering all barriers that are encountered. Also at the centre of the plot, there is a theme of morals/life lessons being dealt with.

-Other Characters: The audience are usually introduced to the best friends, and maybe some family members, of the two main characters. Although they are there to offer their support, they are usually the main source of humour in the film. The audience can relate to the best friend in the film, and they would consider what they would do in that situation.

-Lighting: Majority of the film will have a happy tone/atmosphere, so the lighting will be used to reflect this. Romcom’s are less serious than other genres, and are designed primarily to entertain the audience. There may be certain points in the film when a scene goes darker to mirror the tone, but this won’t happen very often.

-Soundtrack: Horror films tend to have a score, where music (e.g. orchestra) is used instead of songs. In romcom’s, there will only usually be songs used. The songs that are used in the film will usually be well known pop songs, so that the audience can recognise them easily. They must relate to the story being told in the film. The songs can even assist in the story-telling process.

-Resolution: Normally, the conclusion of a film will be happy, with the two main characters getting back together. However, it is getting increasingly popular to show the reality that sometimes, it doesn’t all work out exactly the way we want it to.

-Setting: Romantic comedies are usually set in a big, well-known city. The most common place to set a romcom is London. It is a place that, even if people haven’t been there, they can picture. In a place like London, there is always something going on, so it is easy to believe that the events in the film could happen.

-Time of year: Most romantic comedies will be set around Christmas time. At this time of year, families and friends gather together. Some romantic comedies are set around Valentine’s Day as well, for the same reason.

HORROR - Individual Research

The intention of a horror film is to scare the audience while captivating and entertaining them at the same time. Horror films strive to elicit responses of fear from the audience, and are designed to frighten and panic viewers. Whatever dark, primitive, and revolting traits that simultaneously attract and repel us are featured in the horror genre.
Horror films go back as far as the onset of films themselves, over 100 years ago. From our earliest days, we use our vivid imaginations to see ghosts in shadowy shapes, to be emotionally connected to the unknown and to fear things that are improbable. Watching a horror film gives the audience an escape into another world, and it lets us go on a rollercoaster of emotions with the characters we identify with, from the comfort of our own living room or the cinema. In these particular surroundings, we know that we aren’t in any danger and aren’t going to get hurt, so we can face our fears head on.
Horror films, when done well and with less reliance on horrifying special effects, can be extremely influential film forms, tapping into our dream states and the horror of the irrational and unknown, and the horror within man himself. The best horror films only imply or suggest the horror in subtle ways. Rather than blatantly displaying it, the audience are left to create their own picture of the villain/evil, as in Scream(1996) and Halloween(1978). The anonymity of the killer usually makes for a scarier and plot and essentially a scarier film.
In typical horror films, a three part narrative can usually be observed. This is when there is a state of equilibrium at the start of the film. At this point, the audience will be introduced to the characters that will play big parts in the plot of the film in one way or another. In the next section of the film, there will be some sort of conflict that breaks the equilibrium, thus creating disequilibrium and a sense of unease for the audience. It is mostly likely that at this stage of the film, majority of the story will unfold. At the end of the film, the equilibrium will be restored and the area in which the events took place will return to how it was. However, sometimes in horror films, the audience are only led to believe that equilibrium has been restored, and the source of terror/evil is still around somewhere.
The earliest horror films were gothic in style. They were usually set in old spooky mansions or castles, and would be bathed in moonlight and fog. This is partly because it, at the time, was the only way they could be film because of the lack of the equipment studios have today. However, the main reason that they were filmed in this way is because the films were largely based on classis literature of the gothic/horror genre such as Dracula.
Horror films develop out of a number of sources: folktales with devil characters, witchcraft, fables, myths, ghost stories, and Gothic or Victorian novels. Probably the most well known horror writer is Bram Stoker, who created arguably the most famous horror character of all time – Dracula. This character is the one that is most frequently portrayed in horror film, with about 160 representations of the 500 year old blood sucking vampire.
The earliest horror films were produced in America from 1909 to the early 1920’s, making the genre of horror one of the oldest and most basic. Before the 1930’s, Hollywood was reluctant to experiment with the themes of true horror films. Instead, the studios took popular stage plays and emphasized their features of mystery, whilst still providing rational explanations for all the supernatural elements.
By the early 1930’s, horror entered into its classic phase in Hollywood. The studios took morbid tales of vampires, undead aristocrats, mad scientists and invisible men, and created some of the most archetypal creatures and monsters to ever grace cinema screens. Universal Studios was best known for its pure horror films in the 1930’s and 1940’s, and its horror characters – Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy, to name a few. It also produced famous horror actors like Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff.

Horror films branched out in all different directions in the 1960’s and onwards. Especially as the Production Code disappeared, giving the studios less boundaries, and film censorship was on the decline. Directors began to frankly portray horror in ordinary circumstances and seemingly innocent settings that the audience could identify with. Around this time, directors like Roger Corman were producing low budget and quickly-made films, and the British film studio Hammer Horror was making sequels to Dracula and Frankenstein. Also around this time, directors varied the type of horror that was used in films e.g. psychopathic murderers, and more suspenseful, atmospheric horror. However, this doesn’t mean that gothic horror had been forgotten, it was simply being modernized and brought up to date. This is evident in Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? (1962).
Although Alfred Hitchcock was a well known suspense/thriller director, his early films like The Lodger (1926) did explore themes of horror. Although I have previously discussed Psycho (1960) as a thriller film, it still very easily falls into the horror genre. Psycho changed the face of horror films ever since its release. The pure archetypal horror was discovered in the dark shadows of a human soul, in the form of the psychopathic hotel owner, Norman Bates. The film itself has come to influence a number of Hollywood horror films, especially the ‘slasher’ horror subgenre. Hitchcock didn’t only use the evil within a person to scare an audience. In The Birds (1963), a coastal town and its inhabitants are attacked by a flock of birds.
The horror director George Romero is famous for incorporating the theme of zombies into his films. Romero’s most notable horror films is the Dead series (5 films in total).
-Night of the Living Dead (1968) – A documentary style film, shot in grainy black and white, that welcomed an entire subgenre of horror to cinema.
-Dawn of the Dead (1978) – The gory sequel to Night of the Living Dead followed the survivors of a zombie attack seeking refuge in a shopping centre. There is a classic quote in the film made by Ken Foree, which explained the occurrence of the zombies, “When there’s no more room in hell, the dead will walk the Earth”. A remake of the film was released in 2004.
-Day of the Dead (1985) – A group of scientists performed experiments on the zombies in hopes of finding a cure for the plague. This was until the zombies turned on them.
-Land of the Dead (2005) – A symbolic story between upper and lower class survival.
-Diary of the Dead (2008) – A film within a film. It was considered as an updated 21st century presentation of the zombie story for the YouTube and MySpace generation.
In the 1970’s, filmmakers created horror films noteworthy for their shocking expositions of body mutilation, bold use of colour and electronic music, everyday and isolated locations and the sexual exploitation of female victims, made all the more vivid by the turn to realism in films of that era in general. The critical and popular success of Rosemary's Baby (1968), directed by Roman Polanski and starring Mia Farrow prompted the 1970’s occult explosion, which included the box office smash The Exorcist (1973) directed by William Friedkin. The Exorcist deals with the demonic possession of a young girl, played by Linda Blair, and her mother’s desperate attempts to win back her daughter. It became one of the most profitable horror films of all time (winning two Academy Awards), and until The Silence of the Lambs in 1991, it was the only horror film to be nominated for Best Picture in the history of the Academy Awards. To date, The Exorcist has been named as one of the scariest films of all time. Another popular film about a demonic child is The Omen (1976), where a man realizes that his five year old adopted son is the Antichrist. The occult explosion included numerous horror films in which the Devil became the supernatural evil, often by impregnating women or possessing children. Also in the 1970’s, the famous horror author Stephen King arrived on the film scene. Many of his books were adapted for the screen, beginning with the adaptation of his first published novel, Carrie (1976). As well as its ability to scare people, Carrie is probably better known for its psychological exploration. In 1978 John Carpenter created Halloween, this was around the same time that Sean Cunningham starting to produce Friday the 13th (1980). Both of these films kick started the modern ‘slasher film’. They also inspired numerous, mostly inferior sequels. This subgenre was imitated by dozens of increasingly violent films made throughout the subsequent decades. Jamie Lee Curtis made her film debut in Halloween, playing the role of Laurie Strode – the only central teenage character in the film who is not killed. Laurie Strode’s survival in Halloween is what initiated the convention of a person’s chance of survival being directly linked to their morals. The film was a major success and was considered the highest grossing independent film of its time, earning the status of a classic horror film. Jamie Lee Curtis (who, coincidently, is the daughter of Janet Leigh, who played Marion Crane in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho) was subsequently cast in several horror films, and she soon became known as the ‘Scream Queen’ because of her roles.
In 1975, Steven Spielberg began his Hollywood career with the film Jaws, a blockbuster notable for not only its expertly crafted horror elements but also for its success at the box office. Jaws is often credited as one of the first films to use elements such as horror and gore in a big-budget Hollywood film. Alien (1979) combined the naturalistic acting and graphic violence of the 1970’s with the monster film plots of earlier decades, and reacquainted horror with science fiction. It spawned a long-lasting franchise and countless imitators.
The 1980’s were marked by the growing popularity of horror movie sequels. The seemingly endless sequels to Halloween (1978), Friday the 13th (1980) and Wes Craven’s successful supernatural slasher A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) were the popular face of horror films in the 1980’s. Most of these sequels or imitations were exploitative and featured shocks and gory violence. Another common convention was the theme of teenagers – usually female – being stalked by a homicidal male psychopath. Another trend that appeared in the 80’s was the infusion of blatant comedic elements into films. As the cinema box office turned to more serious films, the genre of horror began to fade away. However, the genre found a new audience in the growing market of home video. The names of the killers in horror films of the 80’s have become landmarks of the genre e.g. Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th), Jack Torrance (The Shining).
In the first half of the 1990’s, horror continued many of the themes from the 1980’s. Sequels of famous 80’s horror films continued to make money. Films like Candyman (1992) were part of a mini-movement of self-reflective horror films. They touched upon the relationship between fictional horror and real-world horror. In Candyman, the film examined the link between an invented urban legend and the realistic horror of the racism that produced its villain. Two main problems pushed horror backwards during this period. Firstly, the horror genre wore itself out with the overuse of nonstop slasher and gore films in the 80’s. Also, the audience that feasted on the blood and gore of the previous decade grew up, and the replacement audience for films of an imaginative nature were instead being captured by the explosion of sci-fi and fantasy, courtesy of the big budgets and computer generated special effects, which horrors lacked. To re-connect with its audience, horror became more self-mockingly ironic, especially in the latter half of the 90’s. Wes Craven’s Scream trilogy, beginning in 1996, featured teenagers who were fully aware of, and often made reference to, the history of horror films, and mixed ironic humour with shock. Along with I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and Urban Legend (1998), they re-ignited the dormant slasher film genre. Among the popular English-language horror films of the late 90’s, only 1999’s independent hit The Blair Witch Project attempted straight-ahead scares in the context of a mock-documentary.
The start of the 2000’s saw a quiet period for the horror genre. Film making studios realised that profits could be made by cheaply re-making classic horror films, many were watered down, familiar films without any further originality. These include:
-House of Wax (1953/2005)
-Black Christmas (1974/2006)
-The Amityville Horror (1979/2005)
-The Fog (1980/2005)
-Prom Night (1980/2006)
Final Destination (2000) marked a successful revival of clever horror that was centred on teenagers. The clever thing about the film was that there wasn’t actually a person physically chasing them, instead they were stalked by Death itself. Final Destination was successful because although it was a fictional film, there is a serious issue that is dealt with. The teenagers ‘cheat Death’ after someone has a premonition about a plane exploding. Death then comes back to complete its original design of what should have happened on the plane, and the survivors eventually die in freak incidents, in the order they would have done on the plane.

In 2003, two of 1980’s most recognisable horror characters went head to head in Freddy vs. Jason. Some notable trends have marked horror films in the 2000s. The Others (2001) was a successful horror film of that year and was the first horror in the decade to rely on psychology to scare audiences, rather than gore. There has been a minor return to the zombie genre in horror movies made after 2000. The Resident Evil video game franchise was adapted into a film released in 2002. Two sequels have followed. The British film 28 Days Later (2002), directed by Academy Award winner, Danny Boyle, featured an update on the genre with a new style of aggressive zombie. The film later spawned a sequel, 28 Weeks Later (2007). A new subgenre of horror that has started to emerge in recent films is ‘torture-porn’ or ‘gore-nography’. Some examples of films in this genre are Saw (2004), Hostel (2005), Captivity (2007) and their respective sequels. Another variation on the horror genre was the blending of ‘chick-flicks’ with a traditional horror/adventure film. The Descent (2005) was one of the first all-female action horror films. For the characters, six unknown actresses were used. This is so that the audience didn’t identify with them as much as they would have if they had been well known actresses. In 2007, Rob Zombie wrote and directed a remake of John Carpenter’s Halloween. The film focused more on Michael Myers’ childhood than the original 1978 film did. The slasher genre is standing strong in cinema today...
-A remake of the 1981 horror My Bloody Valentine was released in the cinema on 16th January of this year.
-A remake of Friday the 13th was released in the cinema on Friday 13th of February of this year.
-The sixth installment of the Saw series is set to be released later in the year.
-The fourth film in the Final Destination series – Final Destination: Death Trip 3D is set to be released in August.
-and finally, Scream 4 is currently in production for a 2010/2011 theatrical release.

HORROR - Analysis

Halloween:
Halloween is a 1978 independent horror film directed by John Carpenter. The film stars Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis and Nick Castle.

The film became notoriously popular and has gone down in history as one of the most terrifying horror films of all time. Rather than relying on computer generated special effects (which could be argued are overused in recent films), the creators of Halloween came up with a realistic way of scaring audiences - by playing upon every man, woman and childs basic fear of an unstoppable force of evil. The film has inspired many of todays horror cliches and the basic formula is widely popular and recogniseable in the modern horror genre. Halloween established a significant convention that is still evident in horror films over 30 years after its release- Myers victims are all sexually promiscuous, while the lone heroine (Jamie Lee Curtis) is depicted as innocent thus making the audience want her to defeat him. Since Halloween was released, the direct link between a character's moral strengths and their likelihood of surviving the films conclusion has become a standard convention of slasher horror films.

The credits of the film fade from orange to red, a connotation of good versus evil. Similarly, it could show the conflict between life and death. The background of the credits is black, an indication of an evil presence in the film. The other prominent feature in the opening credits is the pumpkin. The candle that is inside the pumpkin is violently flickering but fails to go out. This suggests that the killer in the film is unstoppable. There is a slow zoom into the pumpkin, suggesting that the film will build up. When the audience get to see the pumpkin close up, it is noticeable that the shapes are cut out roughly, almost as if done by a child. The camera gets so close to the pumpkin that part of it's 'face' is hidden, this could be a hint for a theme of the rest of the film.

The opening of Halloween is famous for being filmed in a single take (with one seamless cut towards the end). It also uses a subjective point of view to produce vulnerable, unsteady feelings withiun the audience. The setting of the film is the small, quiet town of Haddonfield, Illinois in 1963. It is Halloween night and the children in the neighbourhood are celebrating. The establishing shot of the sequence provides the audience with the knowledge that the area is quiet and somewhat cut off from help. The house that is shown is white, indicating innocence. There is an unidentified figure watching from the outside as a couple of teenagers are in the living room together. The audience are instantly trying to work out who the person behind the camera is. The girl mentions that her brother "Michael is around some place". The girl and her boyfriend go upstairs and the person who is watching tham notices that the light has been turned off- signifying that they are having sex. After we see the boyfriend leave, the subjective camera follows the mysterious figure to the back entrance of the house and into the kitchen. He takes a large knife from the drawer. At this point, through the use of mise-en-scene, the audience start to become aware of the fact that this character will be the evil aspect/character in the film. The character then proceeds through the house as if he knows his way around. The figure picks up a clown mask and clearly puts it on, restricting the audiences point of view to that of the charcters- through the eye holes of the clown mask. The character than creeps upstairs, he enters the room where the girl is brushing her hair. When she recognises that someone is there, she says "Michael", it is at this point that we know that they are brother and sister as she had mentioned him earlier. Although she tries to defend herself, he furiously stabs her to death and she tumbles to the floor. As with another classic horror scene - Norman Bates stabbing Marion Crane in the shower (Psycho-1960) - there is only the implication that the knife penetrates the skin of the victim. Michael then leaves the rooms and goes outside of the house. Whilst standing on the front lawn, Michael is unmasked by his shocked parents. As he stands motionless on the grass, the audience do not see any emotion or remorse in his face. A crane shot slowly rises from him and widens the view, placing him within a quiet, suburban neighbourhood. The first thing that the audience notice is that Michael is a young boy, but they had been expecting an older character. It also poses the question - what will he be capable of when he is older?? Also, the boy is wearing a clown costume. On one hand there is the clown mask, and on the other hand there is a large kitchen knife - this shows the conflict between good and evil, and also the irony of the situation as clowns are meant to be happy and make people laugh instead of the image that Michael is portraying. Regarding the characters in the scene, the audience are not familiarized with one character in depth, however we are shown the situation/world through Michael's eyes, this suggests that we wont find much else out about him, which constantly adds to the audience's curiosity of him and his reasons for doing what he does. A lot of the time, Michael Myers is credited as 'The Shape'.

The opening of Halloween is set at night time which gives the impression that people who could be potential help for the victims are asleep or not available. The house is in darkness, which hides Michael in the shadows. It also adds to the suspense of the scene as the audience are curious as to what is going on. Also, the sisters room is lit up and she wouldn't be able to see Michael in the dark hallway, and the audience automatically empathise with her.

The sound and music in the sequence also contribute to building the tension within the audience. The sound/music is very sharp and harsh and this type of soundtrack ie- violins/strings has become very popular in modern horror films. It could be argued that without the soundtrack/scor, the film would be nowhere near as scary/frightening. The music carries on from the credits to the first bit of the film thorugh the use of a sound bridge. It continues the theme that was discussed in the credits (sinister background). This sound is non-diegetic as it is not in the scene, and the characters cannot hear it, it gives the audience the advantage of being warned when something is happening. There is ambient sound at the beginning of the sequence as we hear the sound of crickets outside - this indicates how still the surrounding area is, and on the surface it appears that nothing strange is happening.

Scream:

Scream is a 1996 film directed by Wes Craven. The film revitalised and re-defined the slasher genre in the 90's, similar to the impact that Halloween had on the late 70's films, by using a standard concept with a tounge-in-cheek approach that combined straightforward scares with dialogue that followed slasher film conventions with a twist. The film featured many teen idols of the time including: Neve Campbell, Drew Barrymore, Matthew Lillard and Courteney Cox Arquette.

When the title of the film appears, there is a loud bang. The writing is white which connotes innocence. The title then flashes to red and the audience can hear screams in the background. It is as if someone is dying as the elements on the screen alter. Just before the sequence begins, we can hear a phone ringing, this suggests that the phone may play a prominent role in the sequence. Through the use of a sound bridge, the ringing continues when the film starts. The camera follows the phone as it picked up by a young blonde haired girl. The voice on the other end of the phone is that of an older male. It also seems that the girl doesn't know who the caller is. The audience cannot make any judgement on the character yet, as we do not know who he is or what he looks like. When Drew Barrymore starts to walk away, the audience can see in the background and it is visible that her family is wealthy as they live in a large spacious house.

The phone rings for a second time, she turns around and a reaction shot shows that she is as curious about the caller as the audience is. When she picks up the phone, there is a canted frame, which makes the audience feel uneasy and off-balance. We can tell that she is confused, and the camera gets closer to her face to shows this. As she is about to hang up, the caller says "wait, wait", and the camera moves quickly to reflect that the caller is anxious to keep her talking on the phone.

The camera then cuts to an exterior shot, to show the audience that although the house is lit up inside, it is very dark outside, giving someone the opportunity to hide. There is then a tilt down to a shot of the house. This shot could be considered as an establishing shot. It also gives the impression that there is someone spying on the girl from outside, making it a point of view shot. The only sound in this shot is the noise of the crickets outside, this makes the area more still and isolated. The large house is typical of what you would expect in suburbia. The swing that is hanging from the tree is swaying to and fro, this is a possible indication of someone's presence.

There is then a cut to an insert of the hob being lit inside the house. The phone rings for a third time and the girls sigh indicates that she is getting slightly annoyed by the caller. He refuses to tell her his name which adds to the increasing tension throughout the scene. She tells him that she is making popcorn and going to watch a scary film, which is ironic as it is what the audience are doing. It makes us feel empathetic towards her. When she refers to Halloween as one of her favourite films, she picks up a large kitchen knife, this is an intertextual reference to the iconic 1978 horror film. The popcorn acts as a timer in the opening, as the events unravel, the popcorn gets louder and louder. It shows the suspense building up. Drew Barrymore starts to walk around the kitchen, and the camera follows her. This gives the impression that someone is stalking her. She starts to walk into the living room, and an over the shoulder shot suggests that metaphorically, there is some standing over her shoulder as she walks around. There are a lot of shadows in the room, and it is hard to distinguish where the shadows are coming from.

Later on, the caller mentions that he wants to know who he is looking at, Drew Barrymore's reaction mirrors that of the audience. We start to wonder where the caller is and whether he really can see her or not. A dog barks outside, which is commonly a sign that something out of the ordinary is happening. She looks around whilst still talking, and starts to think that something bad is happening. She turns on the patio light to try and see something outside, there is a point of view shot so the audience are put in the position of the girl. Also, we see that the family have a pool, which is a sign of their wealth.

When she hangs up, there is an insert of the popcorn, which has started to smoke, this is an indication of the uncontrollable situation she has found herself in. As the scene progresses, the lighting gets subsequently darker to reflect the tone. Also, when she is in the phone to him, she is cut off from sources of help as she is talking to him. It is noticeable that as the sequence unfolds, the camera angle gets wider, and the movement becomes more unstable. This allows the audience to see more of what is going on in the background. The next time the phone rings, the girl appears to be scared, and we start to develop negative associations of the phone ringing. When the caller threatens her, there is a zoom into her reaction. The sinister voice on the phone lets the girl know that he can see her as he referes to her as 'blondie'. The music builds builds up and gathers pace as she frantically runs around locking all the doors. The camera following her is unsteady to reflect the scene. He reinforces to her that no one can help her as they are in the middle of nowhere.

Drew Barrymore is shown as weak and helpless, she is sobbing uncontrollably and seems unsure of herself. She is on edge and jumps when the doorbell rings. She walks backwards into the living room, this is symbolic of her being forced to go somewhere that she doesn't want to go, or into the unknown. There is apoint of view shot as she backs away from the door, this shows her getting further and further away from her escape/exit. Whilst the girl is very frantic on the phone, the caller is calm and relaxed.

The caller lets her know that she knows her boyfriend's name, through the reacton shot of the girl, we realise at the same time that she does that the caller must be someone she knows. Later in the scene, we see her boyfriend, Steve, tied up outside on the patio and he is wearing a football jacket, this is a typical convention of horror films- the victims being teenagers. When the girl asks the caller "Where are you?", Steve looks to either side of him, this is a hint that maybe there are two people involved and they are tricking her. Her boyfriend holds his hand up and much as he can as if to tell her to stop. Steve knows something but he cant tell her.

When Casey is hiding behind the television, the caller asks her some horror film trivia. There is non-diegetic sound being played very faintly in the background, this is the music from Halloween, a film which had a big influence on Scream. As she answered a question wrong, Steve gets killed. This, however, happens off screen, and the audience only hear the sounds of the knife and Steve screaming. When she refuses to answer the next question, the killer throws a chair through the window right next to her.

She runs through the kitchen, which by now is filled with smoke and beginning to start a fire, and grabs the large kitchen knife she picked up earlier. The pace of the scene changes and is a lot more rushed as we now know for definite that the killer is intending to get her, whereas before it could have been a prank.

We briefly see someone, obviously the killer, run past the corridor, and the burst of music intends to shock the audience. Even though we saw Casey lock all of the doors, the killer has managed to get into the house. He glides through the house and appears to be experienced at what he is doing.

In one hand, Casey has the phone to symbolise that although he is not right next to her, the killer is always close. In the other hand, she has the knife to show her will to survive. We wouldn't normally expect a young blonde teenage girl (in horror films) to be able to stand up for herself as Casey does. The two props show that whilst she is in a vulnerable situation, she is still determined to escape. They also balanc each other out. Casey creeps outside and hides under the window in hopes of escaping the ordeal. The audience believe that she has 'out-smarted' the killer at this point as the killer is still inside.

There is a cut to an extreme long shot of car lights in the distance driving up to the house. The shot is also from the point of view of Casey to make the audience feel her desperation. She starts to crawl away,believing she is safe. However, when she looks back into the house, there is a crash of music as the killer turns around and faces her. For the first time, the audience see the killer close up. Casey's reaction, once again is reflective of what the audience would do - scream!! The killer smashes through the glass, and although she seemed helpless at first, Casey uses the phone that had terrorized her earlier to hit him in the face.

At this point, the car is getting closer to the house, which makes us think she will almost cartainly escape. Once again, the killer smashes through the glass. There is a long shot of the girl running away from the killer. This is done in slow motion to show how her chance of survival is slowly slipping away. It is also a way of showing what both of the characters are wearing. Drew Barrymore is dressed in light colours with blonde hair - a sign of her innocence. Also, at this stage, we have not seen the killers face and the audience are left to imagine who or what is under the mask. The killer is wearing a black cloak with a white mask. One connotation of his costume could be a reminder of the Grim Reaper. It could show that although he is almost completely dark, there is still a different side to the character. It also introduces the potential theme of good versus evil.

When the killer stabs Casey, there is no music and only diegetic sound, this automatically puts the audience into the scene. As she collapses onto the floor, we see her white top stained with blood, and the audience are starting to believe that she has no chance of survival. Her heavy breathing and sobbing shows that she is slowly losing her life. When he goes to stab her for a second time, she manages to knock the knife out of the killer's hand, which is an indication of her strength. At the top of the frame, we see that she is still holding onto the phone. She kicks him away from her and, considering how she has just been stabbed, the audience wonder how powerful the killer actually is. There is then a shot from Casey's point of view lying on the floor, trying desperately to get her parents attention. As she manages to get to her feet, there is an over the shoulder shot as he walks behind her with the intention of killing her.

When Casey finally realises that she has no chance of living, she reaches up to reveal the killers identity. The audience, however, are not shown/told who it is. The shocked expression on Casey's face is an indication that she knows who it is. There is a freeze frame of the knife that the killer has raised above his head. It is against a dark background, which draws our focus to the knife.

Inside the house, the fire alarm starts to go off, this is a symbol of Casey dying at the same time. Also, the popcorn is put into the sink by her Mom. This signifies the end of Casey's night- and her life.

There are cuts between shots of the parents and shots of the killer stabbing Casey. When her Mom tries to ring the police, Casey is still on the phone so even they cant help her. When the killer puts down the phone, it is a sign that Casey is dead and cant get any help. There is a medium close up (which is also a two shot) of the parents, so the audience can see their emotions. We also feel sorry for the parents because we know more than they do about what has happened. The man tells the woman to "drive up to the Mackenzies", the fact that they have to drive to their nearest neighbours shows how they are isolated they are.

When the Mom gets outside she screams, the audience are curious as to what she has seen. She falls to the floor and out of the shot, and the Dad goes to look. The slight zoom in to his reaction indicates that he has seen something terrible. There is an extreme long shot of Casey hanging dead from the tree. The camera quickly zooms into Casey. It is so quick that the audience hardly have a chance to process what is happening. There is a flash and the screen goes black, showing the end of the sequence.

The sound in the opening of the film is typical of a horror film. It builds up and down through the scene and is parallel to the action in the sequence. The string instruments manipulate the audience into believing that something is going to happen.

There are a lot of red herrings, even in the opening 10 minutes of the film. The audience are built up to expect something and when nothing happens, they relax again - this is when they get the shocks. The knife that the killer uses is a common of weapon in horror films and often symbolises a gory death.

The opening of Scream kills off arguably the biggest star of the film - Drew Barrymore - so early. This creates an alientation effect by killing the apparent centre of the film and makes us thinks that anything could (and probably will) happen. Scream is famous for its intertextuality, a lot of which is evident in the opening scene. The victims later on in the film are quite self aware. They each make clear their knowledge of, and poke fun at, teen slasher films. The references in the opening include:

- When A Stranger Calls: Victim being taunted over the phone

- Nightmare On Elm Street: Conversation about the film

- Friday the 13th: Conversation about the film

- Halloween: Casey picking up the knife (Michael Myers)

: Costume (Michael Myers' face being hidden by a white mask)

: "Drive down to the Mackenzies" (Quote from Halloween)

: Casey stumbling forward, unable to speak, towards her parents (Halloween II - Laurie running towards Dr. Loomis), the killer close behind ready to attack

The shots of a bloody knife in the air before stabbing Casey is a horror film cliché. In almost all Halloween and Friday the 13th movies, before the killers knife comes down killing the helpless victim, they always show it pausing in the air.