Borderland is about three friends who go to mexico to celebrate their graduation, and along the way get involved in cults. The film is loosely based around Adolfo Constanzo, who was an American serial killer who was a cult leader.
The girl next door is based on true events about two girls who are orphaned and sent to live with their aunt. However they are kept captive and subjected to torture, rape and severe beatings. The true story was about parents who left their daughter with a family friend whilst they worked in the circus. Sylvia Likens was tortured with similar events to the film, and it was only discovered once she died at the hands of this family friend.
Two women and one man find themselves stranded in the outback when their car breaks down. In the film a truck driver kidnaps and tortures them, whereas in the true events hitch-hikers were kidnaps and tortured in the 90's by Ivan Milat.
Texas chainsaw massacre is loosely base on the serial killer Ed Gein, who when he was arrested had in his possession nine human skin masks. And from the use of mise en scene in the film poster you can see that the character is wearing a skin mask as part of his costume. In the movie the antagonist captures and kills his victims and then he uses their skin.
Many films I've seen whilst researching were loosely based of the serial killer called Ed Gein. These other films are 'Psycho', and 'Deranged'. So when considering a narrative we could use a story that has already happened and then develop upon that, to create our narrative. It is one idea that I would like to consider when thinking of what are narrative is going to be about. We could make an entirely different narrative, but basing it on something that has previously happened makes it even more terrifying. It doesn't have to be completely based upon a story, just loosely because the majority of the upon movies use it as an idea and then develop on that, they just use it as a guideline.
Medium close up shot of a car driving out of a busy city into a secluded location,whilst they're driving non-diegetic music is being played, this is a soundtrack. The lyrics talk about being frail, this could be foreshadowing the struggles that they are going to face. During this shot the camera tracks the car down the road so that we see them leaving the busy urban city and then them entering the isolated small town. Then it zooms in and we get to meet the characters of the film.
This is a long shot image of the isolated environment that they are going to be living in. The isolation of this setting is one of the typical conventions of a horror. The non-diegetic soundtrack continues and he talks about how they are 'wrestlers by day' this is ironic because once they have entered the premisses of this house they lose all power to what lurks in the shadows of this image. You could also say that this image is a point of view shot of someone watching them, this creates enigma and mystery because we don't know who it is and we want to find out, which encourages us to continue to watch it.
This over the shoulder shot shows that there are scary images around the house, this gives the film more of a scary atmosphere as we gradually get into the trailer. During this time the girl mentioned how her aunt left her the property and the photo looks very similar to the girl who has inherited the property, which shows that this could possible be a relative she is looking at that is deceased, this foreshadows that there is more death to come within the property. Death is one of the main conventions of horrors, especially in the sub-genre slasher-horror.
This is one of the characters uncovering a secret entrance within the property, this is foreshadowing that he might uncover something sinister. As he opens the door the lyrics continue and he says 'the beast in me' which is again foreshadowing that by opening this secret door he has released a beast.
This is a medium close up of the crazed killer, who hunts the characters down one by one and kills them in very gruesome ways, this links the conventions of a slasher film. There is a lot of black in this image which creates enigma because the colour black connotes mystery, fear and death. Enigma is again creates as the individual in the image is places a mask over their face, because we don't know who the individual is but we want to know, which makes us continue to watch. To find out why they are doing this and what is it they want. A mask are another convention for stereotypical slasher movies. There is a large use of special effects make up to be able to construct a realistic looking face made of lots of peoples skin.
This is a close up shot of a chain saw, this is one of many weapons upon the shelf which is shown in a panning shot. He chose the largest weapon on the shelf and probably the most scariest, because as soon as you hear the noise of the chainsaw you are automatically afraid, also the end of the chainsaw is a phallic symbol and represents masculinity, which could be hinting at the idea that the masked killer is male.
This medium shot suggests vulnerability as the props that are used in this images are ropes to tie the victim up. She is stationary as the weapon (chainsaw) comes down on her. This creates enigma and also makes the audience feel afraid for her, we feel optimistic were all secretly hoping someone will come and save her. This is the first shot we are shown were death is threatened so this makes us scared and we know the characters are going to die in gruesome ways, but we want to watch because it's In our nature to find out if he is stopped and if his identity is revealed.
This close up shot again shows vulnerability, a close up shot is used so that the audience can capture the tears and emotion of the character, this is done so the audience can connect more with the character. There Is a lot of black and shadowing within this shot which suggests fear and death, fear is mirroring the emotions we can sense the female is feeling, and black connotes death which could be foreshadowing hers.
This location fits in with the stereotypical locations within a horror, isolated and dark. There is again lots of shadowing, this adds enigma because we don't know what's lerking in the darkness, and part of us wants to know what that is, so we continue to watch. Also we can see an individual in the establishing shot and eye want to know who that is. Is it a victim or the killer? There is also a yellow-green which connotes cowardice and jealousy.
This is a close up of the killers weapon whilst he is trying to attack the individuals who are hiding in the car. This close up shot allows us to see the broken glass, which makes the audience panic because then the chainsaw comes through that glass, and it adds enigma because we don't know if the characters in the car will survive or whether they will be murdered.
Here is a medium close up of a coffin in a grave yard, tcoffins are associated with death, which could be foreshadowing the death of some of the characters. There again is shadowing so we cannot see if the coffin is open or close or what is in it. This creates tension for the audience because they don't know what to expect, and when you don't know what to expect it scares you.
We're then shown a close up shot of a chainsaw (phallic symbol) near a girls face and this show Vulnerability because we find out that she is the one hiding in the coffin. But before the chainsaw goes through the coffin everything goes quiet and you can hear footsteps but you don't know where they are going which adds enigma because we don't know what's going to happen next. However then we hear the chainsaw start up and we are perched on the edge of our seat because we don't know where it's going but then it pierces through the coffin. In this close up shot we see how afraid the character actually is. We get to see how close the chainsaw is to her face and how her life is in the balance. We can't help but think will she make it through this?
This the closing to the trailer is 'Texas chainsaw' the films title and this shows the significance of media converence this is because the film can be accessed via 3D. And when this film was released back in 2013 there was a big hype about 3D cinemas and televisions, so this created a hype to the audience and made it more appealing.
Masthead- This usually indicates the magazine name. For example 'Empire'.
Image- This is usually dominate and the first thing that we see, this is usually a mid shot or a close up shot. Usually the main character features in this image.
'Buzz words'- These a snappy and catchy words that catch your attention. For example, exclusive.
Anchored text- the text overlaps the image, with quotes or a summary of the article on the inside of the magazine.
Bar-code and issue date- every magazine has one of these.
This isn't your typical magazine cover as it is more animated, and there are more than one image on the front cover of the magazine. There is a mast head that dominated and anchors the top half of the magazine cover. However there is one dominate image that takes up the majority of the magazine cover.
This magazine cover takes a different turn to the previous one as the main character dominates the image she even anchors the mast head. This is done because the magazine is so popular and has a large audience, they could just see a small amount of the mast head (Empire) and they would instantly know what it is. This magazine cover has a bar code which is something that all magazine need in order to sell in stores. A movie quote is also included within the text to show what movie its from, this magazine is for people who watch movies so this would be eye catching to them. There is a lot of black used which connotes fear and mystery, this is representing the movie. there is also a lot of red used which connotes death, this foreshadows that the film genre is slasher, a sub genre of horror.
There is a dominate image of the main character of this movie, which is anchored by the mast head. The use of colour fits in with the name of the film 'American Psycho', the colours represent the American flag and there is blue, white and red on the magazine cover. This magazine also has a bar-code for when it is sold in the shops. The character also has blood on him which fits in with the conventions of a horror as they tend to have death and blood in them.
Laura Mulvey came up with the male gaze in 1975, because she believed that people viewed the female characters in a certain way, and they were presented in a certain way. The theory also suggest that women are looked at as objects and within movies they are very sexualised, by the clothes they wear, and the way that there characters behaves. The camera usually focuses a lot on the body and events that the female are engaged in that will make the audience react.
Jonathan Schroeder(1998) said; 'to gaze implies more than to look at- it signifies a psychological relationship of power. in which the gazer is superior to the object of gaze'.
Here is a medium shot taken from 'Cabin in the wood', this is a girl getting ready whilst a male character watches without her knowing, as it is a one way mirror. This links to one of the three points of male gaze; how men look at women. He see her as an object of entertainment, he wants to watch her (gaze at her).
Here is a low angle point of view shot again taken from 'Cabin in the woods' this female is being watched by the other characters, and we as the audience get to see the characters point of view. This female character is very sexualised, for example mise en scene has been picked very carefully, for example she is wearing shorts to show of her legs and her blouse is open, so she can appeal to a male audience as she dances for the men in the clip.
Here is a two shot taken from the film 'Eden Lake', this female is sexualised to the male gaze audience. However she breaks stereotypes because usually the males take an active role and the women are sidelined. However in this case she has the most active role within the movie, which challenges male gaze because she is presented in a sexualised way, but its her who has to fight to the end in order to survive.
Here is a medium shot taken from 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D' this female is very sexualised because of the minimum clothing she is wearing within the shot. They have focused on her physical attractions which is her figure and breasts. Laura Mulvey's thoery would suggest that she is represented as sexually active and powerless. She is simple a gratification for the male audience.
All of the women in the above images are objectified sexually within the film, Laura Mulvey says that; 'Women in any fully human form, have almost completely been left out of film'. Female roles are gradually changing within the movie industry, they are starting to be given dominant roles. So when considering our characters we need to think whether we will challenge or conform to the male gaze theory.
The key aspect to this theory is that all the characters are killed of by the killer within the movie. This theory is more common is slasher movies. Usually in these type of films the final girl is masculinised and then the other female character is usually very comfortable in her own skin, for example she does not mind getting changed in front of the other characters, and she is usually very sexually active, and in some cases in comes out through out the film that she is sleeping with the final girls boyfriend. Typically the final girl is a virgin. This final girl is also usually the last character standing and is the one to destroy the crazed killer.
This theory is all about binary opposites: Binary opposites within horror:
Good vs Evil
villain and Hero
Protagonist vs Antagonist
Strong vs Weak
light and dark
This poster above is binary and it light and dark, the light represents hope, there is very little light in the image which suggests the hope is fading. Whereas the dark side of the poster represents evil and sin. It also creates a sense of enigma and mystery, which makes the audience wonder what lurks in the darkness. this makes people want to watch it more. The darkness
dominates the images, whereas the light is minimal, which suggests that fear is more overwhelming the image. This links to horror because the connotations of is dark and and there tends to be death, this colouring is foreshadowing death and mystery.
Me and my group assigned each other different sub-genres to look at, Amber had to look and psychological, Jamie looked at paranormal. So I looked at some of the posters, I was assigned the the roll of slasher/killer horrors, so I decided to look at Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, My Bloody Valentine, and Friday the 13th. I have analysed the conventions, the connotations of colour used, and shot types.
My A2 course work will be completed in a group, in my group is myself, Amber Grundy and Jamie Beatty. We worked together for our coursework in previous years and we feel that we work efficiently together. We all get along very well and listen to each other's ideas and this is good as we will be able to make a final piece together. We have discussed which of the ancillary tasks that we would prefer to do and we have decided to do; a magazine front cover, featuring the film and a poster for the film.
This is some of the planning that I have been doing some research into the tasks that we can do and I with the facilities that we have at school we got it down to four briefs, these are the ones we looked at and compared the pros and cons of doing them.
This is a spider diagram that we did for a selection of materials related to an orginal children's TV drama, to include the title sequence to the TV programme. We decided against doing this as non of the group watch children TV dramas so we wouldn't have a lot of knowledge, so we would furfill our full potential.
This brief was a promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video. We really like the idea of this as we have a friend who can sing, however we decided against it as I think it limits us to the locations we can use as it has to fit with the song and we might not have access to these areas.
This was another brief that we considered a promotion package for a new soap opera, to include a TV trailer. The honest reason we didn't want to do this was because our lack of interest in soap opera, it was something that interested enough to want to do it, as we want to enjoy the making and we believed we wouldn't if we did this.
Then the last brief we looked at and analysed was a promotion package for a new film, to include a trailer. This was the one that interested the group the most and we thought it would be more enjoyable to try and create. We all came up with more ideas for this brief and we all felt more confident in doing a trailer as we felt we were more knowledgeable with films as we watch more films than TV programmes.
Since we decided to pick a trailer for our piece we also had to pick two ancillary tasks that we have to do individually and I picked to do the film magazine cover and a poster for the film.
We have also chosen a genre, since Halloween is up and coming we felt that doing a horror would work in our favour, so we have decided to base our trailer on horror. It's almost winter so the dark nights are coming, and this will also work in our favour as the conventions of a horror for lightning is dark.
