R36 - Audience Profile

R35 - Case Study of 'The Blair Witch Project' (1999)

THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999)

Roles in Technical Practices 

• Directors: Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez
• Producers: Gregg Hale and Robin Cowie
• Editors: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez
• Music by: Antonio Cora - an example of his work is the YouTube clip below

Like all horror films, sound plays an important factor within the film. It heightens the suspense as well as creates it, enticing the audience and affecting them. Antonio Cora used simple objects like a microphone stand, and created the noises at 0:37 by throwing it on the floor and layering an effect on top to create the dystopian clattering sound that can be heard. The louder and louder it gets, the more the audience believe that whatever coming is getting closer, giving them a gripping experience and enabling to use some ideas for my own short horror film. 

Facts

• Production Company: Haxan Films
• Distributor: Artisan Entertainment
• Release Date: August 30th, 1999
• Budget: $22,500
• Box Office: $248,689,099

Plot

Heather Donahue, Michael Williams and Joshua Leonard, student filmmakers, set out to shoot a documentary about a local legend, the Blair Witch. In the forests near Burkittsville, Maryland, many children have vanished in the 1940s and people still avoid going too deep into the woods. So, the party sets out to look for facts that prove the legend, equipped only with two cameras and a little hiking gear. First, they find little piles of stone that must have been arranged artificially, later, they have to admit to be lost in the woods. Eerie sounds at night and more piles of stones in places where they have not been before cause the already desperate group to panic. And one night, days after they should have been back home, Josh disappears completely. Only what has been recorded and filmed with the cameras is found a year later and shows what happened in the woods.

Techniques

• Most of the camera work was handheld - some moviegoers got physically sick due to the shaky camera work
• The sound was used from daily objects - pans, glasses etc. 
• There is a Blair Witch Project 2 - there is talk of another, therefore there is marketing schemes already in place. They have their own website too.
• Target audience - a range from university students+ - their lifestyle, etc. 

R34 - Radio Trailer Analysis of 'The Boy'

Due to not being able to find a radio trailer, I have analysed the sounds of the film trailer instead, as they are both similar. 

The trailer starts off with a soft, gentle tune played on the piano, as there is a non diegetic voice over of an old woman saying "we've had a number of potential nanny's come through already" which immediately fades and the sound effects of a door closing can be heard. Another voice saying "Do you think you can manage" in a sophisticated, British accent is replied to by an American woman who says "of course" implying that the nanny has come abroad to work for this middle/upper class family. 

With the same soft piano background, we hear a conversation between the nanny and a man - Malcom who introduces himself as the 'grocery boy'. The fact that they are both American, in what seems to be a British place, suggests that they are incongruous to the setting and foreshadows that they will find comfort within themselves as opposed to the people around them. 

As she introduced to more people, the final person she is introduced to is "their son", which immediately sets of alarms as there is a stop in the fanatical sounds, as a more deep boom sound effect is played. The sudden change adds to the tone of atmosphere, and changes the mood entirely compared to the initial start of the film. The high pitched screeching sound against the mode of address the nanny uses as she says "are you being serious?" gives the connotation that perhaps she is baby sitting someone or something, she didn't quite expect. 

A flapping/whooshing-like sound effect then changes the scene and a simple piano tune that is more upbeat is played in the background. The non diegetic voice-over goes onto saying "music gives him so much joy" as an old record is played. A more deeper man's voice is followed after, as he says "he is not like any other boy, it is important that you must follow these rules - be good to him and he'll be good to you". The whooshing sound effect is then used again, as now a song with lyrics is evident saying "I sleep alone" . Following on, the sounds of cutlery against plates can be heard, and then footsteps suggesting that someone is putting food in the bin, however the mood drastically changes again and the noises go from high pitched to pitched as the sound of glass breaking can be heard. 

Soon after, the sounds of a boom and children laughing fades in and fades out as the nanny says "Ross" with a sigh of relief. Malcom's voice is then heard again as the nanny says "I needed someone to see it...If you leave him alone, he'll give you a sign". A sound effect of a door creaking is then heard as Malcom says "this is some sort of magic trick right?" After every bit of dialogue, there is a sting in which a sudden noise occurs, then goes back to an effect background piece of music. The fast paced cuts and sounds give the connotation that 'Ross' is effectively bad and foreshadows his potential dangers. 

As the trailer continues, Malcom goes onto telling a story about 'Ross' playing with a little girl. After he says "they found her body in the woods", a sting is heard again, with a wind sound effect. The music and heartbeat is heard which rapidly increases to a silence in which the door creaking open can be heard again suggesting that something bad will happen. When Malcom says "nobody's been here for years", and high pitched irregular sound effect can be heard, scaring the audience. After that, there is a constant wavering techno background music in which there are voice overs, and screeching sound effects. There is also a steady beat of a drum which gradually increases. 

A lullaby tune can then also be heard however after short pauses, a loud sinister sting is heard, as well as crashes. A final voice is heard saying "you will be good to him wont you", before a sound effect of a scream is played just before the trailer goes onto silence. 

R33 - Short Film Analysis: 'Selfies Gone Wrong'

The film starts off with a black blank screen, with a deep sinister background sound as the black suddenly shows an over the shoulder shot of a girl's mirror reflection of her putting on make-up.  The screen suddenly turns to black again however it says "Headcheese Productions present" as the background music continues. It then shortly goes back to an eye level shot of the girl putting on lipstick, before going back to a black screen of the actress's name. 

With the same non diegetic background music, she is then presented in a side view in the car, where she has her phone facing her, whilst trying to fix her hair. She then lifts it slightly at an angle and poses to take a picture. This gives the representation of the typical modernised teenager, where from the title, it is obvious that the short film is aged at young teens.

The music suddenly builds up before it stops with a click, and the title "Selfies" cuts onto the screen. It pauses for a few moments, before fading to a wide shot of a lake where the girl is on the left, sitting on a bench taking more selfies. Where there is an eerie background music, opposing the sound effects of the bird tweeting. The hand held camera shot slowly zooms in onto the girl as she continues making new poses. 

A wide shot is also used in the next scene, presenting some shops on a street and a large black car driving through the frame. Like before, hand held camera shots are used giving the connotation that somebody is watching the girl wherever she is, or that they are spying on her. There are a range of shots used to present the girl as she continues taking selfies throughout the day. i.e. close up shots, wide shots, over the shoulder shots, mid high angle shots etc, as well as a panning shot to show the area around her. 

A fade is then used to present a messy room with dim lighting. Her messiness also gives the representation of her being a teenager, as that is what teenagers are typically linked to. She jumps onto the bed in a mid shot, allowing the audience to see her pyjamas, emphasising the comfort she has in that moment, solidifying the idea that she is at home in her own room. A high angle shot is used to show her phone, presenting the selfies she has taken during the day as she flicks through her gallery. Cross shots are used between the phone and her, as her facial expressions give the notion that she is impressed and pleased with her selfie taking. She then suddenly becomes curious in one of the pictures, and in a high angle shot of her phone, she zooms into the right side of her picture, illustrating a man far behind her. She then continues onto the next, and sees the same man sitting far behind her. A slow high pitched sound arises as she repeatedly goes onto the following pictures, seeing the same man behind her in almost every selfie. The background sound arises sharply, and there are more fast paced action shots with a non diegetic ticking sound, showing a selfie of her in her own house. The gap between her door seems to be dark as there is no light from outside, however the intensified music suggests otherwise and it raises anticipation. As she zooms in, the figure of a man is seen through the gap in the door, and the eerie orchestral music becomes louder. 

It then fades or a few seconds, and the film cuts to a black screen for the credits. The white font stands out against the black, making it clear for the audience to see the actors and actresses clearly. The same quick and sharp orchestral music is played until the credits end. 

R32 - Short Film Analysis: 'Night Night Nancy'

The films starts off in silence as the frame is focused on a text message on a phone saying "Night Night Nancy". A diegetic 'ping' goes off, showing that she has received a new message. The camera then cuts to a mid shot of a girl sleeping and the pings from the phone slowly wake her up. There are diegetic synchronous sound of her moving within the bedsheets to reach for her phone as the text on screen says "Josh: Hey babe, you wakes?". She then sits up straight and the camera takes a low angle shot of her whilst she replies with the text coming on screen. 

A high angle close up shot is then used as the text messages between her and Josh continue. As she types, a soft tapping is heard from her nails clicking against the screen. When she goes in her gallery to send the pictures that Josh asks for, she sees something unfamiliar, and the camera focuses on her facial expression for a few seconds in a low angle, before showing what it is that has grabbed her attention. 

When she sees pictures of herself sleeping, she clicks on it and a sinister booming sound is heard. The music gradually builds up but is still very faint as she looks around in a low angle panning shot to see who is there. The frame then cuts back to a high angle of her typing on her phone "I think there is somebody in my house".  

The next scene shows her opening her door which is heard through the diegetic sound effects and it softly locking shut. Here, we can see her as a full character - the fact that she is wearing pyjamas gives the connotation that she lives by herself, as there seems to be nobody else present. The dark lighting makes it hard to see her facial expressions, however how slow movement towards the camera adds to the intensity of the scene.  

As she is walking, there is a non diegetic sound of her footsteps as she is presented through a midshot, but it is clear that it is coming from her. As she walks past the first room, the lighting coming from within creates a large, monstrous shadow across the right wall, signifying the horror genre. 

The camera then does an 180 degree flip and then uses a tracking shot to follow her as she is walking slowly and intently to check who is in her home. The long establishing shots as well as the faint eerie background music alert the audience watching and prepare them for an expected shock. 

She then reaches another room and stops by the door to text back Josh, in a two shot. Very silently, a deformed ghost steps out in the room behind her, whilst a sound effect of a knife slicing something is used. As she realises what is there in a close up shot, the sinister music increases and she runs back to the room we saw initially. The killer then follows and goes into another room holding a knife dripping in blood symbolising a horror genre. As it turns into another room, the diegetic noises of the door clicking open and shut can be heard again. As it disappears into the other room, a handheld camera shot is used as she panics whilst messaging Josh that "there is something holding a knife". Just before she can finish, in the left side of the frame, the killer peaks it's head out of the door and the suspenseful music builds up again. 

Just before it reaches the door, she silently runs into the cupboard, and a low angle arch shot is used to show the gap between her and the door. The killer wonders in, in a low angle, wearing a metal mask, whilst the diegetic sounds of it tapping on the door before scraping it, can be heard. 

The costume it is presented in implies that it is a human, as they are wearing a grey hoodie with blood all over it and it's hand. Likewise, the lighting is still very dim, but the viewers can still see the expression of the character's face, which is presented in a close up shot. The girl's trembling hand and flushed skin gives the connotation of her being terrified of dying, as a point of view shot shows the killer wandering around the room through the gaps of the cupboard door. Similarly, the fact that she is holding her hand over her mouth implies her heavy breathing pattern, and that she cannot control it, so she tries to make herself quiet, or otherwise, she will give herself away. The music heard are the deep notes of the violin, which are very long - adding to the anticipation of whether the killer will get her or not. 

In a sharp motion, the killer yanks the covers off the bed, presented through the eye level gap between the cupboard doors, however when the girl tries messaging her friend, a diegetic ping comes from her phone. This causes the killer to slowly rise up and walk out of the frame, allowing the audience to hear the non diegetic footsteps, getting closer. After the frame is on the victim who is trembling even more, the frame cuts back to the gap where the killer's face fills it in. The intense music gets even louder as she cannot conceal her fear any more in the close up shot. 

Suddenly, the music stops, and the killer disappears, and the girl's facial expression shows a sign of relief. She then looks back at her phone in an eye level shot, before it cuts to a high angle shot of a picture appearing on her phone of a man slaughtered by the throat. She slides left and right, and then calls Josh. Before he picks up, a non diegetic jingle can be heard coming from a child's toy. An extreme close up shot is then used as she slowly puts the phone turn and turns her head. The little melody contrasts from the horror as it is normally associated with innocence, yet here, it foreshadows the coming of the killer. In another extreme close up shot, still hearing the melodic tinkling sound, she goes to switch the light on. As she switches it on, a birds eye view shot shows a bloodied hand with a hand cuff on it, as the lighting gets brighter. The costume has also presents a dirtied doctor's uniform as if they have just performed a surgery. When the close up shot shows Nancy's face, she looks up and down, before the audience can finally see the killer who is presented to be in the doctor's uniform. The use of make up and prosthetics give the impression of a bloodied face, yet the bandages wrapped around the head do not conceal the flesh. In a deep and low, growling voice, he says "Night Night Nancy" in a close up shot, before reaching up and turning the light back off. The film ends with a loud crash, before hearing silence. 

The slow melancholy tune is played again as the credits appear in white text. After they have finished, the production company appears right at the very end.   

R31 - Short Film Titles

Many short horror films follow the same conventional structure, however what I have noticed from my own personal viewings, is that some do not follow this and challenge the convention instead. 

For example, a general short horror film, or any horror film would follow the structure as:
1. introducing the film maker/production company
2. Starring: actors & actresses
3. Film title 
Or any of the three in a random order. 

This can also be seen in the short horror films that I have analysed such as:

-  Abe

- Night Night Nancy 




as well as others such as Vicious.

    
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 However, the are other short film types that do not include titles at the beginning. When watching the short unconventional horror films, I noticed that I felt like I was just dropped into the film. Although there were small texts appearing on screen like the producer or "a ____ film", it did not matter as much. When I watched "House of Prey",   

I felt as if I was placed right in the middle of the action and that I was actually there. Likewise, it did not occur to me that I had missed out on the title, because I was too engaged in watching the film. This also meant that I was not distracted from the film by waiting for the next piece of information to arrive on screen. 

This was also seen in "That's Not Me", where here, they do not use any piece of text at the beginning. Instead, a vertical pan is used to introduce the audience to the scene, showing a zombiefied girl closing the fridge door in the kitchen. The titles appeared at the end of the film at a sudden stop as the zombied girl screams towards the camera in a close up. It is only then you see that the film is called "That's Not Me", keeping me intrigued right till the very end. 

 

R30 - Film Review: The Purge (2013)

The Purge is a dystopian, psychological horror film in which on this one day every year in America, there are no laws, allowing people to commit whatever crime they want. This is evidently displayed in the title sequence, where there is a number of examples of arson, killing, shooting etc. caught on a CCTV camera, hinting to the audience that this is what the film is about - divulging into your inner most needs.

The film starts off with a typical day; completely opposite to a horror film off a man driving home in a car with flowers, however the more into the scene it gets, the more the audience can piece together what he's talking about, and what the flowers are for. The calmness of him though, implies just how normal this is, and he's done this plenty of times, but it is clear to the audience that he'll be one of the main characters in the film. Similarly, through mise-en-scene, it shows the kind of character he is; his house shows his wealth, his attire connotes that he is a businessman, and the flowers suggest that he loves his wife.

As the film builds up, we learn that he is a father, and has just created a security system which he has 'tried out' and is confident that will keep him and his family safe until sunrise the next day. This is a major sign to the audience that it will obviously fail and bring harm to them. To the audience's as well as my surprise, his security system did in fact work, but the son's actions of turning it off to let a man running from killers in, sparked the whole story. 

However, the film did seem quite inconspicuous as the only black character was the man who was let in, whereas the rest of the neighbours in the neighbour hood, as well as the people after him, were all of a white ethnicity. The man had killed during the year, and on the night of the Purge, was being chased to be killed. This personally irritated me, as I feel like to give a more representative ideology of what could potentially be America in 50 years, they should have included more ethnicities. Or perhaps, it was to highlight that the black minority are not the only ethnicity to be stereotyped as delinquent with criminal behaviour, and in fact others of a higher social class can too. 

The film overall, is more gruesome as opposed to horror. The most symbolic object of the Purge is the mask, which I still remember vividly as it was one of the most creepiest masks I've seen in my life. The large smile gives off an evil impersonation of innocence despite being to conceal identities of those trying to kill the black man and the family. The most unusual objects (props) are used to kill in the film for example an axe that was used as a decoration. Who lives in an upper class house and has an axe? Yet, there are conventional forms of violence, like smashing him into glass. 

The focus on the injuries and blood, it part of the reason as to why it is rated 15. Similarly, the informal language and profanity used is far too explicit for a 12A, therefore I would agree with the rating. There are some parts of the film, where I think the film should be an 18, due to the unhumane things that occur. However overall, I do think the film's storyline is interesting. There are some scenes in which I do find pretty disinteresting but the film does have a steady pace in which there is an equilibrium, a disequilibrium and then a new equilibrium. Overall, I thought the film was average, as there was much more that could've improved it.