Deconstruction - the woman in black teaser trailer

Mise en scene

• ·      The opening of the trailer shows old Victorian toys in an abandoned house. The lighting is dim and is unnerving for the audience as we cannot really see what the situation is - we are immediately shown that this is a trailer for a horror film. The trailer is unnerving rather than gory however so we can assume it is going to be a supernatural or psychological horror film (from the rest of the trailer we can gather it is a mix of both).
• ·       The use of children in the trailer is a new stereotype of horror films - usual conventions of childhood is innocence and purity but horror films, such as the woman in black, use the unnerving image of a child who acts as an adult to unsettle audiences. 
• ·      The lighting is used very well to add to the Edwardian mise en scene to create the horror genre atmosphere. Grey filtered natural lighting is used when outside to give a sense of being in a desolate place - the place is big but there is very little there. 
• ·      The dark candle lighting inside the house is used to create a sense of the unknown- there is a constant enigma of what is in the house as we can see very little of the location- the dim lighting and the dark tailored clothes of our hero mean that in some shots we can see very little apart from his pale face. 

Sound

• ·      There is very little sound with only the diegetic chiming of the old ‘musical monkey’ toy and the little girl talking non-diegetic voice-over; this creates the atmosphere for the audience and subsequently makes the audience easier to ‘make jump’ as we are having to focus very closely on the trailer to hear. 
• ·      The rhyme used in the trailer is specifically written for the film - it creates the illusion that this is a real folk story that the villagers made songs of warning about; this is also shown through the use of the scratched photographs showing the ghost in the window such as you might see on a real documentary.
• ·      The little girl’s voice is unnerving for the audience to hear a child talking about such a scary concept and the mature tone of the little girl’s voice is most unsettling because it subverts the media representations of children being ignorant to such horrors.

Editing

• ·      The chiming of the child’s toy also is used really well to align with the cuts between the clips of the film- with each chime the screen goes black and then shows a very short clip of the quicker, I assume later parts, of the film without revealing the plot. 
• ·      The panning shots are used well at the beginning of the trailer in contrast to the quick jump cuts later to create dis-equilibrium - the audience is given a sense of how the film will be in terms of how it will be based mainly around the anticipation of a ‘jump’. 
• ·      The final, slower shot of the man looking out the window uses very little editing to create tension and anticipation for the ‘jump’ - after seeing the rest of the trailer we know this is a horror film and so the audience anticipates something happening. The woman appearing behind the man makes the audience unsettled and intrigued by the film as we cannot gather from the trailer what the real plot is. 
• ·      The typography is linked very well the rest of the trailer. It is designed to look like someone/something has scratched into the glass. It is in a very old fashioned text to indicate this is a costume horror. It is similar to the font used on when the man finds the message ‘you could have saved him’ on the wall in blood and is shown at the window we immediately before saw him looking out of to show the audience that this is the main location of this film. 

  

Camera angles

• ·      The eye-line shots create the sense we are actually in the situation with the hero of the film. This is appropriate for this genre particularly because most horror films aim to make the audience feel in the same situation as the victim - e.g. we do not see something until they do. This is directly linked to identifying the intended audience as viewers can clearly see this is going to be a classic psychological ghost story and will entice fans of this genre.
• ·      Low and high camera angles are used throughout to give the sense that the character is being watched – these create an unsettled atmosphere as the camera angle implies that the character is not alone.

Gamer (2009) poster deconstruction

·         This film poster would be great inspiration for our film.

·         The background image of one man (the main protagonist) is shown which builds tension amongst the viewers.

·         The protagonist is looking directly at the audience, giving eye contact. This involves the audience and brings them into the film themselves, making them want to watch it.

·         The protagonists face is shown being distorted as the middle of his face is seen to have been smashed in the centre, forming a vertical jagged line down his face. This could represent two sides to this characters’ personality or that this character is on the verge of breaking down, or is being ‘broken’ by someone or something else. This could also indicate that the outside of his face represents one personality, whereas the small face that is ‘trying to get out’ of the black and white face is his contrasting personality. He could be trying to be someone else on the outside, whilst hiding his true personality underneath.

·         The colour scheme of the background is shown in black and white

·         The typography of the title is shown in block capitals and in the colour red. The colour red has negative connotations of blood, danger, death and destruction. This gives an ideal representation of the film itself, relating back to its genre of thriller.

·         The title is shown near the bottom of the poster, centred. This allows the audience to move their eyes around the poster, whilst also looking at other things shown on the poster, which also allows the viewer to get the image of the poster in their head, making it more memorable.

·         The tagline is shown directly underneath the title which also allows the audience to manoeuvre their eyes to find it, whilst looking closely at the whole poster.

·         The tagline is shown also in block capitals, mirroring the font of the title above. The colour is white which juxtaposes the genre of thriller to give a sense of innocence that this character and film might also represent – we have to watch it to find out how the innocence is portrayed.

·         The tagline is also shown as a question. This question is directed to the audience that is looking at the poster. It involves the audience so that they feel like they are part of the film themselves, therefore, making the audience want to watch the film.

·         At the very top of the poster, centred, is the main protagonists name shown in block capitals and also in red, which suits the scheme of the poster and relates to the thriller genre. This would also stand out and grab this actor’s fans’ attention, giving the film more popularity.

Canon 550d effects

The camera which we will be using allows us to create a variety of feffects even before post production, The following videos show some of the effects available to us when shooting our trailer.  It also shows the quality of the footage when the camera is used efficiently.

From the last video, we can see that the camera will provide us with high quality, proffessional looking footage, which is ideal for the look we want for our trailer.

Mise en scene research-Weaponry

For our film trailer weapons are essential  props, as it is focusing on the idea of survival, and is an action/thriller trying to show the extremes of human nature, therefore will most likely contain scenes of violence and brutality.

The weapons we are considering are fire arms, blades, machetes etc.

In this blog post I’m looking at different types of blades and even items found in the shed that could be used as weaponry.

The first weapon that could be used is- a pitch fork.

The use of a pitch fork suggests to me the idea of desperation and gives a sense of gritty realism- as it is plausible that in a situation where you’re life is threatened that you could use even normal household objects in defence of yourself. 

Connotations of the pitch fork are interesting, as they are traditionally associated with the idea of hell or Satan, with the devil traditionally being drawn as a red demon who wields a pitch fork as an object of torture.   






This could work well for Alkedama as we can play on the pre-existing negative media image of a pitch fork. It will also be fees able to source a pitch fork, unlike some other weapons, so this would make the use of the weapon more practical for our group.

                                                                                                                                                                   
The next weapon- The traditional blade knife                                                                                                  

Blades have always been traditionally used  as a weapon in films, as it readily connotes an air of menace and danger. It is recognisably a weapon, unlike the pitch fork, and we can use a variety of blades. In the research i have done into films such as Arena and hunger games, blades have typically appeared as a choice of weapon- so using them will help us to in keep with convention. 

The character we were thinking to give this prop would be Eris as her character has a sadistic side, which would work well with this type of weaponry, as a blade being wield implies fatality and death, so use of this mise en scene will help reflect this aspect of her nature.

The third weapon- The Saw

 (Chainsaws, would be useful as the sound- a metallic, groaning type noise- instantly signals to audiences something threatening, and we could overlay this sound onto our film- connotations eerie, foreboding, imagery of violence is connected with the image of a chain saw).

(This type of saw, a Hacksaw, is the one used in the famous thriller/horror SAW and worked effectively in that film to create gruesome and un-comfortable scenes. It is also a less common type to use)

Saws are great weapons to use, as they could easily be found in a home, and if we are playing on the idea of our characters being so desperate they would use anything and everything to defend themselves, a saw is perfect. Saw's are traditionally a tool, but now have the media image of a dangerous weapon since modern films, such as SAW so we can exploit this new stereotype.

Akeldama audition tapes

Arena (2011): Three scenes deconstruction

 

The storyline of arena is similar to our own, as it also explores the concept of killing to survive and the idea of the public being sick. The plot is; their is a website called Death Games, which shows real fights for the death- the main protagonist David Lord looses his wife, and so ends up falling into alcoholism. When drinking in a bar, he picks up a woman, who tasers him and kidnaps him, he then is held captive and forced to kill others to survive. As the plot of this film, holds many similarities to our own film trailer I thought it would be a good source of inspiration, too look at how the film shows the idea's of brutality, violence and desperation- each elements we're hoping to depict.

First Scene chosen:

The first scene that is particularly relevant, is a scene showing the capture of the main protagonist David Lord, first waking up and realising he is trapped.

• Mise en scene-
• There is a chain around David's neck- the position dehumanises him, it is positioned like a colour the use of the chain connotes a lack of authority and power and reflects the idea that his life is now in the hands of his kidnappers. (Close up on protagonist below)
• He pushes against the chain's resting his whole weight on his neck- shows his characters determination and strength to be free (traits which our film trailer will show).

• Bars- Like prison bars, reflects idea of being trapped, caged again adding to the idea he is being dehumanised.
• On the other side of the bars sits the woman who captured him- giving her a sense of authority- she is in charge now. A key shot showing this is this wide framed close up shot (below)
• Her calm exterior (facial expression); reflecting she is used to this type of thing and she seems unbothered- suggests to the audience-she lacks morals.

• Sound-
• Metallic clang/bang noise of Davids chains as he struggles to free himself- furthers the idea of his captures strength.
• Main female protagonists soft tone of voice- "Do you want me?" subverts the stereotype of violence being something macho, and shows how she still exploits her sexuality in such a high tension situation.
• Growling noise coming from David- again using animistic behaviour, to reflect the lack of humanity within "Arena".

Second scene selected:

The second scene I've selected is the main fight scene, which shows the  brutality of the games, and is the part which relies most heavily on makeup and costume.

Mise en scene:

• Weapons- Each character is forced to pick up a weapon- blades are provided and the weapons grow worse as the fights progress ending with nail guns and death by impalement.
• Blood- heavy use of blood and gore- makeup has been used cleverly to show, deep skin wounds (for example one crossing over the main protagonist's right shoulder).
• There is blood splatter on David's face reflecting his first kill- and loss of morality.

• The style of the fight is oriental- playing on the traditional Korean/Japenese slasher format.
• Costume- David and his opponent both wear traditional martial art style clothing.
• This cleaner version changes as in another fight he is shown wearing traditional gladiator style dress- for example- leather breaches, and chest plate.



Third scene:

This scene i've selcted depicts the public watching the fights at home- adding to the idea that the public are sick.

• Mise en scene-
• Computer screen in high school  bedroom (shown in close up shot), suggests that college students are watching it.
• The words "Death Games" appear on scream, and two male characters (un-named) high five each other shows their excitement for the game.
• The two guys have invited all their friends to view the show and in the background (long shot) is a banner reading "DEATH GAMES" - implying their anticipation for the fight.
• Cups of drinks, and food being passed around- similair to a viewing at a cinema shows the lack of care people have concerning the actual fighter's to them it is just 'entertainment'. We hope to explore this idea in Akeldama.

Sound-

• Narrative- "This is gonna be sick!" two male characters, at computer screen suggests their enjoyment again.
• Roar of excitement- loud noise, gives the idea of group mentality- they have all grown to enjoy the games, in comparrison to an earlier scene where two girls watching it seemed to be sickened by the blood an violence  (suggests this is becoming the norm).

Woman In Black (2012) Poster deconstruction

• The typography is very ghostly which relates to its horror genre. It is like chalk-esque fading white font which is immediately noticeable to the eye and provides a sense of eeriness and supernatural being to it.
• The tagline asks ‘Do you believe in Ghosts?’ This gives a clear idea that the film is based on the supernatural and addresses the audience directly and makes the audience feel involved.
• Well known actors name, Daniel Radcliff, is shown on the poster contrasting to the black background which makes the text stand out and attracts the actor’s fans.
• The text has an eerie feel which suits the genre of the film. It is shown in white who is also ghostly. It is also shown in a light blue tint which insinuates negative connotations of cold and ice.
• The same colours blue and white are merged into the colours of the main protagonists eye in the poster, which insinuates that this character may have some ghostly past in him too.
• An obscure image of an eerie face is subliminally hidden and distorted in grainy monochrome colours. This adds a sense of enigma/mystery within the film. The face has dark circles in replace of eyes so we cannot see who or what this is which also adds to the enigma of the film.
• Image of Daniel Radcliff shows direct eye contact with audience making them feel involved and shows he is a dominant character in the film.