Reflective analysis

Reflective analysis of my film sequence
Aims and context

The aim was to create a sequence from scratch in and around the college, in the end we created a sequence consisting of around 9 shots with a running time of around 1 and a half minutes. The film is a thriller based off of a series of killings occuring around the college. The overall aim of the film is to excite them as well as make them think, hopefully creating their own theories about the films many happenings; as well as attacking the audience based on their primal fears of death and adding realism based on the loose link to real life happenings of a similar nature.

Ideally i would like to target this to a more mature audience, however i would also like to keep it slightly relatable to a portion of the audience given the sequences setting. I will choose an age rating of 15, since there are themes of violence that might seem slighly innapropriate for an age rating below 15. An age rating of 15 is a lot more flexable when it does to adult themes, such that we can include more elements that can be used to increase the overall shock factor and realism the film intends to compose.

The themes of death and violnece are not apparent in the sequence we shot, however we tried to build up a mood and tension, things that are key in thrillers to engage and shock the audience; theres also an element of secrecy, the sequence was purposely intended to be un-revealing since we want to keep the audience guessing, something a lot of the more well received thrillers that we watch currently in film today do.

Write a 750 word essay on the horror genre and how it affects an audience. Refer to at least 5 films you have seen from the genre with specific reference to a key moment from at least one and discuss its effect on you personally.

Horror films have notably existed for nearly a century, more earlier films portraying themes of supernatural horror or macabre (grim atmosphere), which to this day still remain at the heart of horror movies. Horror movies seek to induce negative emotions such as disparity, fear and terror through depicting scenes of a nightmarish atmosphere and playing on the audiences fears.

One of the more earlier accounts of horror was the film 'Nosferatu' released in 1922, I'll be using it and comparing it to other horror titles throughout the essay as it ticks all the boxes of a horror film. The German silent film adaptation of the famous horror novel 'Dracula' portrays the vampire 'Count Orlock' as the main protagonist, the use of this mythological creature induces its fear due to its monstrous abilities and appearance while adopting a human like appearance, the display of an unearthly and hellish figure is enough to install a sense of dread within an audience.

Sound is also used in this film when scenes of horror are applied, such as that the orchestral scoring heightens and quickens in pace at a scene franticness, and slows to a more deeper tune at scenes of apprehension and when building up anticipation, which is key to inducing anxiety into the audience and building on the horror. In regards to modern day horrors, sound is used in amongst scenes as a background to setting the mood, however films such as the popular horror film series 'insidious', sound is abandoned completely in scenes of horror, by cutting out sound the audience becomes more attune to the surrounding sounds, every creak and every knock, until the horror entity is met, whereby the music jumps back in a high pitch tune to further shock the audience. An example would be in the second insidious installment, where the mother of the family tormented by a spirit hears the phantom talking through the baby monitor, we are left with every gruesome sounding syllable in the absence of music, until what is thought to be the phantom hitting the child where high pitched orchestral sweeps add to the shocking nature of the scenario.

Nosferatu was in production in 1921, and as a result we are left with Gothic early 20th century setting, including decrepit buildings, castles and dimly lit areas. This setting is similar to that of the setting depicted in the 2012 remake of  'The Women In Black' the dark and Gothic Edwardian era English village and the Gothic mansion tell a tale of horror themselves; the effect of this setting in particular is a sense of disparity, a lot of dimly lit rooms whereby low quality lighting can be quite visually restricting and disorientating which is the opposite of what we'd like, but it leaves us guessing and assuming the worst, there could be anything lurking in the dark. The scene most applicable to this is the scene in which the antagonist Arthur walks down an candle lit, decrepit corridor in an old mansion, to investigate what appears to be the sound of a rocking chair moving, only to enter empty room with nothing more than an old bed, dresser and a vacant rocking chair that is in fact moving by itself. The moving chair is already pretty spooky but the fact that it's an old antique with history only increase the creepiness of it all.

Anticipation is key to building up fear in a horror, audiences are constantly being set up for the next scare, in Nosferatu's case, the literary elements are used to forecast horror, examples being 'Not so fast my young friend! No one can outrun their fate', where the audience is being set up to thinking the characters impending doom is inevitable; and the quote 'you might have to go to a little bit of trouble...a little sweat and maybe...a little blood...', in this quote the suspected vampire is conforming to its ghastly stereotype, setting the audience to believe that at some point in the near future, blood will be spilt. Anticipation is also a major factor in the famous Stanley Kurbrick film 'the shining', with Danny's hallucinations of an elevator filled with blood an phantom voices in his head, and Jack pacing after his wife who is armed with a bat, we are left guessing what is going to happen and which person if any is going to die, personally while listening to Jack and his wife's argument and Jacks menacing deluded threats and idle promises of safety i put my bets on the murdering manic to reign victor, yet he is knocked unconscious by his wife. The anticipation of this scene gives us a fear of the unknown, fear that the horror could go either way therefore leaving the audience frightened of that horror occurring in the worst possible way.

Nosferatu's shows the theme of the supernatural, something that attacks the audiences primal fears, by attacking something that each individual audience member fears, it will increase the horror that each viewer experiences on a personal level. This is similar to the supernatural elements and basic human fears is the classic horror film 'a nightmare on elm street', by dealing with the subject of nightmares, the films feel can relate to each audience member, everyone has nightmares, it makes us feel like it could happen to us all the same. The film blurs the lines between reality, through the way the protagonist Freddy caters each nightmare to its hosts biggest fear, and death within the dream means death in reality, an example is the character Debbie's death scene, in which Freddy watches her limbs fall off and be replace by insect limbs, insects being Debbie's fear. This can effect an audience in the fear that if they we're ever in that scenario, their biggest fear would be the result of the nightmare, while also giving us a supernatural figure that is the cause of it all, all the fear revolves around this one character, making him a pretty fear worthy character   

What was your favorite film of summer 2014?

What was your favorite film of summer 2014?

My favorite film of summer 2014 was 'the raid 2: berandal'; an Indonesian martial arts crime action thriller, it was released worldwide on 11th April, but due to low returns in many theaters it was closed after a single week, the DVD was released in the UK mid July. 'The Raid 2' when released in the US had to make a small amount of frame cuts due to excessive bloody violence, that being one of the films well known aspects following on from the first film. The main aspect of the film is its incredibly well thought out fight scenes, excellent choreography and brutal deaths, a personal favorite of mine is the opening fight scene in which the main character Rama if forced to fight a very large number of prison inmates within a prison toilet cubicle, which makes for an interesting and even comical scene.

The Raid 2 follows an ambitious plot expanding from the original films iterate military action film subject, Rama the former swat agent is enjoying his well earned family time until he is asked to join an undercover task force, which he declines until the organization he was asked to follow kills his brother. The plot causes for a story full of twists and one that takes the viewer around a number of locations, large scale prison fights, car chases, and the trademark brutal kitchen fights and a restaurant martial arts massacre , the open up of the plot and its locations makes for a tasteful and exciting film, something the first film failed to deliver.    

As for the character Rama, we see a development from a hard and salty character that always puts friends safety before his own, into a rage fueled martial arts machine seeking revenge for his brother's death, to which he will  dispatch enemies with little regard for who they are and who the fight for, for me the no-more-mister-nice-guy attitude only fuels the adrenaline without jeopardizing the plots integrity and feeling. The Raid 2 also features some unique supporting characters including baseball bat man and hammer girl, the two supervillan sounding persona's add a little fruit to the way the action is executed, a hammer and a baseball bat being popular household weapons can create executions that are quite frankly difficult to watch, the two characters also create a sense difficulty when both come up against and angry unarmed Rama, that makes for one of the most memorable scenes you will ever see. 

Martial arts films are often very under appreciated by audiences and film critics, since they tend to be rather cheesy and cliche, but The Raid 2 delivers an action film that stands tall above a lot of Hollywood action films, which only a fraction of the funds available compared to the big-time Hollywood directors, I think it's also very appealing for western audiences since its very western in aspects, car chases, guns, police, gangs and bloody violence. I hold this film close to my heart for its ability to create a memorable experience with raw talent and little to no CGI.

 

Discuss how 'the fault in our stars' managed to become a box office success and how a films success is measured.

The fault in our stars is a film adaptation of the John Green novel of the same name. The book itself became very popular in amongst teenagers as an emotionally stimulating story becoming one of the writers best known novel, and as a result deeming it a reasonable target for movie making. As a film it did very well, making over 20 times its budget for a box office result of $280,248,268. The film's success was largely based on the popularity of the book, and before the book was even written author John Green managed a successful YouTube channel, where he built up an audience of fans that would invest in any future material; as a result the book had enough fans to stir curiosity into other novel seekers, and soon the book became vastly popular across many countries.

As for the film itself, it offers a saddening story of 2 lovers, but with this title the plot touches on the unfortunately common disease of cancer, a disease that will have effected many of the viewers be it family or friends; and gives it in some parts quite a cheerful twist. I personally think this gives the film an attraction to the audience of people who have suffered from cancer as it serves as a reminder of the trauma, and to watch something as beautiful as love be hindered by such a thing, even as an average viewer is a bitter sweet tragedy bound to stimulate emotions. The strong themes of the film and personal connotations for many offer a more emotionally stirring film than any in the industry to date

Looking at the film as a film without any deeper meaning other than it being a love film, it offers a quirky cast of characters, colorful locations and a plot worth hanging onto. Many films prior have become popular for is story of love, this film follows in that aspect, for an audience of viewers who enjoy romantic films, the already successful name to this film gives more curiosity to those who have not experienced its tale at all, a plot consisting of young love is an aspect worth noting for any age range of viewers, the teenage lifestyle appeals to those of a similar age, and for the more mature viewers it's a blast from the past of their own teenage lives.

The films cast of characters allow for attachment of any individual character based on their similarity to your own life or just the way they act; possessing a very memorable cast means that effects can be had in the real world, fandom's and viewer favorites can be experienced and shared and conversed, people/ scenarios in the real world can be likened to the plot of the story and more and more people will learn about the characters and the film because of the influence it has on the outside world

A film with a colorful and interesting location to base the story on can accompany the story on its cheerful elements and create a visually appealing aesthetic, by introducing the colorful and green areas of America and the bustling city life of Amsterdam the plot is given the light heartedness it needs to not be a completely depressing plot and to keep the audience engaged. Without the color and vibrancy the film would seem dark, dull and depressing; an aspect that can be off-putting for many viewers, as it directly contradicts the point of a love story. A film cannot become successful if it upholds a reputation the can be off-putting.