I have chosen to compare and contrast“The Eye” and “The Shining”. I
will be discussing the use of cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing, use of
sound and the 4 technical areas of film including narrative, genre, characters
and atmosphere.
The Eye is a horror film and is made apparent in the
elevator scene. It begins with a wide angle shot which is used to establish the
location and introduce the character, this sets up a atmosphere for the
audience and highlights the importance of the character because the shot
focuses on the isolation of the woman. There is diegetic sound of the elevator which
is used to create a normal and natural atmosphere so the audience will not
expect anything bad to happen. This is followed by a high angle shot of the
characters face looking up at the CCTV footages, which again shows that there
is nobody in the elevator, creating the atmosphere of safe and normal. This
quickly changes when the elevator door opens and the woman is about to walk in,
there is a over the shoulders panning shot of what appears to be an old man,
this signifies exactly what the character is seeing which is used to create a
realistic experience by placing the viewer in the scene with the woman.
The shot cuts to a close up shot of the woman's facial
expressionwhich suggests that she is exposed to danger. The shot then goes to a
high angle shot of the woman looking up at the CCTV cameras again which confirms
that nobody is in the elevator hinting that the old man in the elevator is
supernatural, this starts to create a tense and eerie feeling for the viewers.
At this point, incidental sound has been added which is used to heighten the
sensation of fear for the viewer. The shots keep cutting from close ups of the
characters face to emphasise the terror to mid angle shots of the the
supernatural demon which hasn’t been shown properly yet so this will make the
audience feel tension and confusion because they don't know what to expect. Themid
angle shot of the couple in the elevator, looking at the character with confusion connotes that they
can not see the demon in the back of the elevator. The other elevator door
opens and the woman slowly walks in, the panning shot of the inside of the
elevator shows that the demon is not in there so this evokes safety for the
character and the viewers. The creepy incidental sound goes away as soon as the
“demon” is out of the shot, this is used to foreshadow and pinpoints that the demon
is dangerous.As soon as the woman enters the elevator and the doors close, the
screen goes blackfor a brief moment which suggests that the character is in
peril.
The close up shot of the woman pressing the 15 button
signifies that the 15th floor means safety because that is where her
room is located. This scene is made more tense for the viewers because we are
locked in the elevator with the character so this forces us to feel the same
emotions as the woman. There is then a close up eyeline match of the character
looking at the reflection of the elevator walls which shows something appearing
in the back which the viewer will quickly come to the realisation that it's the
supernatural man from before. There is a loud thump sound effect which is used to
evoke a visceral reaction by making the viewer jump from shock. The close up
shots of the floor numbers seem to be going extremely slowcreates further frustration
and tensionbecause the viewer is put in the actual scene and we can't escape.
The lighting throughout the entire film sequence is dark and dull with a slight
tint of green filter to it, the lighting is an important way of establishingthe
genre of the film straight away. The editing is continuous as all the shots are
put together in chronologically to make
sense.
The film sequence for The Shining is similar in the fact
that they both share the same genre of horror but use the 4 key elements for
different effects. The scene starts off with a wide angle shot to establish the
location, which is a hospital and the character is being followed using a
tracking shot, this is primarily used to put the viewer in the characters shoes
so that the audience can feel the same emotions as the character. This is very
similar to “The Eye” elevator scene because they both start off with a wide
angle shot to establish the setting and character. The lighting is also similar
because they both use dim lighting to evoke a fearful atmosphere. However, with
“The Shining”, the incidental sound and sound effects start playing right away
which immediately creates suspense.
The close up shot of the character as he looks at the
ghostly girls with shock makes clear that they are not normal therefore are an
instant threat. The dialogue of the girls saying “come play with us”in a monotone
automatically createsa sinister atmosphere for the viewer. The sound effects of
the repetitive piano is used to make the viewer jump from the visceral reaction
just like the elevator scene from The Eye.
P2. Analyse Film
Narrative
In 1969, Todorov imposed the theory that all films follow
the same narrative pattern through 5 stages. These stages are,
equilibrium,disequilibrium, realisation, solving and equilibrium again.
Equilibrium is the first stage of Todorov’s theory. This
stage is found at the beginning of the narrative, where everything is fine and
normal. The second stage is disequilibrium, where a big disruption happens in
the narrative. The next stage is acknowledgment where the characters recognise
the problem. The solving stage of the narrative is where there is an attempt to
repair the problems caused by the disequilibrium. The last stage is equilibrium
again where everything goes back to normal.
Todorovs theory can be applied to Titanic. We can see the
equilibrium of the narrative when jack wins a trip on the titanic in a poker
game and meets rose, they fall in love, they experience many Romaric moments
together and everything seems perfect and normal. The distruption from this
point is when the titanic ship is hit my an ice berg and the ship starts
sinking slowly, jack and Rose end up loosing eachother which rose then goes on
a mission to find jack but they struggle as the water keeps filling up the
ship. They end up reaching the deck of the ship and they hold on for their
lives as the ship breaks in half and the ship starts plunging into the
freezing water. Although the narrative
does not end the way it started and the disaster isn't “solved” the film does
however introduce a new equilibrium at the end when jack and Rose find each other
in the icy water and hold onto a wooden door and they say their goodbyes to
each other.
Barthes theory believes that a film narrative has to be
figured out through 5 stages so that the
audience can make sense of what's happening and there are a wide range of
different potential meanings depending on how the viewer unravels the film
narrative from different viewpoints. The 5 stages are, the hermeneutic code
where the truth is avoided and nog explained so the audience are left
wondering. The enigma is a puzzling situation that will leave the audience questioning. The semantic code refers to connotation and
this gives the narrative an additional meaning. The symbolic code, organising
semantics into deeper meaning. The cultural code refers to a topic that cannon be assumed or challenged such as
religion.
Understand the
relationship between films and their production contexts
Mainstream films and independent films have many differences
and can create very different films. There are numerous factors which can
affect the relationship between mainstream films and independent films; these
main factors include the budget, technology,
marketing and distribution of the film.
Mainstream films are mostly created to cause an emotional
and physical responses whereas
independent films usually aim at creating a more intellectual response from the
audience.
Mainstream films are very successful in the film industry
because they create exactly what people want to see. The key selling points are
what help distribute the film to the audiences,
these key selling points are, the storyline which will grab people's
interest immediately, the actors because fans will see the featured actors and
they will automatically want to watch the film. Movie starts have a great impact
on the success of a mainstream film due to the fact that most successful actors
and actresses have a huge fan count
because of their roles in other big Hollywood movies,therefore by having A-list
actors and actresses in the film, fans will naturally draw towards the film.
The director is a good key selling point because fans will
recognise the director from previous successful movies, therefore viewers will be interested in checking the film out
because of the directors work. This also goes hand in hand with movie sequels,
for example if someone enjoyed a film so much and then found out that there was
a sequel, they will be curious to go and watch it because they were left with a
good impression of the first film. The genre of the film, the compatibility to
other films and the special effects used in the film all help to create a
successful Hollywood movie.
On the other hand, independent films don't have the same advantages when it comes
to selling points. Independent films don't usually feature big stars which
doesn't appeal to a wide audience. Independent films don't have a big spending
budget like mainstream movies therefore the equipment, editing will most likely not gather many viewers.
Another different between mainstream and independent is that people have to
actually look for an independent film because it's not being distributed in
theatres so it is much harder to find than a mainstream film that is shown in
thousands of cinemas.
Financing plays a big role in the success of a movie because
they need to advertise and promote the film such as posters, trailers, press
advertising, merchandise and the actual production process of the film. Editing
is an advantage for mainstream films because they use CGI depending on the
genre of the film, whereas independent films don't use any CGI or special
effects.
Mainstream films make use of their marketing strategies in
order to get an audience. They use trailers on TV, DVD and blu-ray, they advertise on the Internet, posters,
radio and magazines. Marketing is an important factor when trying to connect
with an audience because it allows mainstream movies to persuade the general
public to see their film. Independent films however don't have the efficient
budget to promote and advertise their movies like mainstream movies do.
Understand the
relationship between producers and audience
Producers get feedback from the public through audience
research. This is usually done through test screenings and Internet research.
Producers use a wide range of marketing strategies in order to deliver
information about their film to their target audience.
Test screenings have been very effective in gathering all
the positive and negative feedback, this is held way before the release of the
film so it can leave enough time for any improvements, the audience will have
the opportunity to analyse the film and give construction criticism to the
filmmakers so the critics opinions are extremely effective because the feedback
could lead to drastic changes within the production process of the film.
It is crucial for producers to identify their target audience so they can make the
film for them. The target audience depends greatly on the content being shown
in the film. These include genre and themes. After the producer has pitched
their idea, they will get information about actors, genres for target audience
and return the information back to the director/writer which they will check.
Producers may look into similar films and pick out potential
actors/actresses for their roles. Producers look into a variety of important
information to make up their target audience. These are gender, age, likes and
interests. They find out all this information by doing surveys and holding
focus groups.
Producers aim at evoking different emotions depending on the
genre and themes shown in the film. These emotions can range from basic human
feelings (sad, joy, relieved) some producers aim at a more intellectual
reaction which would make the audience really think about what is happening and
this is mostly found in independent film. Visceral, which they expect the
audience to react physically, this is often found in Comedy films (laughing)
and Horror films (jump scares).
Understand the
relationship between audiences and film
Fans are people who love a particular film, genre,
actor/actress, or film character and they share their interests with other
passionate fans, this is called fandom.
Fans usually devote all their time and sometimes even money to do
certain activities such as attending conventions, writing fan fiction,
blogging, starting a website dedicated to their favourite
film/characters/actors, attending premiers, writing fan mail and collecting
merchandise. Fans have this sincere reputation of loyalty that they will always
support their favourite film/characters.
Obsessed
fans have turned their interest into hobbies. Fandoms help make films a
worldwide success such as Star Wars, Marvel and many more. Because of the great
masses of success the films have gained, they usually end up making more and
more sequels because fans want more and more. For example, 52 year old Cathy Ward, who took her obsession
with the twilight franchise a little too far by tattooing her whole back of the
main characters from the film.
The uses and gratification theory of audiences suggests
that's the audience controls what to do with the media rather than the media
influencing the fans. When a fan actively used media platforms, it is a need
that they have satisfied. Media platforms do not fully control a consumer but
rather, the media is there to fulfil needs. This is basically the opposite of
the hypodermic needle theory. All these needs are fulfilled by the idea that
people feel better knowing what is happening around them at all times. People
find fans actors/actresses and characters from films to represent themselves in
the media. Fans can also connect with other fans, this brings a small community
who share the same interests together.
There are either passive audiences or active audiences
within the film world. Passive audiences are described as consumers who don't
really understand what is doing on because they are easily manipulated and weak
willed. Active audiences on the other hand are engaged and responsive to the
film.
