Nightdress Decostruction

Dead Silence Sound Deconstruction

Chernobyl Diaries Trailer Deconstruction

CHERNOBYL DIARIES TRAILER DECONSTRUCTION

·         Camera Angles

-          Over the shoulder shot, showing landscape and destruction

-          Sudden zoom into close up shot of camera and picture on screen, dramatic

-          Handheld shot at very end, chaos, scary  

-          Very choppy, camera angles change,

-          A lot of montages, very fast, different angles

·         Editing

-          Transitions are dark and fading, almost flashing

-          Switches to different shots and scenes quickly, montage

-           Start- montage of airport, sun, Eiffel tower, landmarks, sightseeing

-          Photos of them being taken, flash snapshot, also noise of camera

·         Sound

-          Uses same siren noise on transitions, speeding up, causing dramatic suspense- relating to nuclear reactor noise, like a siren/alarm

-          “I cant leave without my brother” – Emotional effect

-           Upbeat song at the start, changes when talking about tourism trip

-          Voice over when old footage being shown, sounds very official, sad/scary

-          “are you sure were out here alone?” – Suspense… makes you want to watch film!

-          Goes quiet and eerie when child is in spotlight,

-          A lot of screaming

-          “Tell me if you see something moving in the water” – joking around, but should be serious

·         Mise En Scene

-          Children- child’s toy, child in headlights. Vulnerable

-          Contrast between the start and the end, happy at the start, scary at the end.

-          Radiation levels machine – Safe? But are they? Shown several times

·         Titles

-          “in 1986, Chernobyl reactor 4 exploded”

-          “the radiation was worse than 400 atomic bombs”

-          From creator of paranormal activity – assures us that film will be good!

-          “there not following us, their hunting us” – scary

-          “Experience” “The Fallout” “Chernobyl diaries” – three separate titles with dramatic shots in-between, keeps us engaged

-          “Coming Soon” – No date, mysterious

By Amber Mitchell

Backing Sound Deconstructions

http://www.youtube.comu8vY6o&feature=related/watch?v=RiMuQ

TWINKLE TWINKLE

This is effective as it is a children’s nursery rhyme ‘Twinkle Tinkle’ sung by a woman in quite a high pitched voice, slowed down. This fits with the theme and context of our story and creates a scary atmosphere.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKI2gOawEPA

RING A ROSIE

This is another twist on the children’s nursery rhyme ‘Around a Ring a Roses’ with a girl singing who has edited her voice to make it sound like a young girl’s voice. It is effective as it fits with the theme and context of our story. We could take inspiration from this by singing our own tune and editing it to make it sound like a young innocent child’s voice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZemAoRzmobw&feature=fvwrel

ONE MISSED CALL

This is from the tune of the film, ‘One Missed Call’ it sounds like a child’s mobile that hangs above their crib, creating a scary atmosphere, however the pitch of the music is too harsh, the ideal music for our piece would be lower and also slightly slower.

Focus Group Questions

We gathered six people to observe three different teaser trailers, Sinister, Devil Inside and Insidious. We asked them questions and asked them to comment on the aspects they felt were the most effective, to aid us in creating our own trailer.

1. What images did you find the most disturbing and effective?
Answers:
-The main evil antagonist
-Montage of scary images
-Quick succession of close up shots

2. What music did you find the most effectual?
Answers:
-The slow opening eerie music
-Quick paced tension building music
-Loud bang when something happens to accompany the visual images

3. Which shots did you find made the most impact?
Answers:
-Close up shots of the characters face
-Scene setting/ establishing shots
-High angle shots

4.  Which look do you think is the most appropriate for the main antagonist?
Answers:
-Dark clothes, hidden face, unknown identity
-Bloody face and clothes
-Unsuspecting, normal

5. Do you prefer a trailer that gives a lot or a little insight into the story of the film?
Answers:
-Just enough to gather some information about the story and the plot
-Little information but an interesting trailer

From this information we can take the answers and use them for our own trailer, it will help us to interpret an audience’s views on what a trailer should be like and use this to our advantage by including the elements they found most effective in our own piece.

Standing Over Bed Scenes Deconstruction

As we are having a scene in our trailer where the protagonist is standing over the victims bed for a long length of time. But sped up by effects and editing after we have filmed. Many horror movies have done this, especially ones that are filmed realistically. For example Paranormal Activity.

In this scene, Katie the possessed character is watching over her husband for hours on end. We know this because of the clock in the bottom right corner which is styled like a home camera.

This is the kind of camera angle we want to shoot from in our bedroom scene. We would need to consider lighting and also how to position camera for the perfect shot.

We would definitely need to use the tripod for steadiness.

Another film that has a similar scene is orphan, It is a completely different style from paranormal activity, it is more realistic and close up. It is lighted, with no night vision needed. It is from a down to up angle and you can clearly see the two characters faces.

Trailer Name Deconstruction

After alot of thought we have decided to name our movie "ULTIONEM" it means a variety of different things, all with something to do with our storyline. Firstly, it is a latin/italian word for revenge. It is also related to being vindictive and arguments.

We had thoughs of calling our film "VENDETTA" but there was a film called "v for vendetta" not that long ago. We wanted to have a fresh new name which hadnt been used before. We researched into Ultinoem and there was no previous films related to this name.
It really fits the theme of our movie, and it frames the storyline and plot. As we are not giving much away with our trailer, we didnt want our title to be too obvious either, as it is foreign we do not expect that our audience would know the plot just from reading the title. It gives the whole vibe a really mysteruous feel and we think it makes people want to watch the trailer to see what its about.

"Ultionem" ,we decided for this, because it was not well known and when researched into, was not easily recognized, so will not be a commonly known word. Information about the word / title was extremely limited.

Stop Motion Animation

• Ensure the lighting doesn’t change
• Use a tripod to keep the shots steady
• Nothing can change e.g. the background things surrounding it, so every shot looks continuous
• Take more than enough pictures to make sure you have plenty to choose from
• Take a different picture every time you gradually change the image instead of taking a few showing big changes otherwise it wont look right
• When imported onto Imovie put them all in order
• Select all the pictures and drag them into a new project
• Change the length of the slide to less than a second so that when you play the still shots all together it plays fast in order so you can’t notice the stopping in-between the shots

Vendetta media coursework:

• Theirs didn’t look professional when they tried to use stop motion animation
• Instead of it appearing on the wall to look scary it looked as if they did it using the paint accessory on windows using he graffiti pen
• It didn’t look as if it has been written on the door properly, looked as if it appeared from nowhere

Last House On The Left Sound Deconstruction

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EZyJxabVck

• There is a lot of dialogue used in the trailer
• Starts with twinkling type of music, sounds as if it would be a rom-com genre of film
• Abruptly there is a turn in the music a loud sound is used to make the viewer jump as it’s very unexpected, there is no building up to it.
• Series of loud ‘bang’ with periods of silence inbetween
• After when the shot the gun shot is repeated  throughout the trailer
• At a point when the trailer changes and the parents find the body and then pick up  the backing sound to ‘sweet child of mine’ is played till the end
• The sound is contrapuntal  to the shots being shown, the song sweet child of mine isn’t usually what would go with a scary trailer
• They subverted the usual convention of using sounds to create fear throughout the trailer that compliment what’s going on in the trailer, instead it gives it a more sinister feel of happy music being played when they are showing blood and death etc
• Continuous loud bangs are still played through the trailer and a loud scream over the top of the backing sound track

The Possession Sound Deconstruction

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gBeG31fX40

• Throughout the trailer is a lot of equilibrium and disequilibrium which makes it tense and keeps the audience engaged 
• Starts with quiet background music while characters are speaking, sounds similar to a piano type instrument with the 2 same keys being played alternatively
• Darker/deeper sounds are introduced which makes it seem more mysterious and wary
• Short period of silence when the one of the main characters is opening the box, could signify its an important part as they want us to focus on one thing instead of sound combined
• Extreme weather noises, rain and wind, represents pathetic fallacy
• Everyday noises such as using a knife and fork while eating dinner are exaggerated, we start to hear as if they’re lots of whispers in the background which start to build up to a loud noise
• First big noise of the trailer when it fades out, there is a silence and a type of beat carries on noise again
• The whispers come back, everything is building up sounds like a car crash, screaming, goes back to the whispering voices
• Constant background noises getting louder all different sounds are being introduced; as this is happening the montage of shots get faster and quicker.
• High pitch sounds builds up louder, then followed by a silence to make an impact
• The last thing we hear are the strange noises talking and whispering this conveys the idea of the girl being possessed and the voices are the spirits all around her
• During the trailer the music is reflective of what is happening like building up the tension when the action is rising to create more of a dramatic impact

Lovely Bones Film Deconstruction

The lovely bones deconstruction 

Camera angles:
·         In one of the first scenes when we are introduced to the murderer, suzie and her family
·         The camera angles however don’t actually show him as face on, so doesn't reveal his identity
·         At first he is out of focus, in the background so we can’t see his face properly only a figure
·         They then use a close up on him yet you still don’t see his face straight on as his hand is covering his face
·         They show a medium shot of outside his house and him shutting the curtains as if to close off the camera from looking into his house

Mise en scene:
·         Mainly everything in this scene that is focused around the man  is very dark, connotes feelings of mystery and fear
·         The house looks very clean and everything is in its place, shows a weird contrast someone who is a murderer but keeps their house tidy everything in the right place
·         It shows him drawing sketches where he is planning his den in the field, this gives us an indication of where the plot is heading
·         He dresses in very dark formal clothes, this contrasts what suzie wears
·         Suzie is shown riding around on her bike outside laughing with her parents, showing an everyday normal life
·         She is wearing bright coloured clothes which reflects her bubbly personality and provides a stark contrast between her and the man

Editing:
·         They use cross cuts between the man in the house and suzie with her family inside and outside the house
·         Builds up the tension
·         Shows the obvious difference between them, everything around the man is dark and gloomy but with suzie its more bright and happy
 
Sound:
·        Music sounds sinister around the house to create a suspense  for the audience
·        Echoing of her voice every so often to heighten the atmosphere
·        The music used is quiet
·        You can still hear loud footsteps contrasted to the quiet music, enhancing the dramatic effect

 

Camera angles:

·         They have used a high angle shot when she is first in the den to make her look inferior, she looks even more younger and smaller and therefore more vulnerable to what he is going to do with her
·         Close up is used of her face to highlight how scared she looks, audience feel sorry for her
·         Another close up is used when he grabs the bottle opener, this is done to show how intimidating he is to her
·         A medium shot is used to show the struggle of when she tries to escape but of the den but he grabs her to pull her back down
 
Mise en scene:
·         Suzie is wearing young basic clothes to reflect how young she is, she doesn't try to look older than her age
·         In the den its obviously very dark so there is limited lighting  the only lighting is candles, it creates an unsettling atmosphere, makes us feel uncomfortable
·         He wears the same clothes
·         They show lots of little figurines in the den. We associate young girls having figurers such as dolls to play with which could make the audience question why he has them
 
Editing:
·         They use lots of shot reverse shot to show the conversation between them
·         They keep the camera on one of the actors for an extended amount of time to show the awkwardness between them 

Camera angles:

•  In the final scenes they use a  lot of close up shots, to focus on main points such as the clock telling the time, suggesting she will run out of time before the man finds her creating an unnerving atmosphere to the scene
• The close up of the opening of the floorboards is emphasising a critical moment in the film

 
Editing:

•  In the scene towards the end when the sister is searching through his house they use also fast pace cross cutting between the man coming back in his car approaching the house and the girl in the house, this creates a tension and the audience feel scared for the girl in case she gets caught
• 
  

       Sound:

•       They don’t use much backing sound when they are both in the house, it's dead silent but every movement and creek is emphasised to be a lot louder to show how every momvement is critical to not be found
•           When he is chasing her out the house the music builds up again to enact the fast paced chase and builds up the atmosphere of her trying to get away from him quickly

Character Profile

This is the character we hope to use, to play the role of the mother in our trailer.
We chose Susannah as we felt she looked like a typical mother, brown hair and dark features. This is appropriate as we want our character to appear completely normal at a glance.

Here in a close up of her face you can see the makeup I have used ever so slightly to create dark shadows on her face to give off a more sinister effect. This will be applicable later on in the trailer as we see the character under go distress.



As you can see Susannah is wearing normal day to day working clothes- a shirt and knitted jumper. We feel this is also important to include in the trailer as it adds to the character profile and the normality we wish to portray. 

Lighting Analysis 3

In the third test I did, I used two covered photography lights, this was effective as it gave out a good amount of light but again didn't create any specific mood, I feel this or one photography light is light enough to see detail, but as I said before a filter on the camera would set more of a mood, and this is what we will use in our final shooting.

Lighting Analysis 2

In my second deconstruction I used one photogrpahy light but I covered it, to see if a dimmer light would create more of an effect. I felt this was more effective in setting the mood but it was quite dim, depending on the content of the clip in our final shooting and importance of seeing the detail, this lighting may or may not be appropriate.

Lighting Analysis

I did a lighting test in one of our locations, to see what strength of lighting would suit the size of our location and would set the right mood.
In the first test i did, I used one photography light which gave out a good amount of light but didnt set the mood in any way, after watching the clip back I have decided using a coloured filter over the camera would be effective and would set a better mood than just a plain light.

Possessed People Research

The Apparition Poster Deconstruction

·         Dark black /grey background convention of a horror poster, can’t see much of the background

·         Picture of the girl takes up the majority of the poster, it’s positioned in the middle so our eyes immediately focus on her

·         The hands all around her body almost grabbing her look like could be something like zombies, they look old, grey and skeletal  

·         She looks quite a pretty teenage girl, with dark curly hair

·         Stereotypical to have a young girl as the victim, they are portrayed as being more vulnerable and weak

·         However the girl doesn’t look too scared, so it doesn’t make the audience feel scared or worried for her

·         The title is capitalised so that it stands out  and the title is white to contrast the dark background

·         The tag line ‘once you believe you die’ is also capitalised it’s quite ambiguous which is done to intrigue the audience

·         It has the release date in the bottom of the poster in quite small font but in an orangey colour to stand out

·         We assume the genre of the film could be about possession because of the hands all around her, as if they are controlling her and the hands covering her mouth like an evil spirit of force could be controlling her

·         There is a slight glow around the edge of her creates a paranormal/ supernatural atmosphere

The Machinist Poster Deconstruction

The Last Exorcism Website Deconstruction

Insidious Website Deconstruction

The Last Exorcism Poster Deconstruction

Insidious Trailer Deconstruction

Insidious Poster Deconstruction

Production Company Research

Sound Deconstruction- Sinister Trailer

Sound deconstruction of sinister trailer:

·         It starts with a fuzzy cutting out of a television news report being played back, this sets the tone for the rest of the trailer as when something goes wrong  in a film the recording usually cuts out to reflect this

·         Then goes quiet for a few seconds

·         Continues with speech between the family

·         Quiet yet high pitch sound in the background developing

·         When he has opened the box it sounds quite mechanical, and while playing the tapes a clicking noise of the film is exaggerated

·         Same noise as before comes back

·         Then big loud noise as if the noise has cut out on the film, then goes to speech and quiet background,  it later occurs when he is talking to the officer

·         There is a quiet background noise again followed by a silence, it uses an anti-climax as we expect a big jumpy noise to come afterwards but it just goes back to the low background sound

·         High pitch constant ringing noise

·         Sounds like tyres breaking in the road and helicopters

·         It builds up and the tension rises,  we can hear a scream in the background

·         There are a combination of noises such as just a muffling sound, then with a heartbeat, car tyres breaking on the road and speech is over the top of that

·         Children screaming

·         At the end of the trailer they use a clicking breaking up connection type of sound which reflects the movie they played at the beginning. As well as screaming in the background also